Your Favourite Cage Match Ever

[SpursRiot2012]

Steve Austin vs Vince McMahon, St Valentine's Day Massacre. I haven't watched it since it happened, and I'm not sure if it'll stand up, but it was at the peak of the Stone Cold/Mr McMahon feud and I was so, so into it.

[Nexus]

Jeff Hardy v Umaga from a Raw in July 2008. 

 

Jeff at his babyface best, fighting Umaga who was really good. The Whisper in the Wind off the cage was amazing, and I loved the intensity of him against Orton at the end of the match. 

 

One of my favourite ever matches, and one I've definitely rewatched a few times. 

[Guest]

for me it's gotta be Taker v HHH in the cell

WWE at their cinematic best, one of HHH's greatest entrances and an epic 'entrance' for the cell itself. The 'end of an era' tagline. HBK's emotional anguish throughout the entire thing. They had an absolutely chaotic time in there, some brutal stuff, Taker gets beaten black and blue and we see possibly the greatest near-fall of all time.

An absolute thrill and one I rate even higher than Taker's Mania matches with HBK

[WeeAl]

Everybody that has already mentioned the first Hell In A Cell match, and the reasons why it's so good and why it's their favourite, have said everything I wished I would have been able to. A perfect example of wrestling being done 100% correctly. As has been mentioned, not just the best cage match, but perhaps in the top two matches the company ever put on.

 

At the time 7 year old Kane scared the piss out of me. Friday nights were the nights I could have the TV and stay up to watch even if I was the only one still up. Then everytime I seen Kane and heard the organ music, while the house was in darkness and everyone else was asleep, I started to rethink things and that maybe I should be in bed too! But of course I had to watch him murder Flash Funk and the likes heart attack be damned. Without the nature of that match, and the environment he debuted in, Kane would likely never have meant a fuck.

[AnotherCrapUsername]

I'd love to say that my favourite cage match of all time was the first I ever watched, unfortunately I can't as about 2 months earlier I'd had the misfortune of watching two fat lumps of shit battle it out in front of a hundred people in a leisure centre.

 

Fast forward two months and I saw it, the match that I still go back and watch and still absolutely bloody love.

 

The Steiner Brothers VS Money Inc.

 

This was and still is to me the best Tag Team cage match I've seen ever and it was nearly 23 years ago. As an 8 year old it absolutely blew my mind. I loved the Steiners (What can I say I had great taste as a nipper!) and hated that snobby twat The Million Dollar Man.

 

This was an epic struggle between two teams who were larger than life to a young me.

 

Two on ones consistently happening with the partner trying desperately to get back in to help out, this match completely blew my mind and even to this day I absolutely love this match. Even the fact that IRS was involved can't lessen my love of it.

[air_raid]

I'm going to reject the temptation to go with what I think is THE BEST cage match ever - that's War Games 92 - and go with my FAVOURITE ever, strictly storyline driven, and that's War Games 96.

The nWo storyline was at its peak and they'd not over-egged the pudding yet with C listers or talent that added nothing to the group. This was the story that turned me round the corner for WCW being an alternative and enjoyable product and not simply a bargain bin for WWF wrestlers past their "best before" date or talent simply not good enough to make the big time. It was fresh and interesting, and the idea that Sting might be joining Hogan, Hall and Nash felt huge, almost like it was odds that WCW couldn't overcome.

The actual action, to be fair, is not the best you'll ever see, but the storytelling of Jeff Farmer as the fake Sting coming out and the way the crowd deflates, only to be rejuvenated when the genuine Real Estate Steve comes out, is fantastic. The way The Stinger comes in, beats the shit out of his enemies, then turns around to the comrades that doubted him and says "You know what, fuck you buddy" is a slice of realism in an era when babyfaces were often over-the-top chummy with each other right up until a heel turn. The nWo then scores a huge win, before the sight of them standing tall over the beaten WCW crew had become COMPLETELY passe.

Most importantly, I love watching the match because it bleeds into the next night where we get probably my favourite promo of all time - "The only thing for sure about Sting, is nothing's for sure." The passion Stinger injected into that one was outstanding and it led to a fascinating period where initially you weren't sure who he was batting for and eventually the character transformed completely. Black and white, attacking without predjudice, Scorpion Death Drop Sting became my favourite character on the show and the reason I tuned in most weeks. Fair enough, within a couple more weeks the nWo storyline was being diluted by Vincents and Scott Nortons and as Karl was say, the bloom was very much off the rose, but I'll still go back and watch that War Games match on a regular basis because I loved the story told before, during and after, and it reminds me of a time when WCW, which I dearly miss, was actually producing a compelling show.

[Fanny Pack]

Im going for Benoit v Angle from Raw (June'ish 2001) with Austin originally on comms and then stalking the cage, great match, great crowd.

 

Special mention to Batista v Orton at Extreme Rules 2009. Dont think ive watched it since but i remember it being a very good, short title match.

[Max Power]

It's Mankind and Undertaker for me - and I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned it. The stunts in this are unsurpassed; both before and after. And the fact that Foley was still alive after taking those bumps, let alone was able to work the rest of the match blew my mind.

 

It's probably not the best cage match ever, but it's up there with the most memorable things I've ever seen in wrestling.

 

Looking at the Foley of the last five years or so does dampen it a little I suppose, but fuck it.

[BritishBeef]

While the honourable mentions of the world have got to go out to HIAC 98, Bret vs Owen & Wargames 92; my personal favourite has to be Angle vs. 'He who shall not be named' on the June 11th Raw, 2001.

 

The action and the crowd were absolutely superb and I've always had a soft spot for Austin on commentary. 'He who shall not's' diving headbutt and his belly to back suplex on Angle while balancing on the top rope make me wince watching them nowadays considering what we know about both men's respective health issues - but what a fantastic match during the arse end of the attitude era and where there was still hope that the invasion angle might just pay off.

[Keith Houchen]

It's probably not the best cage match ever, but it's up there with the most memorable things I've ever seen in wrestling.

 

That's pretty much my take on it, it certainly isn't the best match, but it is quite the spectacle.

[WyattSheepMask]

I'll always have a soft spot for the cage match between Rick Rude and Roddy Piper that happened at MSG in 1990 which seems to get forgotten about as it was only realised on Home Video. They do a textbook 'both guys feet hit the floor' spot and the match goes for a bit on the outside and Rude goes for an awesome splash from the top of the cage, only to then change his mind once he'd jumped, realised "shit this is much higher than I thought it was" and in the end hitting some sort of kneedrop. This of course happened years after OJ Simpson...sorry, Jimmy Snuka did his cage splash, but this was the first time I ever saw someone try a move from that height. Having just watched it back again, I wish Id watched more of Rick Rude's career. (Here is the match in question - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1m1pz_wwf-roddy-piper-vs-rick-rude_sport)

WarGames 92 will always be high on most peoples list of great cage based matches, and Rude put in another stellar shift that night too, even with a body so chiseled that it ruined the expectation of the male form for everyone else.

 

Honourable mention for Angle vs. Lord Voldemort from RAW. That German suplex off the ropes spot is fucking mental

[tiger_rick]

 

It's probably not the best cage match ever, but it's up there with the most memorable things I've ever seen in wrestling.

That's pretty much my take on it, it certainly isn't the best match, but it is quite the spectacle.

 

The spot through the table and JR's commentary is spine tingling stuff and one of the greatest things I've ever seen but the match as a whole isn't something I've a lot of love for. The second bump is unnecessary and takes me right out of it. It just makes think about how mental Foley is rather than how courageous Mankind is. If he'd come back off the stretcher, taken a chokeslam and a tombstone and got beat, I think it's a better story. What also kills it for me is that the build-up is non-existent and it has no consequences. That's a big part of a match for me and it's just missing with this.

[Lenin]

The match itself is pretty poor but as above, after he got up off the stretcher I felt I'll watching it as I genuinely thought it would end by red stoppage or death.

 

Never felt like that about a match before and at the time the aftermath of the first bump just made me uneasy which took away the enjoyment for me. The second bump was just ridiculous.

 

As a moment in time, falling through the table and JR screaming it's fine. Overall it is still a bit nothing to me.

[Au]

I'll always have a soft spot for the cage match between Rick Rude and Roddy Piper that happened at MSG in 1990

 

Hah, I was going to come out of lurk mode just to post about this match. I rewatched that video so many times when I was a kid just to see it again. The bit where they keep fighting whilst both climbing down the cage is a bit contrived in retrospect but made perfect sense to me at the time!

[The Invisible Boy]

Not too sure about my absolute favourite but one up there that seems to be quite forgotten by others is Edge vs Christian at Rebellion 2001 in Manchester. While others may point out well-known classics I think this match unfairly gets lost in the shuffle, with it being the opening match of a UK PPV.

 

The match was for the Intercontinental Title and occurred during the Invasion. One of my pet peeves with cage matches is when wrestlers go for pins or submissions, I much prefer the escape strategy as I think it makes it more exciting for fans and the end of this match definitely backed that up; Christian who was climbing down the outside of the cage was caught by Edge from the inside and Edge tied his legs to the cage using his wrist tape, preventing Christian from touching the floor, then Edge proceeded to exit himself.

 

They used the old school bar style cage, which I was always a fan of and while it's not the best cage match it was one of my favourites due to the victor actually escaping the cage, and in a pretty novel way too; Edge climbed out the same side Christian had been tied to and jumped down hitting him in the face as he touched the floor.

 

By the way I am aware that the cage is sometimes used to prevent outside interferences and if that has been the build up to the match, for example two feuding stables keep ruining a match, then I have no problem with pinfalls and submissions but in the case of two wrestlers in a standard feud then I think escaping is much more exciting for the fans, unless it'd make more sense for them not to escape, for example if it was a big guy, such as Lesnar or Big Show escaping against a smaller guy it would look a little strange, unless they destroy them and casually walk out of the door.