//The Press//

Quotes spoken by Kane
Columns from Kane fans

// Articles

Please Note: Most of these articles come from the WWF Magazine or RAW Magazine...however some are off the WWF.com site and credit will be given on each article's seperate page.

The Mark of Kane
By: Winchell Dredge of Rampage - March 2000

One moment you’re sitting in your arena seat, cold soda pop in your hand, excitement dancing on your spine, waiting for that next match. The miasma of beer and sweat is about, and your ears ring from the cheering and jeering…
Lights out! …and the next moment you’re plunged into darkness.
From the place where dread lives deep in the bottom of your mind, organ music swells. It sounds like those pipes are being played from the grave.
In an explosion of fire and ice, illumination flashes on the entrance ramp. A figure thumps through the swelling fog… and ohmygod… he’s huge… Who is it? The Frankenstein monster? The Mummy? The Golem? What mythic figure is slouching towards the Squared Circle to be born?

“It’s Kane!” squawks announcer Jerry Lawler. “The Big Red Machine.”
And, Oh dear, the shivers up your back say.
It is indeed Kane. Storming up from the dark of wrestling’s unconscious to grapple with forces beyond good and evil.

He is now in the ring, all seven feet of him, looking even taller, broad shoulders, narrow waist – a giant in a red suit with a mask to cover his scars and thick Gothic hair tumbling down. His dark eyes seem to burn in the gloom and he reaches out his hands to either side as though to tap into some preternatural cosmic force.

Crack! Flash! The turnbuckles belch fire. Kane turns to his opponent as though to say, How deep do you want to be buried? You’d better get your heart started again.

Never in the history of the WWF (or, for that matter, any wrestling franchise) has any character risen up into contention with the thrill and excitement – and yes, the mental disturbance – of the creature known as Kane.

Stalking up as though from Hades itself, on October 5, 1997 he literally tore the door off the cage of “Hell in the Cell” to confront his brother, The Undertaker, thus complicating and enriching the deepest and strangest story line in pro wrestling.

Kane, at 326 pounds, had issues with The Man from the Darkside. Kane wanted revenge!

The masked creature – a man who seemed to have absolutely no emotions – no, not pity, nor remorse, nor a speck of love – was there for one purpose. He battled The Undertaker and slammed him into the mat with a move that was to become his signature: “The Tombstone Piledriver.” No heart-warming family reunion, this! To understand Kane, though, you have to know about The Undertaker.

The Undertaker – formerly Mark Callaway, known at one time in the NWA as “Mean Mark Callous” – is another monster… one of the biggest wrestlers in the business. In fact a triple tag-team of The Undertaker, The Big Show, and Kane could probably take on the rest of the WWF’s rosters. The Undertaker is from “The Other Side” or “Beyond.” The Undertaker does not sing and dance in the ring. He glares at his opponent, intimidates, rips them apart. And then, as though to show his true nature, his eyes turn up to show just white, and a demonic tongue snakes out of his mouth.

The Undertaker is generally accompanied by his manager, the wide, wide Paul Bearer – a spooky spectacle clearly from the same gothic environment as his client. Used to be that Paul Bearer, in their unholy progression, would walk down holding an urn. Following him, attendants wheeled a coffin towards the ring. Out would come – taking his sweet time, by the way – The Undertaker.

The Undertaker took the WWF championship twice. But a darker – and a far more popular – chapter of his career came with the arrival of Kane. Paul Bearer, you see (now pay close attention, there will be a quiz afterwards) had enlisted another client. Paul Bearer knew the back story of these two giant wrestlers. Kane, Paul Bearer announced, was none other than the brother of The Undertaker.

The story goes like so:
In the beginning was a funeral-parlor operator and his wife. This couple had two boys. The operator also had an assistant by the name of Paul. Paul Bearer, to be exact.

These were strange boys, though, as you can imagine, growing up with strangeness and death. They liked to play, and far too often they played with fire and embaling chemicals. One day and explosion wrecked the parlor. It and the enjoyning house burned and burned some more. Killed in this fire were the boys’ parents.
The boys, of course, were The Undertaker and Kane.

The Undertaker escaped the flames, presuming that his younger brother had died as well. But as Paul Bearer tells the tale, when he came home from a school he had been at, he was in time to rescue Kane- and in time to see the guilty Undertaker escaping, a look of satisfaction on his face.
Paul Bearer secretly raised the scarred Kane and unleashed him on the WWF and the world a little over two years ago.

Since that point, Kane had torn up the ranks of the WWF, always seeking an ultimate goal: a match before the world, where he would obtain his revenge upon his brother.

After first locking The Undertaker in a fiery casket and then fighting the resurrected Mysterious One at Wrestlemania XIV, things became more murky. Kane, as it turned out, was only a half-brother. Other strange and mysterious things had been going on at that fabled funeral parlor. The result of all this: Occasionally Kane reamed with his big brother. Occasionally they fought.
Whatever the case, all the proceedings with these guys were very strange, very weird… and something altogether different than the wrestling world had seen before.
At first, Kane could not speak. Now he does speak, albeit infrequently- with the use of a vocal box, which makes his voice an odd, chilling, electronic thing indeed.
However, the man who is Kane has not always been Kane.
And unlike The Big Red Machine who storms from Gehenna itself into our imagination, that man who is Kane can speak quite clearly.
Kane’s real name is Glenn Jacobs.

There’s a mystery about Glenn’s birth. WWF sources claim his birthplace was Knoxville, Tennessee; however, sources closer to Glenn say it was actually Madrid, Spain. Seems that Glenn’s father was in the Air Force and he was stationed there. In any case, Glenn moved around a lot with his family, but lived for a good portion of his youth near St. Louis, Missouri.

Always tall for his age, he earned a basketball scholarship at Northeast Missouri State. There he obtained a degree in English. For a few years he worked at a home for the retarded.
One of the guys he worked with had set his sights on a pro wrestling career. With Glenn’s hugeness nearby, he couldn’t help but suggest that Glenn should try it as well.

He lost his first match in front of 150 people, but there was something about the sport he really liked. He went on, learning his trade. While he worked at the group home during the week, on weekends he wrestled as “Doomsday.”

Fate took “Doomsday” to the small circuit wrestling biz, then suggested gently that Glenn go down to a Florida school and learn all the stuff he needed to know.
When Glenn Jacobs began his wrestling career in the late 1980’s he was known as “Jim Powers.”

Certainly you’d think that a guy his size would be an immediate success, but wrestling, of course, isn’t just about size and ability, and clearly Glenn hadn’t found those yet.
Glenn’s low point?

Well, he wasn’t making very much, even though he worked hard. But the worst point, according to Terry Morrow of the News Sentinal, was early on in his pro career.

“The worst point,” Glenn is quoted, “was when this promoter flew me to the Dominican Republic and he didn’t show up. It was my first time in a foreign country, and I was nervous, I didn’t even get paid. We had to fed for ourselves. On that one, I almost gave up altogether.”
Good thing Glenn was proto-Kane at that time. Kane would have come looking for him!

Next up for Glenn, though, was something entirely different- and far, far better. He joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling. In Tennessee he met his current wife, Maurisa. (Sorry, Kaneaholics- when the Big Red Machine isn’t wiping the mat with Viscera, he’s taking out the garbage from a house holding two stepdaughters and five dogs in a town called Shady Grove). And guess what? The guy who got them together was none other than D’Lo Brown.

Glenn wrestled for Smoky Mountain as “The Unibomb.” One of his fellow wrestlers was Al Snow, another client of their agent, Jim Cornette.
Pretty soon these great guys made the move to WWF.
At first, Glenn Jacobs was known as a “Wrestling Dentist” called “Isaac Yankem.” However, dental stuff was not a big hit with fans.

Next up, the wrestling powers-that-were took a good hard look at Glenn and asked, How would you like to be one of the scariest wrestlers in history? Glenn reached deep down into himself and found a startling counter-past!

Kane!

Of course, the name Kane resonates with the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve. It was Cain, after all, who gave brotherhood a bad name by killing Abel.

However, the name Kane itself has other interesting branches, including the name of a famous barbarian character created by Karl Edward Wagner in the 70s. (Wagner, deceased now, was a huge wrestling fan, and would have probably approved of ‘Kane.’)

In private life, Kane is reportedly hooked on the role-playing game Might and Magic 6. His dream has just come true with the introduction of Kane in a video game.

However, as Kane, he’s supposed to be invincible.

The sad truth is that Kane has gotten injured quite a bit.

Once on a television cage match, the door slammed him on the head and he was way out of it.

“It also opened a pretty deep cut, ‘bout four inches on top of my head. There was a lot of blood… I’ve had matches where I’ve had cuts to my face, thanks to some headbutts. They’ve required stitches.”

Kane is fairly happy with all this, however. It’s only been recently that he’s started feeling the pain.

First, he had a friendship with X-Pac, who betrayed him, but stirred up feelings in him before pride took him to a place where bad-boys D-Generation X could get him. Then he fell in love with a woman named Tori. Their romance had been threatened by the machinations of the evil Viscera- a guy big enough and nasty enough to truly give Kane a challenge. You get the feeling, though, that ultimately Kane will get back together with The Undertaker and Paul Bearer.
The result?
Something really exciting, and something very, very bizarre.

Kane’s a wrestling character whose action figure is popular among the kids because, Kane says, they think of him as a superhero. The very thought kind of gives me nightmares!
Up Gothic organ-music, please!

Depths of Despair
By: Laura Bryson
WWF Magazine April 2001

Any true World Wrestling Federation fan knows the tragic story of Kane's life. There's probably not a fan out there who has not at one time or another felt sympathy for or outrage over the tortured existence Kane has led.

A fire, set by his own half-brother Undertaker, killed his mother and left him disfigured. His father Paul Bearer then locked him away in a basement, robbing him of the innocent, carefree days of childhood. Bearer brought the adult Kane into the Federation, where despite his strong and intimidating presence, he was a perfect target for master manipulators. In addition to his half- brother Undertaker and his father Bearer, Federation owner Vince McMahon, X-Pac, and Tori victimized Kane again and again.

Victims of abuse— be it physical, psychological or a combination of the two— often go through a series of stages in order to heal. However, some victims get stuck at one stage and are never fully able to recover from an abusive past. They stay in the land of denial or anger, which ultimately tears them apart inside. The key to complete recovery lies in the victim's ability to accept the unjust hand life has dealt. With acceptance comes a chance for success and survival.

Denial: This is the first stage, when the victim denies the abuse ever happened or claims that it wasn't "that bad." Kane has spent almost a lifetime in denial. Although his father Paul Bearer was the most evil of his abusers, Kane still abided by his father's commands, doing his dirty work. When Undertaker revealed it was he who was behind the fire that permanently scarred him and killed his mother, for quite some time afterward, Kane stood by his brother, biding his orders, even coming to his defense.

However, once other WWF Superstars as well as Vince McMahon, toyed and twisted his vulnerable psyche, Kane broke out of this denial stage and unleashed viciousness, rage and unparalleled anger toward the world.

Anger: Once denial wanes, anger often sets in. The victim will get angry at everyone and everything around him— including himself— until he finally gets angry at his abusers. This stage is very delicate, because the victim can slip into a depressed state, where he becomes anti-social and can even inflict self-harm.

Kane has been depressed for a long time and isolated himself from the world. In that time, he earned the labels "Big Red Retard," "monster" and "sociopath." However, Kane is far from the embodiment of those tags— he is quite simply a man who has been to hell and back.

He has remained angry for some time now, going after all that cross his path. But Kane is typical of many who remain in this place of rage— venting his pent-up rage on all except those who truly deserve it: his father and his half-brother. Kane is displacing his anger. Not too long ago, he went after Chris Jericho, who had accidentally spilled coffee on him, claiming the feud was really over "Y2Js" unscathed good-looks. This triggered not only Kane's grief and anger over his physical scars from the fire, but also the deep grief over the loss of his mother in that fatal fire years ago.

If Kane remains in an angry state, one of two things will happen: He will either live a life trapped in complete and total anger, never seeing beyond its red, heated glare; or he will fall into a depression, from which he might never recover. If Kane is truly to heal, he must get beyond the anger and move to the next stage.

Acceptance: This is the hardest stage of all, for it is the one final step before actual healing can begin, before the self can be reclaimed. It hinges upon accepting the fact that wrongs have been perpetrated upon the victim and that life isn't always fair. It is understanding that people can be cruel and heartless, but the abuse is not a reflection of one's self-worth. This is the time when the victim looks at his past, looks the abuse straight in the face and decides that he is no longer going to allow it to run his life. This is when the victim begins the transformation to survivor and begins to live for himself, not for his pain.

Kane needs to reach this place. He needs to find the courage to look at the evil actions of his family, at the betrayals of others, and accept that despite all that happened, he is worthy of love and respect, and has a lot to offer.

Kane has a choice. He is not a victim anymore and it is up to him whether or not he will remain one.

If he chooses to accept his past and move on, then he will be the next World Wrestling Federation Champion. Having survived such a torturous life, Kane will have a strength of spirit uncomparable to any Superstar on the WWF roster. What Kane will discover is that in his suffering there lies a gift, one amazing and rare. He will find that, despite the fact that the abuse he endured stripped away pieces of himself, there is another side of him that only those who have overcome tragedy find. And that strength supercedes any physical or mental force— it is a spiritual strength, one that is absolutely indescribable. If Kane finds this gift within himself, nothing will ever be able to stop him.

However, if he chooses to stay trapped in a world of anger, resentment and hatred, he will wither and die inside. He will no longer be Kane, but will indeed become the monster he's been tagged as. If Kane doesn't move on, he can say goodbye to any future with the Federation and the only time he will come close to the World Wrestling Federation Championship is when hell freezes over.
By: Laura Bryson - WWF Magazine Sept. 2000

We all know the story. Kane lost his mother in a fire that also disfigured him - a fire set by his own half-brother, Undertaker. After that loss and devastation, Kane spent his childhood locked in a cold, dark basement by his father, Paul Bearer. As an adult, Kane came to the World Wrestling Federation, a physically strong force, but easy prey for manipulators such as the McMahons, Chyna, Tori, X-Pac, as well as his own flesh and blood. A tortured soul scarred by those flames of yesteryear. A man continually used and abused by those he let into his heart. He was referred to as a monster and "retard." Today having overcome the greatest of odds, Kane stands strong. Once without a voice, Kane finally speaks. For the first time in history, Kane talks to the World Wrestling Federation Magazine, answering questions friends, foes and fans alike have been asking for a long, long time.

Laura: For as long as anyone can remember, you have been silent. What made you decide to finally use your voice?

Kane: People thought that I couldn't talk or comunicate. The simple truth is: I just never felt that there was anything to say that my actions couldn't say better. I finally realized that while actions speak louder than words, people don't always "listen" to actions. They may "hear," but you can't make them listen.

Laura: How much courage did it take for you to speak that first time in front of millions of viewers?

Kane: My whole life has been filled with pain and adversity. I have always done what needs to be done to survive. Courage, if you want to call it that, has become ingrained in me, through every step in my life. Speaking was just another step.

Laura: Perhaps no other Federation Superstar has experienced as much tragedy in his life as you have. From the abuse by your father Paul Bearer, to the violent betrayal of your brother Undertaker, to the multiple deceptions at the hands of Tori, X-Pac, the McMahons and Chyna. Do you feel all of this has made you a stronger person?

Kane: What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger...I ain't dead yet.

Laura: Of all those who have betrayed you, who do you harbor the most resentment towards?

Kane: Of all the people you mentioned, only two are related to me. The others had their reasons. The McMahons justify all their actions by saying "it's business, not personal." I can understand that. In a way, X-Pac was also motivated by business. Maybe he felt that he wasn't getting ahead by sticking with me. D-Generation X had aligned itself with the McMahons and was making a serious play for power. Same with Chyna. Even Tori probably felt that way. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Ambition warps people, makes them ruthless.

Laura: How do you feel about your father and brother?

Kane: The others you mentioned had no blood bond with me, but my father and brother are a different story. Their betrayal was, and remains, worse. It was worse because it began long before my arrival here in the Federation. It remains the worst because it is still going on. I can understand my father's betrayal. He is not physically gifted, so he felt that he had to use me to achieve his goals in the World Wrestling Federation. And eventually, we made peace. Also, I feel his betrayal was motivated by my brother.

Laura: How do you feel about your brother Undertaker?

Kane: Yes, my brother, the grand manipulator. Perhaps of all people, I am the only one who truly understands him. We had had our moments of reconciliation, but these temporary alliances have always ended with me getting the shaft. You can't trust him. From the time we were children, he has always been out for himself, no one else. And he will take whatever measures he feels are needed to eliminate any and all threats - real or imagined. Together, the two of us would be unstoppable; we would dominate the World Wrestling Federation. No one, not even Vince McMahon, could stop us. Unfortunately, my brother couldn't live with that. He won't share power - or anything else. Everything that has happened to me has been his fault. From the fact that I wear a mask to the betrayals of others. I worshipped him when I was a child, but now I see his weaknesses - all of them. Maybe someday we will come to a total reconciliation instead of uneasy, temporary alliances when we both need them. But for now, I always stay behind him. That way he can't stab me in the back.

Laura: Do you think you could ever trust another Federation Superstar again?

Kane: I don't need to trust anybody. I see people for their usefulness and certain purposes. But I keep my eyes open.

Laura: What was your mother like?

Kane: She was beautiful. She loved me. In her eyes, I could do no wrong. Perhaps that's the root of my brother's problems, Undertaker thought she loved me more.

Laura: Were you in love with Tori? If so, could you ever love another woman again?

Kane: I would have done anything for Tori. In fact, I did do everything for her. Is that love? I guess. Was it real? No. She surely opened my eyes. Just when you think you know someone, you discover something different about them. Sometimes it's good...sometimes it's not.

Laura: What do you want out of life?

Kane: What do we all want? Happiness? Contentment? Power? Pleasure? Perfection? Or just plain amusement? People spend their lives trying to answer these questions and never can. I'm going to do whatever I want to make myself happy. Whatever I want - and if no one likes it...that is unfortunate for them.

Laura: Is getting the World Wrestling Federation Championship your number-one aspiration?

Kane: Currently, yes.

Laura: Now that you're speaking - something none of us would've ever thought possible - the next step is for the mask to come off. Will you ever take it off and show the world who you are? And who are you, Kane?

Kane: Let's start with what I'm not. I am not the "Big Red Retard." I am not a freak I am not the innocent, naïve, child-like simpleton some people think. Like everyone else here in the Federation, I have my own agenda. But unlike most, I am capable of accomplishing it. And if you don't know who I am, just wait - you'll find out.

Mystrious Ways
By: Steve Andreson - WOW Magazine Oct. 2000

Glenn Jacobs' gimmicks have gone from strange to insane. Now, under Kane's mask, he's a star. But what happens when Kane's identity is revealed?

A famed song threatens that "you don't tug on Superman's cape," and "you don't pull the mask off that Ol' Lone Ranger." In other words, there is a mystique associated with the trademark objects adorning these men that you do not alter. Kane's mask is one such object.

"Kane was an idea presented to me," said Glenn Jacobs, a.k.a Kane, in a online interview. "It was the idea of a committee."

When Kane entered the World Wrestling Federation on Oct. 5, 1997, he was a silent and stalking man-thing who targeted his "brother," The Undertaker. Refusing, or unable, to speak, he allowed his actions to do his talking. His "origin" focused around a fateful fire that forever deformed him physically and traumatized him mentally.

Nearly three years later, Kane has evolved into an upper-echelon superstar and a former WWF world heavyweight champion. His physical appearance - with a mask and tights emblazoned in red and black - has remained unchanged. But before the persona of Kane emerged and became a success, Jacobs endured failure with other gimmicks.

THE CORNETTE CONNECTION

Jacobs began his career in the early 1990s by working in independent promotions in Missouri, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

"It was in my personality to wrestle," said Jacobs in an interview with the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel." "I was a little nervous at my first match, but I think I did OK. I went home after the match and watched the tape of it over and over. I wanted to do it again.

"My first few years," continued Jacobs, "I'd make maybe $10 for a match. Sometimes I wouldn't even get paid at all, but we were all in it because we loved it."

Jacobs debuted in Memphis' (Tenn.) United States Wrestling Association on Dec. 14, 1992. In a sign of things to come, Jacobs competed behind a mask as The Christmas Creature. Two weeks later, he revealed his face after losing a "title versus mask" match to USWA Champion Jerry Lawler. Following the loss, Doomsday dawned in the USWA.

On Oct. 19, 1993, Jacobs made his first of many WWF debuts. The Black Knight served as one of Lawler's masked assassins battling Bret Hart. Jacobs and his fellow Knights teamed with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1993 against Hart's faction. Following his WWF pay- per-view debut, Jacobs returned to the USWA and his Doomsday gimmick.

Doomsday evolved into Unabomb in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling and captured the SMW tag team title with Al Snow on April 7, 1995. Cornette helped Jacobs get another chance with the WWF.

"A lot of what has happened to me ... has been about timing," reflected Jacobs in an interview with the News-Sentinel. "It's been about someone who has a God-given gift and an athletic background. I have determination and perseverance."

DRILLS AND FIRE

Jerry Lawler introduced Dr. Isaac Yankem to WWF fans as his personal dentist and soldier in his war against Hart. Yankem made his pay-per-view debut in the WWF at SummerSlam on Aug. 27, 1995, when he lost a bout to Hart by disqualification.

"I was intimidated when I started with the WWF," said Jacobs. "I would see all these people I used to watch on TV, and I thought, ‘Wow! Look at them. "

The persona lasted mere months as the evil dentist was yanked from WWF television and deposited on the gimmick scrap heap.

One year later, Jacobs returned to a federation suffering from the defections of Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall and Kevin "Diesel" Nash, among others, to World Championship Wrestling. A man of Jacobs' stature (nearly 7 feet tall) could certainly replace a giant such as Nash. However, the WWF had something else in mind for him. He would not just replace Nash; he would assume his WWF identity of "Big Daddy Cool."

By the beginning of 1997, Diesel: The Sequel had returned to the USWA, which served as a feeder federation for the WWF. Following a "loser leaves town match," Jacobs returned to his Doomsday roots on June 28, 1997, and captured the USWA heavyweight title on July 13, 1997. Three months later, Jacobs made yet another return to the WWF, but this time, he would stick around for a while.

CHARACTER EVOLUTION

WWF storylines are driven by the characters the federation creates. Creating compelling characters and storylines is a strength that has brought the WWF unprecedented success. WWF characters have sold T-shirts, action figures and sundry items. Characters undergo a logical evolution based on scripted events and fan reaction. They are in a constant state of "tweak".

No amount of tweaking could save Isaac Yankem or Diesel Part Deux. However, Kane has evolved from this tweaking. When he debuted, he had little to say, if anything at all. After a year, he began using a voice amplifier and became a man of limited vernacular, struggling with sentence fragments. Today, he is free of the amplifier and speaks to fans, allies, and enemies. What has occurred with Kane's character is a natural and logical progression.

Call it the humanization of Kane.

Recent events indicate the mask that covers Kane's purported "charred" face may disappear. On the June 12, 2000, RAW, the McMahon-Helmsley Faction threatened to reveal the scarred face of The Big Red Machine.

Could that one attempted revelation lead to a successful one?

Wrestlers undergo gimmick changes. The Undertaker was once silent and stalking, only to become a more "down-to-earth" biker character. For three years, Kane's physical appearance has remained stagnant. The next storyline step could very well be a "plastic surgery" angle that makes Kane's facial features more presentable.

THE MASKED MARVEL

The equation is simple. The "maskless" dentist Isaac Yankem and the sequel Diesel were not over with the fans. The masked Kane is a superstar. Yankem and Diesel were mid-carders, at best, struggling for the spotlight. Kane has a tight and fiery grip on the spotlight.

"Kane has the ability to draw a crowd," said Jacobs. "Kids like him because he looks like a super-hero."

Kane's a super-hero akin to the Lone Ranger and Superman. The WWF has justifiably modified the man behind the mask to make him mor marketable. Yet at some point, changes will be counter-productive. The strength of Kane is his mystery, and the mask is the embodiment of his mysterious persona. To strip it away would be equivalent to taking away Kane's identity. He freely speaks. He is no longer a loner, as he forged alliances with Chyna, X-Pac, Tori, and his "brother." Those alterations have kept Kane's persona fresh.

Clearly, the traumatized brother angle slipped into the "whatever happened to" file. No one speaks of Kane's tragic origin burning alive in a morgue inferno allegedly started by The Undertaker. The supposed monster is now a super-hero who rights wrongs and vanquishes the hated villains. That evolution has made Kane a superstar.

The enhanced and discarded ingredients have created a recipe for success. Just as the "Ringmaster" morphed into "Stone Cold" and the smiling Rocky Maivia became the cocksure "Rock," Kane has matured character-wise without showing facial expression, or a face for that matter.

To be fair, any plans the WWF has for Kane to shed the mask are not confirmed. However, if wrestling history has taught fans anything, a masked man does not stay masked forever. Soon, there could be "title versus mask" bouts that put his very identity in jeopardy. The McMahon-Helmsley Faction removed it for mere seconds. Those seconds may have planted significant storyline seeds that could blossom in the immediate future.

The man behind that mask must continue to conceal his visage. The WWF must leave the mask on and resist the temptation to tug at Kane's cape.

March 26, 1999
By Terry Morrow, News Sentinel entertainment writer

Jefferson County man is World Wrestling Federation's mysterious Kane.

Glenn Jacobs has had one of those weeks. Monday, he caught on fire. Tuesday, he had a dental appointment. Wednesday, he did his first-ever interview.

Fire and dentists he can handle. The interview is different altogether for the behemoth whom Monday night cable TV devotees know better as the World Wrestling Federation's masked man-monster, Kane.

There's a flesh-and-blood 31-year-old married man under the red-and-black leather and Spandex. Kane is a spawn of hell; Jacobs lives a tranquil life with his wife, two teen stepdaughters and five dogs in sleepy Shady Grove, Tenn., off Highway 139 in Jefferson County.

"A lot of what has happened to me ... has been about timing," he says with a deep bass voice that would command respect even if he weren't 6 foot 8 inches and 310 pounds of almost pure muscle. "It's been about someone who has a God-given gift and an athletic background. I have determination and perseverance."

Sunday night as Kane, Jacobs will enter the ring for WWF's extravaganza "Wrestlemania XV," expected to set a Pay-Per-View record for a nonboxing event. With ratings of USA network's "WWF Monday Night Raw" nearly doubled over the last year, TV wrestling is once again enjoying pop culture praise, and Jacobs is one of its biggest -- if reluctant -- stars.

RAISING KANE

Jacobs was always big for his age, a tall and lanky basketball scholarship student at Northeast Missouri State, where he earned a degree in English.

His father was in the Air Force, so Jacobs and his siblings moved around a lot. He was born in Madrid, Spain, but grew up near St. Louis, Mo., where he later worked at a group home for mentally challenged adults.

A co-worker who wanted to break into professional wrestling persuaded 25-year-old Jacobs to give it a try, too. Close to 150 saw Jacobs lose his first match at a small banquet hall.

"It was in my personality" to wrestle, he says. "I was a little nervous at my first match, but I think I did OK. I went home after the match and watched the tape of it over and over. I wanted to do it again."

He continued working at the group home and wrestled on weekends under the name "Doomsday." When his bookings increased, he quit his job and hit the small-time wrestling circuit. He learned the ropes at a Florida wrestling school.

Jacobs was soon wrestling in Japan, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic --nicer in theory than in practice.

"My first few years," he says, "I'd make maybe $10 for a match. Sometimes I wouldn't even get paid at all, but we were all in it because we loved it.

"The worst was when ... this promoter flew me to the Dominican Republic, and he didn't show up. It was my first time in a foreign country, and I was nervous. I didn't even get paid. We had to fend for ourselves. On that one, I almost gave up altogether."

Jacobs didn't know how much his six-month stint with Smoky Mountain Wrestling would change his life. It brought him to Tennessee, where he met Maurisa, who would become his wife. They were introduced by WWF wrestler DeLo Brown. Jacobs also gained a contact: Jim Cornette, who took him to the World Wrestling Federation in August 1995.

With Smoky Mountain, he assumed the name "The Unibomb" and wrestled with Al Sarves, better known as the WWF's Al Snow. Cornette's eye for talent took Jacobs and Sarves to WWF and stardom.

NOVA KANE

"I was intimidated when I started with WWF," Jacobs says. "I would see all these people I used to watch on TV, and I thought, 'Wow! Look at them.”

Jacobs began his WWF career as wrestling dentist "Isaac Yankem," but the powers-that-be realized fans weren't crazy about dental visits.

"Kane was an idea presented to me," he says. "It was the idea of a (WWF) committee," which included the boss man himself, Vince McMahon, whom Jacobs calls "a very easy guy to work for."

The concept: Kane would be introduced as the brother of the evil Undertaker. Half man, half monster, he unexpectedly survived a house fire started by the Undertaker in which their parents were killed. To the Undertaker's chagrin, Kane survived but was scarred (thus the mask), unable to talk -- and thirsty for revenge.

The character would pop up and thwart the Undertaker's evil deeds within the ring. Since his introduction, Kane has faced other challengers and even taken the championship belt from fan favorite "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for one day.

The real measure, though, has to do with action outside the ring.

"Kane has the ability to draw a crowd," says Jacobs. "...The action figures have been successful. Kids like him because he looks like a superhero."

Though marketed toward children, TV wrestling has assumed a more adult theme with sexual overtones and frank language. Jacobs dismisses its critics.

"(Critics) talk about the sex and everything we present, but this isn't the same old wrestling anymore," he says. "People need to accept it for what it is."

Jacobs, who wrestles 200 dates a year around the world, gets a cut from sales of toys, posters and apparel.

But the greatest thrill, says Jacobs, who is "hooked" on the role-playing PC game "Might & Magic 6," is "to see Kane in a video game."

KANE IS ABLE

If you ever wondered how "real" TV wrestling is, ask Jacobs about his battle scars. Kane is supposed to be "invincible." Getting hurt shouldn't happen in front of millions of viewers.

"I had a cage match on TV, and this cage door slammed on my head," he says. "A piece of handle swung around and hit me. It knocked me dingy.

"It also opened a pretty deep cut, about four inches on top of my head. There was a lot of blood. You do the best you can in those situations. You can't just stop the match. You try to get through it. So I did the best I could until the show went off the air.

"I've had matches where I've had cuts to my face, thanks to some head-butts. They required stitches. I've had problems with my knees and my lower back. I've thrown my shoulder out a few times. It all goes along with the beatings our bodies take."

Credit and Copyright: ©1999 by Knoxville News-Sentinel

Kane's Burning Desire
By: Laura Bryson - WWF Magazine January 2000

Masks - we all wear them. It is an integral part of human nature to construct different facades in order to blend into a crowd--or to protect us from hurts and betrayals inherent to social relationships.

Such guises are psychological protection--differentiating us from the animal kingdom, whose armor takes the form of physical attributes--claws, horns, stingers and shells.

Despite the savagery elemental to our own species, the most catastrophic violence is that which takes its toll on our psyche.

Kane, who has been judged by Federation Superstars and fans alike as developmentally challenged or as a sociopath, hides behind a mask of red and black. However, as time has revealed, he is not a monster dwelling behind his shield--he is a man. The only valid difference between Kane and the rest of us is that his mask just happens to be visible.

Tragic--that is the word that best describes the life Kane has led. From witnessing the fiery death of his mother, which also scarred him, Kane spent his youth locked away in a dark dungeon, isolated from the world--his own father, Paul Bearer, holding the keys.

Kane's time in the Federation has also been composed of a series of hurts and betrayals. From enduring manipulative and evil games orchestrated by his father and half-brother, Kane also learned of the harsh reality that it was the Undertaker who had purposely set the fatal fire years ago.

Federation owner Vince McMahon turned on him, as well, committing the Big Red Machine to an institution for the mentally unsound. And to finish off the path of betrayal, Chyna led Kane on, only to stab him in the back at WrestleMania.

However, Kane's relationship with X-Pac has taken a different route. He and X-Pac have seemingly developed camaraderie based on trust and affinity.However, what is significant about their alliance is what it has exposed about the man behind the mask, allowing the world to catch a glimpse of who Kane really is.

Kane is not a monster lurking behind the plate of red that hides his face. Rather, he is a human being in the truest sense. Perhaps childlike in his display of raw emotion, Kane is extremely sensitive and loyal.

But he is also mature in the face that he is able to express it. Some have argued that X-Pac "gave" Kane his heart--but the truth is that X-Pac's own demonstration of loyalty merely guided Kane to find what was always there inside of him.

Kane has taken tremendous steps this past year--he has spoken for the first time without his voice box and has defied the manipulative ways of Undertaker. Kane has stood on his own two feet, demonstrating courage and character--the most noble of human attributes. However, there is one more step Kane needs to take before he can fully come into his own--before the rest of the world will ever be convinced of his full humanity--that is to take off the mask.

Behind the mask we will not find a monster. No, we will find a man who has been able to overcome a tragic life--a man to whom all of us can look for inspiration.

But until he takes that final step he will remain trapped by the prison he has been cast into, for the fortress around his heart and soul will eventually cave in, crushing the life out of him.

Yes, Kane could turn into his worst enemy. However, a question remains--is there anything that could drive Kane back into his shell, never to surface again? He has tasted the bitter seed of the worst betrayals yet has survived--some could argue, prevailed.

But perhaps the one thing left to make or break the Big Red Machine is love.

The most powerful and compelling of emotions, love has the ability to move mountains--or destroy them. It can be the cause of the most tortuous, heart-wrenching sorrow. Yes, love just may be the key to unmasking Kane--or locking him away for the rest of his life...

Kane's mask is the embodiment of years and years of betrayal by the hands of those he should have been able to trust. But when that mask comes off--watch out world. Not because we will find a monster underneath, but because we will find--perhaps for the first time ever--a real man.

Big Red Grand Slam
By: Phil Speer - WWF.com

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With the Intercontinental Championship currently in hand, Kane has become the only superstar in World Wrestling Federation history that has held that title as well as the Federation, Hardcore and Tag Team titles.

He won the Intercontinental Title by defeating Triple H in a chain match Sunday at Judgment Day. It was one of the best matches of the night, and one that exceeded many fans' expectations.

"It's a really challenging thing to do, to work with an inanimate object like a chain," said Federation announcer Jim Ross, who was sitting mere feet, and at times mere inches, from the battle. "Triple H and Kane had a real solid match."

In a rare interview with WWF.com, Kane discussed the match and his feelings on being the only "Grand Slam Champion" of his variety. The Intercontinental Title also solidifies Kane's status as a Triple Crown winner -- a superstar who has held the Federation's three most prestigious titles (Federation, Intercontinental, Tag Team). Others include Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Bret Hart, Diesel, Pedro Morales, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

"That puts me in the most elite of company," Kane said. "You're talking about legendary performers."

Speaking of elite company, Kane called the chain match one of his best performances on Pay-Per-View. That's saying something, even if you just look at 2001. He kicked off the year by going more than one hour in the Royal Rumble, which he called his finest performance.

"Even though I didn't win the (Royal Rumble) match, I was in there for an hour with the absolute creme of the crop in the WWF -- The Rock, Undertaker, Austin, all those guys," he said. "To be able to stay in there for an hour and to come that close -- that's something."

As far as Judgment Day is concerned, the Big Red Machine received one of the loudest ovations of the night, if not the loudest, when he pinned Triple H. The crowd at Sacramento's Arco Arena practically exploded when the Big Red Machine held his newly won title over his head.

"It felt great. It really did," he said. "I think that with all that Triple H and Stone Cold had done, definitely the odds had been against me and the Undertaker. And Sunday was one of the first times that people sort of saw the tide change."

Suddenly the Intercontinental Championship is as prestigious as it has ever been. Who would have thought several months ago that the likes of Triple H, Kane, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit would be battling for it?

"Outside of the World Wrestling Federation Championship, it is the most prestigious title," Kane said. "I'd like to add to that as much as I possibly can."