Hell In A Cell

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Ok so last night got me thinking. HIAC has now lost almost all of the attrativeness to it. The last 3 or 4 have been terrible. I can't even think how long it's been since someone's even attempted a remotely big spot for one of these matches. I mean HBK/HHH didn't even use the cage that much last night. So have HHH, HBK, Kevin Nash and the Undertaker finally ruined this gimmick for good? Has it become as tired and cliched as the ladder match now?

[Black Lushus 0]

i think when you have guys in there that can't pull off the big spots, yeah it's dead...that's about the only thing that seperates it from a regular cage match...i think as an end to a fued they're pretty good, but only the main eventers can pull it off (mid-card fueds don't have enpugh flare for hell in a cell) and they seem to all fall in that "too old or too injured to pull off a big spot" category...in other words, yes it's dead...

[Only The Strong Survive 0]

I think that without guys like Mick Foley willing to take huge bumps, the cell has lost all of it's prestige. It's admirable that wrestlers don't want to injure themselves, but if they aren't going to at least try and pull out all the stops in a match of that type, then why even bother using it when last night's match could have been a better (as I saw others say) street fight or even a cage match. Triple H needs to revert to some others ideas when he wants feuds to die, and anyone using a HIAC needs to reconsider using it unless they're going to actually use the damn thing like it was intended to.

 

God bless you Foley.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

The last 3 or 4 have been terrible

Brock/Taker was enjoyable.

[caboose 0]

God bless Rikishi.

[pochorenella 0]

I haven't seen the PPV yet, so please excuse my ignorance on the topic, but am I to understand that since the HIAC match didn't have any big spots a la Foley then it was no good? What about the intensity of the match, the violence, etc? Was that absent, too? I checked a few wrestling sites and most are saying it was a pretty good match that needed no big holy shit spot, but I come to this board and nearly everybody is calling it the worst match ever, so what is it?

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Essentially the cage didn't even play into the match. It was pretty much a streetfight inside a cage. And it doesn't have to have a big spot but HIAC is famous for the big spots.

[Dark Age 0]

I guess most people miss the point that HIAC is not SUPPOSED to have any big bumps. The actual purpose of the match is that two guys can't escape from the Cell and finally settle their feud. The bumps were just an added bonus.

[caboose 0]

If Hell In A Cell was about not escaping, why have Michaels and Taker get out in the first one?

 

Hell In A Cell is all about the heel not escaping the face's wrath until finding a way out before one of them takes a big bump. It worked for the first match which as it turns out is the best Hell In A Cell match. Coincidence? I don't think it was.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I think HitC matches can work fine without a big bump, so long as they're something like Taker/Brock - just really fucking violent, with blood everywhere.

 

That's what a HitC match is about, as far as I'm concerned - violence, and two guys locked in there who beat the everloving piss out of each other until one is damn-near dead.

[pochorenella 0]

I guess most people miss the point that HIAC is not SUPPOSED to have any big bumps. The actual purpose of the match is that two guys can't escape from the Cell and finally settle their feud. The bumps were just an added bonus.

That is my understanding, too, having watched every HIAC match except this one.

 

Like I said, I haven't seen this show yet, but I'm sorta surprised that most posters here are ready to throw the match (and pretty much the whole show) to the crapper. I seems the local crowd didn't help matters either, according to other sites.

 

Then again, with all the HBK/HHH hate going on here, I shouldn't be really surprised.

Edited June 14, 2004 by pochorenella

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

How is it the crowds fault? Blame HBK/HHH for not drawing the crowd into the match. The reason the crowd was dead is because everyone's sick of the feud that will never die and all the match was is spots used in all the other HBK/HHH encounters just inside a cage.

[Guest Repo Man Reborn]

I don't even think the actual match factors in anymore as much as the hype does.

 

The whole point of HIAC now is for when whoever makes the match to go 'HELL.............IN.....A...CELLLLLLLL!"

 

 

 

 

That, and the promo package, are the focus of this gimmick now.

[Guest Coffey]

I don't think that there needs to be a big spot, nor do I think that two wrestlers in the match should be able to escape the cage.

[pochorenella 0]

How is it the crowds fault?  Blame HBK/HHH for not drawing the crowd into the match.  The reason the crowd was dead is because everyone's sick of the feud that will never die and all the match was is spots used in all the other HBK/HHH encounters just inside a cage.

I'm not implying it's the crowds fault. I'm just saying that if they aren't into the match then it can look boring even if it isn't. Example of this? Latter 2002 (was it Armaggeddon 2002 maybe?), Benoit vs Guerrero. Pretty good match IMO, but you could hear a pin drop during the match.

 

edit: spelling

[caboose 0]

The problem with not having a big bump is simply that everyone expects one. The crowd in attendence especially desire a big bump.

 

Last night the crowd quickly died the more it became obvious that there was to be no big bump.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

The crowd was also dead because the cage didn't even factor into the match other than keeping Evolution out.

[King Cucaracha 0]

The problem with not having a big bump is simply that everyone expects one. The crowd in attendence especially desire a big bump.

Exactly. Having big bumps in a match that is usually billed as 'no escape' was stupid...especially considering it happened in nearly EVERY HIAC to begin with. Which kills the ones like Y2J/HHH, HHH/HBK, Nash/HHH and to an extent Taker/Lesnar.

 

The crowd was also dead because the cage didn't even factor into the match other than keeping Evolution out.

 

Evolution didn't even come down to ringside until after the match, so you can't really say it 'kept them out'...seeing as they never tried to get in. They used the cage at least 4 or 5 seperate times. They just didn't do anything big.

 

But expecting them to go on top of the cell is a sign of how the gimmick was pushed to it's limits too soon. The 'you can't escape from the cell, but everyone always does' spot is about as cliched as the battle royal/royal rumble 'both men's feet hit at the same time'.

 

The first two matches stretched it's shelflife to it's limits near enough. Now they're paying for it.

[Guest krazykat72]

I actually enjoyed the match last night. It could have lost 10-15 minutes, but I was engaged by the match the entire time. The problem with the 'big bump' is that it got overplayed. The cell allows for more than a cage match because it surrounds the ring and area and allows the wrestlers to go to the outside. The crowd was dead for the entire show and there is no doubt the lack of heat hurt it, but for some people to be ridiculously calling this the worst HiaC ever is mind boggling. It;s obvious they're moving the gimmick to a once a year deal, which will be used to blow feuds off (HHH-Jericho, HHH-Nash-, HHH-HBK, etc)

In short, the lack of the bump didn't kill a fine effort out of the participants.

 

-Paul Jacobi-

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Brock/Taker did its job, which was to put Brock over as a huge threat. This last one was no better than average, but if it is the end of HHH/HBK then I can see its purpose. HHH/Jericho, HHH/Nash & Taker/Bossman are the ones that really bug me, because there was absolutely no reason for them to be HIAC in the first place. At least the 6-Man was used to put Kurt over and as a storyline device to get Foley fired.

[Black Lushus 0]

in my opinion, the big bumps are what really truely seperate this from your average cage match...well that and a top being on this cage, but anyway...yeah Shawn/HHH coulda been another street fight and been just as effectve...

[Guest INXS]

It's not dead. Perhaps a little over exposed at this point. They should rest the gimmick for a year or so.

[haVoc 0]

I thought the match was boring last night. I don't need guys doing flying head butts off the top of the cage through the Spanish announce table, but I want more action.

 

Time to make it more of a midcard/smaller guy match. If Triple H and Taker don't want to push it, lets see what matches guys like Benoit, Eddie, Christian, Orton, Edge, RVD, Jericho and HBK can all have together in there.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

The reason why this match seems to be losing it's luster is because it's not being used in the right feuds. I have no problem with HBK/HHH in a HIAC match, I just have a problem that it should have happened already and this feud should be over. If they used the cell correctly, then it would be as good as it was in the past(if not better).

[jester 0]

Doesn't HHH consider HIAC "his" match now? We're not likely to see anybody but HHH and his boyfriends in a HIAC match.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Yeah, it appears that way after the video package from a few weeks ago.

[humongous2002 0]

That used to be Taker's "match", no wonder the Deadman doesn't like that Pinocchio on roids.

[Guest Trivia247]

the true people who should have a trademark on the match for both gimmick and of rep is Undertaker and Mick Foley.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

Let's look at the HiaC matches, shall we:

 

HBK vs. Taker: Universally accepted as a great match. Big bump was HBK's elbow off the side.

 

Mankind vs. Taker: Legendary match. Two big bumps go without mention.

 

Bossman vs. Taker: Labeled worst HiaC, ingored everytime by the WWE for good reason. Big "bump" was Bossman being hanged.

 

KiaC: Not really a HiaC match. Which is good.

 

Cactus Jack vs. HHH: Jack's last HiaC match and a great one too. The fall through the top of the cage was good.

 

6 man HiaC: Ok, but not spectacular. Rikishi's bump may have seemed tamed, until you remember that the guy's seriously overweight and could have been worse.

 

Jericho vs. HHH: Not great by any maeans. Walls on top of the cage was the biggest thing in it, and wasn't that surprising.

 

Lesnar vs. Taker: Surprisingly good. Focused more on brutality thenhigh spots. Big bump was Taker's botched drop from the ceiling.

 

Nash vs. HHH: Average by all means. Foley's stint as ref pulled this one out from the gutter. No big bumps, although HHH getting snake eyed onto the barbed wire could count.

 

HBK vs. HHH: I don't care if HBK and HHH had a **** classic in the cell, in a cage match you're expected to at least touch the cage. Big bump envolved HBK elbowing off a ladder, of all things.

 

I think there are two recurring problems that are dragging the gimmick down. First, I think there's a drought in creativity on what to do with the cell. All the big bumps have been done, and now it seems all they want to do i have a regular match inside the cell. But with HiaC's colorful history it takes away from the match. Secondly, Most of the matches are comprised of people who have done tht ematch before. And while Taker and HHH has experience, they're not offering much new to the table. Get a great tag team fued goin with fresh faces and cap it off with HiaC. It's will help the teams and the match out.

[Guest Trivia247]

Biggest bump truly in the Jericho HHH match Is on Poor Tim White....and He still isn't back truly.