The greatest feuds to never reach Hell in a Cell?

[Mr. Nerfect]

This is just something I ponder occasionally. Which feuds were deserving of the Cell, but never went in there. I suppose you can go back in time for these, too, and list matches that never made it in there because the Cell had not been invented, or because they were in another promotion.

Personally, the two biggest ones for me would have to be Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock, and Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H. Austin vs. Rock was just iconic. Putting the two in the Cell with the WWF Championship on the line would have gotten some buys. Triple H and Austin's feud was really hot for a while in 2001. They had the 3 Stages of Hell, but it never really went to the final battle inside Hell in a Cell.

Oh, and of course there was Austin vs. McMahon. Austin slapping around Vince inside the Cell would have led to some mark-out moments. Vince and Shane have never really been afraid to bump, but I could have just seen Vince escape form the Cell, and climb to the top, as Austin pursued, and Shane ran down to help his father. Austin throws Shane off the Cell through one table, and then he sends Vince through the other (with Vince probably dangling off the Cell to just make it as small a fall as possible.

The Undertaker vs. Kane, given the type of characters they are, seem like they were made to take their grudge since childhood into the Hell in a Cell concept. Technically, they were on opposing teams during one match, but I'm talking one-on-one.

[Disturbed316]

Vince broke his ass bone during his cage match with Austin, so he probably would have broken his spine/neck/back if they had a HIAC match.

[Mr. JL]

Dudleys/Edge & Christian/The Hardyz

[NoRoolz]

Yeah Austin/McMahon

and a more recent one, did Eddie and Rey ever have a Hell in a Cell match? That'd have been sweet.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The two suggestions so far are really good. The tag team feud kind of went through my head as I did this, but I decided against listing it because their battles were usually mid-card stuff. The WWE of old, though, might have had the balls to let them go into the Cell and just tear it up.

Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio is one that I wanted to end up in a Hell in a Cell at the time. It was not a perfect feud, but Eddie Guerrero was cutting some great promos, and he and Mysterio would have been able to do some interesting stuff with the Cell to make it stand out. I can't remember for sure, but didn't Eddie cut some promo leading up to a Cage Match, where he said that Rey Mysterio had taken his family from him, so he had nothing to lose, and was going to hurt Rey to the point where he lost everything, too? That promo was fucking great, and it's stuff like that which could have made their program Hell in a Cell worthy.

[Impeccable]

Did Benoit/Angle or Jericho/Benoit ever go to the cell?

[Savio]

No but Benoit did go to hell.

[Xero]

If you want to get technical, Rock/Austin and Austin/Triple H have happened in the Cell during the six man at Armageddon. Not one-on-one but their feuds technically went there.

[DarKCentaur]

A really interesting point... but looking back, Rock/Austin was never really the sorta feud that would culminate in Hell in a Cell. It never seemed like a rivalry fueled by hatred for one another: it was more of a sportsman's feud. Two guys trying to prove they were the best in perhaps the greatest wrestling era of all time. Not two guys trying to cripple each other.

[Kane Knight]

No but Benoit did go to hell.

And if Hell's anywhere near as ironic as I think it is....

[Nowhere Man]

Austin/Undertaker seemed like it was tailor-made for the Cell. But alas, twas not to be.

And I'll back up Mr. JL in saying the Hardyz/Dudleyz/E&C feud could have had a sick Cell match.

[CSL]

A really interesting point... but looking back, Rock/Austin was never really the sorta feud that would culminate in Hell in a Cell. It never seemed like a rivalry fueled by hatred for one another: it was more of a sportsman's feud. Two guys trying to prove they were the best in perhaps the greatest wrestling era of all time. Not two guys trying to cripple each other.

Could have been easily fixed by a 'sadistic Vince'.

[Nark Order]

JBl/Cena

[BigDaddyCool]

Don't really care for hell in a cell.

[Xero]

A really interesting point... but looking back, Rock/Austin was never really the sorta feud that would culminate in Hell in a Cell. It never seemed like a rivalry fueled by hatred for one another: it was more of a sportsman's feud. Two guys trying to prove they were the best in perhaps the greatest wrestling era of all time. Not two guys trying to cripple each other.

You know, I was thinking about that. It wasn't a feud that was intense that called for the Cell.

Rock/Austin was probably the last really great feud that didn't rely on gimmick matches every few months. Normal matches sufficed.

That isn't to say that gimmick matches are bad, but some feuds call for more "intense" matches than others.

[St. Jimmy]

Michaels vs. Hart

[St. Jimmy]

Angle vs. Lesnar

[Mr. Nerfect]

A really interesting point... but looking back, Rock/Austin was never really the sorta feud that would culminate in Hell in a Cell. It never seemed like a rivalry fueled by hatred for one another: it was more of a sportsman's feud. Two guys trying to prove they were the best in perhaps the greatest wrestling era of all time. Not two guys trying to cripple each other.

I thought that, but then I remembered the night after WrestleMania X-7, and WrestleMania X-7 itself. Stone Cold Steve Austin sold his soul and got the match type changed to No Disqualification, just so he could beat The Rock with a steel chair, all over the WWE Championship. Not a concern for The Rock's career in his mind.

Then he and Triple H beat-down The Rock quite severely in their Steel Cage Match the following week. If the WWE had not purchased WCW, I think Austin vs. Rock would have been the feud to go to Hell in a Cell.

[The Optimist]

I was never totally interested in fueds that ended in HiaC unless Undertaker or later Triple H were involved. It sort of takes the novelty away, since it's basically a steel cage with a roof. If you could end so many fueds with it, then you could just eliminate cage matches. Come to think of it, I usually enjoy cage matches more because of the dynamic of the escape.

Rock vs. Triple H in a Cell would be the bee's knees.

[Fox]

I'm sorry, but I don't get this thread. You talk about Hell in a Cell like it's the end all, be all of feud ending matches, like it's the World Title of feud enders. It's never been about that. Hell in the Cell is about brutality and force; that's what has made the great Cell matches great; not the "end of a feud."

Austin vs. Rock ended at WrestleMania X-7, which made perfect sense because that's kind of where they left off last at WrestleMania 15. It was the end of Austin/McMahon, and that's the way it should have been.

Rock/Triple H did tons of matches together. Singles matches, cage matches, a ladder match, they even went the Iron Man together. A Hell in the Cell would've been an extra chapter that didn't need to be written.

Again, I'm sorry, but I don't get this thread. Hell in the Cell is a great match when its a brutal affair, but it doesn't "need" to happen to square out a great feud.

[Shadow]

Fox has it really. You don't need to bring a great fued into HIAC. Sometimes great fueds just are that. The only one that, to me, never made it into HIAC was Matt Hardy/Edge back when that fued had some meaning to it. That would've been the perfect capper to that story.

[Fox]

Also, I want to say I agree with previous sentiments that a Dudley Boys vs Hardys vs. Edge & Christian Hell in the Cell Match for the Tag Titles would have been different and cool for them to do.

[The Mackem]

Bossman vs. anyone

[Vastardikai]

Freebirds vs. Von Erichs

:shifty:

[Jeritron]

I think Rock/Austin and Bret/HBK are obvious choices, as is Austin/McMahon

But, I don't think they were really no brainers for hell in a cell because, for the most part, I think of hell in a cell as being a device to capture the feel of the fued or the compettitors. Austin/McMahon fits in the sense that it traps Vince in their with his biggest fear, a complete badass.
But the other two fueds are kinda icon/icon fueds for whos the top man. It's not really what the hell in a cell is about.

Most of the time, I think of Foley and Taker being involved. If the cell is hell, it needs its sadistic satan to administer the pain, and the latest victim or challenger thats coming in to test it.
Thats what HBK, Bossman, Lesnar, Bats, Orton and others have been to Taker.
And thats what HHH was to Foley.

Matches like Nash/HHH, HHH/Michaels, and DX/McMahons really didn't have the same feel. It just seemed liek they were going with a cell to add interest to the match rather than to add a new dimension to the storyline.

So, the ones I think never reached the cell that perhaps should have are....Foley/Orton, Foley/Edge, Taker/Kane and Taker/Austin (this one should have happened instead of Bossman/Taker earlier that year, they wasted it)

My canidate for what fued most deserves to be resolved or taken to the cell in 08 hasn't happened yet, but probably will...

Edge/Taker

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm sorry, but I don't get this thread. You talk about Hell in a Cell like it's the end all, be all of feud ending matches, like it's the World Title of feud enders. It's never been about that. Hell in the Cell is about brutality and force; that's what has made the great Cell matches great; not the "end of a feud."

Austin vs. Rock ended at WrestleMania X-7, which made perfect sense because that's kind of where they left off last at WrestleMania 15. It was the end of Austin/McMahon, and that's the way it should have been.

Rock/Triple H did tons of matches together. Singles matches, cage matches, a ladder match, they even went the Iron Man together. A Hell in the Cell would've been an extra chapter that didn't need to be written.

Again, I'm sorry, but I don't get this thread. Hell in the Cell is a great match when its a brutal affair, but it doesn't "need" to happen to square out a great feud.

I never said the matches "needed" to go to the Cell. They were technically fine and made money as they were. The point of this thread is to talk about feuds and kayfabe hatreds that could have justified being put in the Cell, but never were.

Take Austin vs. Triple H. In kayfabe, Triple H ordered Austin to be run down with a car. Austin then proceeded to drop Triple H from a crane whilst trapped in a car. I believe that the only reason their match at No Way Out 2001 was not in the Hell in a Cell, was because they had just done one two months prior.

Austin vs. McMahon would have been great for the Cell, because as someone pointed out, Vince would finally be without his Corporation, without his authority and without anyone to save him. Austin grating Vince's face along the mesh of the Cell would have been a moment that people would have eaten up during the Attitude era.

These are the feuds I am talking about. I can understand why you would perhaps disclude matches like Austin vs. Rock, because they were more based around professional rivalry than personal hatred, but I still maintain that the iconic status of both men kind of gets in the way of their portrayal as opposing characters sometimes. You go back early enough, and Austin and Rock have had a pretty personal feud. It only got more intense when Austin, McMahon and Triple H beat The Rock down in the Cage Match on RAW following WrestleMania X-7.

To be honest, I really think that in a perfect world, the first Hell in a Cell after the 6-Man Armageddon match, would have been Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship. They were obviously gearing up for an Austin vs. Triple H feud, what with the miscommunication ending in their World Tag Team Title loss to Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho. The two had also been in a really brutal feud, and The Rock had scores to settle with both men. That perhaps would have been the perfect capper, rather than individual matches.

[#1-norm-fan]

JBl/Cena

This man knows what he is talking about.

:y:

[Mr. Nerfect]

This year, a possible Hell in a Cell Match they could do is Randy Orton vs. John Cena. It has the heat and the story behind it to justify the stipulation. Undertaker vs. Edge is also likely for the Cell, but I'm not really a big fan, though. It makes the most sense, given that Edge attacked Taker during a Cell Match, and they will no doubt be feuding through WrestleMania.

I'd honestly just throw six guys into the one match against each other, and do the second-ever Six-Man HIAC. Cena, Orton, Edge, Taker, Matt Hardy and Mr. Kennedy. You have a lot of stories in there then. Cena has current heat with Orton, and could easily bring Mr. Kennedy into the injury story. Orton has the past with Edge, heat with Cena, heat that can be easily established with Matt Hardy, and a previous HIAC bout with The Undertaker. Edge stole Mr. Kennedy's MITB title shot, and Mr. Kennedy ended Edge's undefeated streak. Kennedy also suffered his first pin at the hands of Matt Hardy. Edge and Matt Hardy of course have their heat, and The Undertaker has been in Hell in a Cell with Orton, and is not really friends with anyone else in the match.

[The Optimist]

Cena vs. Orton in a Cell sounds extremely impotent. Even with the way they're trying to push Orton to be air-quote sadistic, it bores me. An Edge-Undertaker Cell match is really only merited if they make it as personal as I want them to, I figure they'll just make it about the World Title, so I don't expect it. Not to say that it wouldn't rule, but I don't expect it.

[Shisen Kopf]

Bam Bam Bigelow v Bastion Booger, the greatet fued in history. Also, Adam Bomb should have rassled in the HITC too. He was a legend.

[Vastardikai]

Doink-Crush should have had a HIAC match!

:shifty:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Cena vs. Orton in a Cell sounds extremely impotent. Even with the way they're trying to push Orton to be air-quote sadistic, it bores me. An Edge-Undertaker Cell match is really only merited if they make it as personal as I want them to, I figure they'll just make it about the World Title, so I don't expect it. Not to say that it wouldn't rule, but I don't expect it.

Oh, I agree. I'd not be looking forward to either match, personally, but they are just two I can see the WWE running this year.

Personally, I hope they surprise us all, and go with CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin getting so intense that it eventually leads to a Cell Match.