Kane: The Return of the Mask

First the lights went out, the music began, the fire shot forth, the massive flames burned the sky, and finally you saw it emerging from the smoke, that black and red mask.

So sinister, so scary, so demonic…

The intensity, the drama, the aura, the chills running up and down your spine…

Those were the days when Kane was Kane, when the character was everything it was supposed to be. And suddenly, in what seemed to be a flash, Kane as we knew him was gone…

I beg to ask a question that has been on the lips of wrestling fans around the world for many years. Has Kane EVER been the same since he took his mask off? I mean REALLY been the same?

There was something so angry, something so cryptic, something so menacing about that mask. We feared what could be behind that thing, and assumed that his opponents did too.

Remember, many of us grew up with Freddy, Jason, Mike Myers, and that guy from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Something about a mask on a great big psychotic guy had a phenomenal amount of appeal to it.

Let’s flash back to 1997, when the character first arrived onto the scene. Glen Jacobs debuted with this mask as part of his standard issue costume.

Originally, there was logic behind why he wore it. And it was spelled out for us over the course of a couple of weeks of TV. Fire as a kid, burned, scarred, etc…

And for a long time that mask gave us goosebumps when we saw it. The fact that he didn’t do a lot of talking also made for some mystique. It all seemed to be working just fine.

In fact, I don’t think I know of ANYONE who said "you know what? That Kane guy needs to be tweaked, and actually, he would be MUCH better if he took off the mask."

However, in someone’s infinite wisdom, that is indeed the path down which we all walked.

The logic behind removing the mask appears to have been twofold. First, Vince McMahon made the decision that for whatever reason, his character needed to be "freshened up" a bit. From time to time this happens.

Not to the extent that it recently did for one Luke Gallows mind you, but it does happen (seriously, you’re really testing my patience and mocking my intelligence by bringing this guy back after such a short time away from TV post his horrible stint as Festus).

Vince felt that when you can see a man’s face, you can see the emotion, the anger, the fear, the hate, whatever. And that as a result, you would connect more with the wrestler.

If you connect, you have interest, and as you develop interest, you want to come back. You want to see what happens to this person, be it a good guy or a bad guy. And you might even buy more of this guys merchandise.

In his mind, the mask prevented those emotions from coming through, thus, something had to give.

The second reason was pretty simple and in fact some might say obvious. It was just really hard to wrestle in that darn thing!

The design offered little opportunity for Kane to be able to breathe, as if you look closely at the mask, the holes near the nose are relatively slim and resemble slits more than anything.

So for a guy around 300lbs who is doing some significant cardio in the course of a 5 to 10 minute match, it was more of a nuisance to Glen Jacobs than anything. The eyeholes were big enough it would appear, but one could assume that during the match, the mask would still end up sliding around a little as you get bumped or dish out some punishment.

And that can get a bit frustrating over time. Not to mention that if you can’t see out of it, then the chance you are going to injure yourself or someone else goes up exponentially.

Outside of a couple of opportunities to carry championship gold like we’re seeing right now (he’s also had a chance to carry the tag straps), the unmasked version of Kane has usually been left floundering in the midcard at best, and often in feuds of minimal significance.

Every once in a while it seems that McMahon decides to start another Undertaker feud. These usually run 3 months or so, and you start to believe Kane is on his way back up.

But sadly, as quickly as his push started, it ends again, and he drops back down the card, ultimately finding himself carrying someone like John Cena’s jock strap.

As the years have gone by, the question stills burns in my mind. Will the mask ever re-appear?

Would circumstances ever present themselves such that the mask could make a return. Quite honestly, in a sport where the Shockmaster and Katie Vick hold places near and dear to our hearts, anything could happen (and often does).

I believe that the return of the mask could literally crack my top 10 most memorable moments in professional wrestling history list.

If it were to occur, I personally would put it in the presence of events like the reunion of Savage and Miss Elizabeth, or when Luger showed up on WCW TV one night after performing for WWE.

Those were very big moments in the history of wrestling. They are the kind of events that most real wrestling fans recall for years to come. And I truly believe it could be one of those events. If done correctly. Aye, there’s the rub…

So the question remains, how to pull it off. Let me offer three potential ways that it could be done, and in such a way that may satisfy even the most jaded of the wrestling community. You can judge for yourself their merit.

I have my own personal favourite, as may you (or maybe you think they’re all garbage, and you’re entitled to your own opinion).

Given some of the mindless drivel we have been subjected to over the years, I think these could at least make it to air. Here they are, three ways to bring back the mask:

1. Some event (a blow to the head, or possibly a traumatic event) causes Kane to forget (or block out) the last X years of his life, and thus he is vaulted (in his mind) back to the days of the mask.

This smells like Dallas and Bobby Ewing (if you don’t get this reference, go look it up), and thus, it’s the least favourite of my three.

It’s weak and would highlight the poor quality of the creative staff but people may be so excited to see the mask, they may even overlook it.

2. Kane is feuding with someone. Kane talks smack about this opponent for weeks on end until we reach some PPV and they face off.

Kane loses some match he should have easily won and as a result, his shame is so great that he decides to put his mask back on so as never to be "seen" again.

Maybe someone like Hornswoggle fits in here as his opponent, or if that is too over the top, maybe a guy like David Otunga. The idea of him getting a clean pin over Kane seems totally absurd (in Kane’s mind).

But that’s exactly the type of thing that would need to happen for his "shame" to be so great that he would want to cover his face again, forever.

3. Kane is in a match with someone. They beat him so badly that his face is supposedly crushed beyond repair. He’s in the hospital and the view of him is obstructed by a couple of doctors standing talking to him. They’re telling him the bad news, that his orbital bones were broken, nose was shattered, etc… That they had to perform some radical surgery. They tell him that he will never wrestle again.

He starts talking about how he needs to exact revenge, and begs them to help him. One of the doctors says something like "there’s only one way you will ever be cleared to wrestle again, and that is if you were to wear this", and they show something to him. He motions to them to put it on him.

All the while you can’t see what they’re doing as we’re still just seeing them from behind. And all of a sudden, you begin to hear his maniacal laugh.

Then they ask him to take a look in the mirror to see what he thinks. And of course, as he holds up the mirror to his face, we see the reflection of the old Kane mask again.

Am I stretching things? Yes, probably. But I have seen some pretty crazy stuff already. Gobbledegooker, anyone? Red Rooster? The Goon? If this type of stuff made it to your TV, maybe one of these has a chance.

And there you have it. Let the light’s go out, let the music play, let the fire burn bright, let the flames shoot to the ceiling, let the smoke thicken, and once again, let the mask emerge to once again, walk that aisle…