Edge vs The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell, WWE, 17/08/2008)

The final showdown of one of the best rivalries of post-Monday Night Wars WWE. Taker's coming back in order to deliver the ultimate revenge on Edge, after more than a year of suffering against him: he cashed his MITB on a bloody Taker after a steel cage fight with Batista AND a post match beatdown by Mark Henry, he costed him the WHC against Batista in two different times, he managed to banish his Hell's Gate, he made Vickie Guerrero take the WHC off of him, he defeated him in a TLC match making him leave WWE... But enough is enough. Edge was at his lowest here, finally all his bullshit coming back to bite him, so he needed to gain confidence again. Mick Foley motivated him to retake his older, Rated-R attitude, instead of being the Ultimate Opportunist that he became later on... So Edge snapped and gave Foley a beating to expulse him from WWE. Classic heel Edge. Was he ready for HIAC against Taker, though?

Yes he was. Without blood, this felt much more violent and climatic than many other bloody brawls or hardcore matches. I really love the story of Edge trying to turn the HIAC into a TLC, I fucking love when they broke the cell and went outside (first time since I don't remember which one), and I specially love how in the end Taker just gave Edge back everything he did to him: the Spear that defeated him for the WHC when cashing in the briefcase, the shot with the camera and con-chair-to just like Edge did at SVS, throwing him from a ladder through tables like Edge did to banish him from the company... This match encapsulates poetic justice in a very cool way, and, last but not least, we get a super chokeslam from the top of a ladder that creates a fucking whole in the ring and Taker creates FIRE in order to send Edge to hell. The perfect way to end a rivalry, if you ask me.

This was in a time where WWE wasn't still fully PG but couldn't be as ruthless as they were before the Benoit stuff and Linda McMahon playing politics, so the match can be brutal and intense, while also not being a gory spectacle. Which I think it's nice, this match didn't need blood. Well, maybe a bit haha. But it's a very intelligent gimmick match (with a gimmick match within the gimmick match!) that plays really well with the storyline that preceeds it. Give it a try before voting! Definitely Edge best match and one of the best cells ever.