Forgotten Installments of the WWE's Most Beloved Stipulation Matches

Gimmick matches are such great sells to fans that WWE has implemented many of them into themes of entire pay-per-views. Some have become common staples of pro wrestling, such as the steel cage match. Others, like the Inferno match, for example, are seldom seen and become an event in themselves when it occurs.

The number of Hell in a Cell and TLC matches grows every single year, but many wrestling fans can seem to talk about pretty much any instance of a match like that taking place. Hell in a Cell adds one more chapter at WrestleMania, but can you recall when these kinds of matches were on free television? Better yet, have you ever seen matches like these that didn't even get broadcast for the entire world to see?

Every so often, WWE likes to take a unique match concept and, to go away from their usual strategy, give it away for free. What it causes makes WWE so unpredictable. How do you know that going to that taped television show or generic-sounding house show won't merit the sight of a match that few in the world may have the chance to see?

Here are the crown jewels of WWE's concept matches that lie dormant at the bottom of the jewelry box. Whether it is good or not, the simple fact of it being rarely seen or remembered makes it intriguing to watch alone. Here are some of them, presented in chronological order.

March 16, 1997: Vader and Undertaker in a Casket Match for MSG Fans Only

Unless you were from the New York metro area and was in Madison Square Garden on this night or saw it on television, I bet you never would have known that Vader and The Undertaker faced one another in a Casket match.

After a few minutes on this show that was broadcast on the MSG network, Undertaker was in full control of Vader, even performing a Tombstone Piledriver on the massive man. As Undertaker tried to open the casket to roll Vader into it, Mankind appeared from inside the casket, locking a Mandible Claw on The Deadman. Mankind would then force a beaten-down Undertaker into the casket and the door was closed, giving Vader a victory.

June 15, 1998: Tag Team Hell in a Cell on Raw

A match that had only happened once before would take place for the second-time ever on an episode of Raw in 1998. It would be the first tag team Hell in a Cell match, pitting Kane and The Undertaker against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Mankind. This would be just days before King of the Ring, where Austin would defend his WWF Championship against Kane. Kane threatened to set himself on fire if he did not win the title in a first blood match.

Meanwhile, we were just days away from seeing Mankind and The Undertaker inside that cell in what would become the iconic match in the history of Hell in a Cell. This match would end in a no contest, but the cell would play a role in both matches at King of the Ring. This gave us a nice taste of what was in store.

August 24, 1998: Hell in a Cell on Raw

For the second time in 1998, the Hell in a Cell would make its appearance on a live Raw telecast. This time around, it would be Kane and Mankind squaring off with one another. Both men were actually world tag team champions at the time and were six nights away from losing the titles at SummerSlam. This would be one of the first real feuds between tag team champions.

Yet again, this would be a no-contest. This would be the second and last Raw Hell in a Cell match that would be seen on a Raw telecast.

September 9, 1999: Buried Alive Tag Team Match on SmackDown

The buried alive match is one of the rarest matches in WWE history. The premise is to take your opponent, lure them to a pile of dirt, throw them into a hole and literally bury them alive. Only twice before had this match ever happened.

On this night, it was the team of Big Show and The Undertaker taking on The Rock N' Sock Connection, consisting of The Rock and Mankind. Big Show and The Undertaker would take all they could from the tag team champions, but it would be the interference of Triple H that would make the difference.

The Game would attack The Rock backstage during the match and be the person to ultimately bury Mankind alive. Triple H would even hit Big Show with a sledgehammer just to accomplish that feat. Even with HHH responsible, Big Show and Undertaker would become tag team champions in the process.

May 24, 2001: Fatal 4-Way TLC on SmackDown

The WWF Tag Team Championships were up for grabs on an episode of SmackDown in 2001. The teams of the Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz, Edge and Christian and Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho took part in a fatal four-way TLC match. Jericho and Benoit had just become tag team champions as the other three teams competed for the same titles just weeks earlier at WrestleMania X-Seven.

Jericho and Benoit were the new guys on the block, invading the tag team scene and making their TLC debuts. This was only the third edition of the TLC match, but the previous two had only featured the other three teams. This was the first time that four teams were featured in the match.

Jericho and Benoit would retain their championships in what some could call an upset over the teams that helped invent the match type.

October 7, 2002: Fatal 4-Way TLC on Raw Roulette

The following October, Raw Roulette brought back the TLC match with a similar match. The teams of Spike and Bubba Ray Dudley, Christian and Chris Jericho and Jeff Hardy and RVD would try to take the championships from the reigning champions, Kane and The Hurricane. The Hurricane was taken out backstage, leading to Kane having to defend the titles in the TLC match all alone.

Despite not having a partner and facing four veterans of the match, Kane would still end up retaining the World Tag Team Championships in a match that took over 25 minutes to produce a winner, making it the longest TLC match up until that time.

March 10, 2005: Angle and Michaels Wrestle to 30-Minute Iron Man Draw

An Iron Man match is a rare match in all of wrestling, mainly due to the rarity of having superstars that can sustain the punishment for such long amounts of time. The first one in WWE history went 60 minutes and then some before Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart 1-0 to win his first world championship. Seven-and-a-half years later, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar would wrestle in a 60-minute Iron Man match in one of the most memorable SmackDown matches ever.

Angle came into that match as the WWE champion, but lost 5-4 to Lesnar after just running out of time to force a tie and overtime. Two years later, Michaels and Angle would have their own Iron Man match, which would only last 30 minutes. There was no title on the line. It was just a guy wrestling another guy for a half hour straight. Both men got two falls to their credit and the match ended in a draw. Since there was no title on the line, overtime was not needed.

January 16, 2006: Ric Flair Shows Some TLC

The first TLC match in almost four years had Ric Flair challenge Edge for the WWE Championship. It was the first-ever singles match contested under TLC rules. It would also be the first time that the WWE Championship was on the line in a TLC match.

For a minute, it looked like Ric Flair would become an unprecedented 17-time world champion. Flair was intercontinental champion and was in his home state of North Carolina. However, Edge would do whatever it took in order to retain his championship. It took 16:40 to get the job done, but Edge would retain barely against Flair.

Flair would be bloodied for most of the match, but would put Edge in incredible pain, throwing him into tables and putting on one of the best TLC matches that is hardly talked about.

November 29, 2010: Miz and King Get Extreme with TLC

Nearly five years would pass before Jerry Lawler, who was a commenter in many of the TLC matches, would get his chance with the dangerous match. The Miz had just become WWE champion and was pretty unproven. His first official title defense came against Lawler as they wrestled in a TLC match just shy of the TLC pay-per-view. Lawler had never been a world champion in WWE and never came closer than this night.

It would take Michael Cole and Alex Riley, as well as some luck on The Miz's part, to prevent The King from being the world champion. At just under 12 minutes, this is still the shortest TLC match in WWE history.

September 26, 2011: Hell in a Cell Dark Match

Last September, the Raw fans in Kansas City were treated to something unbelievable. For their dark match, which takes place after the broadcast concludes, a Hell in a Cell match with five men took place. For the first time ever, John Cena would defend his WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match that was never broadcasted. His challengers were CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio, who would challenge Cena in the same match days later at Hell in a Cell on pay-per-view, as well as Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger, who both made their debuts inside the cell that night.

Since a dark match doesn't actually count officially and is considered as official as a house show, Cena obviously retained. Also, it is questionable if WWE actually recognizes that match as an official Hell in a Cell match.

Follow @RobertAitkenBR