411’s WWE Evil Episode Four Report: The Brothers of Destruction

-We have reached the halfway point in this series and if you are going to have a series titled “Evil” these two characters would be perfect choices. Let’s get to it!

-Run Time: 45:12

-As a reminder, John Cena is our narrator.

-Kane tells us that he and Undertaker were the most sinister and evil (roll credits) characters in WWE history. Taker calls what they did total destruction. Their story is called the stuff of mythology and Shakespeare.

-Show opening!

-By 1990 the WWE Universe was used to all kinds of characters like Giants (Andre), ultimate cheaters (Flair), and even enemies of the state (Shiek). They were looking for something evil and focused on the fear of death. Bruce Prichard pitched the idea of The Undertaker to Vince and then it became who can play the character. Mean Mark footage from WCW! Taker tells us he was working in WCW for a year and his contract was coming up and WCW brass told him they didn’t think anyone would pay to see him wrestle. WWF saw him and realized he was an athletic big man with a good look. Taker tells the story of getting the phone call where Vince asked if this was The Undertaker. Taker had no clue what that meant but went with it. Vince goes over the storyboards with Taker and the character is based on the Old West Undertakers.

-Taker used 1980s slasher films for inspiration and we get footage from all those movies which again shows how much care has gone into making this series. Footage from Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th are all shown. Taker took inspiration from each and made it into his own.

-Survivor Series 1990: The Undertaker makes his debut and it can’t be said enough that Mark had this character down cold from day one. Just awe-inspiring and instantly a star. Credit to the other 4 men in the match that sold the character like death to help get it over even more. Bruce says it didn’t take nearly as long as they thought it would for the character to get over with fans. Taker talks about the eye roll and how it was a happy accident during the match and it freaked the fans out. Admit it, we’ve all done it. It gives me a headache anytime I do it.

-Mick Foley pops up and says his son loved WWE, but wouldn’t go to shows as he was afraid of The Undertaker. Jack Farmer says he remembers thinking he was an evil cowboy. Rapper, Killer Mike, mentions Taker was a great villain because he didn’t have to talk.

-Taker recalls leaving arenas and the fans parting to make way for him. They were scared of the character and weren’t sure where it started and stopped. Taker loved it!

-Paul Bearer: Bill came to WWF to see about a job and they learned he was a licensed mortician. I mean, once they heard that who else was he going to manage? Taker talks about the background Paul had and how it gave what they were doing legitimacy. Paul was the one that seemingly could control Taker and they discuss the power of the urn.

-Survivor Series 1991: The Undertaker wins his first WWF Title with a Ric Flair helped victory over Hulk Hogan. I watched this match at my grandparents’ house and was freaked out Hogan lost, but realized when they announced a PPV only a few days later that Hogan was getting the title back. Zombie Juice tells us that Taker made him cry because he was beating up Hulk Hogan. They don’t show Flair’s interference and just play it off like Taker won clean, which is fine.

-We skim through the next 5-6 years with highlights of Taker putting Warrior in the casket, beating up Ric Flair, Bundy, and Diesel. Then we settle on SummerSlam 1996 as Paul Bearer turns on The Undertaker to end their alliance. For whatever reason, I thought Taker was being written out of the WWF and would be showing in in WCW at the time. In October Taker gets buried alive, but comes back from the dead again as he continues to thwart anything Bearer tried.

-The idea came to have a brother out there for Undertaker that was even more evil than he was. They show some cool early art for the Kane character. I love stuff like that! The story obviously came from The Bible with Cain and Abel. We get some art depicting the act of Cain killing Abel. Paul Bearer lays out the story of Taker having a long-lost brother named Kane. Someone burned down the funeral home and apparently it was Taker and he killed his family. At least that is what Taker thought, but Paul saved Kane who was burned beyond recognition. I mean, it sounds corny as all get out, but that’s perfect for pro-wrestling. Taker credits Kane for giving his character so many more layers. We see Taker paint brushing Bearer and threatening to kill him if he doesn’t tell the truth.

-Oct 1997: Badd Blood: Hell in a Cell I: Still the greatest Cell Match of them all as Taker and Michaels tore the house down. Shawn just took an epic ass-kicking to the delight of everyone in the building and watching at home. Then the lights went out and Paul Bearer heads down with Kane! He looked terrifying and was a fantastic pay-off to the character because you easily believed this person could be Taker’s equal. That first Tombstone was pretty rough, but he would get better. David LaGreca talks about how huge the debut was and how Taker may have finally met his match.

-The next night on RAW Kane was officially introduced to the world. Kane says that was the most important night for the character as it explained why he was there. The goal was simple: Kane was going to run through everyone on the roster until he could get his match with The Undertaker. Kane talks about the genesis of the fire and how it was about the origin of his character and what happened to him and his family. It is what showed his pent-up frustration. Foley credits Glen for taking control of the character and adding subtle movements. Kane tells us he was watching his dog and how she would tilt her head when she was curious or hungry and he started using that for the character. Corey Taylor, Slipknot, talks about wearing a mask (he would know) and how it keeps him in check for civility. The mask hides an identity and that is what is more terrifying than the mask itself. Kane took inspiration from Hannibal Lecter (of course we get Silence of The Lambs footage) and others talk about the character being similar to Michael Meyers.

-Taker mentions this feud gave him a chance to come out of the character a bit because this was different. Normally he would fight anyone, but he wouldn’t fight his brother. We see Kane run through the roster with the red light that they would eventually ditch. You think that lesson would have stayed with them when they used it again for The Fiend. Taker continues to refuse to fight Kane and we get The Rumble moment where it seemed Kane had saved Taker but instead wanted him for himself. Taker gets locked in the casket and it gets set on fire in an impressive visual.

-Taker talking to his parents’ grave to inform them he had to fight is something I completely forgot about, although that was during the MNW and perhaps I was watching Nitro at that moment. Taker declares war on Kane and we get Taker shooting lightning as it was a battle of the supernatural now.

-WrestleMania XIV: LaGreca says he feared Taker as a fan for years and now he was his biggest supporter in the battle with Kane. This is the first of many, many, many, many battles between the two and is probably still the best of the bunch. Kane: “This is The Undertaker and he is mad, and he is mad at me.” Nice! What worked is Kane got to do to Taker what he had been doing to others for the last 7 years. It was a battle between two monsters that hit each other hard until only one was left standing. Kane gets to kick out of not one, but two Tombstones which freaked everyone out. The third one finally gets the win and even then Kane showed life by kicking out just after the three count. Kane gets to his feet first and batters Taker with a chair and hits The Tombstone to continue the feud.

-The war continued and they had to keep raising the stakes. The entire story revolved around fire, so why not have an inferno match. Great visual, but the execution was a little weird. Taker thought they were messing with him when they pitched the idea of the match.

-Unforgiven 1998: I remember originally thinking they would set the ropes on fire, but thankfully it was more controlled as the fire was outside the ring. The visual of Taker diving over the fire was sweet and Kane takes the loss as his protected arm gets set on fire.

-The saga continues as next we learn that Paul Bearer is Kane’s father and then the decision is made to put them together as a team. Kane turns face by turning his back on Bearer to let Taker beat his ass. Now the WWE had this killer team and seeing who can stand up to them. Taker talks about how brothers who hate each other are still family and can come back together. The Brothers of Destruction are born and they dominate everything in their path. Taker mentions people were legitimately intimidated to be in the ring with them and the more evil (roll credits) they got the more the fans cheered.

-As we head towards 2000, fans started wanting more reality with wrestling and that leads to Biker Taker because he knew he needed a character that could talk. Foley tells us Taker told him he wanted a more realistic character and became more of a striker. Foley credits him with knowing when he needed to change the character before it wore out its welcome and for Taker, he needed something to be able to compete on the mic with Austin and Rock.

-As for Kane he felt it was time to lose the mask. Vince was the only one on board as the rest felt it was a terrible idea. Taker makes it known he thought it was a bad idea because it is all theater of the mind. He talks about Psycho and The Birds where the imagination is greater than actually seeing the murder in the shower or birds attacking. Yes, we have Hitchcock footage on a WWE documentary. Thanks, Peacock! Kane removes the mask and Foley calls it incredible. He felt it made Kane even more evil (roll credits) and the story now was that Kane was never burned. It was all in his mind which was even more terrifying. Corey Taylor again as he says you can’t play the same character with the mask on and Kane knew that as he changed the look with a bald head.

-We see Edge and Lita’s wedding where Kane popped up through the ring and as I stated when they discussed this during Austin’s interview with Lita, wrestling weddings are awesome! KANE SETS JR ON FIRE! Can never say JR wasn’t a team player. Taker admits it was great for Glen as he could do so much more. RYDER IN THE WHEELCHAIR OFF THE STAGE. Poor Ryder!

-Prichard gives credit to each character lasting so long because they weren’t afraid to evolve. David Shoemaker talks about how much each gave to the business. You appreciate the two of them anytime they are standing there together in the ring. Shawn Michaels calls their story a work of art. Taker is proud of the story they were able to tell for years and what they did will stand against any other tag team. We go back to Kane calling it mythology and Shakespeare as you can’t kill what won’t die. “Rest in Peace” from Taker wraps this one up.

-I enjoyed this one more than I figured as their story has been covered a bunch by the WWE in recent years. I will say that with it focusing on two characters the pacing was good and the talking heads didn’t keep repeating points others made. Again, I am a fan of this series because it is refreshing to have something like Taker mention he got inspiration from 80s slasher films, and then they show video from those films. That just helps so much and I hope we get more Peacock originals focused on WWE where we can get more stuff like this. The other positives were the cool early concept artwork for each character and just hearing from talking heads outside WWE. Thanks for reading!