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In the non-traditional sense: I have to give credit to the first Elimination Chamber. Survivor Series 2002 was a memorable PPV for me, top to bottom, and the first Chamber really made it seem like these men would do anything to be World Heavyweight Champion, which was presented as a brand new title at the time. For a fan that was hitting puberty with Dean Ambrose punches at the time, this really breathed prestige into the World Heavyweight Title.
I'd also throw out a Hell in a Cell somewhere. Of all of Cell matches, the ones that have been the most entertaining for me are Triple H vs. Cactus Jack in 2000 and the Armageddon 2000 Cell. I have seen The Undertaker's Cell matches against Shawn Michaels and Mankind, but I kind of went into them with the iconic association and kind of watched them as history projects. Props to those men for establishing the concept and almost killing themselves, but something about the 2000 Cell matches carried a more contemporary emotional weight that I could latch onto as a fan. The Armageddon Cell match is a lot more of a cluster-Sunny, but I had a lot of fun at the time watching it.
I'll also give a shout-out to Triple H vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in the original 3 Stages of Hell (although I don't think it was billed as such and only got the name in a video game). I was a fresh fan at the time, and I was genuinely surprised when Austin won the straight fall and Triple H won the No DQ portion. The way they were presented, for whatever reason, made me expect the opposite. I also expected Austin to win the last fall, because he was the hero going into the title match against The Rock at WrestleMania X-7. When Austin turned at the PPV, I thought "Ah. Triple H is going to fight him for the title now." Nope. Oh well. I find it weird that Austin never had a one-on-one Cell match, and battles against Triple H and The Rock would have been pretty appropriate.
Just a random Hell in a Cell aside: Did you know that Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger have been in a Hell in a Cell match? I was on the Cell's Wiki page (no mention of ending Tim White's career and causing a lasting bout of depression--Josh Mathews should get on editing that) and saw that they had been in one. I couldn't for the life of me remember either of them working one, but then I discovered it was a 5-man RAW dark match inside the Cell. Do you think the concept has been watered down at all over the years?
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