Kane discusses the origins of his character
WWE Superstar Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) recently appeared on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw podcast, where he looked back on the origins of his character.
Kane is possibly one of the most recognizable WWE characters of all time. The Big Red Machine had been a dominant force in the WWE during the Attitude Era and continued to lay waste to his opponents well into the PG Era. A Grand Slam champion in the WWE, Kane was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021.
On the podcast, Glenn Jacobs recalled the events that led to his Kane character debuting in the WWE. He mentioned that when Vader was arrested in Kuwait, WWE needed someone to work with the Undertaker. Jacobs was picked as the man for the job since he physically matched up to the Undertaker.
“They needed someone to work with Mark," said Jacobs. "So the thought was, okay, we'll just hot shot this deal and we need an angle. We’ll Glenn can do it. He’s a big guy, he matches up physically with Taker.”
“Vince liked it so much, he’s like why are we gonna waste this on just one match, when we can turn this into an actual long term angle," Jacobs continued.
Kane also mentioned that the Hell In A Cell Structure was built with the idea that no one could get in, and his arrival would seem more intimidating when he knocked the door off the hinges of the steel structure.
Kane was initially named Inferno
Jacobs also explained that that Kane was initially named Inferno, but he wanted to change the name to Kane because Inferno sounded like a comic book character. The former World Heavyweight Champion mentioned that he ran the idea by Bruce Prichard, who approved the change to Kane.
Ironically, Kane became closely associated with the Inferno name, as it was used for a new match type WWE introduced during his feud with The Undertaker. The Inferno match raised the bar for the level of brutality featured on WWE programming, as it required a wrestler to set his opponent on fire.
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