Kane's Recent Run Shows He's WWE's Most Underappreciated Star of His Generation

In WWE, there are a wide variety of stars. There are big and small stars, underachieving talent as well as those perhaps overachieving. 

But when you factor in longevity, commitment and versatility, is there anyone on the WWE roster quite like Kane?

Ever since his debut at the first ever Hell in a Cell match at the 1997 Bad Blood show, Kane has gone on to become one of the real stalwarts of WWE.

But he hasn't just been someone who's been involved in passing storylines or midcard affairs that mean little to fans watching. Kane has become one of the most recognizable faces in WWE, and he's played a part in some of the biggest storylines of the past 20 years.

All that means that after yet another strong run of adaptability and versatility to lead him towards a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Kane is without doubt WWE's most underappreciated star of this generation.

Let's take a look at this run, first of all, before working backwards throughout his stellar career. This feud with Seth Rollins comes at a time when the champion seems to be in transition. He's fought most, if not all, of WWE's big names since becoming champ, but he isn't quite ready for whatever comes next.

That could be dropping the title, or it could be turning babyface. Thus, he's in a bit of limbo at the moment, but Kane has stepped forward and provided an entertaining and interesting feud. Kane has gone through many alterations throughout the years, both character and personality changes, but the introduction of Corporate and Demon Kane at the same time has been refreshing for his whole gimmick.

It adds a nice split personality complex to Kane's character and shows that he's more than capable of working in a number of roles. When he's Corporate Kane, he can provide entertainment and laughter, but when the Demon surfaces, it's vintage Kane. The Kane that became so famous at the end of the 1990s, and the character that's still being worked to perfection nearly two decades on.

Moving away from his two main personalities, there's also another element to Kane's career that makes him so vital to everything WWE does. Not only is he easily comfortable wrestling on his own, but he also has a great track record in the tag division, too.

Most will immediately remember his runs with The Undertaker as the Brothers of Destruction, but more recently, his tag partnership with Daniel Bryan showed the true versatility of Kane.

Team Hell No again showed that Kane can work a comedic gimmick while still pulling off impressive performances inside the ring. Their backstage segments featuring constant bickering and arguing, coupled with some good performances in the squared circle, earned them both rave reviews and was arguably one of the starting points for Bryan's run towards the top of the company.

And where you can read Daniel Bryan, you can also note plenty of other stars that have worked with Kane and become big names. Why is Kane so underappreciated more than any other reason? He's not a main event megastar like John Cena, Triple H or CM Punk. He's a tireless worker, the kind every successful wrestling promotion needs.

Nearly 20 years without many lengthy breaks has helped his continuity, as has perhaps an element of luck in not picking up any serious injuries down the years.

But when you hold the record for the most eliminations in Royal Rumble history (which will do well to be beaten in the future), and were only surpassed by Roman Reigns last year for most eliminations in a single match, that tells you everything you need to know about Kane's contribution to WWE.

His career won't end with a record-breaking amount of runs as a major champion, but that shouldn't detract from what Kane brings to WWE. Pro wrestling isn't always about titles, sometimes it's about how valuable you are to a business.

Stepping up to the plate and helping to deliver another world title feud almost 20 years on from his debut as Kane shows that the character is forever important, and forever interesting. When the history of WWE is written in years to come, Kane should be remembered as a guy who never truly got the appreciation he deserves.