Going back into the annals of WWE history, PWPNation.com is bringing you some unique coverage on the history of the Hell in a Cell match heading into this years WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 pay-per-view headlined by The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar.
The “Highway to Hell in a Cell” begins with PWP Owner Jay Alletto diving into the Hell in a Cell Match between Triple H vs. Chris Jericho from Judgment Day 2002 & their historic rivalry.
At Judgment Day 2002, WWE brought back the Hell in a Cell match after not producing a single match inside the structure in 2001. Back then, The Cell was saved for special occasions when it was really needed to put the exclamation point on a rivalry.
In this case, Triple H & Chris Jericho needed to put their long withstanding rivalry to an end. The heat between the two started almost immediately and would lead to a series of huge matches culminating in this epic Hell in a Cell clash.
Jericho debuted in WWE in 1999 and had instant heat backstage with a lot of the WWE veterans; one being Triple H. The stories were circulating on wrestling websites about the struggles Y2J had adapting to the WWE system.
Jericho told a story in a 2nd book, “Undisputed”, about how he called Triple H (after HHH had given him his number if he ever needed anything) for directions to a venue and Triple H responded with, “get a map.”
The backstage heat slowly subsided as the two were put together on screen as Jericho was pushed as a top babyface due to The Rock filming “The Scorpion King” & Steve Austin still recovering from neck surgery.
The feud between The Game & Y2J started in 2000 when Jericho recently had started his classic on-air jabs at Stephanie McMahon.
Triple H was the current WWE Champion and a match was quickly booked between the two on the April 17, 2000 edition of Raw for the WWE Championship after Stephanie had enough of Jericho’s insults.
In a shocking upset, Jericho became WWE Champion after a fast count by referee Earl Hebner. Long story short: Triple H forced Hebner to reverse the decision and Jericho had to give the championship back.
A few months later, the rivalry hit a climax when a Last Man Standing Match (which was also rare at the time) took place at Fully Loaded 2000. Triple H defeated Jericho by one second in this bloody, hard-hitting contest.
In 2001, Triple H was now aligned with Steve Austin as “The Two Man Power Trip” had taken over WWE. During this time period, Chris Jericho aligned himself with his former nemesis, Chris Benoit, to take on Austin & Triple H for the WWE Tag Team Titles on Raw.
This match was epic; highly touted as one of the greatest in Raw history.
However, the future of WWE’s creative plans were changed that night as Triple H suffered a torn quadriceps muscle.
The match briefly continued, with Jericho putting the injured Triple H in the Walls of Jericho on the announcer’s table before the team of Jericho & Benoit were victorious becoming the new WWE Tag Team Champions.
Triple H was out of action for 7 months. In the meantime, Jericho had his most successful run to date as he became the first ever WWE Undisputed Champion defeating both The Rock & Stone Cold in the same night.
Of course, Triple H returned to a massive ovation on the January 7, 2002 edition of Monday Night Raw at Madison Square Garden. Shortly after that, he won the 2002 Royal Rumble and was scheduled to face Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 18 for the WWE Undisputed Championship.
It made sense because Triple H was injured in a match against Jericho, but it lacked the intensity the rivalry started with two years earlier.
At this point, Triple H & Stephanie had a nasty marriage split on WWE Raw & Jericho became a utility player in this story, even though he was the reigning WWE Undisputed Champion heading into WrestleMania. It seemed awkward at the time & still is to this day.
Triple H convincingly got retribution on Jericho & Stephanie by defeating Y2J in the main event of WrestleMania 18 and becoming the Undisputed Champion.
Just two months later, Judgment Day 2002 became the scene for the first Hell in a Cell match in about 18 months. The angle heading into his match could have been as simple as Jericho wanting retribution against Triple H for the match at WrestleMania 18.
Of course, it was made more complicated than it should have been.
Hulk Hogan defeated Triple H with help from The Undertaker at Backlash 2002 for the WWE Undisputed Championship. Triple H now wanted revenge on The Undertaker, but the two were on different brands.
Vince McMahon ended up booking the Hell in a Cell match, as it was the top feud on the new Smackdown! brand & the WWE Undisputed Championship was being defended by Hulk Hogan against Raw brand star, The Undertaker.
The feud involved guest appearances & an odd #1 contenders match where Jericho beat Triple H with help from ‘Taker (With Hulk Hogan as champion, ‘Taker wanted to keep the strap on who he believed was the weakest possible opponent).
Even though the feud was thrown back together, the match lived up to the hype. Fans were excited because they knew that these two always delivered. And this was no exception.
Triple H & Jericho had a hard hitting, bloody Hell in a Cell war.
Jericho introduced a ladder into the Hell in a Cell environment for the first time, causing further damage to the already bloody face of Triple H. Triple H responded with the use of the steel steps & a steel chair; severely damaging the bloodied up shoulder of Chris Jericho. The two used the cell ferociously, slamming each other face first into it in a variety of creative ways.
This was the final match for referee Tim White, as he was knocked into the cell by Chris Jericho causing a career-ending injury. Since the referee was down and out, the cell was opened by WWE officials. This gave the two combatants free will to leave the cell. Triple H introduced a barbwire covered 2×4 to the match and Jericho tried to escape by climbing to the top of the cell.
Both men struck each other with the barbwire covered 2×4 and fought on top of the shaky cell. It was Triple H who scored with a pedigree on top of the cell for the 3 count and the victory. The feud was officially over for years to come as the two never had another one-on-one PPV match. They faced off in a variety of tag team matches, singles matches on Raw & multi-man contests, but the true rivalry was set to rest at Judgment Day 2002.
The aftermath saw Jericho move down the card and Triple H continue to thrive in the championship scene. Triple H regained a World Championship when Eric Bischoff handed the newly disputed World Heavyweight Championship to him on Raw & Chris Jericho didn’t have another opportunity to hold it until he won the World Heavyweight Championship nearly a year after returning to WWE in 2008.
