On last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW Braun Strowman destroyed Kane in their Last Man Standing match by dumping the entire announcer’s desk on him. Shortly afterwards in a storyline update WWE announced Kane was taken to a medical facility, where he sat up on the examiner’s table and crawled out of the hospital. There’s no word on why Kane has seemingly been written off WWE TV for now, whether it’s for injury or to campaign, but he has been removed from all upcoming WWE live events through this month.
He is, however, still being advertised for TV and live events in the month of March. Kane is set to hold a big campaign event for his bid for Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. He and The Undertaker will be appearing at the Rothchild Catering & Conference Center on Thursday, March 1st at 6:30 P.M. in Knoxville. Also, at the end of next week Chris Jericho will host a special Talk Is Jericho Live with Kane in Knoxville.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHqCKUqoAeE
Posted February 6th, 2018 in WWE, News. Tagged: Kane.
– WWE Superstar Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) made the following announcement on his Facebook page:
Tickets are on sales now to meet The Undertaker and Kane in Knoxville on March 1st. The event will be at Rothchild Catering & Conference Center, 8807 Kingston Pike, from 6:30pm until 8:30pm! Get your tickets here: https://kanetaker.eventbrite.com
I am pleased to announce another special guest coming to Knoxville on February 16. Multiple time world champion pro wrestler, lead singer of Fozzy and New York Times best-selling author Chris Jericho will be interviewing me for a special episode of the popular Talk Is Jericho podcast. We will conduct the interview with a live audience where you can submit your questions and meet Chris. All of this happens at the Clarion Inn, 5335 Central Avenue Pike, on February 16 from 7pm-9pm.
If you would like to attend both events, we are offering special Combo and VIP packages!
I’m looking forward to seeing everyone!
– YouTube wrestling personality, Grim, of Grim’s Toy Show fat shamed WWE Superstar Nia Jax in a recently deleted video. Jax saw the video and called out Grim out on Twitter, leading to a ton of hate being tossed the YouTube personality’s way as a result:
I’m guessing he wants attention @GrimsToyShow for his horrible behavior, making fun of my weight (which is completely unoriginal 🙄), but what gets me is that he’s shouting degrading things toward women in front of a young girl. Good job buddy https://t.co/7kfmJXaac0
I’m so sorry @NiaJaxWWE I feel like a total piece of crap now. I hope you will accept my apology and I will remove that video. I’m a huge fan of all involved in the women’s and Men’s rumble, sometimes I get carried away “trying” to be “shocking” 😓😓 https://t.co/RZz4WGYQAg
— GRIM: Leader of BELT FEDERATION (@GrimsToyShow) February 1, 2018
Mad at me for fucking up, justifiable. But Telling me to kill myself is somehow not worse than fat jokes? Because I said a stupid joke it’s ok to tell me to committ suicide? https://t.co/AIpRN3KSwA
— GRIM: Leader of BELT FEDERATION (@GrimsToyShow) February 1, 2018
I messed up this time guys and I’m sorry. I’ll work very hard to be better. I sent an apology to @NiaJaxWWE and removed the video.
— GRIM: Leader of BELT FEDERATION (@GrimsToyShow) February 1, 2018
– On last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore retained his title against Cedric Alexander despite losing the match via count-out. Amore suffered an injury during the match above his eye that made him bleed profusely throughout the bout. WWE posted the following video of Amore receiving stitches after the show:
– In one of the best spots on Monday Night RAW in recent memory, last night Braun Strowman brought down a huge metal structure on top of Kane and Braun Strowman backstage after laying waste to the pair in a brawl. The trio are set to meet in a Triple Threat match for the Universal Title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view (PPV) later this month.
After the segment Brock Lesnar was taken to the hospital on a stretcher while Kane limped away from the carnage on his own power. WWE posted the following update on Lesnar and Kane:
Medical update on Brock Lesnar and Kane following Braun Strowman’s attack
After Braun Strowman used a grappling hook to tear down a lighting truss and send it crashing down on Universal Champion Brock Lesnar and Kane, WWE.com can confirm that Lesnar is undergoing examination by WWE medical personnel.
Kane, meanwhile, refused medical attention.
It is unknown how this incident will affect the Universal Championship Triple Threat Match at Royal Rumble involving all three Superstars.
Stay with WWE.com as more information becomes available.
2018’s first episode of RAW saw a lot happen. It was a surprisingly hard hitting show that continued to build up to the Royal Rumble on 28th January. Check out the SEScoops Takeaways From RAW for more details.
The final part of the show focused on the triple threat match for the Universal Championship which will take place at the Royal Rumble between Brock Lesnar, Kane, and Braun Strowman.
Prior to this, Kane had approached Braun Strowman backstage to arrange a plan against Brock Lesnar, however Strowman made it clear that he is more than capable of handling the triple threat match on his own.
According to Ryan Clark of ewrestlingnews.com: after Brock Lesnar and Kane had their coming together, as shown above, Braun Strowman entered the ring and called out Kane. The two superstars brawled, but Kane took things a step further by hitting Strowman with a chair and then setting up a table. Unfortunately for Kane, Strowman was able to counter a choke-slam and proceeded to use his running power-slam to put Kane through his own table.
Some WWE fans have suggested that this is wasted material which should at least be aired on the Network. However, much like the time AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens for the US Title at MSG, this off air brawl gives an extra special incentive for those who attend WWE events.
On December 18th, a triple threat match for the Universal Championship was set for 2018’s first PPV of the year: The Royal Rumble at the Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia.
Since that decision was made, Kane has been interviewed by The Miami Herald ahead of 2018’s first episode of RAW. Check out the highlights of the interview below:
On His Royal Rumble Title Match:
“It’s an opportunity for me to become champion again, which those are rare and at this point in my career, I didn’t know if I’d see another one, frankly. So, it’s a great opportunity for me. I’m in the ring with two monsters – make it three, if you include me – but that doesn’t happen very often for me. It doesn’t happen very often where I go into a match feeling I’m somewhat outgunned, which may be the case here when you have guys like Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman. There’s going to be a lot of beef in that ring. And the amazing thing about those two guys is they’re just so awesomely athletic for their size. I mean, you hear people say ‘Oh, he’s a great athlete, for his size,’ but these guys are great athletes, doesn’t matter what size they are.”
Kane’s Current Status With WWE:
“I feel I still go out and perform at a very high level every night. I tell people as long as I’m doing that, as long as I’m having fun doing what I’m doing, I will continue. When you look at the overall picture, I think that a lot of what I try to do now is help the younger guys refine their craft as much as possible. We have some tremendous talent that is on the main roster, of course, people [from] NXT coming up, I think the future is very bright for WWE.”
The Rock Considering A Presidential Run In 2024 & If Kane Would Consider Joining The Rock On The Ticket:
“I think he would be insane to run for President. I’m going to leave that there. He’s doing pretty well in movies, and if I were him, I don’t think I would do that. And I would absolutely turn down that nomination on my part. I’m pretty happy where I’m at.”
You can check out the videos of the interview, and Kane discussing his own political ventures, below:
(Transcription courtesy of WrestlingInc)
Posted January 1st, 2018 in WWE, News. Tagged: Kane.
– In Alfred Konuwa’s latest blog on Forbes, he takes a look at the most disliked videos on WWE’s YouTube channel. The most disliked video of 2017 was Roman Reigns’ promo the night after defeating The Undertaker at WrestleMania 33. The video has 35,000 dislikes compared to the 27,000 likes, making it’s dislike percentage of 56%. One of Emmalina’s promos from January received 11,000 dislikes compared to 1,000 likes, giving it a dislike percentage of 92%. You can read Konuwa’s full blog at this link.
– Newsday recently did an interview with Kane to promote yesterday’s WWE live event from the Nassau Coliseum. During the interview Kane discussed having to work on Christmas Day for a live episode of Monday Night RAW. Here’s what he had to say:
“The thing about it is that this is one of our most important times of the year business wise. We do really, really good business the week after Christmas,” Kane said. “It is what it is. There’s always trade-offs. We’re not the only people who this year will be working on Christmas Day. A lot of people do that to provide for their family.”
– Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) has released a new shirt to help fund his mayoral campaign in Knox County, Tennessee. The new shirt is inspired by the old WWE RAW logo, and he also has some inspired by The Bullet Club as well. He Tweeted out the following:
Kane recently spoke to The New York Post to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. “The Big Red Machine” talked about getting another shot at the main event scene in WWE, his thoughts on Braun Strowman and today’s WWE roster, and The Undertaker making rare appearances on WWE TV nowadays. You can check out the highlights here below:
Being in the main event scene with WWE again:
“I have to take advantage of everyone that comes along. This might be the last one. I don’t know. I certainly think the match at Royal Rumble is going to be special for me.”
His thoughts on Braun Strowman and the WWE roster today:
“The company has done a tremendous job with him, you know positioning him where he needs to be and he gets it and that can be a rarity often. … I think he has a really bright future ahead of him. I think he is going to be a guy that going forth for many years is going to be at top or near the top of WWE. If you look at our roster, it seems like 20 years ago we had a lot of big guys, not as big as him, but a lot of big guys. Nowadays not so much, I think our guys are better athletes now but they are not as big.”
The Undertaker making rare appearances on WWE TV nowadays:
“Undertaker, for almost as long as many of us have been watching WWE, he’s been part of it. So, it’s one of those things like, man almost a piece is missing now to some extent.”
You can read Kane’s full interview with The New York Post by clicking this link here.
While the #1 contender’s match between Braun Strowman and Kane on this week’s Raw was a treat to watch, it ended in a double count-out, leaving the fans wondering who will face Brock Lesnar next.
During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed this and revealed what the company has in store for The Universal Champion.
According to him, Brock will have not one but two opponents at the upcoming PPV and he’ll be facing both Kane and Strowman in a Triple Threat match.
Though as we noted before, The Beast Incarnate is still penciled to defend his title against Roman Reigns at the 34th edition of WrestleMania next year.
So not only The Universal Champion is likely to retain his title but he is expected to be protected throughout the match as well, allowing him to head to The Show of Shows as a strong opponent for Reigns.
Since WWE is high on Braun, many believe that he will be protected too and while not confirmed, it could mean that the Big Red Monster will end up taking the pin in this bout.
As reported before Brock Lesnar is confirmed to return to WWE during next week’s episode of Monday Night Raw.
Former WWE and TNA star Matt Morgan has revealed that he was very nearly cast as a brother of Kane and The Undertaker.
The initial plans in 2005 called for Morgan to appear in a mask that was almost identical to the ‘Big Red Machine’s’ and to have Morgan work a similar in ring style to Kane. The similarities in style would become obvious in time and it would’ve been later revealed that the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ did have another sibling.
Morgan also revealed to Wrestling Inc that his character’s name would’ve been ‘Abel,’ obviously a play on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. As you may well know this isn’t exactly what Morgan ended up with, his stuttering gimmick landed him on the preverbal scrapheap and he later enjoyed a somewhat successful run in TNA.
– Rapper Machine Gun Kelly will return to WWE TV on WWE’s Tribute to The Troops special that tapes this morning in San Diego at Naval Base San Diego, then airs on Thursday, December 14th. MGK was backstage for Monday’s RAW from Los Angeles and spoke to Renee Young for RAW Fallout.
MGK reveals that he will perform two songs at the TTTT tapings – his “Home” and “Let You Go” singles. MGK also jokes about a possible confrontation with Kevin Owens after his 2015 RAW appearance that ended with Owens sending him through the stage with a powerbomb.
– Kane vs. Braun Strowman will take place on next Monday’s RAW episode from Cleveland, Ohio.
– Next week’s RAW will also feature a #1 contenders match to determine the next challenger for WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore. Drew Gulak defeated Cedric Alexander, Tony Nese and Mustafa Ali on this week’s RAW to advance to next week’s show for the match against Rich Swann. The winner of Swann vs. Gulak will become the new #1 contender to the WWE Cruiserweight Champion and will get their shot against Enzo the following week.
On a recent episode of former WWE official Bruce Prichard’s podcast, Something To Wrestle With, the WWE’s Survivor Series 2002 pay-per-view (PPV) was reviewed. During the episode, Prichard discussed the infamous Katie Vick storyline that WWE put on, which is widely considered as one of the worst in the company’s history. For those of you who don’t know, Triple H feuded with Kane and would continuously bring up “The Big Red Machine’s” deceased ex-girlfriend, Katie Vick.
At one point Triple H (dressed as Kane) did a segment in which he snuck into a funeral home where Vick’s body was being held and performed necrophilia on it inside a casket. The segment was done in very poor taste and WWE has removed virtually all references to it from their archives. Prichard revealed that WWE originally had planned to introduce Scott Vick, who was Katie’s storyline brother, into the WWE.
Scott went by the name “Sick Boy” in WCW, but was later signed to WWE’s developmental system at the time of the storyline:
“You ever have those moments in your life where there are things that are so traumatic that you block them out entirely? (This) really and truly is one of them on so many different counts. The original idea behind Katie Vick was a way to introduce Scott Vick, who was a part of our developmental system.
“We were going to bring Scott in, and he was going to work with Kane or Triple H, I forget which at this point. Scott just had some really, really horrible dark matches at TV and on the road. When he got the nod to come up to the show, all of his matches from that point going forward just, the bottom fell out. Vince is like ‘What the hell are we doing?”
Apparently Vince McMahon scrapped those plans and the entire storyline was changed:
“So, he changed, and we had already teased the name Katie Vick. So it’s like ‘Ok, let’s change this and move it over to Kane. It can be his girlfriend.’ It was during a time that Vince was big into ‘We need more soap opera, we need more stories behind the characters.’
“So we started creating stories and it came to the story of what if Kane accidentally, didn’t murder her, but was driving and, oh my god, then the drinking and it just grew. It’s another glowing example of ‘Don’t suggest or say things in jest that you don’t want to have show up on the show”
On last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW, Kane took out both Jason Jordan and Finn Balor before being attacked by Braun Strowman with a steel chair in his own hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee. “The Monster Among Men” did a number on “The Big Red Machine,” sending him retreating back through the crowd. After RAW went off-air, Kane took off his mask and headed over to a local restaurant by the name of “Calhouns.”
Kane, who’s real name is Glenn Jacobs, is currently running for mayor of Knoxville and his appearance at the restaurant was to benefit his campaign. He posted the following on Facebook and took photos with fans as well as fellow WWE Superstar Goldust:
“What do you do in Knoxville on a Monday Night after WWE Raw? You hang out with 500 of your closest friends until 2:00 in the morning, enjoy some great BBQ and talk about how you’re going to work together with every citizen of Knox County to make it an even better place to live, work and raise a family!”
Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal has received almost constant criticism from the fans of the WWE Universe. Many have dubbed his reign as The Jinder Experiment and claimed that it has failed. It’s hard to disagree when SmackDown Live ratings increase the night Mahal lost the title to AJ Styles.
However Kane has recently shared his opinion on The Modern Day Maharaja as they build up for a tour in India. Talking to The Times of India, Kane suggested that the WWE Universe should reflect on what Jinder Mahal was before he was cast as The Modern Day Maharaja.
“His is a great story. He was in the WWE years ago, then left company. And then really improved both in his wrestling and his body and came back and became a world champion. I think a guy like Jinder Mahal is really what every WWE superstar should strive to become”
Here’s an example of Jinder Mahal in action back in August 2013.
And here is Jinder Mahal taking on AJ Styles in May 2017.
It’s clear that Mahal has significantly improved since returning, which Kane highlights as a positive, suggesting that other WWE superstars should learn from. It’s hard to deny the hard work that Jinder has put in, and I am not suggesting that other superstars in WWE aren’t putting in hard work, but Kane could be seen as suggesting that others are under-performing in their own development.
Kane goes on to praise the tour in India and those that are joining the tour of India:
“The India tour is going to be a great event. All big superstars are going be there Triple H, Jinder Mahal, The Shield, Samoa Joe, Cesaro and Sheamus and the match with Strowman, it is going to be a big match; two big guys doing their best to prove who is the dominant big man in the WWE”
Therefore Kane’s suggestion that WWE superstars should strive to be like Jinder Mahal is likely aimed at those struggling in the mid-card. But the next question would be: who would WWE be keen to push like they did with Mahal? Perhaps the next Superstar Shake-Up could reveal some clues.
Former WWE Champion Kane recently spoke with SportsKeeda to talk about various topics. Here are some of the highlights:
How the WWE locker room has changed over the years:
“It’s very different now. Especially the younger guys. Social media, video games…we had never even heard of that.”
His time as part of Team Hell No with Daniel Bryan:
“I had a lot of fun with Team Hell No. It was a great time. It was a departure from what I’d done before, in WWE. Daniel Bryan and I would complement each other’s performance, and it was actually the most fun thing I’ve ever got to do.” Aleister Black:
“Yeah, a little bit. He’s a guy with a great future, and had a great match at WarGames.”
– As noted, Braun Strowman ended this week’s WWE RAW in Atlanta by powerslamming Kane through the mat. While there was no dark main event after RAW, WWE did film a segment with The Monster Among Men rising from the hole in the ring, seen above.
– Below is post-RAW video of Charly Caruso talking to The Shield following their win over WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz and RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar. This was the first win for Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as a three-man team since defeating Evolution’s Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton at WWE Payback 2014.
Regarding their match against The New Day at Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view, The Shield says The New Day really likes to talk but they like to fight. The New Day likes to play games and joke around but The Shield likes to fight. Reigns says they don’t feel like The New Day is on their level and if they’re right, they will be sending The New Day right back to that B Show they came from. Believe that.
– As noted, Bayley earned the fifth spot on the women’s Team RAW Survivor Series team by defeating Dana Brooke and Mickie James in a Triple Threat on tonight’s show. Below is video of Bayley talking to Mike Rome about the win until partner Sasha Banks interrupts to congratulate her. They discuss the match and Bayley has no doubt that Team RAW will beat Team SmackDown for the second year in a row. As noted, the women’s 5-on-5 Traditional Elimination Match on Sunday will feature Captain Alicia Fox, Banks, Bayley, Nia Jax and Asuka vs. Captain Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Tamina Snuka and Carmella.
– A birthday celebration for Kalisto has been announced for this week’s WWE 205 Live episode. It’s believed that WWE Cruiserweight Champion Enzo Amore will crash the party as the two prepare to face off for the title on the Survivor Series Kickoff pre-show.
– Braun Strowman is responsible for another destroyed ring as he sent Kane through the mat with a running powerslam during the closing segment of tonight’s RAW in Atlanta. The two were to have a singles match as the main event but the match never officially began. Below are videos from tonight’s big angle:
On last night’s (Mon. October 23, 2017) episode of Monday Night RAW, former WWE Universal Champion Finn Balor accepted Kane’s open challenge after attacking The Shield and AJ Styles. To many fans’ surprise, Kane wound up winning the match after hitting Balor with three Chokeslams. WWE seems to be building Kane up for a feud with “The Monster Among Men” Braun Strowman.
Per a report from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, after asking around backstage at WWE it seems as though those who usually defend Vince McMahon’s decisions had no explanation as to why Kane went over on Balor:
“There is no explanation, there is no defense, he [Vince] just whiffed”
Meltzer was critical of WWE’s decision himself, questioning why Kane had to go over on Balor of all people available in the locker room. This slows down Balor’s momentum as he approaches a likely feud with Brock Lesnar in a few months.
– As we saw earlier this week on Monday Night RAW, former WWE Champion Kane made his return to TV when he interfered in Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman’s Steel Cage match main event – assisting “The Monster Among Men” in picking up the victory. As a result, Kane will join the team of Strowman, The Miz, and The Bar to take on The Shield at Tables Ladders and Chairs (TLC) this weekend.
The belief on Kane’s return is that it will only be for a short period of time. WWE was very careful about keeping his return a secret Monday night with many talents backstage not even knowing that he was in the building. Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) is currently in the midst of a campaign for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee in 2018.
– SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan responded to WWE Creative Humor on Twitter regarding his in-ring future, indicating that a return in 2018 is what he has planned next for himself:
"I'm still an in-ring performer. @WWEDanielBryan, you're not anymore…until September" – Sami Zayn #SDLive
— WWE Creative Humor (a sub of TKO Creative Humor) (@WWECreative_ish) October 18, 2017
Kane made a surprise return on RAW and helped Braun Strowman defeat Roman Reigns in the Steel Cage main event. Kane has been added to The Miz’s team at Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view. The main event of TLC will now be a 3-on-5 Handicap Tables, Ladders & Chairs match.
Here is the updated card for Sunday’s TLC PPV from the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota:
Tables, Ladders & Chairs 3-on-5 Match
The Shield (Roman Reigns and RAW Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose) vs. Kane, Braun Strowman, Cesaro, Sheamus and WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz
WWE Cruiserweight Title Match
Enzo Amore vs. Kalisto
RAW Women’s Title Match
Mickie James vs. Alexa Bliss
Asuka vs. Emma
Jack Gallagher and Brian Kendrick vs. Cedric Alexander and Rich Swann
Finn Balor as The Demon vs. Bray Wyatt as Sister Abigail
Kickoff Pre-show
Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox
Posted October 17th, 2017 in News, WWE. Tagged: Kane, TLC.
– As we noted before, WWE announced the return of War Games for the upcoming NXT Takeover event during the Survivor Series weekend, though it appears it wasn’t what the company originally had in mind.
According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the original plans for the event were for SAnitY to defend the NXT Tag titles against Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish in a regular tag team match.
It’s not known what caused the plans to change but as reported previously now there will be a War Games match between Sanity, The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) and The Authors of Pain with Roderick Strong at the event
Additionally, Drew McIntyre was expected to defend his NXT Championship against Adam Cole at the upcoming NXT Show but he will now face Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas instead.
– While Kane had wrestled for WWE before using various gimmicks, he made his debut as the ‘Big Red Monster’ during the Badd Blood PPV on October 5th, 1997.
Yesterday marked 20 years of his debut and WWE remembered it by posting the following photo story from their official Instagram account in which they take a look at his career:
Former WWE Champion Kane recently spoke with Chuck Carroll of CBS Sports to talk about various topics. Here are the highlights:
WWE preparing him for politics:
“I’ve been in WWE for 22 years and reached a point in my career where, within the locker room, I’m one of the people that guys come to if something needs to be discussed. I’m also one of the people that the WWE executives, if there is a problem in the locker room, I’m one people that is consulted about that. … It’s actually my involvement in WWE that I’ve found hopefully will help me out in the political realm.” If he still watches WWE: “I catch a little most Mondays. I’m really happy to see Braun Strowman. People ask me who reminds me of me, and it’s probably him. So, I’m really happy to see him doing so well. I think WWE is in very good hands with — they’re not even the younger generation anymore — but with the people that are there now carrying the flag for them.” If he has retired from pro wrestling:
“We have a saying in the WWE: never say never. So, I can’t answer that question.”
– WWE Hall Of Famers Arn Anderson, Ricky Morton, and Dr. Tom Prichard will be making an appearance for WWE Superstar Kane (real name Glen Jacobs) on September 21st at 6pm from Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, Tennessee, as Kane continues his campaign for office of Knox County Mayor.
– WWE Superstar Nikki Bella took to YouTube to introduce her Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) partner, Artem Chigvintsev. The video was taken as the pair travel to Los Angeles for the show’s September 18th premiere:
As many may know, former WWE Champion Kane is currently in the midst of his campaign for Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. In addition to that, former WWE Superstar turned Hollywood box office star The Rock has also been teasing a potential run for President Of The United States.
Kane was recently interviewed by Bleacher Report to talk about a variety of topics and was even asked if he’d consider running alongside The Rock for office. Here are some of the highlights from what he had to say:
What isn’t talked about in pro wrestling:
“Wrestling is a lot like any other workplace. You don’t really talk religion or politics. But we are all independent contractors, so we pay our taxes quarterly. And we talk about taxes.”
If he’d run for office alongside The Rock:
“Would I run with The Rock? Probably not. …I just want to do a good job as mayor. The local and the state levels are discounted too much. And I’m not devaluing the role of the federal government, but the country is right now in a top-down direction, and I want to be part of the wave that brings it back to a bottom-up nation, starting with the states.”
Using his fame to get his foot in the political door:
“In politics, perception can be reality. But I’m not interested in people who want to vote for me because they know Kane from TV. I want people to vote for me because of my positions. Name recognition is a door opener, and I use it, but I believe you stay inside only if you have good ideas. All I ask is for a forum to prove that I have those ideas.”
Former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian recently took to their podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to talk about some of the best and worst gimmicks in WWE history. Some superstars brought up included The Undertaker, Kane, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and more. Here are the highlights:
Edge on Kane’s string of failed personas:
“There’s a guy, okay, Isaac Yankem, then, new Diesel, and just, he’s too good to deny. And then, thankfully, finally, they realized, ‘okay, let’s do something with him.'” Edge said, “how thankful do you think he [has] got to be after trying to make all of those gimmicks work and then [to hear], ‘okay, you’re going to be The Undertaker’s brother, Kane’?”
Christian on Kane being too good to be held back by failed gimmicks:
“He probably did everything he could to make those other [gimmicks] work, right? So it’s one of those ones where you get out what you put in. And he might not necessarily like those ones, but he always did the best with what he had. And plus, he just looked so unique. He had the size. He was good, still is good, that eventually something was going to work out for him.”
Edge on Undertaker becoming the new Andre The Gian with his gimmick:
“On paper, does The Undertaker [gimmick] sound like something that will go on to be undefeated at WrestleMania for like 22 years, and be the tentpole holding up the company at certain times, and kind of the measuring stick within the [pro] wrestling industry, more or less, the new Andre The Giant?” Edge added, “it sounds like the shelf life isn’t going to be that long.”
Christian on nobody else being able to pull off the Undertaker gimmick:
“The thing is too, I honestly believe if it was on anybody but The Undertaker, it wouldn’t’ve worked. It would’ve had that shelf life, but because he personified it and he embraced it and he became The Undertaker. You just had to look at him. He had everything down, the movements, he had the entrance, and when he did his entrance, people still when they hear that gong, they stand up. It has become this revered character. He’s also one of the most revered guys in the locker room. But I don’t think it would have had much lasting power if it had been anybody but him doing it. I don’t think anybody could do the character the way that he has done it.”
Edge on Taker switching over to “The American Badass” gimmick to refresh “The Deadman” persona:
“I mean, probably. I think one of the keys to longevity in [pro] wrestling, especially if you are going to remain the same character is the fact that you have to change it sometimes. Otherwise, it gets stagnant. It can still be a lighter shade or a darker shade, but The Undertaker went through many different phases like that. It was the Ministry [Of Darkness] Undertaker for a little while, which got even darker. And then, I think it just came a point where he had to switch it up.
“I also think that the reason it switched up is that he actually wanted to wrestle more because, as The Undertaker in the first kind of incarnation of it, the character kind of pigeonholed how much he could actually wrestle and he’s a guy who can really work. So while he was working the gimmick initially, you couldn’t go out and have the type of matches he could actually have, so I think ‘The American Bad Ass’ was a way to segue into being able to get in there with Kurt Angle and have amazing matches, technical matches too.” Edge professed, “you had to have that segue to have The Undertaker that we have now.”
Christian on “The Ringmaster” gimmick not fitting Steve Austin’s look:
“I not really sure if it was a gimmick or really just a name, but the name didn’t fit the look. Do you know what I mean? He had the bald head, huge legs, well-built. He was full-steam ahead when he was in the ring. Yeah, [Austin wore green trunks as ‘The Ringmaster’ because he was with ‘The Million Dollar Man’, right? But, like I said, I don’t think the name fit the character [or] what he looked like. Do you know what I mean? And I think, to his credit, that he was not only good enough, but had the guts, I guess, to take the reins and change it into ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and make it the way he wanted it to be and like [Edge] said, become the biggest draw in the history of the company.”