On June 28, 1998, in the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Mick Foley and Mark Calaway stood atop a steel cage — the cell — to start what would be arguably the most unforgettable match in wrestling history. Mick Foley was more well known as Mankind and Mark Calaway as The Undertaker. Almost as soon as the match began, Foley would fall 22-feet into legend.
Fifteen years earlier, Jimmy Snuka famously jumped off the top of the steel cage and onto his opponent, the Magnificent Muraco, in what is likely the most awe-inspiring wrestling moment of the 1980s. The Madison Square Garden crowd roared in excitement following Snuka’s flight and in that crowd was a teenager named Mick Foley who just found his inspiration.
However, for many reasons, Foley’s moment in Pittsburgh was far more dangerous. The match actually took place as part of the WWE pay-per-view King of the Ring.
Just a couple minutes into the match came the first of two shocking highlights. It was something that only a handful of people knew was going to happen and it stunned everybody watching. Mankind leapt off the cage (it was made to look as if Undertaker was throwing him). He fell 22-feet down, and hard, through one of the announcing tables and onto the concrete floor. Undertaker watched, hoping to see Foley move which, eventually, he barely did.
For several minutes he was attended to, ended up on a gurney, and was eventually being led to the back and, presumably, to a hospital. That’s when the event went from shocking to surreal.
The fight called for more in the script but only if Foley could continue and to say he wanted to continue is an understatement. Despite his injuries, which included a separated shoulder, bruised ribs, internal bleeding, and a likely concussion, Foley got up and began walking back to the ring. He climbed the cage again and re-engaged with Undertaker on top of it.
Undertaker then chokeslammed Foley, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him down onto the top of the cage. That’s when the unexpected happened.
The cage broke. Foley descended clear through it and violently hit the ring canvas some 16 feet below. It seemed obvious that it was unplanned, based on how the cage snapped. To make matters worse, a chair that Foley had brought with him to the top of the cage to use as a weapon on Undertaker, had fallen with him and slammed into his face, shattering several of his teeth and dislocating his jaw. Foley was knocked out cold.
Personnel quickly attended to him again. Calaway, re-telling the story with Foley in a recent video posted by WWE to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of the match, said that he wasn’t sure if Foley was still alive. It was a thought most people had who watched the event. Calaway, still trying to be in character as the Undertaker, swooped down onto the ring and asked Terry Funk, a wrestling legend and good friend of Foley who attended to him, if Foley was still alive. Funk told him that Foley was still breathing.
Understandably, Foley barely remembers anything from that night, but he was alive. Surely the fight would be stopped but Foley insisted it go on. It did.
Thankfully, the rest of the match featured no more accidents or insane moments, though Foley was soon slammed onto hundreds of thumbtacks, as per his idea before the match. He was finally pinned, offering relief to everyone watching.
The two stunts, or “bumps” as they’re called in wrestling, are forever embedded into wrestling lore and numerous wrestling magazines have gone on to call it the most memorable match in wrestling history. WWE owner Vince McMahon was shaken by the match. He told Foley, “You have no idea how much I appreciate what you have just done for this company but I never wanna see anything like that again.”
Foley gave his body to the business in a way that would thankfully not be allowed in wrestling today, and it forced him to retire within two years of this match, at the peak of his career, age 35, but not before he famously tag-teamed with The Rock.
He still suffers from chronic pain from the match. One of the most liked wrestlers in the business, Foley has since been inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame. 25 years later and it’s safe to say that there will never be another match like the Hell in a Cell match in Pittsburgh between the Undertaker and Mankind and, quite honestly, that’s a good thing.
