Another Classic Cage Match

[Y 2 Jake]

Will there ever be one? I'm not saying that there is never going to be a good or great Cage match ever again. But I don't think there will ever be an absolute classic again. They used to be the gimmick that ended the fued. But now there must but be at least 10 cage matches a year give away on free tv by the big two. There so frequent that it's become just another match.

I also feel that everything that has been done in a cage match has already been done. I don't feel that it is something that they can come up with something unique in it like a Ladder match or even a HIAC.

 

[Agrex]

The cage match was never anything big. But again WWE over uses a gimmick match. In my opinion the cage match is a smaller, more boring rip-off (even though the cage match came first) of the Hell In A Cell. WWE doesn't know how to play out a cage match. Most of the cage matches are like normal matches, but surround by cage, because the wrestlers barely do anything with the cage.

I agree that there will never be a jaw-dropping good cage match!

 

[mr. krinkle]

BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs from earlier this year was the best cage match i had seen in quite some time...it was a cage match used correctly as it was the match to finally end thier fued once and for all, and it was a complete bloodbath involving barbed wire and railroad spikes.

 

[jackismon1]

I agree i don't think they will ever have a good cage match like they use to I mean they don't ever use the cage as a weapon anymore i mean they every once in awhile they will at least make 75% of what they use to.

 

[ACTAFOOL]

ya.. the last great cage match i can remember is angle vs benoit with austin on as an commentator (lol hes a funny one too) though that jeff vs nitro one was pretty good.. nothing great or classic but it was pretty entertaining i guess.. oh and lashley vs hardcore holly, ok that mactch was actually HORRIBLE but that spot at the end where lashley blew the side of the cage off to hit umaga was cool lol

but TNA puts on some sick cage matches... i really enjoy them cuz they usually use the cage a lot as a wepon.. and their cage just looks more brutal, it looks like it actually hurts.. WWEs cage looks so weak...

 

[The Heartthrob]

You want a great cage match? Bret vs. Owen from SummerSlam 1994. They had a big storyline that they had built on for several months, it wasn't a throw-together from a week earlier. You get to the match, and they went out there, and didn't have to empty buckets of blood to get the match over. They wrestled their asses off. They both had their spots, it was dramatic, and you had the big climatic finish when Bret won, with Owen hanging upside down on the outside. Not too cage matches can compare. The first Hell In A Cell, the first Elimination Chamber, and TNA's Six Sides of Steel get honorable mention, but just for their innovativeness, and how uniquely they were introduced to the product.

 

[bookmanfan]

AMW vs. XXX was a phenomenal Cage match. You really thought each pinfall was the end! The whole build was great as was the match. Each man put their body on the line and the crowd loved it. The epitome of entertaining the fans.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I certainley think its possible, if you have the right two guys, and the right circumstances. I thought the Triple H Vs Ric Flair cage match from two years ago was excellent. I also thought the Umaga Vs Hardy Match was very good.

But its not gonna happen if they keep having it like it was just another match, this is very true. Back in the day, a cage match was a HUGE deal, and they should try to go back to having it be something special, and have less of them.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

They use them a lot because it's evolved into the Cell.

If you want classic cage matches, watch the indies, watch BJ Whitmer vs Jimmy Jacobs or CM Punk vs Raven, those have the most "classic" feel to them.

In the WWE, the cell is the end all of feuds, so that's their cage match.

Just like TNA used to have the Ultimate X as the end all for Xers (not anymore, THEY use gimmick matches too much) and just like old territorial promotions used to have loser leaves town matches, it's all about the context of the promotion.


To me, cage matches aren't about highspots off the top of the cage, that's stupid, to me, cage matches should be about brutality. The thing is, the WWE cage just looks so slicked out and clean that it doesn't have the gritty barbaric feel that it used to, the Cell still has that just because it looks so damn ominous.

 

[JasonSensation]

I personally used to love it when you had to buy a PPV to watch a cage match. I don't think that it's impossible to re-invent the cage match as a feud-ending match as long as it's not given away for free on TV very often. Once, maybe twice seeing as how we have two major brands, would be the max I'd like to see on free TV. Who remembers Matt Hardy vs Edge? Fantastic example of what cage matches used to be about. How did they kill the memory of that match, though? By having both guys wrestling each other in their "feud-ender" on RAW two weeks later in a Street Fight, a match which only made Matt look out of his league-a terrible move on WWE's part as he worked his butt off in that match and looked very legit by defeating Edge cleanly by pinfall in the middle of the cage. The match itself introduced Hardy as ready for at least the semi-main event (IC or US Title) but didn't hurt Edge at all. Again, the cage match that was supposed to have been the end-all became just another match in their series. In turn, things like this have devalued the cage immensely. It's a real shame. How about Ron Garvin vs. Ric Flair at Starrcade 87? An insane cage match by psychological standards that told a great story. I say the Hell in a Cell match becomes a once-a-year tradition. And I don't mean one per brand. I mean one. Period. Then maybe one cage match per brand on free TV a year (IC or US Title matches) and only one cage match on PPV a year (one of the World Titles). Seems reasonable. Who agrees?

 

[C-Murder]

Break Down 1998 - Number One Contender match between Mankind, The Rock and Ken Shamrock was an absolutely great cage match, with a good finish.

I've even been nice enough to find it on youtube

Agree or Disagree?

It is a very good match I was there to see it live, hot crowd for that one. I agree with Jake, the cage match used to be the culmination of every big feud. They used to mean something, now they just stick any two random wrestlers in there to settle nothing. Its the evolution of the business I guess, where feuds don't last long enough to end in a brutal cage match.

 

[ortonchamp27]

Both of the Taboo Tuesday cage matches were very good in my opinion. The first year was flair vs orton and the second time it was flair vs hhh and they utilized the cage fairly well in both matches. Flair isnt one of my favorite wrestlers but he knows how to put on a good cage match.

 

[8five]

The evolution of the cage match is clearly the hell in the cell in that it is the culmination to major feuds in recent years. The cage match has been overused as of late and a clear example of this is the fact that TNA has an entire PPV of cage matches, I mean for the most part they are really good but its just too much,seriously.
As for recent good cage matches:
AJ Styles v. Abyss from the first lockdown was insane, the sunset flip powerbomb off the top of the cage onto tacks was a good finish
AMW v. XXX - more spots then iknow what to do with, and although the walk of the cage gets all the hype, my favorite part of that match was the death sentence from he top of the cage
3rd Stage of hell HHH v. Austin - Last time WWE used a cage to end an intense rivalry and had to throw it in a gimmick so that says a lot


My vote for worse cage match: 3 level cage on Nitro, it was just a catastrophe, with Vince Russo and David Arquette nuff said

 

[ABS]

Come on you guys forgot one classic cgae match , when ever someone says cage it comes to mind. Jericho vs Christian , that waz Class!! back to topic yup I wondered the same shit , cag matches in the wwe are so gay now.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

Anymore the Cage match is only used as a tool. You mainly only see guys in it, that can do something off the top of it. (ie. Jeff Hardy) If its not used for that, then its used for something completely ******ed and unworth watching. (ie. McMahon/Hornswoggle) Its because of those two things, that the Cage match has lost its mystique.

If you're asking what more can be done inside a Steel Cage, to make something never seen happen.. it reminds me of the Summerslam 2001 match with Undertaker and Kane v. Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon, when Shane McMahon and D.D.P. were suggesting Undertaker deliver a Last Ride to D.D.P. from off the top of the cage.. however Taker was against it, in fear that it could seriously hurt him, even fatally.

Now, in all honesty.. I think if that would've been done, it would've been forever remembered as one of the most unbelieveable sights in a cage, ever. Similar to Elix Skipper's tight-rope walk, into a hurricanrana.

The thing about why it'd be hard to ever have another absolute classic is as you've said. The Cage is used almost once every month. Its not exactly that its become "another match" but its no longer considered to be a special match. In the fact that it happens so often anymore.

The other thing is, in order to have a classic cage match, you truly have to have the right type of feud, individuals, and overall setting. You can't just throw two people in. You can't just have it randomly appear in a feud. It has to have a purpose, a reason.

Edge v. Matt Hardy - Unforgiven 2005, that was a Cage match with purpose. It wasn't to settle a feud, but it was to contain it. The previous p.p.v. match between the two was stopped due to "blood loss" so therefore, the Cage was used to not only "hold" Edge from escaping.. but also keep the match from ending without a true winner.

 

[Mugatunow]

Absolutly. Cage matches, by definition, are supposed to be a last resort match. No one goes in or out until a definitive winner is decided. Having Hornswoggle/Vince just makes it look like the cage is an expensive shrine. TNA has the right idea with saving it for a payperview, but they waste it sometimes too on TV.

 

[Mr. TM]

The Cage match is the lowest form on the evolutionary tract of gimmick contained matches.

Cage Match------------------>War Games---->Lethal Lockdown
| V
V Thundercage------->Thunderdome
Hell in a Cell------------------------------------------>Kennel of hell
| | |
V V V
Elimination Chamber Punjabi Prison Doomsday--->Triple Cage Match

Not saying that these are all the cage matches, but they are a good set of them. The cage is the original, and so boring for a gimmick match. I think that if anything its a glorified regular match wrapped with chain link. Some of the latter evolutions of the cage match themselves arent too great, like the PP match, and others like the HIAC are in themselves getting too original, and thus evolved, just like the newest evolution such as the EC became the Extreme EC match. With two EC matches in one night, it wont be soon until it itself evolves into a new match, with 10 EC caegs stacked on eachother with laser beams and rockets, set on fire, on an ice berge, with polar bears on all the odd numbered cells, and skilles on the even levels floors.

 

[gunslinger72]

to see some great cage matches, go back to the early War Games. The 4 Horsemen, The Dangerous Alliance...now THOSE were some increadible cage matches. Brutality within the ring and the cage used as a cruel weapon. Just seeing those old matches on youtube brings back memeories of when I would NEVER miss a wrestling program. Todays cage matches are just dull in my opinion..and highly predictable.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I think the solution to this problem would be to bring back the Cage with the bars, not the blue one, but the black version, like the one Mcmahon and Austin battled in at St valentines day masscre. I think the bars make for an intensely more brutal match, as the current version is just fencing, and is weak as shit. same reason why the HIAC looks weak to me. Its just fucking fence. They can say it "rips flesh" as much as they fucking want, but anyone with a damn backyard knows thats dumb. The bars on the other hand give something actually tangible and solid to hit. It also makes the door a much more brutal weapon, and provides better footholds for various areial maneuvers. Bring back the black bars guys.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I think the solution to this problem would be to bring back the Cage with the bars, not the blue one, but the black version, like the one Mcmahon and Austin battled in at St valentines day masscre. I think the bars make for an intensely more brutal match, as the current version is just fencing, and is weak as shit. same reason why the HIAC looks weak to me. Its just fucking fence. They can say it "rips flesh" as much as they fucking want, but anyone with a damn backyard knows thats dumb. The bars on the other hand give something actually tangible and solid to hit. It also makes the door a much more brutal weapon, and provides better footholds for various areial maneuvers. Bring back the black bars guys.

For whatever weird reason, I can't remember the black bar cage. I can't think of how its different from the blue bar version. And I completely agree that the fencing version they have now is just pure crap. W.C.W. always had the fence version, and what set W.W.F. apart from the rest, was the blue bar cage.

Now, if you ask me, personally. I loved the Bret Hart/Owen Hart - Summerslam 1994 cage match. The blue barred cage. The reason I loved that style of cage, is because A.) You could see through it clearly and it wasn't blurry to look through from the wide angled camera. B.) You could hook an opponent upside down in the bars, whereas with the fencing version you can't. I loved the things you could do with that.

Finally, the fencing version sways back and forth when a person gets tossed into it. However, the metal blue bar version.. never moved. Thats a sign that, to me, when you hit it, it hit you back. Instead of you basically bouncing off it.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

The black bar cage was the exact same as the blue bar cage, except, well, it was painted black lol. It has all the attributes of the blue cage, but doesnt look as hokey and old school. It was used most primarily during the atitude era, and most notably in the Austin-Mcmahon Cage match were Mcmahon flew off and whacked the table. If they used this cage, the matches would have their brutality back. Id rather see a cage match worked in this cage than an HIAC right now.

 

[JasonSensation]

As someone who has had a cage match in his career, I have to disagree with the notion that the fencing cage doesn't hurt. The fence in anyone's backyard and the fencing used for a cage are manufactured the same, sure. But a cage is so much more tense than your average fence. Hitting it really does hurt like a mother. Now, I'd much rather hit the cage used currently than the old-school blue/black barred cage. However, the notion that the cage used currently is weak and doesn't hurt? B.S. Just thought that someone who has actually been in a real cage match could weigh in a little better on the subject