WWE News: Kane opens up about his Isaac Yankem and Fake Diesel gimmicks
What’s the story?
Pro Wrestling veteran and former WWE World Champion Glenn Jacobs aka Kane was recently in a conversation with Chris Jericho on the Talk is Jericho podcast. In his interview with Jericho, “The Red Big Machine” discussed some of his old characters and gimmicks during his two-decade span in the WWE.
In case you didn’t know…
Kane made his WWE debut in 1995 when he initially appeared as Isaac Yankem, who was billed as Jerry “The King” Lawler’s private dentist. However, Jacobs’ run as Isaac Yankem was highly unsuccessful as he continued to suffer big losses to the likes of The Undertaker, Jake Roberts, Marc Mero and The Ultimate Warrior.
After being used on a series of live events in Kuwait in May, as well as a September tour of South Africa, the Isaac Yankem gimmick was eventually retired in 1996.
Later that same year, Glenn Jacobs was reintroduced as Fake Diesel, as part of a heavily criticized storyline mocking the departure of former employee Kevin Nash, who had jumped ship to WCW at the time.
But, much like his Isaac Yankem gimmick, the Fake Diesel character did not work out as well and was eventually dropped in 1997.
The heart of the matter
While interacting with Chris Jericho, Kane revealed that it was WWE Chairman Vince McMahon who initially came up with the idea of the Isaac Yankem character, after Kane had earned himself a tryout with the WWE with the help of legendary commentator Jim Ross.
However, in addition, Kane did take all the blame for the failure of the Isaac Yankem character, because he felt that he could have eventually done a lot more with the gimmick to make it work.
“That wasn't a character that I could invest in, and I didn't. It was my fault. My teeth were painted. It tasted terrible. Vince McMahon thought it was ironic that his Dentist had bad teeth. My entrance music was dental drill."- Kane stated.
Furthermore, Kane also opened up about his imitation of Fake Diesel in 1996, which was initially done by the WWE (Then WWF) to mock the departure of New World Order originator Kevin Nash, who left for WCW along with Scott Hall and Jim Ross himself.
Kane noted that he actually enjoyed portraying the Fake Diesel character in the first place and thought it was a good idea, however, the former WWE World Champion claimed that the sole reason why the gimmick didn’t work out is that the whole angle was universally hated by the audience.
What’s next?
Kane made his return to WWE TV on this week’s edition of Raw and was seen hitting a Chokeslam on 16-time World Champion John Cena, who has been mocking Kane’s on-screen brother The Undertaker, during the course of the past few weeks.
As noted, Kane and Cena are now set to square off next week on Raw.
Author’s Take
Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Kane’s Isaac Yankem and Fake Diesel gimmick, but maybe the gimmicks could’ve eventually worked out if it was given a proper run by the creative team.
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