With a monumental WrestleMania Hell in a Cell Match between
The Undertaker and Triple H looming large on the horizon, the entire WWE
Universe has cold, hard steel on the mind. And while nothing may compare to the
most intimidating structure in WWE history, perhaps the buzz of metal madness on
The Grandest Stage of Them All will inspire WWE to bring back past steel cage incarnations
into the main event fold. (PHOTOS)

Classic blue steel
For members of the WWE Universe, there’s something familiar and, dare we say, comforting
about that classic blue steel cage from the late ’80s and ’90s. Made famous at
WrestleMania II and on Saturday Night’s Main Event, the blue steel is
an undisputed classic image. Being morphed into everything from video games to your
official circa-1990 WWE ring play set, those blue steel bars are instantly
recognizable as a WWE original. And while the chunky blues may evoke warm and
fuzzy feelings of nostalgia by fans, it’s a safe bet that those sentiments are
not shared by the Superstars who have done battle inside that same sapphire structure.

Designed primarily for climbing, the bars were sturdy and
well built, and when a Superstar was launched into them, the blue steel won every
time. Still, because of the ample foot-space allowed by the bars, launching off
the top of the cage was just one of the many reasons we want to see this match
brought back. We get chills just thinking about watching Tamina — whose father,
WWE Hall of Famer “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka, made
cage-diving a thing of legend in his day — follow in her dad’s footsteps and leap off
the top of this blue beauty.

Let the (war) games
begin
In 1987, WCW’s Great American Bash incorporated “WarGames: The Match
Beyond” into competition. Featuring two teams and timed intervals, WarGames
sure was fun to watch. A bevy of legendary competitors have experienced the
match’s unique side-by-side double-cage structure. And after all team members were
inside the steel enclosure, the “Match Beyond” would begin, where the ways in
which to win were simply stated, but brutally applied — submission or
surrender. This type of match is seemingly tailor-made to add a new twist on
the traditional Five-on-Five Tag Team Match at a present-day Survivor Series.

Paint it, black
A wicked twist on the old-school baby blue cage was added at St. Valentine’s
Day Massacre in 1999 in the midst of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s personal war
with Mr. McMahon. A microcosm of the massive rivalry between The
Texas Rattlesnake and his employer, the match itself featured standard cage rules. But, the black bars made everything
different somehow. Like some kind of weird, inverted idol, the black bars took
something beloved from our past and made it menacing; certainly fitting for the
brutal bout that waged within its confines. This cage match might be
the ideal environment to settle the heated rivalry between another disgruntled
employee and his corporate overlord — CM Punk vs. John Laurinaitis, anyone?

Who let the dogs …
in?
At Unforgiven 1999, the WWE Universe was treated to a — let’s say unique
— steel cage experience. In the one-time-only Kennel from Hell Match, Al Snow
battled Big Boss Man for the WWE Hardcore Championship. Like mixing peanut
butter and chocolate, the Kennel combined two things the WWE Universe loves — a
blue-barred steel cage and a Hell in a Cell. Oh, yeah, and did we mention that
there were dogs, too?

In order to win the match, not only did a Superstar have
to escape the inner steel cage and the outer Cell, but in between the two
structures sat Rottweilers, just chomping at the bit to get in on the action. Seriously,
what’s not to love about this stipulation? While this match type may not be the
most practical, just think about how the John Cena/Kane rivalry might have
ended if their epic dispute had gone “to the dogs.”

Three-tiered mayhem
Then there was WCW’s steel-structured eyesore known as Tower of Doom. Stacking
three cages, one on top of the other, competitors would battle their way down
to the bottom structure and ultimately, outside to safety. The bout began with
two competitors engaged in battle in the top-most cage, and additional
grapplers would enter after a set amount of time. Maybe it was the way the
cages swayed whenever a competitor entered the fold, but part of the attraction
of the pancake of pain was the fact that the steel monstrosity appeared highly
unstable and everyone involved in the bout was at high risk throughout its
duration. A match type made for high-flyers and hardcore heavies alike, we’d
love to see Primo Epico put their titles on the line in a three-tiered
championship bout.

Like the Tower of Doom, we’ve stacked up enough steel cage
evidence to make our case, so let’s hope the WWE listens and brings back any —
or all — of these cage matches!

Article source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/bring-it-back-class-cage-matches