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 Third Edition Now On Sale (Updated All-Time Rankings, New Entries, Plus the "Wine Cellar" Section); Click to Order Follow @TheDocLOP Professional wrestling is storytelling, plain and simple. Themes such as competition, betrayal, jealousy, respect, underdog, and so on and so forth are found in tales woven by pro wrestlers as commonly as they are in literature or conventional television and film; society simply misunderstands that fact because of certain ridiculous stereotypes, such as the one centered on its scripted nature. Furthermore, just as there is in Hollywood or the literary game, professional wrestling has various different genres that can help us classify the types of stories told on the 20'X20' canvas. Using the vernacular of “the business,” we traditionally refer to many of these genres as “gimmicks.” In the coming weeks and months, I will team with Samuel 'Plan to thoroughly dissect the essence of each of pro wrestling's match-types. With his book, 101 WWE Matches To See Before You Die, championing that we embrace the performance art that pro wrestling truly is, 'Plan brings a fascinating perspective in support of his stance that the time has come for the fans and the public at large to receive pro wrestling in a more mature fashion. 101 has already begun the process of classifying pro wrestling genres; with my second book, The Greatest Matches, Rivalries, And Stories Of The WrestleMania Era (estimated release in late 2017), as keen on developing the most definitive ranking ever created for wrestling history's second great question as The WrestleMania Era: The Book Of Sports Entertainment was on answering the first (who's the greatest wrestler of all-time), we felt compelled to combine my analytical eye with his interpretative approach to establish a more refined understanding of pro wrestling gimmicks. Each genre and sub-genre will be discussed as we break down what each one is all about and offer up the quintessential match that best embodies its fundamental identity. We begin with one of the many sub-genres of the Cage Match, the one that has usurped its parent genre to become the most popular variant of surrounding two or more superstars by steel: There have been a lot of incredibly acclaimed Hell in a Cell matches; Shawn Michaels and Undertaker earned 5-star marks for their debut of the structure in 1997, Mankind and Taker performed perhaps the most famous (and infamous) version, and Triple H and Taker proceeded to produce bodies of work inside the Cell throughout the 21st century to date that have largely defined what came to be expected whenever the stipulation has been utilized. What, though, of the Cell's truest definition of purpose? My personal favorite Cell remains the original and I would argue strongly that Edge vs. Taker in 2008 offered the blueprint for editions contested in the much larger structure still in existence today, but both of them involved leaving the Cell when it seemed that the original intent of putting a roof on a giant cage was to keep the combatants confined. Even though falling (or jumping) off of or through the Cell has provided the gimmick's most memorable moments, is not exiting the Cell to fight beyond its confines similar to having a Ladder Match that can end in pinfalls or submissions? Not that each instance of fighting beyond the Cell walls wasn't explained well, but if not to trap the individuals inside, then what was the point of the enclosure in the first place? Confinement is a key concept. Hell in a Cell’s origin is rooted in senses of foreboding, gore, claustrophobia and psychological torment; it is WWE’s one sub-genre closest to horror as you can find. Indeed, the original between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker carries with it a vague sense of the slasher flick – the Dead Man being the murderer, Heartbreak the victim. Hell in a Cell is a sub-genre all about tone, then, and while in more recent PG years that tone may have drifted away from its origin, so powerfully ingrained in our minds are those early years of the Cell that fans will never stop wanting a return to the vaunted sub-genre’s earlier styles. To find the ultimate example of a Hell in a Cell Match, then, we must look at tone. We must search for an iteration that feels foreboding, gory, claustrophobic and psychologically tormenting. It must be an emotionally demanding watch that embraces the sub-genre’s horror leanings. Match quality must be there, of course, and a sense of climax; the sub-genre was once all about being the climax of a feud. Perhaps most of all, the combat within those Cell walls must feel primal; deeply personal; unremittingly hostile; hateful. If you trap two wrestlers in a cage with a roof, then the implied result is barbaric borderline warfare; a level of violence rare to the general public eye. So, if that is the true essence of Hell in a Cell, there are basically just three candidates from which we can choose the best representative: Batista vs. Triple H in 2005 or one from the pair of Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar matches separated by 13 years. Batista vs. Triple H culminated a feud that began eight months prior and did so quite violently and the Deadman and the Beast penned the final chapter of their rivalry in 2015 with an intense brawl that literally ripped apart the ring, but there was something more visceral about the first time that Taker and Brock entered the Cell against each other which makes their main-event of No Mercy 2002 the clear choice here. There is no stronger an example than Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker from No Mercy 2002. There have been bigger settings and more memorable feuds, but never has a Cell match felt as gleeful in its embrace of genre tropes. Aesthetically, the gore on show is almost sticky, as thick rivers of blood pour down the Dead Man’s face. Tonally, it’s harrowing, as Paul Heyman giddily screams from outside the structure, towards Big Evil, “You’re going to die now!” Psychologically, it’s frightening, thanks to the young rookie Lesnar, whose only perceivable disadvantage is the daunting environment, adapting with incredible speed to his surroundings, until he literally stands atop the world to hold his title high over the carcass of his vanquished, widely favoured opponent. Physically, it appears unrivalled in its taxation of the competitors. Undertaker is not the only man to find himself busted open, and Brock Lesnar targets the Undertaker’s injured arm with indulgent malice. The action, in its entirety, is darkly naturalistic, without any of the awkwardly self-conscious playing up to the stipulation you might find in other iterations - predictably choreographed high spots, for example, or ludicrously contrived ‘weapons’ from under the ring. Make no mistake, this is not a pleasant, ‘fun time’ affair. There is no babyface feel good win at the end. There is no vicarious emotional release, unless the emotion is a negative one. There isn’t a single effort at witticism. This is an outright battle for survival, played straight, with deadly seriousness, in which the hero loses. If Hell in a Cell is a sub-genre all about danger – all about horror – then you can find no match as multi-layered in that horror than in the case of Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker at No Mercy 2002. Gory is the appropriate word. Everyone bleeds; Taker, Lesnar, and Heyman all have their flesh torn open. In lieu of one or two awe-inspiring moments seen from Cell matches featuring death-defying stunts, the Deadman wears the proverbial crimson mask as memorably as anyone ever has, providing an awe-inspiring story throughout the composition of the bloody veteran warrior having had his historical script flipped on him (Lesnar became the unstoppable monster). Thanks to the vicious chair shots, buckets of blood, Paul Heyman's effective complimentary role on the outside, and the brutal physicality, there was plenty enough on display to offset the lack of a fall off the Cell or a fight on top of it, if you so desire to challenge our assertion of its position as the archetypal member of its genre based on comparisons to its more famous brethren. QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you feel is the best representative of the Hell in a Cell genre and why?  101 WWE Matches To See Before You Die, available now on Amazon, is the book to challenge everything you thought you knew about how best to watch professional wrestling in the 21st Century. Whatever your issues with the product of today, this is the book that will teach you how to put the creative power in your own hands; Click to Order Follow @LoPPlan
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