The Evolution Of Kane: Why The Mask Should Of Stayed

Through out the years, we have seen Kane go through some massive changes. From dentist, to Diesel, to demon...Also we have seen massive changes with his ring gear from the beginning as Kane, to what we see now. Mask ,to half mask, to no mask. I plan to go through all those changes and argue why his mask should of never been removed.

Dr. Isaak Yankem DDS

Glen Jacobs aka Kane made his debut in the WWE in 1995 as Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, supposing to be Jerry Lawler’s private dentist.

He had numerous matches with Bret Hart even hanging Bret by his neck in between the two ring ropes (which the same thing happened to Mick Foley, and that’s how he lost part of his ear).

But Jacobs sported this character until May 1996 even making a few appearances in September.

Fake Diesel

Then around April of 96, the real Diesel and Razor Ramon left the WWE for then competition WCW.

And good old J.R. (heel at the time) was hyping the return of Diesel and Ramon, but what came back, was not Diesel but Glen Jacobs portraying Diesel.

Another gimmick that didn't last long, he received a tag title shot with the fake Ramon and was in the 1997 Royal Rumble.

Kane Debut

In mid 97, Paul Bearer (one of the greatest managers in the history of WWF/E) started telling the Undertaker, that his long lost half brother Kane, had survived the fire The Undertaker set to the funeral home that killed his parents (kayfabe), and was coming to challenge him.

We saw Kane debut at In Your House: Bad Blood 97, during the first ever Hell In A Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.

Ripping off the cell door (as shown above) and staring down The Phenom, before delivering a Tombstone and costing Taker the match.

And I don't know about anyone else but when I first saw this monster I was in total awe up until then I had never seen anything like that.

Kane In Black and Red

Kane would go through numerous ring gear changes, this being the first. The WWF was saying that Kane was horribly scarred from the fire, which is why he had to wear the mask.

And he also went from not speaking at all, to being able to speak with a voice box. Which you usually see used for people that smoked too much and lost their original voicebox from cancer.

He also even did commentary once with the voicebox.

Kane Sleveless Look

Kane, while masked had numerous accomplishments. Including winning the WWF title from none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin at the 1998 King Of The Ring, winning the Intercontinental title twice, the Tag titles numerous times (10 altogether but I’m not sure how many were with the mask).

He even set the record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble with 11, and participated in the first ever Inferno match, Elimination Chamber Match, and Money In The Bank Ladder Match.

And it was around this time that Kane started talking without the use of the voicebox.

Final Masked Look

This would be the final transformation of Kane we would see with the mask. He would form a tag team with RVD eventually winning the tag titles. However after losing the titles to La Resistance, HHH offered Kane a spot in Evolution.

Which he then declined, because co-general manager at the time, Stone Cold said that if he did he would get a world title shot.

But Bischoff (also co-general manager) said if he lost, he would have to take off the mask, which he, of course, lost.

Kane Unmasked

Kane would then receive a beat down from Evolution, before RVD came out to help.

After clearing the ring, Kane would finally unmask which shocked the world, and would then chokeslam RVD. Little did we know that from here on out, would be a slow downfall of the once world champion Big Red Machine.

We would also see that Kane had no scars, at least physical anyway and that his mask also had a wig attached to it.

Kane's New Look

After being unmasked, Kane would go on to be in numerous angles with people such as Shane McMahon, The Undertaker, Lita, Edge, and even the Great Khali. He would still receive numerous title shots, or number one contender opportunities.

But much like people would say about Jeff Hardy, Kane would come so close to grabbing the brass ring, but would always fall just a little bit short. Though he did win the ECW Championship on one occasion.

Kane A Mere Shell Of His Former Self

Now this is what we are left with. Kane went from a Top card WWF champion, to a mid card superstar who barley competes.

Though he did recently beat Drew McIntyre for the Money In The Bank qualifying match, giving him his first lost (which was erased from the record books so technically it never happened).

Will Kane win the MITB match and go on to win another World or WWE Championship? Very unlikely.

Conclusion

So you do the math people, Kane with mask WWE Champion, Main even status, Numerous Tag Team titles, 2 Intercontinental title reigns, setting record for most eliminations in a Royal Rumble, Being in the very first Inferno match, Elimination Chamber, and MITB match.

Kane without mask, mid card status, numerous failed title and No. 1 contender shots, 1 ECW title reign, and a couple failed MITB ladder matches and more than likely going on 3.