Kane (wrestler)
| Glen Jacobs | |
|---|---|
| File:Kane4.jpg | |
| Born | April 26, 1967 Madrid |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Angus King The Black Knight The Christmas Creature Diesel Doomsday Isaac Yankem DDS Kane Unabomb |
| Billed height | 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) |
| Billed weight | 320 lb (145 kg) |
| Billed from | Death Valley (as Kane), Decatur, Illinois (as Isaac Yankem) |
| Trained by | Dean Malenko, Jeff Bradley, Ray Candy |
| Debut | 1992 |
Glen Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967 in Madrid, Spain, but raised near Nashville, Tennessee, USA, currently residing in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name, Kane. Jacobs is currently wrestling on the RAW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Early career
Jacobs has portrayed several characters throughout his career since his professional wrestling debut in 1992. He was first known as Angus King when he debuted in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Jacobs later moved south and began wrestling as Unabomb, appearing in the United States Wrestling Association, Smoky Mountain Wrestling (where held the SMW Tag Team Championship with Al Snow) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He also competed in the Japanese shoot style promotion Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi.
World Wrestling Federation
Jacobs is believed to have debuted in the World Wrestling Federation as the masked Black Knight at the 1993 Survivor Series, though the Black Knight has also been said to have been Jeff Gaylord. He later appeared as the evil dentist of Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, DDS, in 1995 after Bret Hart damaged Lawler's teeth by forcing his foot into his mouth, and as Diesel in 1996, replacing the original wrestler to have portrayed the Diesel character, Kevin Nash.
1997-1998
In October 1997, Jacobs was repackaged as Kane, the storyline half-brother of The Undertaker. He re-debuted in the WWF at Bad Blood 1997 on October 5, 1997, costing The Undertaker his Hell in a Cell match with then WWF European Champion Shawn Michaels. Kane and The Undertaker feuded with one another over the following year, during which time their history vis-à-vis one another was expounded upon.
Jacobs first wrestled as the Kane character in a squash match against Ahmed Johnson on the November 3, 1997 episode of RAW. The Undertaker initially refused to fight him, saying he would not fight his own "flesh and blood" for show. This led to Kane interfering in The Undertaker's WWF Championship title match with Shawn Michaels at the 1998 Royal Rumble, costing him the title once again. After the match, Kane locked The Undertaker in a casket and set it on fire. This provoked The Undertaker into returning to defeat Kane at WrestleMania XIV on March 29, 1998. They continued to feud until Unforgiven 1998 on April 26, 1998, when The Undertaker defeated Kane in an inferno match with help from Vader.
On May 18, 1998, Kane was revealed to be the result of a furtive union between The Undertaker's mother and Paul Bearer, an employee at the funeral home in Death Valley owned by The Undertaker's parents. When Kane and The Undertaker were children, The Undertaker "accidentally" burned down the funeral home, killing their parents and hideously scarring Kane both physically and mentally (the parents of The Undertaker are supposedly buried somewhere on Long Island; during an episode of RAW taped on Long Island, Kane and Bearer ostensibly exhumed their bodies and brought them to the arena). Bearer, who survived the fire, hid Kane in a mental asylum as he grew up and went on to form an alliance with The Undertaker (the details of "Kane's" early life were recounted in the book Journey into Darkness). After suffering mistreatment at the hands of The Undertaker, Bearer opted to bring Kane in to the WWF in order to gain vengeance upon The Undertaker.
The Kane character is portrayed as being psychologically unstable: depressed, schizophrenic, extremely violent and quick to anger. Like his half-brother, Kane is supposedly able to summon fire and bolts of lightning at will (although this particular talent has been alternately emphasised or de-emphasised depending upon the creative direction of the WWF at the time).
After defeating The Undertaker to win a title shot, Kane won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship at the 1998 King of the Ring pay-per-view on June 28, 1998, defeating "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a First Blood match. He went on to form a tag team with Mankind, with whom he won the WWF World Tag Team Championship.
1999-2000
In 1999, Kane joined The Corporation. He eventually turned face after he was betrayed by Corporation member Chyna and thrown out of the stable. His face run ended when he allied with The Undertaker, turning him heel once again. After he and The Undertaker split, he turned face once again and formed a tag team with X-Pac. While teaming with X-Pac, Kane evolved from being mute to aided speech through an electrolarynx to speaking (albeit infrequently) unaided (with his first words being "suck it") and acquired a girlfriend, Tori. The tag team broke apart when X-Pac rejoined D-Generation X. In the course of their feud, Tori betrayed Kane and joined D-Generation X, and the former partners engaged in a lengthy feud that finally ended at WrestleMania 2000, where Kane triumphed over his former partner.
Shortly after WrestleMania, Kane suffered a hand injury that kept him out of action for a month. When he returned, it was to help The Undertaker and The Rock fight off the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. His involvement in this feud culminated in a main event match at King of the Ring 2000 against Vince and Shane McMahon, and then Champion Triple H. The Undertaker and Kane's rivalry resurfaced during the match, but they patched things up soon after. Kane later turned heel once again by assaulting The Undertaker, leading to a match between the two at SummerSlam 2000. The match ended when The Undertaker removed Kane's mask, causing him to flee the ring.
Kane stayed in contention for the WWF Championship for the remainder of the year, and ended 2000 in a feud with Chris Jericho.
2001-2002
Kane reformed his alliance with The Undertaker immediately before the 2001 Royal Rumble (in which he eliminated a record number of wrestlers, 11, and was the runner-up). In early 2001, Kane competed for the WWF Hardcore Championship, defeating Raven for the title at WrestleMania X-Seven in a match that also featured The Big Show. At the same time, Kane began teaming with The Undertaker as the "Brothers of Destruction". In the course of the year, they feuded with Edge and Christian, Rikishi and Haku and The Two-Man Power Trip. While feuding with The Two-Man Power Trip, Kane defeated Triple H at Judgment Day 2001 to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He later lost the title to Albert on an episode of SmackDown! following interference from Diamond Dallas Page.
During The Invasion, Kane and The Undertaker feuded with Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon after Page began stalking The Undertaker's wife Sara. The feud culminated at SummerSlam 2001, when Kane and The Undertaker defeated Page and Kanyon in a steel cage match, resulting in them holding both the WWF World Tag Team Championship and the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Kane and The Undertaker went on to defeat KroniK at Unforgiven 2001, and both participated in the ten man survivor series match at the 2001 Survivor Series as members of "Team WWF" (The match was won by "Team WWF", although not until after both Kane and The Undertaker had been eliminated).
In 2002, Kane began feuding with Kurt Angle, whom he lost to at WrestleMania X8. On March 25, 2002, the WWF was divided into two "brands", RAW and SmackDown!, with both Kane and The Undertaker being drafted to RAW. Kane went on to feud with the New World Order until tearing his bicep. Kane returned to WWE television in the summer of 2002, winning the World Tag Team Championship with The Hurricane. On October 7, 2002, Kane successfully single-handedly defended the World Tag Team Championship in a four team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match (The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening and was thus unable to compete).
In October 2002, Kane began feuding with Triple H, leading to a match at No Mercy 2002 on October 20, 2002 in which both Kane's WWE Intercontinental Championship and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. In the weeks preceding the match, Triple H claimed that, several years earlier, Kane had had an unrequited relationship with a woman named Katie Vick. He went on to claim that, after Vick was killed in a car crash, Kane (the driver) raped her corpse. Triple H later threatened to show video footage of Kane committing the act in question; however, the footage that finally aired showed Triple H (dressed as Kane) simulating necrophilia with a mannequin in a casket. The storyline was very unpopular with fans, and was de-emphasised before the title match. Triple H went on to defeat Kane at No Mercy, unifying the two titles.
2003-2004
Kane formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam, with the duo eventually winning the World Tag Team Championship. In June 2003, Triple H offered Kane a spot in his stable "Evolution". RAW Co-General Manager "Stone Cold" Steve Austin offered Kane the opportunity to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship if he rejected Triple H's offer; however, Co-General Manager Eric Bischoff insisted that Kane unmask should he lose the match. Kane accepted Austin's offer and went to challenge Triple H the following week in Madison Square Garden. Triple H won the match following interference from his stablemates, and Kane removed his mask (and, in the process, his hair), revealing that his face was not actually scarred. He then immediately turned heel by chokeslamming Van Dam, who he went on to defeat at SummerSlam 2003. In an interview with Jim Ross, it became apparent that Kane's facial scars were actually mental scars (this explanation ignored instances in which other wrestlers had recoiled upon seeing Kane's unmasked face). At the end of this interview, Kane, believing that he was being mocked, attacked Ross and set him afire.
Unmasking rendered Kane emotionally unstable, on one occasion driving him to Tombstone Linda McMahon on the RAW stage. This action sparked a feud between Kane and Linda's son Shane, with Kane defeating Shane in a Last Man Standing match at Unforgiven 2003 and an ambulance match at the 2003 Survivor Series. During the latter event, Kane interfered in a Buried Alive match between Vince McMahon and The Undertaker, helping McMahon bury The Undertaker and win the match. He had previously helped Stone Cold Steve Austin bury Undertaker in a match at In Your House: Rock Bottom in 1998.
In January 2004, Kane took part in the 2004 Royal Rumble match. He was eliminated after a video promoting The Undertaker's return aired, distracting and distressing Kane and enabling Booker T to eliminate him from the ring. Over the following weeks, Kane repeatedly insisted that The Undertaker was "dead", only to be met with various paranormal incidents such as a rainstorm localized over the ramp on which he stood. The Undertaker finally returned at WrestleMania XX (with Paul Bearer at his side), defeating Kane.
Following his defeat at WrestleMania XX, Kane fell in love with Lita, but was spurned. This led to him kidnapping Lita in May 2004 and asking her an unknown question, which she replied to in the affirmative later that month. On the same night, Kane won a twenty man battle royal to receive a title shot at Chris Benoit's World Heavyweight Championship at Bad Blood 2004. He was defeated by Benoit.
Lita later announced that she was "pregnant", with Matt Hardy (her then-boyfriend in both kayfabe and reality) assuming that he was the child's father. On the June 21, 2004 episode of RAW, Kane claimed that he was the father. The following week, Kane explained that he had impregnated Lita in order to continue his legacy, and justified a vicious attack on Shawn Michaels several weeks earlier by claiming that Michaels had stood in the way of him winning the World Heavyweight Championship. In order to appease Kane, General Manager Eric Bischoff gave Kane a rematch with Benoit, instructing Benoit that he could only win by submission, whereas Kane could win the title by any means. Despite dominating much of the match, Kane again lost to Benoit. Following the match, Lita came to the ring and low-blowed Kane, who initially went to chokeslam her in revenge but stopped when he realized that she was trying to force him to cause her to miscarry their "child". Kane and Matt Hardy faced one another in a "'Till Death Do Us Part" match at SummerSlam, with Lita obliged to wed the victor. Kane defeated Hardy, and "married" Lita on the August 23, 2004 episode of RAW.
On the September 13, 2004 episode of RAW, Kane accidentally fell on Lita during a match with the debuting Gene Snitsky, ostensibly causing Lita to miscarry. Kane turned face as a result, and began seeking revenge against Snitsky for causing the death of his child. He lost to Snitsky in a steel chain match at Taboo Tuesday 2004, and was sidelined for several months after Snitsky crushed his larynx with a chair following the match. This attack was a repeat performance of when Kane "injured" Michaels in the same exact manner. The "injury" gave Kane time to film his starring role in the film, See No Evil.
2005-2006
Kane returned in January 2005, defeating Snitsky at New Year's Revolution 2005. He went on to compete in the "Money in the Bank" ladder match at WrestleMania 21, which was won by Edge. After WrestleMania, Kane and Lita (still "married") reconciled with one another and began antagonizing Lita's rival Trish Stratus, leading to a match between Kane and Stratus's hired bodyguard Viscera at Backlash 2005 that was won by Kane. Lita later turned on Kane and sided with Edge, leading to a feud between the two that ended when Edge defeated Kane in a stretcher match on the July 25, 2005 episode of RAW.
Kane returned to WWE television on October 17, 2005, winning an eighteen-man battle royal. As a result of his victory, he, along with The Big Show and Shawn Michaels, was featured in an internet poll to decide who would receive a shot at the WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday 2005. In the weeks before Taboo Tuesday, Kane and Big Show teamed together on several occasions. The poll was won by Michaels, and Kane and Big Show teamed together to face Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, defeating them for the World Tag Team Championship. The duo successfully retained their titles throughout the remainder of 2005, during which time they engaged in an inter-promotional feud with members of the SmackDown! brand.
In early 2006, Kane made several attempts to win the WWE Championship. He took part in an Elimination Chamber match for the title at New Year's Revolution 2006 on January 8, 2006, entering the chamber last, but did not win. Kane also took part in the 2006 Royal Rumble and the 2006 Road to WrestleMania Tournament, but did not win either event. He and Big Show feuded with Carlito and Chris Masters throughout early 2006, culmintating in a successful title defence at WrestleMania 22 on April 2, 2006.
On the following evening, Kane and Big Show lost the World Tag Team Championship to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey following copious interference from the other members of the Spirit Squad. One week later, Kane and Big Show faced Spirit Squad members Johnny and Nicky in a title rematch, but were disqualified after Kane "snapped" (ostensibly due to "voices in his head") and began hurtling chairs into the ring. Following the match, Kane delivered chokeslams to the Spirit Squad, the referee and Big Show himself. Kane and Big Show confronted one another on the next episode of RAW, leading to a match between the two being scheduled for Backlash 2006 on April 30, 2006. In subsequent weeks, Kane began attacking anyone who mentioned the date "May 19" (the release date of the film See No Evil). On the April 24, 2006 episode of RAW, Kane attacked Big Show, targeting his eye. During the match between Kane and Big Show at Backlash, Kane's voice began echoing throughout the arena saying "May 19", "They're all going to know", and "You can't hide from it," leaving Kane visibly shaken. Big Show then struck Kane with a chair, silencing the voices, and left the ring, resulting in a no contest. Kane and Big Show fought one another in a rematch on the May 8, 2006 episode of RAW which ended after a video featuring Kane's old mask aired, driving him into a frenzy and causing him to hit Big Show with a barrage of chair shots.
On May 19, 2006 Kane appeared on SmackDown! as JBL's hand-picked opponent for Rey Mysterio. After both the aforementioned voices and mask video began playing, Kane chokeslammed both Layfield and Mysterio before leaving the ring. On the following episode of RAW, he claimed that "May 19" was the date on which his mother and adopted family were killed in a fire. The voices continued on to the May 29, 2006 episode of RAW, when Kane was confronted by the source of the voice, a wrestler wearing his old mask and ring attire, who chokeslammed Kane during his match against Shelton Benjamin for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Kane and the look-alike continued to fight one another in subsequent weeks, leading to a match between the two being scheduled for Vengeance 2006, in which the real Kane lost to the Impostor. On the June 26 episode of RAW, Kane threw the impostor out of the arena and removed his mask, saying "I believe this belongs to me."
Kane was absent from WWE television for several weeks thereafter as he toured Europe to promote See No Evil. He returned to RAW on August 7, and defeated Shelton Benjamin in a No.1 contenders match for the Intercontinental Championship.
Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
- Chokeslam
- Tombstone piledriver
- Big boot
- Flying clothesline
- Sidewalk slam
- Tilt-a-whirl slam
- Uppercut
- Powerbomb
- Double chokeslam (with various tag team partners)
- Managers
- Nicknames
- The Big Red Machine
- The Big Red Monster
Championships and accomplishments
- SMW Tag Team Championship (with Al Snow)
- Defeated Rock 'N Roll Express on April 7, 1995 in Pikeville, Kentucky, USA
- Lost to Tracy Smothers and Tony Anthony on July 6, 1995 in Jellico, Tennessee, USA
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- Defeated Spellbinder on July 13, 1997 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
- Lost to Steven Dunn on September 6, 1997 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA
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- Defeated "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on June 28, 1998 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Lost to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on June 29, 1998 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA
-
- Defeated New Age Outlaws on July 13, 1998 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
- Lost to The Undertaker and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on July 26, 1998 in Fresno, California, USA
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (2) (with Mankind)
- Defeated The Undertaker and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on August 10, 1998 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Lost to New Age Outlaws on August 30, 1998 in New York City, New York, USA
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (3) (with X-Pac)
- Defeated Owen Hart and Jeff Jarret on April 5, 1999 in Long Island, New York, USA
- Lost to The Acolytes on May 25, 1999 in Moline, Illinois, USA
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (4) (with X-Pac)
- Defeated The Acolytes on August 9, 1999 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Lost to The Undertaker and Big Show on August 22, 1999 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
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- Defeated Raven on April 1, 2001 in Houston, Texas, USA
- Lost to Rhyno on April 17, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (5) (with The Undertaker)
- Defeated Edge and Christian on April 17, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- Lost to The Two-Man Power Trip on April 29, 2001 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
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- Defeated Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire on August 7, 2001 in Los Angeles, California, USA
- Lost to Booker T and Test on September 25, 2001 in Dayton, Ohio, USA
- The Undertaker and Kane became the first team to ever hold the WWF and WCW tag titles at the same time.
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- Defeated Triple H on May 20, 2001 in Sacramento, California, USA
- Lost to Albert on June 26, 2001 in New York City, New York, USA
- WWF World Tag Team Championship (6) (with The Undertaker)
- Defeated Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon on August 19, 2001 in San Jose, California, USA
- Lost to Dudley Boyz on September 17, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA
- World Tag Team Championship (7) (with The Hurricane)
- Defeated The Un-Americans on September 23, 2002 in Anaheim, California, USA
- Lost to Chris Jericho and Christian on October 14, 2002 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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- Defeated Chris Jericho on September 30, 2002 in Houston, Texas, USA
- Lost to Triple H on October 20, 2002 in Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
- World Tag Team Championship (8) (with Rob Van Dam)
- Defeated Sean Morley and Lance Storm on March 31, 2003 in Seattle, Washington, USA
- Lost to La Résistance on June 15, 2003 in Houston, Texas, USA
- World Tag Team Championship (9) (with Big Show)
- Defeated Cade and Murdoch on November 1, 2005 in San Diego, California
- Lost to Spirit Squad on April 3, 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Jacobs holds the record for holding the World Tag Team Championship with the most different partners (six - Mankind, X-Pac, The Undertaker, The Hurricane, Rob Van Dam and Big Show).
Other media
Jacobs made his film debut as "Jacob Goodnight" in the first production of WWE Films, See No Evil, which was released on May 19, 2006. Jacobs appeared on a special WWF edition of "The Weakest Link" in March 2002 and became the strongest link by defeating Bubba Ray Dudley in the final round.
The "Kane" character was featured in the fourteen issue Undertaker comic book produced by the now-defunct Chaos! Comics in 1999. The character only spoke once, in the Undertaker Halloween Special, which tied into the single issue Mankind comic book produced by the same company. This series introduced a comic-exclusive character, Kane's younger half-sister, "Jezebelle" (like Kane, supposedly the result of a liaison between Paul Bearer and an unnamed woman). As Jezebelle was related to Kane only in that they shared a common father, she was presumably no relation to The Undertaker.
A book written by Michael Chiappetta detailing the kayfabe origins of the Kane character entitled "Journey into Darkness" was released in 2005.
Personal life
Jacobs is married to a woman named Maurisa, with whom he has two stepdaughters.
Jacobs attended Quincy College, where he played basketball, before joining Northeast Missouri State University on a basketball scholarship. In the 1988-1989 season he was an NCAA all-star and the single-season and career field goal percentage leader for the basketball team. However, despite his success, Jacobs opted to switch to playing on the college football team. He eventually graduated with a degree in English.
References
- An interview with Kane from the 2006 ComicCon
- Kane at ObsessedWithWrestling.com
- Kane at TheMatManiac.com
External links
