The mystique behind WWE, the largest wrestling company in the world, is due to its great legacy that has been building year after year since its foundation in the middle of the last century. And within its many glorious nights, this June 28 is the anniversary of one of the most violent in its history: The Undertaker vs. Mankind.
22 years ago the PPV event was held King of the Ring 1998, a pay to see that would crown the winner of the eponymous tournament. However, the penultimate fight of the night would be the most remembered over time.
A Hell in a Cell that haunted death
That night, The Undertaker y Mankind The faces would be seen inside a steel cage after a rivalry that involved ‘buried-alive’ fights. However, it would be the moments outside it that would go down to posterity.
As soon as the fight began, both characters would climb to the roof of the cage to exchange blows. Within seconds one of the most famous scenes of the entire company would occur: Undertaker would launch Mankind to the Spanish commentary table.
As they carried him on a stretcher to the racks, the aching rival would break free of the medical corps to return to combat. However, we would see another iconic scene: Undertaker would apply a claw to the ceiling, causing the surface to break and Foley’s body to fall heavily on the canvas. This was not planned and “The Gravedigger” later revealed that he thought at the time that “he had killed him.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnR3iQjSGVE
In case this was not enough, both bodies would fall on bedbugs in the middle of the fight.
The meeting not only consolidated Undertaker in the industry, but also served to ratify Mick Foley as one of the maximum exponents of the violent struggle after risking his own life.. In the preview, Foley and Terry Funk (another legend of violent fighting) exchanged ideas about what should be the main ‘bump’ (fall or violent action) of the fight and the ‘Mankind’ himself suggested that the Undertaker pull it from the higher from the cell to the commentary table.
Foley said he had to convince the Undertaker to increase the brutality of his fight: “It was a two week process. The Taker then said to me, ‘Jack, why are you so determined to kill yourself?’ I said we have a history together and that we have a legacy “.
You can learn more about the process of creating this fight in this documentary created for the 20-year anniversary of the meeting:
If you want to see the full fight in good quality, you can subscribe to WWE Network for 10 dollars a month.
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