Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage.

After watching the Kevin Owens v Roman Reigns cage match on Raw this September, I was nostalgic for cage matches of old. Being able to escape through the door has always seemed like a cop out to me. Even being able to make your opponent submit or pin them seemed a bit lame compared to my memory of cage matches from my youth when the only way of winning was to beat your opponent so much that they couldn't prevent you from escaping the cage.

This nostalgia led me to want to watch cage matches through the ages to see how the introduction of rule changes affected the drama and entertainment of the end product. A quick Google suggests there is a vague consensus on what the best few cage matches are but there is a lot of variation on others, so I decided to combine best of lists to come up with a mega watch list of 50 matches which I have spent a couple of months watching. There is a separate blog post if you want to read my thoughts on all of them as I went along.

It turns out that for WWE bouts, you could always escape through the door. So the first thing to note is that my memory is really quite hazy.

Being able to escape through the door is still a silly rule. It's just too easy to do once you've got your opponent down. However, no-one ever attempts it when their opponent is completely knocked out. Only when they're just about aware enough to stop them escaping. It makes the competitors not seem smart enough in my mind.

Another thing that annoys me about WWE cage matches is that a commentator will always, without fail, say at the start of the fight. "The only way to win..." and then lists three different ways of winning. Three ways of winning doesn't strike me as the only way to win. This is bad Englishing.

All of my not at all wasted hours of watching cage matches has led me to realise the following things.

What makes a good cage match?

1. A reason for the cage to be there. 

There's two ways of looking at this. It is either to keep other people out or to keep the combatants in, which could either be because one might run away (Stone Cold v Vince) or because the anger and hatred might not contain the action.

This usually should also include a lot of animosity between both sides, and the fans should be clearly behind one of them. This animosity can be kayfabe (Bret v Owen) or genuine (Matt Hardy v Edge). Either way, it should be portrayed well during the match

2. Clear and simple rules that make sense. 

Different brands have slightly different rules for cage matches. There is no one set of rules, although TNA and WCW have pinfall or submission within the cage. WWE also has the option of escaping the cage which is, perhaps around 80-90% of the time, the method that is used to obtain victory.

However, it should be clear to fans what the rules are. There have been occasions when commentators have needed to attempt to justify a decision made by either a competitor or a referee because it didn't fit with what seems to obviously be the rules. If a referee attempts to interfere in a cage match - when they don't have any power to disqualify a competitor - it seems pointless. They should just leave them be.

3. A couple of cool cage spots

If you're not going to use the cage to do cool things, why have one? Some guys seem to wrestle tons of cage matches without doing anything great with the cage. Some of this lot can get away with it - Ric Flair being one example. Some can't. Hogan being one example.

Despite the fact that he is my all time favourite wrestler, Jericho's cage matches never really seem to capture my excitement. He doesn't take big bumps. He doesn't often bleed. I'd rather see him in a regular match than forced into an environment where he can't perform to the top of his game.

Other wrestlers become known for their big bumps. Seeing Jeff Hardy in a cage and him not do a swanton from the top of it is disappointing. You need to give the crowd what they expect otherwise they will go home disappointed, regardless of the result of the match.

4. A decent length match

Not many cages seem too short but some can seem too long at times. If you've not got exciting stuff to fill the match up with, then cut it out. Fans should be getting excited about a steel cage match and you really don't want to make it feel like a chore to watch.

5. The possibility that either could win

This means that both competitors need to be on a roughly even footing. If the match could go either way, there's a lot more excitement. Some cage matches - a number of Flair's or Hogan's matches. It might be partially hindsight meaning that I assume the more legendary competitor will win but it can't all be that. They would have been legendary and winning most of their matches at the time. There's no point putting someone in a cage match against someone who will easily flatten them. It just won't be exciting.

6. An exciting ending

A cage match will usually be the end of a long running feud. The end of the cage match therefore needs to be exciting in order to make it feel like a worthy conclusion to what has been playing out. Some do this perfectly with a completely unique finish (Bret v Owen, Stone Cold v Vince), It won't always be possible to come up with something that hasn't been done before. In this case, it should be a very close match where one competitor just grabs the victory.

7. Chemistry between the competitors

Usually this comes about because the competitors are former partners who are now enemies or because the individuals have fought each other a number of times previously. The guys involved need to be on the top of their game to do justice to the face that they've got a 15 foot high steel cage around them.

My favourite 5 cage matches

5. Samoa Joe v Kurt Angle, TNA Lockdown 2008. YouTube

This was the first TNA match I'd ever seen. It was great. Angle looks great as a cage fighter and Joe gives him a great match.

4. Team Sting v The Four Horsemen, WCW War Games 1991 WWE Network

I've only seen this War Games match but the interesting rules and the menacing ending make it one that I definitely won't forget.

3. Stone Cold Steve Austin v Vince McMahon, St Valentines Day Massacre 1999 WWE Network

These two both play their parts perfectly. Vince takes a great bump. There is a truly unique ending. It never fails to entertain.

2. Bret Hart v Owen Hart, Summerslam 1994 WWE Network

The feud had played out brilliantly over more than a year and the match did not disappoint. The post-match fallout just adds to how great this is.

1. Edge v Matt Hardy, Unforgiven 2005 WWE Network

The legitimate hatred these guys have for each other comes out in this match. Obviously it is still worked, but neither of them look like they pull their punches. It is so engrossing.

Right, now on to watching through all the Royal Rumbles....