Editing Hell in a Cell (section)

==History==
The Hell in a Cell match was first introduced at [[Badd Blood: In Your House|Badd Blood]] on Sunday October 5, 1997, at the Kiel Center, now known as [[Enterprise Center]], in [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]]. The background to the inaugural match was built on [[The Undertaker]]'s loss to [[Bret Hart]] two months prior at [[SummerSlam (1997)|SummerSlam]] in a [[WWF Championship]] match which [[Shawn Michaels]] was assigned to referee. Michaels had deliberately interjected himself in the match and cost The Undertaker a win which resulted in a match between the two at [[Ground Zero: In Your House|In Your House: Ground Zero]]. That match was ruled a no-contest due to the two bypassing and attacking the officials. As a climactic end to the feud, their following bout was originally scheduled to be held as a [[Professional wrestling match types#Cages|steel cage match]]. However,  a larger roofed structure was constructed instead of a normal cage enclosing only the ring, enclosing not only the ring but also the surrounding ringside area. The wider space between the ring apron and the cell walls allowed for entering and exiting the ring and for cameras to be situated at ringside. At Badd Blood, Michaels defeated The Undertaker (with interference from The Undertaker's debuting half-brother [[Kane (wrestler)|Kane]]), becoming the number-one contender to the WWF Championship at the [[Montreal Screwjob|1997 Survivor Series]]. The original concept for the Hell in a Cell structure was created by [[Jim Cornette]]. He described his concept as a combination of a cage surrounding the majority of the ringside area (the design, he stated, was popular in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] wrestling promotions) and the cage used in both the [[National Wrestling Alliance]] and [[World Championship Wrestling]] for their [[WarGames match|WarGames]] matches (which had a top on the cage).<ref name="cornyhellcell">{{cite web|url=http://kayfabecommentaries.com/DVD_TL_1997.html|title=Timeline History of WWE 1997|publisher=Kayfabe Commentaries|access-date=June 24, 2018}}</ref> On an October 2015 video podcast, [[Vince Russo]] said Cornette probably did come up with the concept, but the name Hell in a Cell came from him.<ref name="russohellcell">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73iUbSJAvYw&t=4m21s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/73iUbSJAvYw |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Vince Russo's Nuclear Heat #4: WWE Hell In A Cell Origins, Kane's History, More – Oct 23, 2015|publisher=YouTube|access-date=October 23, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> WWE credits the match as being based on the [[Last Battle of Atlanta]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wwe.com/classics/last-battle-of-atlanta-rich-sawyer|title=Exclusive: How the rarest match in wrestling history was discovered|website=WWE|language=en|access-date=2019-05-22}}</ref>

[[Mankind vs. The Undertaker|The 1998 Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Mankind]] remains one of the most iconic matches of all time, with its level of extreme violence and dangerous spots, which led to Mankind getting legitimately knocked unconscious at the end of the match and suffering multiple injuries towards the end of the match. Despite the match's popularity, it remains controversial due to the wrestler's lack of safety. In 2011, this incident was named the number one "[[wikt:OMG|OMG]]!" incident in WWE history. Journalist [[Michael Landsberg]] called it "maybe the most famous match ever."<ref>{{Cite episode|title=The Undertaker interview|series=[[Off the Record with Michael Landsberg|Off the Record]]|network=[[The Sports Network|TSN]]|date=March 29, 2002|minutes=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media notes |title=OMG! – The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History DVD |publisher=[[WWE| WWE Inc]] |year=2011 }}</ref> The first title defense in Hell in a Cell was at [[No Way Out (2000)|No Way Out]] in February 2000 with [[Triple H]] defending the WWF Championship against [[Mick Foley|Cactus Jack]]. The first title change inside Hell in a Cell was in October 2009, when The Undertaker won the [[World Heavyweight Championship (WWE, 2002–2013)|World Heavyweight Championship]] from [[CM Punk]]. The longest Hell in a Cell match was held at [[WWE Bad Blood (2004)|Bad Blood]] in June 2004 between Triple H and Shawn Michaels at over 47 minutes. The Undertaker has been involved in the most Hell in a Cell matches, having competed in fourteen and having the most victories at eight. All Hell in a Cell matches have been broadcast live on pay-per-view except for five matches, three of which were televised on ''[[WWE Raw|Raw Is War]]'', later ''Monday Night Raw'', with two in 1998 and one in 2021 and one on ''[[WWE SmackDown|Friday Night SmackDown]]'' also in 2021. The Hell in a Cell match on the June 15 episode of ''Raw Is War'' showcasing [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] and The Undertaker against Kane and [[Mankind (wrestler)|Mankind]], ended with Austin and Undertaker winning after ''Raw Is War'' went off the air. On the August 24 episode of ''Raw Is War'', Mankind fought Kane (his tag team partner at the time) in a Hell in a Cell match. This match went to a no-contest after Austin interfered and assaulted Kane. On the June 18, 2021, episode of ''Friday Night SmackDown'', the first televised title match contested inside the structure took place between [[Roman Reigns]] and [[Rey Mysterio]] for the [[WWE Universal Championship]] which saw Reigns retain the title via submission. Three days later on the June 21, 2021, episode of ''Monday Night Raw'', [[WWE Championship|WWE Champion]] [[Bobby Lashley]] faced [[Xavier Woods]] in a non-title Hell in a Cell match which saw Lashley win via submission. These matches, along with the two matches at the [[Hell in a Cell (2021)|Hell in a Cell event]], were held in a span of 4 days, with Lashley being the only wrestler to have competed in Hell in a Cell matches on back-to-back days. Only one Hell in a Cell match was not televised, the match took place on the September 26 episode of ''Raw'' in 2011 as a [[Glossary of professional wrestling terms#dark match|dark match]] where [[John Cena]] retained the WWE Championship in a five-way match against [[Alberto Del Rio]], [[Jake Hager|Jack Swagger]], [[Dolph Ziggler]], and CM Punk in a match that lasted only 5 minutes, making it the shortest Hell in a Cell match. Hell in a Cell matches have appeared at WWF/WWE's flagship event [[WrestleMania]] four times ([[WrestleMania XV|XV]], [[WrestleMania XXVIII|XXVIII]], [[Wrestlemania 32|32]], and [[WrestleMania 39|39]]). In 2009, WWE debuted its first pay-per-view event to be named [[WWE Hell in a Cell|Hell in a Cell]].

In 2016, [[Charlotte Flair]] and [[Sasha Banks]] became the first women to step inside the Hell in a Cell match at [[Hell in a Cell (2016)|Hell in a Cell]] in October 2016 when Banks defended the [[WWE Raw Women's Championship|Raw Women's Championship]] against Flair, who won the match.

Ahead of [[Hell in a Cell (2018)|Hell in a Cell]] in September 2018, the structure went through a significant overhaul. The fully crimson-red structure is smaller, with the wires being less pliable, making the structure stronger, yet lighter. Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy faced off against each other in the first crimson cell, a match which Orton won.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wwe.com/article/hell-in-a-cell-new-look|title=Hell in a Cell structure gets a fiery red makeover|publisher=[[WWE]]|access-date=September 17, 2018}}</ref> The crimson cell would be swapped out for the standard gray one come [[WrestleMania 39]] in 2023.

===Kennel from Hell match/Other appearances and variations===
The structure itself has made four additional appearances, although WWE does not consider them to be Hell in a Cell matches. During the first-ever First Blood match which was between [[Kane (wrestler)|Kane]] and [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] at [[King of the Ring (1998)|King of the Ring]] in June 1998, the cell used earlier in the night was lowered. The second featured [[Big Boss Man (wrestler)|Big Boss Man]] challenging [[Al Snow]] for the [[WWE Hardcore Championship|WWF Hardcore Championship]] in a [[Animals in professional wrestling|Kennel from Hell match]] at [[Unforgiven (1999)|Unforgiven]] in September 1999. The match consisted of a standard [[Professional wrestling match types#Steel Cage match|steel cage]] with the cell placed atop it and the object was to escape from both the cage and cell while trying to avoid guard dogs that were placed between the ring and cell door. Snow, the first competitor to escape the steel cage and the cell, was declared the winner. The third time was on September 28, 2009, episode of ''[[WWE Raw|Raw]]'' during a gauntlet match with [[John Cena]] against [[Chris Jericho]], [[Big Show]] and [[Randy Orton]]. The cell was lowered after Cena defeated Jericho and Big Show by disqualification when Orton's turn came. Cena ordered the cell to be lowered and then brawled Orton on top of the structure. The match was declared a no-contest. The fourth time was on October 20, 2014, episode of ''Raw'' when the Hell in a Cell structure was lowered on orders from [[Kane (wrestler)|Kane]] during a handicap street fight involving Kane, Orton, and [[Seth Rollins]] against Cena and [[Dean Ambrose]] which Kane, Orton, and Rollins won. At [[Hell in a Cell (2017)|Hell in a Cell]] in October 2017, [[Shane McMahon]] and [[Kevin Owens]] competed in a Hell in a Cell match billed as the first under [[Professional wrestling match types#Falls Count Anywhere match|Falls Count Anywhere]] rules (despite the Hell in a Cell previously having this stipulation in its rules by default). In October 2020, [[Roman Reigns]] and [[Jey Uso]] competed in the first-ever Hell in a Cell match contested under an [["I quit" match|"I quit"]] stupulation.