Projecting the Long-Term Future of Kane's Role in WWE

Kane’s WWE career appears to be in a precarious position right now.

He almost certainly won’t be walking out of this Sunday’s Battleground pay-per-view with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. (As WrestlingInc mentions, John Cena’s image is all over the promotional material for SummerSlam, essentially telegraphing the outcome.)

But what will WWE bookers do with “The Big Red Machine” in the weeks and months after the event?

Well, his storyline alliance with The Authority could continue, although it remains to be seen whether anyone will actually care.

Credit: WWE.com

Following Daniel Bryan’s neck injury and the end of their feud, Kane has served mainly as an enforcer for Triple H and The Authority.

This is definitely a demotion: He’s behind Orton and Seth Rollins in the pecking order, and neither Triple H nor Stephanie seems to think that much of him.

Indeed, on Monday's Raw, “The Game” even offensively referred to him as a “pawn” who served only to help bring the title back to Orton.

Orton and Kane later came to blows in the main event of the show, presumably to make the audience question whether Kane will truly be following company orders at Battleground and attempt to create some intrigue for an otherwise dull main event.

Credit: WWE.com

Honestly, a more interesting prospect would be Kane going into business for himself at the pay-per-view—and severing his ties with the McMahon family once and for all.

You could easily see a scenario in the match in which he tricks Orton into thinking he’ll help him with the belt, only to turn around and deliver a brutal beatdown. All while a stunned Triple H and Stephanie look on in horror.

Ideally, this would be the beginning of Kane’s new rebellious good guy character. After this, he can join Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Cena as they attempt to dismantle their corporate overlords.

Is a babyface Kane going to turn around business or even help his fading career? Probably not.

Credit: WWE.com

Truthfully, after nearly 20 years on the active roster, “The Big Red Machine” has probably done everything he can do.

Sure, he can still go in the ring, which is likely why he hasn't retired and taken on a road-agent role like so many other veteran wrestlers before him, but creatively he's very limited. 

But a babyface turn is something different at least. And it would at least give him the chance to put over some up-and-coming heels, like Rollins or Cesaro perhaps, in the next year or so.

Putting him in the title picture isn’t a great idea—as his horrendous program with Daniel Bryan back in April proved. The writers just can’t help but script ridiculous nonsense for him.

And that's something that will likely never change as long as Kane remains an active wrestler and/or refuses to turn down these horrible angles when they're pitched to him.

And we’ve seen him feud with guys like The Undertaker, Cena and Orton too many times to count. Nor is he much fun as a midcard comedy act (sans his short spell in Team Hell No with Bryan last year).

The company will therefore have to make the best of a bad situation, which, by my reckoning, is a babyface turn following Sunday’s event. At least then he can settle into the role of a benevolent veteran who puts over the younger wrestlers—a spot he should probably stay in until he does eventually retire.