"Broken In Half"

-"AS GOD IS MY WITNESS, HE IS BROKEN IN HALF!!"-
(Announcer Jim Ross, The Undertaker Vs Mankind: Hell In A Cell, 1998)
Mick Foley loved pro-wrestling. As a young child, he and his friends would get together and film matches, storylines and interviews where he would display an innate ability to risk life and limb for the sake of a good stunt, consequences be damned.

Foley had been around the business for quite some time when he appeared in the WWF as masked lunatic Mankind, he already had developed a reputation for going above and beyond the standard threshold of risk and pain in his matches and had been the victim of many brutal injuries including the loss of half an ear during a match in Germany with behemoth Van Vader.

Mankind's dark persona was custom-made to be used in a storyline feud with dedicated WWF wrestler an all round professional The Undertaker, who was regularly feuding with similarly dark or twisted characters. The Taker/Mankind feud built until it was decided they would meet in Hell in a Cell, an Undertaker trademark match where the ring was surrounded by a sixteen foot steel mesh cage. The story had built to the point that this violent conclusion was inevitable.

The match began and Mankind made his way to the cell, then in a puzzling twist, he climbed the outside of the cell wall until he was positioned on its roof, high above the fans and the ring. Undertaker made his entrance and joined Mankind on top the monstrous construction. The two wrestlers gingerly brawled on the cell roof while various clips twanged and panels bent, it was a truly uncomfortable sight. Suddenly, scant seconds into the match. Undertaker grabbed Mankind and hurled him from the roof down onto one of the announce tables, obliterating it. The crowd stood and roared whilst millions of fans jaws around the world simultaneously dropped. It was an incredible and highly dangerous stunt that very few expected, but knowing Foley was involved, we should of known better.

After some medical help, it appeared the match was over. Incredibly, Mankind made it to his feet and re-climbed the cell, upon reaching the top, Undertaker choke-slammed Foley through the roof and into the ring below, a move which Foley has gone on record as stating was far more damaging than the more visually spectacular first fall and an event he has little to no recollection of. Following him down, The Undertaker continued to systematically dismantle Mankind until finally ending the match via a Tombstone piledriver and a bag of thumbtacks.

In wrestling, you don't always have to actually "win" matches to be a success, for those fans who weren't already aware of Foley's death-defying bumps, the Hell In A Cell match introduced them to a man who appeared to live to entertain the fans through his vulnerability and bloody-mindedness, living the principle of entertainment at any cost.

WWE have regularly used the Hell In A Cell footage in many highlight reels and it is a staple mention in discussions about pro-wrestling's most shocking events, or "Holy Shit" moments, as they are often called.
Sadly, this match also saw the beginning of a misguided attempt of constant one-upmanship and to this day many young wrestlers have fixated on the idea that a quick route to success is to nearly kill yourself in the ring, even if in front of a small, uncaring audience.
One of these days, someone will receive something much more permanent than crowd approval.