WWE.com interviewed Shawn Michaels, Bill Apter, Paul Ellering, and Tommy Rich to share their thoughts on “The Last Battle of Atlanta”, the match that inspired Hell in a Cell. HBK takes credit for Hell in a Cell, although Jim Cornette said before that he created the idea. Both admit, though, their inspirations came from the hellacious Tom Rich vs.Buzz Sawyer brawl in 1983. You can view what HBK had to say down below.
Michaels Discuses Tommy Rich and GCW: “My buddy Kenny Kent and I used to watch Georgia Championship Wrestling at his place [in San Antonio] every Saturday. We were watching channel 17, WTBS. When he came in [to Georgia] against The Freebirds, they showed him in a black Firebird Trans-Am. Oh my God, it was the coolest thing. “Wildfire” Tommy Rich was coming.”
Coming Up With The Idea for Hell in a Cell With The Last Battle of Atlanta In Mind: “Undertaker and I had done a Lumberjack Match the month before [the first Hell in a Cell Match]. The next logical step is a cage. I can remember saying, ‘We’ve done cage matches.’We had that big blue steel cage that was brutal. It hurt so bad. It was tight up against the ring. I remembered years ago, Buzz Sawyer and Tommy Rich in The Omni, they had a top on the cage. I remember suggesting that. I had no idea the cage itself would turn into what it turned into.”
