The argument in one line.
Two former allies settling a personal rivalry inside an inescapable steel structure reveals that the will not to lose is a stronger force than the will to win — and that distinction is what makes this match something beyond a brawl.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You follow WWE or professional wrestling and want to watch a complete, unedited Hell in a Cell match from the Ruthless Aggression era.
- You are interested in how long-form sports entertainment builds dramatic tension through escalating violence over nearly an hour.
- You want a canonical reference for the Hell in a Cell stipulation — what the structure is, how it functions as a weapon, and what it means historically.
SKIP IF…
- You are looking for a highlight package or short clip — this is the full 57-minute broadcast with no edits.
- Professional wrestling is not a genre you follow or are curious about.
The full version, fast.
Shawn Michaels demanded this match to settle a long personal rivalry with Triple H, his former DX partner. Locked inside a steel Hell in a Cell structure with no disqualifications, no count-outs, and no time limit, both men bleed heavily and push each other past the point of rational competition. Triple H works Michaels's real back injury relentlessly; Michaels survives on instinct, finding a ladder at the 34-minute mark to briefly take control. Neither man can pin the other cleanly until Triple H lands three consecutive Pedigrees in the final 90 seconds, winning and remaining undefeated in Hell in a Cell matches.
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00:00 – 01:10
01 · The Cell Descends
Wide arena shots. The Hell in a Cell structure lowers. Commentary sets stakes.
01:10 – 05:00
02 · Opening Commentary
JR and King frame the rivalry and the stipulations.
05:00 – 09:00
03 · Early Exchange
Collar-and-elbow. HBK uses chops and speed, Triple H uses strength. First cell contact.
09:00 – 15:00
04 · The Back
Triple H targets HBK's damaged lower back relentlessly. Suplexes, Irish whips, backbreakers.
15:00 – 26:00
05 · Steel Chair Assault
Triple H introduces a steel chair. Multiple shots. HBK lacerated. Low blows create a reversal window.
26:00 – 32:00
06 · Deep Red
Both men bleeding heavily. HBK turns the chair on Triple H.
32:00 – 40:00
07 · The Ladder
HBK finds a ladder under the ring. Uses it as a battering ram. Top-rope elbow through a table.
40:00 – 47:00
08 · Running on Empty
Over 40 minutes in. Repeated failed covers — no strength to hook a leg.
47:00 – 51:00
09 · Sweet Chin Music Lands
HBK finally connects cleanly but collapses before the cover. Triple H kicks out.
51:00 – 52:00
10 · Three Pedigrees
Triple H lands three consecutive Pedigrees. Michaels cannot kick out. Triple H pins.
52:00 – 57:03
11 · Aftermath
Evolution enters. Both men helped from the ring. Commentary delivers post-match tribute.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- The Hell in a Cell structure functions as a third competitor — it absorbs blood, rips skin, and punishes both men equally regardless of who initiates contact with it.
- Michaels demanded this match himself, which means every moment of suffering he endures is a consequence of his own choice — the commentary never lets the audience forget this.
- Triple H goes 45+ minutes without successfully landing his finisher, the Pedigree, because Michaels counters it three times before the match ends.
- The match's tension engine is not near-falls — it's the repeated failure to make a cover because neither man has the physical strength to crawl to the other.
- Michaels lands Sweet Chin Music only twice in the entire 57 minutes, and when he finally connects cleanly at 47:00, he collapses before reaching Triple H for the pin.
- The commentary's phrase 'the will not to lose is stronger than the will to win' is the clearest articulation of what makes this different from a standard match — survival as competition.
- At the 45-minute mark, both men's signatures have failed. The match has become two humans falling toward each other, and the winner is whoever falls on top last.
- The match set a Hell in a Cell duration record at the time — 47 minutes of actual in-ring action, the longest in the stipulation's history.
What 57 minutes inside Hell in a Cell actually proves.
WHAT TO LEARN
The match is a study in one idea: the will not to lose is a different and stronger force than the will to win, and understanding the difference explains why neither man can finish the other for 47 minutes.
- When the will not to lose overrides the will to win, competitors stop chasing the finish and start absorbing damage — this match runs 47 minutes of in-ring action because neither man is trying to end it cleanly, only to survive.
- The Hell in a Cell structure matters most as a psychological object: both men know they cannot leave, which strips away any exit ramp and forces a resolution neither can control the timing of.
- Triple H targets a real injury from the first minute rather than competing neutrally — specificity of attack is what keeps him in control for the first 30 minutes.
- Michaels loses because he burns his finisher too late and at full exhaustion — he connects Sweet Chin Music cleanly at 47:00 but collapses before he can make the cover, illustrating how timing a signature move is as important as landing it.
- The ladder is the psychological turning point, not because it determines the winner, but because it shifts the crowd's belief that Michaels can survive — a tool that pure resilience alone could not provide.
- The match's CTA is the commentary closing: making the audience feel they witnessed something unrepeatable — which is why long-form storytelling invests in escalating stakes rather than clean finishes.
- Both men spend the final 10 minutes unable to hook a leg on a pin attempt because their hands are too damaged — a detail the camera and commentary highlight specifically, converting physical exhaustion into visible narrative evidence.
- Triple H wins with three consecutive Pedigrees because two are not enough: the match has raised the audience's threshold for what constitutes a decisive ending, and the production needs to exceed it.
Terms worth knowing.
- Hell in a Cell
- A WWE match stipulation in which the ring is enclosed by a large steel cage structure that locks from the outside. No disqualifications, no count-outs, no time limit. All weapons inside the structure are legal.
- Pedigree
- Triple H's finishing move — a double underhook facebreaker where the opponent's arms are hooked behind their back and driven face-first into the mat.
- Sweet Chin Music
- Shawn Michaels's finishing move — a superkick to the jaw, often set up by stomping the mat to tune up the band.
- DX (D-Generation X)
- The rebellious tag team faction Shawn Michaels and Triple H formed together in the late 1990s WWE, making their later rivalry personal beyond simple competition.
- Cerebral Assassin
- Triple H's character nickname, emphasizing that he is a calculating, methodical in-ring strategist rather than a purely physical brawler.
- Evolution
- Triple H's stable at the time, consisting of Ric Flair, Batista, and Randy Orton. They enter after the match concludes.
- Irish whip
- A basic wrestling move where one competitor grabs the other's wrist and propels them across the ring into the ropes or a solid object.
Things they pointed at.
00:45productWWE Bad Blood 2004
Lines you could clip.
02:01
“Hell in a Cell is like Satan perversely waiting on new victims.”
41:55
“The will not to lose is stronger than the will to win.”
08:46
“Hell in a Cell is where careers go to die.”
Word for word.
Read-along
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01:11Styles, and the game has come out victorious each and every time.
01:16But none of those men, in all due respect, are the show stopper.
01:24Well, it's hard to beat the game at his own game, and it seems that hell in itself is Triple H's game. That's why I wonder there why why on earth would Shawn Michaels have no. Not have.
01:36Demand this match here tonight for finality
01:40to end this rivalry once and for all.
01:45But it's almost like a maybe you're right. It's it's gonna happen. It's gonna be finality, but it's almost like Shawn Michaels has his own guest wish to be in this kind of match with that man.
01:59Hell in a Cell is is like Satan perversely waiting on new victims.
02:43This is survival Sunday from both that man h h h and that man Shawn Michaels.
02:51Well, Shawn Michaels better be able to to
02:54survive. He better be able to get to that place, JR. I've been wrong.
02:58I've done just man h h h, could and will try to end Shawn Michaels' career right here.
03:08And
03:09if triple h can get it done, let's not discount the effects of the hell in a cell.
03:17The hell in a cell, the keeper of blood, flesh, and careers.
03:22There's only been 10 hell in a cell matches in the history of this company.
03:43Shawn Michaels is looking up at this demonic cell. He's he's contemplating exactly what you're talking about, JR.
03:50Here it comes.
03:53You might as well say the the steel executioner is being lowered around this very ring
04:01in two human beings. It's like a huge black cloud falling down on both of these men.
04:09As wicked and unforgiving as h h h is by his own admission, so is this structure.
04:18Nobody's getting in. These two men aren't getting out.
04:22This is a one fall to a finish match. And to tell you, I have a peaceful easy feeling about this would be total fabrication.
04:35Don't think either man is overly anxious to get this thing started.
04:43I mentioned on heat, this was like wrestlers prison, the house of attention and depravity.
04:50These are the last precious few moments that either of these men are ever gonna be well, the same.
04:57They're ever gonna be the way they are right now. You're right. They will both be changed after this match.
05:05This rivalry has got so perversely personal. Coronel bow tie up in Triple H will have a size and strength advantage. Michaels can counter with speed, quickness and heart.
05:18Not to say the game doesn't have heart. He's got plenty of them and a big right hand and another right hand by the game. Smackles turning the table here.
05:31That bad chop on her right hand.
05:35Last one, I'll see this man starting off at Two. Oh, a great next pace. The hatred that exists between these two men, that's all you can expect.
05:44These guys aren't gonna be in there to wrestle each other. They're not actually in there to try to pin one another, They wanna end this thing once and for all.
05:53And there's no time limit, no disqualifications,
05:56hard elbow, that's not Sean right in the they've got him right in the Adam's apple.
06:03I appreciate Oklahoma for the throat in most places.
06:08Let's see that one more time. She's better yet listen to it. That's
06:14some serious impact. And Knuckles taking down the game and measuring those right hands on h h h to shoves Michael off of that position.
06:50H. First time that was been torn over the top rope, out to the floor. This brings out Harry surrounded by the head on the cell.
06:59And don't think that that cell is not gonna come into play. Each one of these men know it's there. They they know when the when they wanna use it.
07:06They know they can't get out of that door. It's completely chained and padlocked.
07:12Safety K champ there. I hear the fans here at Columbus, Ohio. Nobody there for triple hating right hand and Michael's counters for right hands of his own.
07:24And cannot get counted out. Referee is only in there to count somebody's shoulder.
07:29Or the second ring of bell for submission. H h h cannot make too many mistakes here. And may have made a calculated error there, lowered his head, Michaels capitalized quickly with his spinning swinging neck record.
07:45Cover. One fall to a finish. Again, no disqualification.
07:50There is no time limit, no count outs, and no stopping for blood.
07:56I hope I haven't zigged these two men.
08:00I think I think that little pinning attempt came strictly out of instinct there from Shawn Michaels.
08:08I don't think he would have been content to get a win over the place that easily to you. I think he wants this to be more final. I think Shawn Michaels wants to get Lichten to know once and for all that Shawn Michaels, HBK, is the better man of the two.
08:24That's what this is all about.
08:27Who is the better man? Right. Find that out tonight.
08:36It's a very unforgiving steal, as you say, JR. No doubt about it. Every intimate can cut you in some kind of way.
08:44Hell in a cell is where careers go to die.
08:51So unforgiving. That's good.
08:55And it will you know, could. I'm trying to be oh, man.
09:01Blake's head almost chopped off. Blake's bleeding now. I was trying to open that cut up a hard right hand.
09:09You know, I've heard legends say that men have broken their hands in these matches just this or this is legal as a as a headlock.
09:19Well,
09:21another way to get your hand broken or your fist broken is just that's what happened to to, uh, h h h earlier. You back somebody's head up against the middle of one of those metal posts and then swing, and they move out of the way your fist is gonna strike that big steel.
09:37Triple beating Shawn Mackels up foot right in the face. He's trying to regroup here. Triple H's lost some distance there.
09:48You Triple see H completed that probably what caused it right there. Triple H's head went right into that.
09:56Not
09:58severe at the moment. And the game. I'm
10:05afraid things are about to get a little more severe now, JR.
10:10This is a term unforgiving.
10:14The Cell doesn't do.
10:19Triple H's face being rearranged. It looks more like hamburger than a wrestler right now.
10:28Stand there by Michaels just to get the game down so Michaels gets stomped h h h square
10:34in the face. Then speaking of Triple H's face, there it goes again. That demonic cell, and I've said this on more than one occasion.
10:43I know from experience. It does something to you, JR. You just can't help but have some sort of feeling when you're in a Bretton in a match like this, and you suddenly see her in blood.
10:53Nobody ever likes to see her in blood. You know that. JR.
10:56Absolutely.
11:00Back.
11:04Walking very gingerly. He's a guy that without four years of a bad back. Michael's hips, curses his hips, he feels a little back.
11:13Don't wanna diagnose, but Michael's is not right as you can tell. He's walking crooked and he hopes to be walking period when this match ends.
11:34Suplex triple eight. He is definitely lower back is that back is either cramping on him.
11:40It's he's got some muscle spasms or there are some more structural damage there. I hope I'm wrong on the ladder. I can say that, uh, you better hope Sean better hope that it's only muscle spatter than it's cramped.
11:53And that's not the cause right there in that hard iron split. H is one of the most powerful men ever here in the WWE and h h h doesn't miss a trick.
12:03We don't call him the cerebral assassin for nothing. And he said before this match, if he sees
12:08any spot, any point of weakness, any kind of injury, he's gonna go right after it. And I think that's what we're about to see now. He senses it.
12:19Man, h h h with every bit of strength and velocity he could muster, sending Michaels for the proverbial ride with the Irish whip again.
12:31And, man, this is
12:34this is getting hard to watch. Michael's back is definitely hurt. I don't know what was the first thing that happened to him, you could tell you noticed at first, he's walking crooked.
12:45And now he's in seriousness. And
12:48knowing the four years of of hell that Shawn Michaels went through away from what he loved to do, all because of that bad back and the surgery. And then coming prophetically enough into hell in the cell and having this happen to him is more than ironic.
13:08Well, I don't I hate to say that that Shawn Michaels deserves this, JR. But you gotta remember, everybody out there needs to remember, Shawn asked for this match.
13:18Well, you did that. No, he didn't ask for it, he demanded this match.
13:22He did ask, demand, and look at the standing suplex, look at the strength of h h h. That takes amazing strength.
13:30And the blood rushing to the head of Shawn Michaels. It's a disorienting move, high impact cover, and Michaels kicks out instinctively. But look at Michael's back.
13:39The kick out on that move, Michael's back is contorted. It's twisted king. It was as if Michael's has been in a car wreck.
13:47And
13:48I don't know. At this at this point, JR, there I I don't know what he can do about it.
13:53I mean, you know, this is this is this is the kind of injury that is I mean, it just takes you you have to recuperate. It takes time to get, and it's not that like h h h is gonna let up for one second.
14:03And
14:04the other threatening aspect of this match, the referee can't stop this match.
14:10There's a backbreaker by the gang. If the referee got a near fall, Michaels kicking out. The gang going for the win with the backbreaker going for the cover there.
14:19But the referee is totally helpless in what he can do. There's no disconification.
14:25That steel chair is as legal as any maneuver that h h h chooses to execute.
14:31Yeah, I agree if they are, but if he uses a Triple H at this point in this match, uses that steel chair, it's like 10 about to cruel and unusual punishment.
14:44Triple H can be described as terminally dangerous. And Shawn Michaels could not have gotten up without the help of the ropes and being picked up by the game and opened the game.
14:55Somehow the resilience of Shawn Michaels is absolutely extraordinary. But the game just shut down the extraordinary will to compete of Shawn Michaels.
15:08And this is gonna be a second.
15:10Michael goes downstairs, Michaels. Once again, Michael saved himself at the last The
15:15desperation kicked by Michael. There's no telling where his brain would have been scrambled with that steel chair.
15:26H has been able to connect.
15:30Somehow Michaels needs to stay on the offensive. Michaels needs to grab that chair himself.
15:35Michaels, well, triple h out. This is a good up figure for Michaels to stay in the ring and try to get that that back straightened out or when he shot out of the ring just to try to buy some time. I thought so too but- No.
15:47Probably not. And Shawn Michaels courage and his guts, his will to win just cost him there.
15:56What are you saying Michael's off? You wanna continue the match?
16:15Referee is asking Shawn Michaels if he wants to quit. Don't think that word's in his vocabulary tonight.
16:21Do you? Absolutely not. But,
16:24you know, Michaels has got a young family. He's Get up, you sissy. Father.
16:28He's got other things that he has to be concerned about. What happened if Sean was in
16:34incapacitated or in so much pain that he couldn't even say that he quit?
16:39What the end result would be, we know the game is gonna show absolutely no sir cease on Michaels.
16:48H h h can be as viciously vile as anyone that we have ever witnessed in this ring. And
17:00then h h h, you just you just slanted over shoulder to see what what part of this cell to use next.
17:07As if it wasn't bad enough for the game to assault Michael's lower back in the ring. Now the game is using this this structure, this held in a cell almost as a tag team.
17:21That's like
17:23you said, the chair, everything about this this cell is fair game. It's just like the suplex. And I think now the time has come that h h h wants to finish on.
17:34Steel chair placed in the center of the ring and no. No. My god.
17:41Jesus. Steel chair. Golly almighty.
17:45This this has gotta be a Michael kick out. And I'm telling you, why would he kick out I this appreciate the passion.
17:53Right. I respect the man as much as anybody but I'm almost, I almost for a moment there wish that Shawn Michaels had not kicked out.
18:03And I'm saying that ladies and gentlemen because I'm concerned about Michaels physical welfare.
18:08Well, I understand that you wish that he had not kicked out. And I think that shortly Shawn may wish that he had not kicked out. So I can assure you h h h has some bad plans with that chair.
18:20Yes. We're gonna do one more. No.
18:24Backbreaker literally may have happened. This has gotta be they don't stop, John Michael, refusing to stay down.
18:31And Michael's kicking out. Left shoulder, right shoulder, kicking with his and everything is hard and sold to muscle. And the game has gotta be getting a little frustrated, albeit h h h is in the proverbial driver's seat.
18:47Well, I'm gonna tell you, I don't see frustration in Triple H's face. I see determination. I think he's thinking right now, Shawn, if this is the way you want it, then this is way you're gonna get it.
19:04Can't describe that any better than what you saw. A steel chair across the spine and this is it.
19:11I'll tell you what, I keep, I got a bad feeling in my gut king.
19:19I don't, I mean Michael's four years away and he's looking at Shawn Michaels trying to use Triple H to pull himself up. His will to compete, speaking of Shawn Michaels is absolutely extraordinary.
19:33And Michaels with everything he's got. A right hand shot.
19:39And a shot to the eye by the game.
19:42I just at this point, after the damage that's been that's No. Been
19:47It's not. It's reversed. Yeah.
19:49My god. Three. Triple h was hip hop over the top rope to the floor, and Michael just crumbled.
19:57Michael's collapsed after reaching down to his socks.
20:02Well, they hip flopped the game. Desperate men do desperate things, and that was a act of pure desperation, but by Shawn Michaels, but I think it worked.
20:10It did buy him some time. Check this out one more time. Abdominal stretch is what the game was going for, but it was reversed or countered and then the hip hip cross right out of the ring.
20:20Shawn
20:22Michaels using that shoulder as a battering ram the his his left shoulder and h h h just one time shame on you. Second time shame on me. I'm surprised that h h h could have a bad back after being thrown out of the ring like that.
20:41As a wrestler, hands and more right hands.
20:46The game has done everything he can at Michaels and has not kept Michaels down for three. It's gotta be frustrating. Wait, wait, here it is.
20:55This is it. We've had every time. No.
20:58The Low Blow is legal. The Steel Terror is legal as we pointed out, and so is that Low Blow that went downtown.
21:07I was just about to say, JR, that I still you you talk about the game being frustrated. I still don't see it, or I didn't see it up until this point in the game's face. I think he's so focused.
21:18I don't think the game is in any hurry tonight to end this. I think he's just determined to get it done. And Michael's point
21:26right back to that vulnerable area to say the least.
21:32Now on three occasions. Only so much can stand. And a right hand, h h h knocked down but how much pain is h h h in?
21:38After those three low blows.
21:45Irish, we have Michaels following in the game now in big time trouble. Shawn Michaels, he may be as Jackson Brown says running on empty.
21:53But Michaels with a cover and a kick out by the game. Michaels did not have the strength on that exchange to hook the leg and cinch up the game.
22:08Blake's not to the outside. That knee to his lower back. Michael's trying to fight for verbally fire with fire here.
22:16And the legs face first into the of hell in a cell. And the cell, I'm sure, enjoys
22:22Well, I think this is a smart move by HPK. He needs to he he now needs to use that that cell as a tag team partner.
22:32But one on one, well, Sean hasn't been faring too well.
22:38Van ride. First landing. Unevigable destination.
22:45I'll
22:48do that again. Once again, listen to this.
22:52That's a human beings and body being thrown into an inanimate object.
22:59Steel steps. I guess the steps are the cousin of the hell of a cell. They're all in it together.
23:05Anything that's inside that demonic cell is, as we say, paradise. Yeah.
23:14With a handful of hair. Uh-oh. Oh my
23:34Well, that was that was probably as big a difference maker as that CloudRiver would have been on the step, in and off the backdrop off those steps. Michaels may not be able to recover from this.
23:46Yeah. Check this out from a better angle here.
23:49You heard the splat Oh, wow.
23:52Of a man's spine on the floor. Oh, look out.
23:56And now what? Your guess is Your guess is as good as mine. Whatever's under the ring can be utilized.
24:05Under the ring, over the ring, around the ring.
24:09Your chair. Don't tell me what's under the ring.
24:17Slap shot by The Game, right on the spine of Shawn Michaels. And Michaels has gotta be from head to toe in as much excruciating pain as a human being
24:30should ever have to experience. Now what is going through this twisted mind of h h h.
24:37Who's capable of any kind of desperate strength?
24:42God will steal steps. They'll toss the steps in the ring. Like nothing.
24:48Mike Hilda trying to reason with a game. That's H on the steps.
24:55And I'm driving to Michaels. And Michaels. About one shot, with the solar plexus on h h h.
25:08He's a prime prime form by Tom MacKinnon.
25:13If I were the referee, I'd try to get those skill steps out of the ring. And somebody could just inadvertently fall on or against those things and never in Michaels,
25:21how in the hell was he doing?
25:23Michaels just nipped up. Yeah, but he's back down. Back down just as fast.
25:28That fact has to be done.
25:32Michael trying to stand, losing the game to come get me. Come get me. Here I am.
25:39I got something for you. It could have been. Michael's looking for sweet 10 music.
25:46My god. You better be kidding me. And
25:54the only music I think we're gonna hear is the fat lady singing. It's over JR.
26:01Michael's hit rock. Oh my god. Oh my god.
26:06Michaels has been deeply lacerated. And the blood running through his eyes, through his lips and mouth.
26:15Think his entire face was smashed. That blood's coming out of his mouth. Come on.
26:18Out of his nose. Come on h h h. Enough is enough.
26:22I know it's hell in a cell, but Michaels is a human being. I told you, just look at the look on the face of h h h. It's not frustration.
26:30It's determination,
26:31JR. Nothing is gonna stop that man from destroying Shawn Michaels here Just in a don't do it. Reach in your heart.
26:38Don't do it. My god, he did it.
26:40H h h did it. Now Shawn Michaels blood is all over those steel steps. You ask h h h to reach in his heart and find some some little part of of
26:52compassion for Shawn Michaels. The only thing I can say is, immersively, you've gotta believe that this is over.
27:00There's a cover. I got it. No.
27:03My god, Shawn.
27:07The steps.
27:14See Shawn Michaels' head bounce off those skill steps.
27:18That was absolutely I just think that right now, Sean Michael has gotta be just instinctively kicking out.
27:28He can't be he's not able can't be mentally able to put thoughts together, succession or any kind of logical order. It's all on guts and instinct and just he
27:42is in Sean is in serious trouble.
27:47Can Shawn Michaels survive this damning career altering ride through this steel encased hell on a cell?
27:55Shawn, want hell? I got it.
28:01I Man, And you you can feel the hatred between these two men. I can feel the angst between these two men who are one time, as you said, were closer than brothers.
28:13We all remember their DX days.
28:17And it has come to this. It has come to this where someone's career could very likely be ended here.
28:28Blake's asking, telling Sean. Asking, you want hell? Michael's
28:35face and head like a battering ram. And again, h h h could give a damn and the age, the cell, cares less.
28:46You know, JR, I thought I'd I thought I'd never say this in a hell in a cell match, but I honestly think that the referee should well, the referee should think about stopping this match.
28:58I can't disagree with that. I will not disagree with that. I know how they know.
29:02Not about Hamburg. That's a human.
29:05That's epidermis being left on that that cage.
29:11And Michael is gonna be scarred and marked for life Well after this. Once again, this is the match that Shawn Michaels wanted.
29:21Oh my gosh. Why? I don't know, but this is what he wanted.
29:25H h h indeed calculating the cruel is the pontiff of pain.
29:32A man that likes to hurt people, especially someone that that he was so close to.
29:39H h h has never had an ally like Shawn Michaels was in Triple H's career. Never. And he never will again in my view.
29:47Well, darn Anderson's spinebuster just shook Michael's liver, and I hope he's done.
29:54No.
29:55You said h h h never had an ally like Shawn Michaels. He's obviously never had an opponent like him either, but all while they were friends, all while they were allies in DX, there was always that question, JR. Which one of these men were the better of the two?
30:11It was always there. It was always in the back of each one of their minds, and that's what this is all about tonight.
30:17That's where we are. That's why these two men are in hell together.
30:20Michael's lower back killing it. He's losing a lot of blood. But by god, Shawn Michaels is is not gonna quit.
30:27Michaels continues to fight with everything he's got, with every bit of his heart and soul, But the game just seems to be too much here tonight. The sleeper applied by h h h.
30:39And this is such a strategically sound, perfect maneuver
30:48for this point in time in the match. And it might be a fitting in to this hell in itself. Shawn Michaels left unconscious
30:56in a pool of his own blood. And that's what the game you gotta believe. You gotta know we're all on and that's what's trying to get in a driven rush here.
31:04Look at this crowd behind him. And they are. The two.
31:07And the game, man, with face first until the top turnbuckle. At least at least Michaels now has bought himself a little bit of time.
31:17Game's gonna add a layer. Trying to shake it loose.
31:25I agree.
31:27He's in la la land right now, but he's gonna have to refocus. There he goes. This guy, h h h, the game.
31:34Here we go. Pedigree time. No, counter.
31:38Michael's counter. Pedigree into the DDT.
31:41Man, that could do it.
31:44Michaels countered a pedigree, which I guarantee you it would have been over into the DDT.
31:52And Triple H's head that time was the one that was doing the bouncing.
31:59Michaels, he's only breathing. Thank God for that.
32:04But he's not moving. It's Shawn Michaels. Triple
32:10Still some life left in the game. The boy.
32:14Beginning to stir.
32:15Referee surveying the action but he there's no count outs.
32:21Alright, there's no telling how much blood Shawn Michaels has lost here. Well, Michaels reaching and Michaels now has the weapon that h h h brought into this ring.
32:34That steel chair.
32:36I'm afraid h h h may I may I'm about to say I was about to say you may regret bringing that chair in and right at this moment, I'm sure the game regrets bringing that chair in the ring. That was a deadly chair shot
32:50that you see the results. That's how deadly it was.
32:55Now the game's been opened up badly.
32:59This is the supreme gut check with both men bleeding. Listen. Listen.
33:08Now, Bloodshot still has that chair there. There was no blocking there.
33:13Oh, naughty again.
33:18You can only imagine what that does to a human being's brain.
33:25I mean, you can't be the same. There's a cover, and Michael's got all of them hands coming down.
33:31And this time, it was a game.
33:33What's scary about those chair shots is, you know, naturally, from that impact, your skin is lacerated. You start to bleed on the outside, but, unfortunately, your brain is bruised.
33:44You start to bleed on the inside as well. That's what's so dangerous.
33:49Oh, face buster by the game and Michaels.
33:53The impact taking him all the way outside. Look at Michaels. As soon as he hit the floor, he's looking under that ring.
33:58Is there some oh, yes, there is. You have me.
34:02Got to be
34:04I told you there was no telling what was under there. And there was a and actually a wicked little smile on the face of HBK.
34:11The man that introduced ladders to the WWE, Shawn Michaels, has put my ladder and these fans here in Columbus, Ohio.
34:22And they hung to their feet here. JR, you asked earlier, you queried,
34:26could Shawn Michaels reach down and get to the depth of where he's been before? I think he's answering your question right now, isn't he?
34:33Absolutely. Michaels blowing the first ever round. Look out.
34:37The ladders are battering ram, right into the bloody face of the cerebral assassin. Knuckle the ladder, the ribs, into the abdomen.
34:49Everything legal in this environment, as sad as it is to say, there can be no disqualification.
35:00Check out this ladder to the face of the game.
35:03And then after that,
35:05it's all broken into the ribcage and now look.
35:08It's it's triplets. They're back at all. H h h cannot wait a minute.
35:12He's not saying he's had enough, is he? Must go skate. And Michael's in the right hands.
35:16H h h trying to he left as far as a corner. And he's cornered And all Michael's now taking advantage.
35:21Michael's sitting triple that right hand like he may have broken it. Come on, son. Oh, no.
35:27No.
35:30The ladder conveniently placed in the far corner.
35:37Get it, Michael, get up. Get up. Send them to, Curt Lates just get up.
35:43My god. It's the second time.
35:47Curt Lates has had lot of use on him now four times.
35:52And I don't think Sean I don't think Sean is through yet. He came here to settle this thing tonight. Asked for this hell in a cell.
35:59He demanded this match no matter what it takes.
36:02Michaels is gonna finish the job here.
36:05Referee asking h h h if he wants to call it quips. Look at the blood just was pouring from his head.
36:13Look at that JR. What do you say?
36:16And I think he heard the h h h had certainly telling the referee emphatically no in so many words. There is gonna be there is gonna be no quitting by h h h or Sean McCall in my estimation.
36:30Man, what has Impact? A ladder, the top rope, the floor, surrounded by steel, a bloody man on the floor. And now what is Shawn Michaels thinking?
36:39I don't know, but I said it earlier about Shawn Michaels. I think he would have been
36:43good if this match could have ended, but now I'm beginning to think that h h h ought to maybe think about living to fight another day.
36:53They're like barely, barely moving.
37:14Almost like I hate to use this turtle, Michaels, but it's almost like Michaels is possessed. Oh, he has that killer instinct. Alright?
37:22He wants to finish this
37:24so that there's never any doubt in the future.
37:34Think about it. Tonight, we're gonna find out who is the better man, who is the best of all time.
37:42Oh my god. Well,
37:45right now, it just doesn't look like h h h, does it? I'm I'm shocked. I'm I'm almost speechless at this the beating that both of these men have administered each other.
37:55Just
37:56they've both lost a great deal of blood. Their bodies have gotta be ravaged with pain.
38:03I I still can't get over that that just that wicked little smile we saw earlier on the face of Shawn Michaels when he first found that ladder, and that ladder has certainly been a difference maker.
38:16Michael setting the ladder up or who knows? Wait a minute.
38:19The game the game look for the pedigree.
38:22He's not been able to hit that pedigree, but Yeah. Look out here. Shawn Michaels hit that hill.
38:26Oh.
38:27The game catapulted face first right into that ladder. And the game leaving his own blood all over the canvas.
38:37Everywhere he falls, there's a puddle of blood left.
38:43Michael's now just hoping to fall across. Michael's eyes. The arm over.
38:47He got the cover to get three. No. I don't even know how h h h is capable of hearing the referee's counter.
38:53He may he probably just feels it out of instinct.
38:56But the thing about it is that Michael has his strength is so lessened. He's lost so much blood.
39:02He's not able to to hook up to hook up these these pinnacle combinations. Both of these men, their strength has to be waning.
39:09Somebody's gotta hit the home run here.
39:12Does either one of these men have enough strength to put it out of the park anymore? Well, that's the question. That remains to be answered.
39:19Oh, look at that. Oh, man. That could have been the that could have been the end all right there.
39:23Michaels went right to that back. He went for the elbow,
39:26landed on his back. And Michael Shawn Michaels took the ultimate supreme high risk chance in this environment, in his condition, with his back as it is
39:38for naught. But when you take the big chance, you pay the big price sometimes, and that's what looked like what happened. Now if Triple H can just he can get one hand across John.
39:48He did it. Covers. The cover and Michaels.
39:51Shawn Michaels somehow, someway is able to get that shoulder up.
39:56And again, h h h is so weak, just like Michaels.
40:01It was not he got an arm over it, Michaels. That's all h h h could do. Well, some way, JR, I have a feeling that that's the way this match is gonna end.
40:08These men are gonna beat each other to bloody pulps until there's absolutely nothing left of of either of them, and somebody's gonna just either fall across the other one, be able to drake one one arm across. These men have went well past thirty minutes. This has gotta be the longest held in a cell match in history.
40:27I mean, they're humans. How much can their anatomies take? Two arms.
40:31Right. I understand will to win, but Triple H's taking those right hands.
40:35Michaels landing those straight sickening right hands with look at how big Michael's right hand is. His right hand looks like it's swollen to twice its size.
40:45It could be broken. Imagine just getting the, uh, holy hell beat out of you for over thirty minutes straight. Michael's ring finger, his little finger, both crooked.
40:55It looked like his knuckles are swollen, but twice her size. The cover by Michael, it took late.
41:02It's a shoulder up of King. I'll tell you. The guts of both these men, whether you like both of them or you don't, it really doesn't matter.
41:10You've gotta admire the courage and what these two men are putting their bodies through just to prove who is the better man. And I'm beginning to wonder, JR, is either one of these men gonna lose this match?
41:22They're both so determined. It's it's like they're so determined, not necessarily to win, but they're so determined not to lose. Well, somebody's gonna win tonight, and somebody's gonna lose tonight.
41:34Everybody's going downstairs and all type of shoulder. Man, that was a forfeiting shot right to the shoulder, into the the steel ring post, and that ring post very unyielding.
41:48I think knowing both of these men the way I do, JR, I think the think the will not to lose is stronger than the will to win.
41:58Neither one of these men.
42:00It's all about competition, and this is a raw pay per view.
42:06And that's what it's about is competition. Intense physicality.
42:12And you won't see this anywhere else. And look at this now, the game bringing in a table.
42:20Well, both of these men have to look at this match as probably the biggest in their career. It's the end all match and neither one of these guys can afford to lose this. And the the show you the the perverse
42:33person personal issue, you're probably right.
42:36The biggest match in both their careers and a snuck for the world title. That's what it means to both men.
42:42Shawn Michaels hasn't moved. He's been lying over that camp that that middle rope, that second turnbuckle.
42:53Somewhere, somehow, he he must have just a little more strength.
42:59A little more offense. This is so intense.
43:03The physicality is completely indescribable as Michael scores again for what we think is a broken run Where is he getting it from?
43:14The place knocked down And to his Michael's, the place can't even get his hands up to protect himself. Michael's three shots.
43:24And that's to the skull of a man that's been been hit in the head with a steel chair in this match as aggressively as as as stiffly as anything I've seen in years.
43:35Don't forget that ladder.
43:40Triple H's out on it. Look at Michael. That's a free shot right in the head in the game.
43:46Helplessly lying on that table.
43:48Michael's Well, h h h earlier brought a steel chair in the ring and it came back to haunt him. Do you think this table that h h h brought in is gonna come back to haunt him as well?
43:58God. Oh my god. Shawn Michaels climbing as high as he can go.
44:18A proud standing for HBK. I may
44:25have done it. We may have reached that point where which one of these men is gonna have the the final strength to cover the other?
44:32Look at this. Oh, that crash.
44:36A lot of pumping and cracking. It may not just be the table.
44:45I am absolutely astonished of the toughness and intensity of both these men.
44:52Michaels trying to get body on body here and he finally does. And h h h able to power out over that
45:00uncanny upper body strength of his. What it is, Shawn just like you said earlier, he doesn't have the power, the strength left to be able to hook Triple H's leg. All he can do is just basically lay his body weight across h h h.
45:17This is one night that we will never forget. On 06/13/2004, you can tell the folks you saw the best.
45:27And Michael's now tuning up the band. Don't tell me. It only takes one shot for Sweet ten music.
45:33Michael has only gone for it once in this entire match. If he hits it, it's over.
45:41The Game with a low blow. The Game dodged the right foot of Michaels, able to go downstairs.
45:52John completely exposed in a low blow of the worst kind. Look at this.
45:57The Petter
45:59The Kenny cover Michaels. It took place to make the cover.
46:04It's gotta be over.
46:10Man, this is carnage. This is legal human torture.
46:19And finally, JR, like you said earlier, this match may mercifully be over.
46:25JR's over of the game. Will it be? No, it's not.
46:29My god, how much is it gonna take for one of these two phenomenal athletes to win this match? I can't believe it.
46:39They just refused. They refused to lose. Amazing.
46:45As far as careers are concerned,
46:50this match will have deadly consequences. Look at it. Michaels is using h h h to stand, and h h h is using Michaels to stand up.
47:01They both pushed each other to the left. He got it.
47:07Michaels got it. The Sweet ten music.
47:13And Michaels collapsed after connecting
47:16with Sweet ten music. Michaels can somehow just muster the strength now to roll his body towards Triple H. I never thought he had this in him, look.
47:27God, what impact. God, what impact. Michael has won the very first Hell in a Cell seven years ago.
47:36It looks like he has a chance here if he can make the cover to win this one. That's right. H h h has never lost one, I'm afraid until now,
47:47Shawn Michaels moving, inching closer to the game. I think he's got it, JR.
47:54That's gonna be it if he could just get that arm across. Michael's got the arm over. Here it is.
48:00It's gonna be oh
48:02my god. My god. How much more can these two men take?
48:08How much more can they give? That's the question. What more can these two men do to each other?
48:15just I don't know what we're gonna prove here. I shudder to think of an answer to that question. What more can these two men do to each other?
48:27Somehow, JR, I'm sure they'll think of something.
48:32Michael's such a faraway look in his eye. The expression of Michael's face.
48:37This face tells this story.
48:41He's gotta be thinking. What does it take? I've given everything I have.
48:46Pretty much going downstairs
48:48somehow, some way going downstairs and now the game trying to go back to what brought him to the dance.
48:55The pedigree, here's the second pedigree. But h h h collapses and falls to his back.
49:05And the money was luckily for him falls on his stomach. Right after delivering
49:10the pedigree. Right now unfortunately the game is in the most precarious position.
49:16Men are gonna need to be skipped. You've gotta believe there could be hospital time.
49:25Forty five minutes, these men have been feeding each other since. That in
49:30itself has converse. Forty five minutes inside Hell in a Cell breaks all records. But at what price?
49:39At what price? Two magnificent competitors, like them or not, are putting themselves through this hell that they can never, in my view,
49:54ever, ever recover from. Look the carnage, ladders, smashed tables, dented chairs, and two broken bodies.
50:06This has been a sinister, sinister, still faded match.
50:15And the referee can't do a damn thing, but hope and pray. One of these two men will be able to beat the other and we're gonna stay here as long as it takes.
50:33These fans just showing their respect to these two, as you say, great athletes for just surviving,
50:41being alive at this point. Might as trying to get up, h h h turning to his side here. Lost so much blood.
50:50There's no telling what kind of structural damage these two men have. They have given us their heart and their soul in this demonic structure tonight,
51:00and it is not over yet. They've given us their heart and soul, and they've given their bodies to this
51:07cell. My god. Another pedigree.
51:10Three.
51:12Another pedigree, but this time, Michaels, for him, unfortunately landing on his back.
51:20Michaels is not moving. The game trying trying to get an arm over.
51:26Will he be able to?
51:28He's just shifting his weight right now. He's gotta somehow fall on Sean.
51:35There he's done it. Michaels
51:37the count. The three is over. It's all about the game.
51:41My god. It is perfectly over.
52:21Searching for supreme professional gut check.
52:26And we have seen it in spades here tonight.
52:32They could get this thing on padlocked. Think both of these men need some medical help.
52:39We
52:44said earlier tonight that the hell of hell is where careers go to die. I hope that I am wrong on that analysis.
52:58You can't you can't say anything more than that that picture is worth more than a thousand words. These two men both completely gave their all here tonight.
53:09Triple
53:10H has won this Hell to Cell match. Triple H is still undefeated in Hell to Cell matches.
53:21It's not medical help that's coming to the ring, but it is three concerned individuals.
53:26Evolution coming down to, I hope, only three triple a.
53:31Their leader, the leader of evolution, stepped up to the plate tonight big time.
53:41Time to play the game. And I can't put a flare. The indigency of Ric Flair getting in Shawn Michaels' face, a defensive Shawn Michaels.
53:52Shawn Michaels left his heart and his soul in this ring tonight, but so did the game. I will give the devil his doom.
54:01Well,
54:02we we still haven't seen both of these men may have to be physically carried out of this ring. Both of them.
54:11As
54:14a small kid, when I first became a wrestling fan, I was often, almost on a weekly basis, astonished and amazed at the athleticism, the toughness, and the courage of the men I saw on my television.
54:30But I can tell you here tonight, ladies and gentlemen, being here live and in person, and this is what makes that if I live with the a 100, I will never forget.
55:12John Michael competed in the first hell in a cell seven years ago. Little did he know that his career could very well end up inside hell in a cell seven years later because I am as sure as I'm an Oklahoma sooner.
55:34I am so worried about that man's back. He could have a broken hand from his using that fist. He lost ton of blood.
55:43Well, the longest running, most storied rivalry in WWE history has ended.
55:58And certainly not the way Shawn Michaels would have wanted it. But he certainly got nothing to be ashamed of.
56:05Absolutely not.
56:07The soul of a warrior gave us everything he had, three pedigrees.
56:14And this crowd is not one person has left. They are hushed.
56:21Sean's eyes are open.
56:23Crowd is absolutely as we are stunned.
56:32And appreciable as they should be, as the world has to be with the athletic display that these two men
56:42just gave for us. It's an amazing accomplishment that he is gonna be able to it looks like leave the ring under his own power.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
On June 13, 2004, in Columbus, Ohio, the Hell in a Cell structure descended around the ring and locked two former best friends inside it for 57 minutes. What followed was not a wrestling match in any conventional sense — it was a record.
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