For over five years the man behind the mask remained a mystery (at least to people who didn’t realize he was Issac Yankem and the fake Diesel). It is amazing to me that Glen Jacobs (Kane’s real name) took a character that (at least I believe so) was supposed to be a short-term feud for the Undertaker, and turned it into a WWE mainstay and an extremely bankable character. When Kane first arrived, the thing that hooked me was all of the fire, the colors (for some reason I’ve always loved red and black, so it was perfect), the music, the costume and the mask, and the very Michael Myers/Jason Voorhees mentality that he displayed. As time wore on, Kane won me over even more with his in ring performances, his willingness to do ANYTHING the company asked him to do, and later on his humor and charisma when talking.
On June 23, 2003 I sat watching RAW fully decked out to support the Big Red Machine. I donned my Kane “Chicks Dig the Mask” t-shirt, my Kane glow in the dark pendant, my Kane mask (the real leather one…although I have both of the plastic ones too), my Kane glove, and my Kane necklace and I sat down to watch RAW. I knew it was a night that would prove to be a turning point in both Kane and all of the Kanenites lives’ regardless of the outcome of the main event. I sat there trying to be optimistic about Kane’s chances for leaving Madison Square Garden as the World Heavyweight Champion, but I knew deep down there was no chance that Triple H was going down. So I tried to convince myself there would be a DQ or no contest ending to the match, resulting in no title change but no unmasking. I kept hanging onto hope as the match drug on.
After the interference of Evolution and the RKO was hit on Kane, I watched as Triple H picked Kane up and delivered another Pedigree. The knots in my stomach were getting harder and more prominent. The referee began to count. One, two, and as his hand came down for the three, I felt myself rise up off of my couch and stand in anticipation, completely involuntarily, then his hand hit the mat for the third and final time. It was done. Kane had lost. I sat there, in disbelief, decked out in my Kane gear and feeling like I should either cry or break something. As the aftermath unfolded, I kept hoping for some sort of savior from this horrid outcome. I thought I had it when Rob Van Dam ran down and helped Kane rid the ring of Evolution. As Kane raised his arms about to light off his pyro, I hoped for the copyright to pop up and this close call to be over. I had read rumors several times over the past six years of Kane losing his mask and had survived many previous unmaskings; the ones at the hands of Undertaker, X-Pac, Batista, etc. But when Kane stopped halfway to lighting off his pyro, and stared into the camera, I knew it was for real this time. I knew it was over.
So as the mask (and wig) came off, I was sitting there in disbelief. First and foremost, it kind of creeped me out when he took off his hair with the mask. Not because it was shocking (even though it was), but because when he walked to the ring I sat there and told my friends “Wow, he got a haircut or something, his hair is frizzier than normal tonight”, to which they all replied with a variation of calling me a homosexual. As Kane turned his head to the side and revealed his face to the world for the first time, I hoped for some miracle. I hoped it would be an imposter under the mask or for some other form of trickery to keep it from happening. But as I saw the face, I knew from the previous characters he had played that it was in fact Glen Jacobs. I was almost sick. He proceeded to chokeslam RVD and then light off his pyro before making some very Undertaker-like facial expressions to close off RAW for the evening.
After RAW went off the air, I flung my Kane mask off and flipped my couch in anger at what had just happened. I thought Kane’s career was dead. I couldn’t believe they had him cut off all of his hair either. I was severely surprised that they didn’t do more to “scar” his face. To me, the mask had always been the main part of the mystique of the Kane character, and without it, I didn’t understand where they could really go with him in the long term scheme of things. I actually wrote a pretty strong worded letter on the WWE website in the feedback area for RAW where I blasted the WWE for doing that to such a loyal employee and his fans, and suggested ways to either put the mask back on or pretend it never happened.
Did I overreact? Perhaps. But I guess I have little faith in the WWE and their treatment of loyal employees after what they did to my other all-time favorite, Bret Hart. I don’t get truly mad at something that happens on WWE television unless it just totally screws over Kane, or back in the day Bret Hart. The unmasking upset me for a couple weeks bad enough that I had a hard time being in much of a good mood no matter what else was going on around me.
After a few weeks, however, I started to see the new direction they were taking the new, bald, heel badass Kane. After being unmasked, he was going crazy, destroying everything and everyone in sight, much like he had done when he first arrived in the WWE in 1997. I liked it. It made sense. Then they made me like it even a bit more when he offered the explanation for the lack of scarring, that it was all mental. That’s brilliant, in my humble opinion. I only wish that they would have thought of that explanation before they had him shave his head.
So in the following weeks and months, Kane has chokeslammed Bischoff from the stage, taken out Austin, taken out RVD on numerous occasions, destroyed people backstage, performed a tombstone on Linda McMahon on the stage, hooked a car battery up to Shane McMahon’s balls, and just all out dominated everyone who has tried to take him on. It has been wonderful. Kane has, more often than not since unmasking, been the “main event” or the last segment of the evening. His segments remain the highest or one of the highest rated segments on RAW each week. He’s heel now too, which since I’m a heel slut, makes me happy.
Now where do we go after Kane destroys Shane McMahon at Unforgiven? Easy, we go to Goldberg and the World Heavyweight Championship. Provided that Goldberg takes the strap from Triple H, I think it is a no-brainer to have Kane take the title from Goldberg at Survivor Series in November. Think about it. The announcers have been asking who can hang with Kane. So far, the answer has been no one. So Goldberg comes out and tells Kane that he’s “Next”. The unbeatable, unstoppable Goldberg meets his match in a monster that can overcome everything and anything. Imagine Kane sitting up after a spear, or giving Goldberg the big boot as he runs for the spear. Imagine Kane as the new World Heavyweight Champion. I love the thought, and Kane deserves it.
Do I like the unmasking itself? No, I miss the mask and the long hair. Do I like the storyline and the angle? Yes, definitely. Kane was stuck in mid-card tag team action for way too long. I’m satisfied for now. Keep it up, WWE. Keep pushing Kane. I’ll most likely be in Dallas for Survivor Series, just in case.
Until Next Time…
