The Magnificent Seven: Top 7 Kane Runs

It has been nineteen years since the character of Kane debuted on WWE television. That’s long enough to weather some ups and downs for sure, some a consequence of the creative team’s machinations, some of them more plainly rooted in the man’s gifts and his limitations as a performer.

Based on Kane’s longevity (particularly his longevity in upper-card-to-main-event slot )and the turbulence inherent in the monstrous character, he’s undergone quite a few face and heel turns, and many different, relatively easy to discern periods in his character. This week, I’m taking a look back at those periods that by-and-large worked, starting with the not bad, moving to the good, arriving at periods of greatness for the Kane character.

I based this countdown on entertainment value, in-ring work, promos, and effects upon the overarching WWE product at the time. As always personal opinion weighs heavily. And while I doubt that many readers will take issue with their absence from the list, I should clarify that this countdown is limited to work under the gimmick of Kane—the same performer’s work as Isaac Yankem and the Fake Diesel, as well as work outside WWE was not in consideration.

#7. The Strange Coexistence of Corporate Kane and Demon Kane (2015)

I know that it is not en vogue to celebrate much of anything Kane did after he started wearing slacks and aligning with The Authority. But I will argue that there was a real bright spot when his dissension with Seth Rollins gave way to Rollins physically attacking Corporate Kane to pave the way for the return of Demon Kane, who proceeded to haunt Rollins on Raw throughout the fall.

The dynamic of Kane making liking his Corporate and Demon identities were not the same person was an off-beat bit of comedy work that harkened back to some of his unlikely successes as a comedic performer in years past, paired with the return of his monstrous visage, which was also a fun callback. No, Kane didn’t really have any business in the world title picture in 2015, but he joined Sting as a stop-gap between Rollins feuding with John Cena and then moving on to Roman Reigns, besides joining Sting in offering Rollins a little more credibility as “the guy” during that period by putting him over.

#6. The Brothers of Destruction Ride Together (2001) (2015)

The Undertaker and Kane have had an up-and-down and largely inextricable history in WWE, often rivals, often partners. I’d argue that the partner dynamic was never stronger than when they teamed up in 2001. The two worked together informally at the Royal Rumble leading to a short-term feud with Rikishi and Haku. After WrestleMania season was done, they formalized their alliance, starting when they stood up to the new Two-Man Power Trip, Steve Austin and Triple H. ‘Taker and Kane offered a team with enough size and star power to pose a legitimate threat to Austin and Helmesley. The teams feuded throughout the spring, including a main event match at Backlash and splitting off to challenge the heels for their respective singles titles at Judgment Day.

As the Invasion angle got started, The Brothers of Destruction offered a steady presence toward the top of the WWF team, players in just about every big multi-man tag scenario, besides decimating the teams of Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon and KroniK.

You can most certainly argue that The Undertaker and Kane were detrimental to newer acts—particularly from WCW—getting over during this period, but with The Undertaker in full-on Biker mode, and Kane a steady face for the year, they were both over and both working at a high level for a compelling tag team unit.

#5. Revealing The Long Con (2010)

2010 was a game changing year for Kane. After spending so much of his career as alternately The Undertaker’s personal JTTS or sidekick, Kane stepped out of the shadows. First, he won his first world championship in over a decade (not counting the ECW title), and his first world title reign that would run for more than a day, after being the first man to cash-in a Money in the Bank briefcase the same night he had won it. From there, it would become clear that he had been responsible for putting his big brother out of action via a behind-the-scenes attack, and this was not just another in a series of erratic behaviors over the years, but rather the culmination of a master plan that he had been executing over the course of nearly fifteen years, complete with a detailed promo to explain how each of his seemingly disjointed choices over the years had been a gesture toward lulling ‘Taker into a false sense of security before he vanquished him.

The funny thing was that, for as ridiculous as the premise was that Kane had set up all of this, and as much as most of us probably favor The Dead Man over his brother by most measures, there was something deeply satisfying about not only the suggestion that this character did have profound storyline continuity, but also seeing Kane go on to actually defeat his brother in a clean sweep this time around—besting him at Night of Champions, Hell in a Cell, and finally Bragging Rights. While the matches weren’t great, and the latter two depended on Paul Bearer and Nexus-related shenanigans, the fact remains that Kane had finally and definitively gotten the best of his brother, and done so as the centerpiece to a half-year title reign that, if nothing else, the man behind the character had earned for longevity and loyalty.

#4. Unmasked (2003)

Kane had succeeded, upon his debut, as a monster heel, and in the six years to follow, we saw him vacillate a bit across face and heel lines. While others may have different opinions of the character, he never across as insane over this period to the degree that WWE unleashed upon us in 2003 when he unmasked.

After losing in a world title bid against Triple H, Kane had to take off his signature mask, and promptly lost his shit. A newly revitalized heel, he bested former partner Rob Van Dam, then went on set Jim Ross on fire, Tombstone Linda McMahon, and segue into a heated feud with Shane McMahon. The magic of the character at this time was how unpredictable he was, not to mention that Glenn Jacobs’ actual facials turned out to be no less (and arguably more) frightening than his masked visage.

This run would burn bright then start to fizzle as the Shane McMahon feud was a bit too long and indecisive, after which Kane was back in the rotation of unsuccessful world title contenders, then back to jobbing to his The Undertaker. Just the same for the initial turn, and the way it transformed a tired, afterthought character into the hottest property in WWE for a brief period, I’m giving it the nod for this spot on the countdown.

#3. Teaming, Then Feuding with X-Pac (1999)

It’s difficult to really parse Kane’s first true face run from his monster heel work leading up to it, given that the storytelling was relatively steady and continuous during that period, but I do consider Kane’s work and its successes in 1999 to be distinct from original monster role. This period saw Kane leave The Corporation for good to form a tag team with X-Pac, in so doing revealing signs of Kane as a human character with some semblance of a moral compass, not to mention a sense of humor when he first told the crowd to “suck it.” From there, he began his courtship with Tori, which was a nicely handled, offbeat wrestling love story.

X-Pac and Kane enjoyed some success as a tag team, including tag title reigns and a feud with the imposing tandem of The Undertaker and Big Show. In the end, X-Pac would turn on his friend and steal his girlfriend, which continued this off-beat story in him being the smaller, conniving heel who was picking on the lumbering outcast.

It’s unfortunate that, by the time Kane emerged from this storyline, he was a bit lost in the upper-mid-card shuffle, no longer a true monster, and no longer with the same novelty of having freshly become humanized. Just the same, this in-between period may have marked the peak of Kane’s popularity as a face, and opened the door for the character to play a variety of roles in the years to follow.

#2. Team Hell No (2012-2013)

By mid-2012, I think that most of us had assumed Kane would run out the rest of his WWE career as a mostly ineffectual upper-mid-card big man, who might get plugged into the occasional main event feud as a stop-gap between more meaningful challengers. True to form, he became the bigger, more traditional WWE-style main event third wheel to a Daniel Bryan-CM Punk feud that didn’t really need him in the late spring of that year. What followed, no one could have predicted.

For Bryan and Kane, after feuding over the summer, formed an odd-couple tag team with positively shocking comedic chemistry. The two of them and their counselor Dr. Shelby went on to put on a series of sensational comedic vignettes. From there, the two became a tag team unit to reckon with, combining Kane’s presence and power spots with Bryan’s fast-paced and technical in-ring talents that were finally beginning to get a full-fledged spotlight on WWE programming. Better yet, The Shield emerged in the late fall and proved near perfect in-ring foils for Team Hell No and friends, which ultimately resulted in a brief identity crisis period during which Bryan became obsessed with proving he wasn’t the weak link, which in turn set him up to round out the summer challenging John Cena and formally stepping up to the main event.

I don’t imagine that WWE had long-term plans when it slung Bryan and Kane together, but the duo became a highlight for the better part of a year on WWE TV, and, as unlikely as it was, one of the very best points in Kane’s nearly two decades on the roster.

#1. The Original Monster Run (1997-1998)

As entries number two and three on this countdown suggest, some of Kane’s most entertaining work came when WWE humanized him. The humanization never would have had such an impact, however, if there weren’t the foundation of Kane as a monster to build from. Kane recurrently played a monster, to varying degrees of success, over the last nineteen years, but I’d argue he was never better or better booked than his original monster run that started in 1997.

As opposed to traditional vignettes, the WWF introduced the Kane character via more straight forward storytelling—Paul Bearer revealing The Undertaker’s little brother who had presumably been lost to a house fire, then revealing that Kane lived, and Kane was coming. The Big Red Machine would debut in iconic fashion at Badd Blood 1997, busting up the very first the Hell in a Cell Match to Tombstone ‘Taker and segue him out of his blood feud with Shawn Michaels, into a new long-term program opposite Kane.

During this period, Kane was a dominant monster heel who laid waste to any mid-carder who dared come at him, including decimating Vader. In his first showdown with The Undertaker, at WrestleMania 14, Kane did lose, but only after absorbing three Tombstones, and even then just barely staying down for the pin. In the months to follow, Kane would beat Steve Austin for the world title (albeit in the heavily biased context of a First Blood Match) and play indomitable foot soldier for The Corporation en route to his first face turn.

As the WWF crossed over from the largely cartoon-ish mid-90s into the Attitude Era, Kane may have been the company’s last great truly mystical monster heel, consistently booked as a threat, persistently lumbering like a horror movie creature that most wrestlers had no hopes of beating, and may have only hoped that they could survive against. Yes, Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, and Triple H are the icons of Attitude, but Kane represents the next tier, alongside guys like ‘Taker and Kurt Angle, who defined the period.

Which Kane runs would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments.

Read more from Mike Chin at his website and follow him on Twitter @miketchin.