WWE News: Kane wins primary election, takes huge step to becoming Mayor of Knox County

What’s the story?

Well, a huge congratulations is in order for WWE legend Kane as he has taken one huge step towards becoming the Mayor of Knox County after winning the primary elections last night. That's the good news. The bad news, however, is it means the Big Red Machine may now be hanging up his boots as Kane has previously said he will retire if elected.

In case you didn’t know…

It's been no secret that we've seen a lot less of Kane over the past few weeks, and anyone who keeps up with WWE's Superstars on social media will have no doubt noticed that Glenn Jacobs, the man behind the mask, has been campaigning to become Mayor of Knox County.

One huge question had been looming as to whether a political win would spell the end of The Big Red Machine's in-ring career.

On an episode of Talk Is Jericho where Jacobs spoke to Jericho about his mayoral campaigni during a live special in Knoxville, the former Mr Money In The Bank was asked about whether he could continue to wrestle if he becomes mayor.

"No, I can't. Mayor is a full time job and I would direct all my attention to that."

Chris Jericho had asked if it was a legal issue, but Kane stated that he just couldn't split his time and the mayoral role is his priority.

The heart of the matter

During yesterday's primary elections, Kane took one massive step towards becoming mayor - winning the Republican Primary election in Knox County, Tennessee on Tuesday. Both he and closest competitor for the Republican leadership, Brad Anders, finished with 36% of their party's vote each, with Kane winning by just 17 votes - according to WATE.com.

Kane will now face the Democratic Primary winner Linda Haney in the General Election on November 8th to decide the new Mayor, but all signs point to a Glenn Jacobs win as Knox County is a traditionally Republican-voting area.

While anything could happen, Kane won an incredibly close contest with 14,663 votes while Linda Haney had a massive 69% of the Democratic vote with only 7,662 votes.

WWE even took to social media to post an article on Kane's progress.

It looks like @KaneWWE is on his way to being the next mayor of Knox County, Tennessee! https://t.co/NajkSiTt2q

— WWE (@WWE) May 2, 2018

Kane went on to thank his supporters.

Glenn, along with his family, volunteers and supporters declare victory in a hard-fought Knox County Mayoral race this evening. Together we won! Tomorrow, we move forward.

— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) May 2, 2018

Thanks to everyone who helped win this historic victory!! The people who cast a ballot for me, my great team, my wonderful volunteers. Looking forward to VICTORY in the general election!

— Glenn Jacobs (@GlennJacobsTN) May 2, 2018

What's next?

The general election will take place in August, but you can bet that Kane won't be keeping quiet until then.

Even with what looks like a commanding lead going into the final voting stage, Jacobs will most likely ramp up his campaign to stand himself in good stead for success - but it will be interesting to see if we see one final run for the Big Red Machine in WWE before August.

Author's take

Well, this is awesome for Kane and it seems like something he's incredibly passionate about. It's pretty cool to see wrestlers be taken seriously in political roles too, as anyone who's listened to pretty much any podcast ever will have most likely heard a WWE star, past or present, speak highly of Kane's intelligence.

While it's sad to think we could be seeing the last of Kane in WWE if he turns up for a farewell over the next three months, the Big Red Machine isn't quite in the shape he was ten or twenty years ago - but he is still a huge draw and I'd love to see him have at least one more match.

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