The Greatest Heels in WWE History - No. 9

He is the ‘Big Red Monster’ and the ‘Devil’s favorite Demon’. He teamed up with his half-brother the Undertaker to form the ‘The Brothers of Destruction’. He is regarded as the most active wrestler in the WWE in the modern era. Having been a part of WWE for more than 15 years, he has held almost every title in the WWE. A Grand Slam champion and Money in the Bank Winner, this man is still going strong in his illustrious career even at the ripe age of 46. He is at no. 9 in our list of the Greatest Heels in WWE History – Kane (Real name: Glenn Jacobs)

Kane made his debut at Badd Blood 1997 as the deranged brother of the Undertaker who wore a mask to hide the scars caused due to a fire accident during his childhood. It was a shocking debut and one of the most surreal ones in the history of WWE.

“That’s got to be Kane! That’s got to be Kane!”

Paul Bearer was the man who brought Kane into the picture to pit him against his brother – the Undertaker, for the sake of vengeance for turning against him. His presence was so intimidating that he wasn’t even required to speak a word for a few months. His feud with the Undertaker is one for the ages. He won his first championship match by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin in a first blood match for the WWF title in King of the Ring 1998. At the peak of the attitude era, his character stood out among the lot. He had several gimmick matches against the likes of the Undertaker, Steve Austin and Mankind. Though he has not won many, he has been a part of several memorable ones. Soon, he was turned face but that did not last long either. This would be a precursor to what his whole career would be about – alternating between being a face and a heel. His gimmick has evolved over the years but he has been involved with the Undertaker for the majority of his career, be it with him or against him.

‘The Brothers of Destruction’ tag-team was formed in 2001 and dominated the scene for a brief period. They won the tag-team titles and had a memorable feud with the team of Steve Austin and Triple H. Both men were faces during this period and eventually it came to an end with the Undertaker turning heel at the end of the year. Since then, Undertaker and Kane have had run-ins with each other in their on-off relationship.

The red mask has always had a special connection with the big red machine. It gave a unique touch to his character and has been a feature in his career. In 2003, Kane was forced to unmask himself after losing to Triple H in a match. This brought another dimension to his character. He showcased the sick and demented side of himself by setting JR on fire during an interview and running rampage on other wrestlers. He was back to being that unstoppable force that he was when he broke into the scene. That did not last longer as he got lost in the shuffle after a while. He became just another wrestler without the mask. He was a bit off the radar during such periods. So, what happened? WWE decided to resurrect him by bringing his mask back. In December 2011, Kane returned with a new mask. He feuded with Cena to force him to embrace the hate, and was involved in a storyline with Zack Ryder and later on with AJ & Daniel Bryan. The anger management storyline with Daniel Bryan which followed gave us some hilarious moments. It just shows how dynamic Kane has been over the years when it comes to portraying different roles.

The variety of storylines that Kane was involved and the ease with which he was able to pull off such character nuances is remarkable. Initially with the Undertaker, then the infamous Katie Vick angle with Triple H, the unmasked version of himself, the feud with the McMahon’s and to top it all Kane married Lita in an episode of Raw inside the ring. All these made people love to hate him. He had several altercations with Baseball celebrity Pete Rose at successive Wrestlemania‘s. Kane himself admitted during one of his anger management confessions that he had ‘an unhealthy obsession with torturing Pete Rose’. Pete Rose was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Kane.

What Wrestlemania is to the Undertaker, Royal Rumble is to Kane. With the highest number of appearances and the most number of eliminations in the Royal Rumble matches, Kane rules the roost when it comes to the Royal Rumble match. At Royal Rumble 2001, Kane wreaked havoc eliminating 11 out of 30 wrestlers, a record which stands till date.

Kane also holds the record for the fastest elimination in the Royal Rumble (Santino Marella, 1 second). However, the glaring truth is that he hasn’t won even a single Royal Rumble match. Interestingly, Kane has won the shortest match in Wrestlemania history, when he defeated Chavo Guerrero for the ECW Championship in Wrestlemania 24. By cashing in his Money in the Bank contract successfully on the same night that he won it, Kane set a new record of sorts at the Money in the Bank PPV in 2010.

Kane possess great in-ring ability. He has been injury prone but has not had any long lay-offs in his long and arduous journey with the WWE. As a demented, insane and violent individual who uses fire as a toy, Kane was an apt heel character.

“Kane is a walking, a living hell on earth” – Jim Ross

He has captivated the audience via his intimidating persona. He was brought in as a monster heel and he has been successful in portraying the devious monster over the years. In all these years, he has feuded with a whole lot of superstars but his amazing rivalry with the Undertaker is the most talked about. Heck, he even buried the Undertaker twice during the buried alive matches. It is a pity that he was unable to have the same impact while feuding with other wrestlers. A little more consistency with his character would’ve gone a long way in cementing his legacy in the WWE. Still, he has been a workhorse all these years and has carved out a legacy in his own unique way. His amazing entrance gives you goosebumps every single time. Now that he is in the twilight of his career, there is not a lot left to do for the big red monster. For what he has done till now, Kane deserves to be one among the top 10 greatest heels of the WWE in the modern era.

Read other articles in the series here: Greatest Heels in WWE History