In 1997, WWE’s Badd Blood: In Your House became an iconic event for the company, despite a mostly forgettable undercard. However, the main event saw The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels in a heated clash, competing in the first-ever Hell in a Cell match, leading to Kane making his monstrous debut.
At the time, Matt Hardy was only 23 and his WWE career hadn’t taken off just yet, but he vividly recalled watching the show’s main event. “It was impressive, yeah,” Hardy said about seeing the cell lowered down before the match during an episode of his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast.
“I’ll never forget sitting back and watching that match, and that was the first time I was like, ‘Whoa,'” Hardy continued. “Shawn Michaels is like — we knew he was great, but he was on another level in that match. Such a stand-out. It was so incredible to watch.” Hardy also expressed that The Undertaker was great to watch as well, because the “Deadman” didn’t just steamroll Michaels like he did many of his other opponents at the time.
Hardy also commented on seeing Kane backstage without the mask before the match, detailing the history that he and Jeff had with Glenn Jacobs prior to WWE. “We worked with him in Smokey Mountain when he was Unabomber,” Hardy recalled. “It was so weird, because we’re like, ‘This is crazy, this guy’s getting this amazing character, he’s Undertaker’s brother. We were around him when he was Isaac Yankem.'”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy,” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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