June 28, 1998. Pittsburgh. The Mellon Arena was packed, but nobody there actually knew they were about to watch a man nearly die twice in twenty minutes. Most wrestling fans remember the visual of Mick Foley flying off the top of the cage, but if you look at the raw footage today, the atmosphere feels different than modern "extreme" matches. It feels dangerous. It was. Hell in a Cell 1998 wasn't just a match; it was the moment the Attitude Era peaked and simultaneously realized it had gone too far.
We talk about Undertaker vs. Mankind like it’s a highlight reel. It isn't. It’s a car crash that just keeps happening.
What Really Happened with Hell in a Cell 1998
Mick Foley wasn't supposed to be the "hardcore legend" that night. He was just a guy trying to top the previous year’s cell match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. Honestly, he knew he couldn't out-wrestle HBK. So, he decided to out-suffer him.
He told Terry Funk before the match that he wanted to start the fight on top of the cage. Bad move. The mesh wasn't designed to hold two giants for an extended period. When you watch the clip, you can see the panels sagging under their combined weight. It’s terrifying. Then came the toss. Undertaker threw Mankind from the top, seventeen feet down through the Spanish announce table.
Jim Ross screamed the famous line about him being "broken in half," and for a second, the entire arena thought Foley was dead. Even the Undertaker, staying in character as the Deadman, looked down with genuine concern. He thought he’d killed a coworker.
The Second Fall Nobody Mentions Enough
Everyone remembers the first fall. The second one was actually the one that almost ended it all. After being stretchered halfway out of the arena, Foley got off the gurney, climbed back up, and the pair went back to the roof. Undertaker chokeslammed him. The cell wasn't supposed to break. It did.
Foley fell through the mesh, hit the ring canvas—which has no give, by the way—and then the heavy steel chair that was on the roof fell and hit him right in the face.
He was out cold.
When he woke up, he saw a tooth hanging from his nose. That wasn't a prop. It was his actual tooth, forced through his lip and into his nostril by the impact of the chair. It’s one of the most grisly images in WWE history, yet it’s the reason Hell in a Cell 1998 is the most searched match in the company’s archive.
The Physical Toll of the Pittsburgh Disaster
The injuries Foley sustained are a laundry list of "how is he still walking?" He had a massive concussion. He had a dislocated jaw. He had internal bleeding and a dislocated shoulder. He also had a hole in his lip where the tooth went through.
But here is the thing: the match didn't stop.
Undertaker was wrestling with a fractured ankle. Imagine that. One guy has a broken foot, the other is literally coughing up blood and missing teeth, and they still finish the match with a bag of thumbtacks. It was a level of masochism that we just don't see anymore, mostly because modern safety protocols would never allow it. If this happened in 2026, the referees would have waved the match off the second the cage gave way. Back then? They just kept the cameras rolling.
The Atmosphere in the Locker Room
Backstage, Vince McMahon was reportedly terrified. He thanked Foley for what he did but famously told him, "You have no idea how much I appreciate what you've just done for this company, but I never want to see anything like that again."
He meant it.
The match changed the trajectory of the WWE. It made Foley a superstar, sure, but it also set an impossible bar. For years after, every time the cell lowered, fans expected someone to fall. It created a "death-defying" arms race that eventually led to the more sanitized, "PG" version of the match we see today. You can't keep throwing people off buildings and expect to have a roster left by the end of the year.
Why the Legend Persists
There’s a nuance to Hell in a Cell 1998 that gets lost in the memes. It wasn't a "good" wrestling match in the traditional sense. If you watch it for the "work rate" or the "technical prowess," you're going to be disappointed. It’s basically a snuff film with a budget.
It works because of the storytelling. Undertaker was the relentless monster; Mankind was the man who refused to stay down. Every time Foley stood back up, the crowd wasn't just cheering for a wrestler—they were cheering for the human spirit or something equally primal. It felt real because the pain was real.
Misconceptions About the Thumbtacks
People think the thumbtacks at the end were the "big finish." By the time the tacks came out, Foley was already a walking corpse. He later admitted in his book, Have a Nice Day!, that he barely remembered the end of the match. He was operating on pure adrenaline and muscle memory. The tacks were just the "cherry on top" of a disaster sandwich.
Also, a lot of people think the "fall through the roof" was planned. It absolutely was not. The zip ties holding the mesh together snapped. If Foley had landed slightly differently, he could have landed on his neck and been paralyzed instantly. That’s the reality of 1990s wrestling. It was a gamble.
How to Watch It Today with Fresh Eyes
If you’re going back to watch the full broadcast on the WWE Network or Peacock, don't just skip to the falls. Watch the minutes in between.
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Look at the way the referees are panicking. Look at Terry Funk—who was actually Foley’s best friend—trying to check on him in the ring while trying to stay in character. There’s a moment where Funk gets chokeslammed out of his shoes just to give Foley time to breathe. It’s a chaotic, unscripted mess that somehow became the most iconic match in the history of the industry.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you want to truly understand the impact of this event, do the following:
- Read the Autobiography: Get a copy of Have a Nice Day! by Mick Foley. He dedicates a huge portion of the book to the lead-up and the aftermath. It’s the best way to understand the mental state of a performer who is willing to break his body for a reaction.
- Compare the Versions: Watch the 1997 cell match (HBK vs. Taker) and then the 1998 one. Notice the shift from "wrestling match in a cage" to "stunt show." This transition defined the next five years of WWE programming.
- Check the Commentary: Listen to Jim Ross. His performance that night is arguably the greatest play-by-play in sports entertainment history. He wasn't just calling moves; he was reacting to a perceived tragedy in real-time.
- Look for the "Tooth" Shot: Pause the video when Foley is smiling in the corner late in the match. Seeing that tooth in his nose is the ultimate proof of the physical reality of the era.
Hell in a Cell 1998 remains the high-water mark for a specific type of storytelling that we will likely never see again. It was the night that wrestling became "too real," and while it made legends out of the men involved, it also served as a sobering reminder of the cost of entertainment.