Kane (wrestler)
Glen Jacobs | |
---|---|
File:Kane4.jpg | |
Born | Madrid, Spain | April 26, 1967
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Angus King The Black Knight The Christmas Creature Doomsday Isaac Yankem, DDS Kane Unabomb |
Billed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) [1] |
Billed weight | [undue weight? – discuss][2] |
Billed from | "Parts Unknown" (as Kane) "Decatur, Illinois" (as Isaac Yankem) |
Trained by | Jeff Bradley Ray Candy Dean Malenko |
Debut | June 18, 1992 |
Glen Thomas Jacobs (born April 26, 1967) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name, Kane. He is performing on the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment.
College
Jacobs attended Quincy College, where he played basketball, before joining Northeast Missouri State University (now known as Truman University) on a basketball scholarship. In the 1988-1989 season he was an NCAA all-star and is still listed in the Truman State University media guide (as Glenn Jacobs) as holding the record for highest field goal percentage for a single season (.621 in both the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons) and is the career leader in field goal percentage (.567). Jacobs also led the 1988-89 team in several categories, including blocked shots (1.0 per game) and rebounds per game (6.8 per game)
However, despite his success, Jacobs opted to switch to playing on the college football team. He eventually graduated with a bachelor's degree in English and then did some junior high substitute teaching in the St. Louis area. "After doing that, teachers have my respect; that's a pretty tough profession... So if I wasn't [wrestling], I don't think I'd be teaching."[3]
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 Unibomb, 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/Entertainment
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 (kayfabe) 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. After a brief partnership, Kane betrayed his brother by 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 19, 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 WWF Championship title shot, Kane won the WWF Championship at the 1998 King of the Ring, defeating Steve Austin in a First Blood match. If Kane had lost, the match stipulations required that he set himself on fire. Kane lost the title back to Austin the next night on RAW. He went on to form a tag team with Mankind, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship. After losing the titles and turning on Mankind, Kane formed a short lived tag team with his brother. The brothers fought one another for the vacant WWF Championship at Judgment Day 1998, with the match ending in a no-contest. Kane went on to take part in the "Deadly Games" tournament for the WWF Championship at the 1998 Survivor Series but was eliminated by The Undertaker in the quarter-finals.
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. Shortly afterward, Kane 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 their relationship 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, covering his face.
Kane stayed in contention for the WWF Championship for the remainder of the year, and ended 2000 in a feud with Chris Jericho ultimately losing to him in a last man standing match.
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".
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 nWo until tearing his biceps. Kane returned to a rebranded WWE as part of the RAW roster 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 (TLC) (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 on the June 23, 2003 RAW, Kane removed his mask (and, in the process, his "hair"-Jacobs had his hair cut and half his head shaved for this particular night, prior to this he had longer hair, as shown in one instance where Kane's mask was taken off inadvertently and he ran to the back covering his face, with no wig in place), 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). This is the same Kane as Before...Long Hair and bald same person. At the end of this interview, Kane, believing that he was being mocked, attacked Ross and set him on fire.
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 Rock Bottom: In Your House in 1998.
In January 2004, Kane took part in the 2004 Royal Rumble match. He was eliminated after his brother's infamous gong was sounded, 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. Kane is the only man to lose to the Undertaker at 2 WrestleManias.
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 World Heavyweight Championship title shot against Chris Benoit at Bad Blood 2004
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, after being attacked by Hardy during the ceremony but nevertheless gaining the upper hand and ultimately chokeslammed Hardy off the stage. (In reality, Hardy needed time off because of a knee injury and later a staph infection).
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 Jacobs 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. Lita's heel turn resulted in her real life affair with Edge and her dumping Matt Hardy, and Hardy's subsequent sacking for making the affair public, resulting in fans heavily booing the "face" Lita during her feud with Trish. In this feud with Edge, Kane played the role of Matt until Hardy was later re-hired and the angle was dropped, with Hardy and Edge having a worked shoot feud (a storyline based on something that has happened in real life but is not a shoot/real fight).
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, culminating in a successful title defense 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. 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"). In subsequent weeks, Kane began attacking anyone who mentioned the date "May 19". 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, resulting in a no contest.
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 that this is mine."
Kane was absent from WWE television for several weeks thereafter as he toured Europe to promote See No Evil. Upon his return, he engaged in a feud with Umaga that concluded on the October 9, 2006 episode of RAW when Umaga defeated him in a "Loser Leaves RAW" match.
On October 13, 2006, Kane returned to the SmackDown! roster for the first time since the 2002 brand extension. On November 3, 2006, Kane reunited with The Undertaker as the Brothers of Destruction to defeat Montel Vontavious Porter and Mr. Kennedy. Kane would continue a feud with MVP competing in several gimmick matches. The end result of the feud being an Inferno Match at Armageddon 2006 between Kane and MVP, in which Kane won by setting MVP's back on fire which resulted in first degree burns.
2007
On the SmackDown! before the Royal Rumble 2007, Kane was involved in a 6 man elimination over-the-top- rope battle royal. This also included King Booker, MVP, The Miz, Chris Benoit, and Finlay. This match would go to a no-contest as Undertaker interrupted after Kane had been eliminated and punished the opponents left. Before this match happened Kane also battled to a no-contest vs. MVP. At the 2007 Royal Rumble, Kane eliminated King Booker. Booker then came back in the ring and eliminated Kane, even though he had already been eliminated. A couple weeks later on SmackDown!, while receiving the key to the city in his hometown of Houston, Booker was attacked by Kane starting a feud between the two. At No Way Out, Kane successfully defeated King Booker. On February 23, 2007, Kane lost to King Booker in a Falls-Count Anywhere Money in the Bank Qualifying match after interference from The Great Khali.
On February 26, 2007, Kane interrupted Chris Masters' Master Lock Challenge to The Great Khali when Masters was unable to apply the Master Lock. Kane delivered a Chokeslam and a chair shot to Masters then clotheslined The Great Khali over the top rope, starting a feud between the two. Prior to WrestleMania 23, Kane has started to walk around with a hook, similar to the hook he used as Jacob Goodnight in See No Evil. At WrestleMania 23, Kane was defeated by Khali, and then was attacked with his own hook. During the match, he delivered a bodyslam to Khali, reminiscent of the slam delivered to André the Giant, by Hulk Hogan, twenty years earlier at WrestleMania III. Soon after this, Kane started a feud with William Regal and Dave Taylor. Boogeyman then joined the feud teaming up with Kane. On the May 4 edition of Smackdown, Kane competed in a number 1 contenders match for the United States Championship against MVP which he lost due to interference by Regal and Taylor. On the May 25 edition of SmackDown!, Kane competed in a Fatal Four Way Number 1 Contenders Match for the World Heavyweight Championship which was won by Batista. Kane then entered a short feud with Mark Henry. Kane was defeated by Henry in a Lumberjack Match at One Night Stand 2007.
On 6th july edition of smackdown Kane became the no1 contender for Edge's World Heavyweight Championschip. This will be Kane's first one on one world championship match in three years.
Wrestling facts
- As Kane
- Chokeslam from Hell (Chokeslam)
- Tombstone Piledriver (Kneeling belly to belly piledriver) (The Tombstone Piledriver has only been used rarely as an in-ring move since Kane's mask was removed)
- Double chokeslam
- Kane Powerbomb (Falling powerbomb) - 1999-2002
- Big boot
- Corner clothesline
- Flying clothesline
- Sidewalk slam
- Tilt-a-whirl slam
- Uppercut
- Dropkick
- Powerslam
- Running Tornado DDT
- Leg Drop
- Chokebomb
- As Diesel
- Big boot
- Sidewalk slam
- [[two handed chokeslam
- As Isaac Yankem, DDS [4]
- DDS (DDT)
- Nicknames
- The Big Red Machine
- The Big Red Monster
- Theme music
- "Burned" WWE Production Theme October 1997-2000 WWF The Music, Vol. 3
- "Out Of The Fire" WWE Production Theme October 2000-2002 WWF The Music, Vol. 5
- Current "Slow Chemical" by Finger Eleven 2002-Present
Championships and accomplishments
- PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1999 - with X-Pac
- PWI ranked him # 186 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
- SMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Al Snow (as Unibomb)
- WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with The Undertaker
- WWF Championship (1 time)
- WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
- WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
- WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (15 times) - with Mankind (2), X-Pac (2), The Undertaker (2), The Hurricane (1), Rob Van Dam (1) and Big Show (1)
- 8th Triple Crown Champion
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 money won was donated to Jacob's chosen charity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis, Tennessee. [5]
- 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.
- Jacobs appears in the March 22 episode of Smallville entitled "Combat", where he plays a Phantom Zone criminal from another world named Titan, who faces off against Clark Kent.
References
- ^ Leiker, Ken (November 2003). "WWE Unscripted". Pocket Books. p. 30.
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(help) - ^ Bernado, M (March 23, 2006). "Rope Dopes: WWE's Lamest Bad Guys". Stuff Magazine.
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(help) - ^ Morrow, T (June 5, 2002). "Big Red Machine Revving to get Back in Ring". Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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(help) - ^ "Motivating the monster..."
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(help) - ^ Russell, B (May 5, 2005). "Alumnus Shares Truman Tales". Truman State University INDEX.
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(help) - ^ Morrow, T (March 26, 1999). "Calm Influence of Family at Center of Life For This WWF Dynamo". Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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(help) - ^ "Bob Smither for Congress".
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(help) - ^ "Barry Hess for Governor".
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(help) - ^ "WWE.com Kane biography".
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External links
- 1967 births
- American film actors
- American libertarians
- American professional wrestlers
- Contestants in American game shows
- Fictional arsonists
- Fictional fire victims
- Fictional knights
- Living people
- Military brats
- People from Knoxville, Tennessee
- People from Madrid
- Smoky Mountain Wrestling alumni
- Truman State University alumni
- World Champion professional wrestlers