HHH vs Undertaker III: The Epitome of Storytelling
This story was heavily based off this story that I seen earlier today where this twitter user wrote about one of his favorite matches, which was Brock Lesnar vs Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series 2018, click here to view.
For those who don’t really know me or those who don’t follow me on Twitter, don’t know that I’m a really big wrestling fan. It’s been a love for me since I was about five. My grandpa loved it, my dad loved it, and now, I love it. In my 15 years of watching pro-wrestling, I’ve watched numerous amazing matches, such as both of the Taker vs Michaels matches at WM 25 & 26, the four matches between Okada and Omega, all of the Cena vs Edge matches, but I can point out one match that is as perfect as it gets and it’s the Hell in a Cell match between HHH and Undertaker at Wrestlemania 28. This match had all of the aspects that make a wrestling match amazing, such as move sets, drama, and most importantly, storytelling.
Storytelling holds a special place in the hearts of pro-wrestling fans because if written correctly, it could create an all-time great storyline or if the storyline is written with loose ends and/or nonsensical parts, it’ll easily be forgotten and may even become a meme. The storytelling in the Hell in a Cell match was perfect. I remember, as a kid, that I was fascinated by the close calls that the match had and plus, I could tell it was an important match because they put Jim Ross, who is the best commentator of all time, on commentary, and was also the debut of that terrible Mohawk that Taker had for a period of time. But through further examination, the match became even better when I learned the importance of storytelling in high profile matches, like this one.
The focal point of this match was the role of Shawn Michaels, who had lost to the Undertaker twice at Wrestlemania 25 & 26 and had earned the respect of Taker because he put up a battle and kept true to promise of retiring since he lost. Michaels was also the best friend of HHH; they were working on-and -off as D-Generation X, but remained best friends regardless. Michaels, who, metaphorically, played middleman due to the respect of Taker and his loyalty to HHH, ended up being the referee between the two in their Wrestlemania 28 matchup. The fact that Michaels was the referee was a big deal because he’d have to be balanced to both parties, without any bias.
The match started off with back-and-forth blows by both HHH and Taker, until Taker brought the match outside the ring. Taker threw HHH like a rag doll; hitting him with the steel steps, running him into the cell, and delivering constant blows, to stop HHH from gaining any momentum. For about 12 minutes, Taker did damage to HHH, leaving him with a minor cut on his eyebrow on his left eye. The storytelling portion of this match started when Michaels began to tell HHH to quit with the barrage of strikes with the steel chair. HHH felt as though his best friend had turned on him and began pushing Michaels when he attempted to check on the health of the Undertaker. HHH had seen enough of the “beating-around-the-bush” act and gave him an ultimatum: “end it(the match) or I will”.
Shawn’s mind is sent into a frenzy, at that exact moment, because he is unsure if he should he listen to his best friend and end this match, in order to end the suffering or allow this match to continue because Taker, who respected him, told him not to end the match. Suddenly, Michaels is forced to allow the match to continue because, after checking on Taker, he was placed into the Hell’s Gate, which is a submission move that is similar to the triangle choke in MMA, but obviously fake. In this instance, as a viewer, we’ve unanimously decided that Michaels is going to side with HHH and team up to defeat the Undertaker, thus ending his then 19–0 Wrestlemania streak. While Shawn is out and trying to recoup himself, HHH is placed in the Hell’s Gates and is knocked out, but Michaels is out, so no one is able to call off the match, this angers Taker. A new ref enters the cage and counts: 1, 2, *kickout by HHH*, Taker realized that he should’ve won this match already, so in anger, he chokeslams the ref; leaving Michaels, who’s still knocked out, as the other ref in the cage.
After that near-fall, HHH and Taker both stand, Taker attempts the tombstone piledriver, but HHH slips out and pushes Taker in the direction of Michaels, where he gets the sweet chin music and turns around into the pedigree by HHH. Before the count, you could legitimately predict that this match was over because Taker took two largely “effective” and well-known finishers and hardly anyone has ever kicked out of that. Fast forward to the count: 1, 2, 2 1/2, *kickout by Taker*. As a kid, I remember thinking that that was unreal because no one should have kicked out of that, but he did and I felt like it gave Taker this sort-of supernatural element to his character. The kickout resulted in HHH and Michaels giving a look of disbelief, as if they had just seen the devil. As a wrestling fan, these are the moments that are “once in a lifetime” and moments that we only dream to see. It’s almost a feeling that cannot be recreated on any attempt. While writing this, I feel that it’s amazing that moments like Michaels’ face expressions to the near-fall and the emotions being expressed, are pieces into what makes this match my favorite of all-time.
From that point to the end of the match, HHH and Taker exchange near-fall after near-fall, where Michaels reacted to each of near-fall and strike, as if they were killing him. After relentless strikes from Taker and effortless offense, Taker finished off HHH with a tombstone piledriver, in the middle of the ring, clean as a whistle; 1, 2, 3.
After the match, all three, Michaels, HHH, and Taker, held each other while they walked back up the ramp and stared at the, now, 20–0 record of the Undertaker on the titantron. Once they got to the top of the ramp, they turned around and looked at all 78,383 fans. This moment will be ingrained in my mind forever because it true did feel like it was the end of an era, hence why this match was called the “End of an Era”. It seemed like these guys had laid it all out on the line and were at the end of their road and wanted to put on a show that would further cement their legacies. Though they hadn’t retired in that moment, this distinct moment was the end of their era as the faces of WWE.
-IZ
