WWE Elimination Chamber 2012 Results: Kane Is PPV's Biggest Loser

There were high hopes for Kane when he returned with a new mask and appeared ready to fulfill the “Big Red Monster” moniker once again. Unfortunately, his feud with John Cena killed any momentum he had, and Elimination Chamber confirmed that the storyline was a complete waste of time.

Kane was supposed to get John Cena to embrace the hate by causing him to snap after relentless attacks over the past few months. Instead, the Cenation leader defied the odds like he usually does and was left smiling to end the bridge pay-per-view.

So, it turns out the entire feud was simply used as a stalling tactic until The Rock was ready to come back from his movie career. It's not a major surprise, but there was so much potential when Kane returned that it's disappointing to see nothing come of it.

Here's a character that fans have been craving for a long time since his normal wrestler gimmick failed to make an impact, and the WWE decided to use his return to make Cena look strong. There were a million other ways to do that without sacrificing an entire character.

Sure, Kane can return from the kayfabe injuries he suffered last night and basically start fresh again, but it won't be nearly as effective as if he would have actually changed Cena.

It didn't have to be a complete heel turn, which wouldn't happen because the WWE is afraid to mess with a guaranteed revenue stream, but any adjustment to his stale character would have been viewed as a major success by diehard fans.

The major push to come from that could have propelled Kane into the main event picture as a legitimate threat. Now, he'll be one of the countless superstars—Dolph Ziggler and The Miz, to name a couple—without a general direction, and that's never good for a character build.

Kane will probably bounce around from storyline to storyline between shows for a while, participating in a lot of tag team matches along the way until the creative team finds another plan for him. It's a phenomenon wrestling fans witness on a weekly basis, otherwise known as the midcard malaise.

Did it have to be that way?

Of course not, but the WWE has proven time and again that building Cena into a powerhouse is more important than anything else. It's not the first time the company has blown an awesome opportunity in order to do it. It won't be the last, either.

Sadly, it's just further proof that it's John Cena's world, and we're all just living in it.