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Glenn Thomas Jacobs (April 26, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Kane.

Jacobs is a three-time World Heavyweight Championship having won the WWF Championship once, the ECW Championship, and the World Heavyweight Championship once; making him the first person ever to hold all three WWE world titles. He is also a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWE Hardcore Champion, and a ten-time World Tag Team Champion; winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship once (with The Undertaker), the World Tag Team Champion nine time (twice with Mankind, X-Pac, and The Undertaker; and once with The Hurricane, Rob Van Dam, and The Big Show). Jacobs is the third Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. In addition to championships, he is a one-time Money in the Bank winner. He also became the quickest man to cash in the briefcase. Kane also currently holds four records in the Royal Rumble: Most total Rumble eliminations (43 as of 2015), most consecutive appearances in the Royal Rumble match with 16 from 1999 to 2015, most total appearances with 18 (16 under the Kane gimmick), and the quickest elimination of another competitor at 1.8 seconds (Santino Marella in 2009).

Education

Jacobs earned a degree in English Literature at Truman State University (known then as Northeast Missouri State University) where he played both basketball and football.

Career

In the ring, Jacobs was first known as Angus King when he debuted in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Jacobs later moved south and began wrestling as Doomsday, appearing in the United States Wrestling Association and as Unabomb in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), where he held the SMW Tag Team Championship with Al Snow in a team called The Dynamic Duo. During his time in the United States Wrestling Association, Jacobs (as Doomsday) held the USWA Heavyweight Championship. He also wrestled a brief stint in WCW under the name Bruiser Mastino. Jacobs also wrestled a brief tour in the UWFI under his real name.

World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (1995–present)

Early gimmicks (1995–1997)

Jacobs made his debut as a heel with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS, Jerry Lawler's private dentist. He wrestled Bret Hart for Lawler on many occasions; during their first match at SummerSlam, Jacobs hung Hart by twisting him in the top and middle rope by his neck. He used this gimmick regularly until May 1996 and made a few appearances as late as September 1996.

In April 1996, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, who had respectively wrestled under the "Razor Ramon" and "Diesel" gimmicks for the last few years, left the World Wrestling Federation to join World Championship Wrestling (WCW), the biggest competitor to the WWF. As the Ramon and Diesel gimmicks were WWF trademarks, the gimmicks did not go to WCW with Hall and Nash, and after a few months, the WWF decided to have other wrestlers portray Ramon and Diesel. In October 1996, play-by-play announcer Jim Ross introduced Rick Bognar as "Razor Ramon" and Jacobs as "Diesel" as part of an attempt to turn Ross into a heel. The Jim Ross heel turn proved unpopular and was dropped almost immediately, and despite receiving a tag title shot at the In Your House 12: It's Time pay-per-view, the gimmick lasted until the 1997 Royal Rumble, where Jacobs was the second-to-last participant (with the exception of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was previously eliminated by Bret Hart but the officials didn't see him get eliminated so he re-entered the ring).

Feud with The Undertaker (1997–2000)

In mid 1997, Paul Bearer began tormenting The Undertaker by telling him that his long-lost half-brother Kane (who would also later be revealed as Bearer's son) was coming to the WWF to challenge him. Jacobs re-debuted in the WWF as the masked Kane at Badd Blood: In Your House on October 5, costing The Undertaker victory in the first ever Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels. Kane and The Undertaker feuded with one another over the following year, during which time their history vis-à-vis one another was expounded upon.

Jacobs won his first match as Kane against Mankind at Survivor Series. In the weeks prior on Raw, Kane had randomly attacked other wrestlers including Ahmed Johnson, Road Warrior Hawk, the Hardy Boyz, Flash Funk, and Mankind's alter ego Dude Love. The Undertaker initially refused to face him, saying he would not fight his own "flesh and blood". After a brief partnership, Kane betrayed his brother when he cost him the WWF Championship; he made a run-in in The Undertaker's WWF Championship title match with Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble. After the match, Kane locked The Undertaker in a casket and set it on fire, though it was later revealed that Undertaker managed to escape the casket without being seen before Kane set it on fire. This provoked The Undertaker into returning to face Kane at WrestleMania XIV on March 29. Kane was defeated by the Undertaker after three Tombstone Piledrivers. After the match Kane and Paul Bearer attacked the Undertaker. They continued to feud until Unforgiven on April 26, when The Undertaker defeated Kane in an Inferno match. In this match, Paul Bearer tried to help Kane by attacking The Undertaker; however, at one point of the match Kane was returning backstage. Vader then forced Kane back towards the ring and, The Undertaker attacked them both by jumping over the ring ropes surrounded by fire.

On May 19, Bearer was revealed to be an employee at the funeral home in Death Valley owned by The Undertaker's parents. When Kane and The Undertaker were children, The Undertaker "accidentally" burned down the funeral home, killing their parents and hideously scarring Kane both physically and mentally. The Undertaker thought Kane had been dead for years after the fire. During an episode of Raw taped in Long Island, Kane and Bearer ostensibly exhumed the parents' bodies and brought them to the arena. Bearer, who survived the fire, hid Kane in a mental asylum as he grew up and went on to form an alliance with The Undertaker. After suffering mistreatment at the hands of The Undertaker, Bearer opted to bring Kane into the WWF in order to gain vengeance upon The Undertaker. The Kane character is portrayed as being psychologically unstable: depressed, schizophrenic, extremely violent, and quick to anger. Like his half-brother, Kane is supposedly able to summon fire and bolts of lightning at will, which is displayed as pyrotechnics during shows.

After defeating The Undertaker to win a WWF Championship title shot, Kane won the WWF Championship at the King of the Ring, defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin in a First Blood match after the help from his brother. The reason why the Undertaker helped Kane was because if Kane had lost, the match stipulations required that he would have set himself on fire, and so Undertaker did not want to see his brother be burned. However, Kane lost the title back to Austin the next night on the episode of RAW. After losing the titles and turning on Mankind, Kane formed a short lived tag team with his brother. The brothers fought one another for the vacant WWF Championship at Judgment Day: In Your House, with the match ending in a no-contest. During the match, the Undertaker betrayed Kane for Paul Bearer, thus making Kane a tweener and turning Undertaker heel. Kane went on to take part in the "Deadly Games" tournament for the WWF Championship at the Survivor Series but was eliminated by The Undertaker in the quarter-finals.

At Rock Bottom: In Your House, Kane interfered in the Buried Alive match between Austin and the Undertaker by giving the Undertaker a Tombstone Piledriver. As a result of this, The Corporation had Kane committed to an insane asylum. However, in 1999, Kane joined The Corporation to stay out of the insane asylum. He eventually turned face after he was betrayed by The Corporation and thrown out of the alliance. Shortly afterward, Kane formed a tag team with X-Pac and acquired a girlfriend, Tori. While teaming with X-Pac, Kane evolved from being mute to aided speech through an electrolarynx to speaking unaided. He also became associated with D-Generation X, the faction of which X-Pac was a member. His first unaided words were the DX slogan "suck it". The duo won the WWF Tag Team title twice. The tag team broke apart when X-Pac turned on Kane and rejoined D-Generation X. Kane and X-Pac then were engaged in a lengthy feud against each other. Late in their feud in early 2000, Tori betrayed Kane and joined X-Pac and D-Generation X, and the former partner's feud eventually ended at WrestleMania 2000, in which Kane teamed with Rikishi to face X-Pac and Road Dogg. Kane and Rikishi came out victorious after Kane pinned X-Pac following a tombstone piledriver.

Shortly after WrestleMania, Kane suffered a hand injury that kept him out of action for a month. When he returned, it was to help The Undertaker and The Rock fight off the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. His involvement in this feud culminated in a main event match at King of the Ring against Vince and Shane McMahon, and then champion Triple H. The Undertaker and Kane's rivalry resurfaced during the match, but they patched their relationship up soon after. Kane turned heel once again by assaulting The Undertaker, leading to a match between the two at SummerSlam. The match ended when The Undertaker removed Kane's mask, causing him to flee the ring, covering his face. Kane stayed in contention for the WWF Championship for the remainder of the year and ended 2000 in a feud with Chris Jericho; he ultimately lost a Last Man Standing match to him at Armageddon.

Brothers of Destruction (2001)

Kane reformed his alliance with The Undertaker (becoming a face again) immediately before the Royal Rumble, in which he eliminated a record number of 11 wrestlers which included Raven, Al Snow, Perry Saturn, Steve Blackman, Grand Master Sexay, The Honky Tonk Man, The Rock, Tazz, Albert, Crash Holly, Scotty 2 Hotty and was the runner-up, after being eliminated by Steve Austin. In early 2001, Kane competed for the Hardcore Championship, defeating Raven for the title at WrestleMania X-Seven in a match that also featured Big Show. At the same time, Kane began teaming with The Undertaker as the "Brothers of Destruction". In the course of the year, they feuded with Edge and Christian, Rikishi and Haku, and The Two-Man Power Trip. While feuding with The Two-Man Power Trip, Austin and Triple H broke Kane's left arm (Kayfabe). At Judgment Day, Kane defeated Triple H to win the Intercontinental Championship. He would become the third Grand Slam Champion, and the first person to win the Grand Slam championship by winning the WWF, Intercontinental, Tag Team, and Hardcore championships. He later lost the title to Albert on an episode of SmackDown! following interference from Diamond Dallas Page.

During The Invasion, Kane and The Undertaker feuded with Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon after Page began stalking The Undertaker's wife Sara. The feud culminated at SummerSlam, when Kane and The Undertaker defeated Page and Kanyon in a steel cage match, resulting in them holding both the WWF World Tag Team Championship and the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Kane and The Undertaker went on to defeat KroniK at Unforgiven, and both participated in the ten man Winner Takes All match at Survivor Series as members of "Team WWF".

Championship reigns and Unmasking (2002–2003)

In 2002, Kane began feuding with Kurt Angle, to whom he lost at WrestleMania X8. On March 25, the WWF was divided into two brands, Raw and SmackDown!, with Kane being drafted to Raw. Kane went on to feud with the New World Order until tearing his biceps. Kane returned to the renamed WWE as part of the Raw roster in the summer of 2002.

He won the World Tag Team Championship with The Hurricane on the September 23 edition of Raw from Lance Storm and Christian. On October 7, Kane successfully singlehandedly defended the World Tag Team Championship in a four team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match as The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening (by Triple H and Ric Flair) and was thus unable to compete. They would hold on to the titles until the October 14 edition of Raw, where they lost them to Christian and Chris Jericho. On September 30, Kane won the Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho despite interference from Triple H and Ric Flair. Kane began feuding with Triple H, leading to a match at No Mercy on October 20 in which both Kane's Intercontinental Championship and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. Triple H went on to defeat Kane at No Mercy, unifying the two titles.

Kane formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam, with the duo eventually winning the World Tag Team Championship. After they lost their World Tag Team Championship to La Resistance at Bad Blood Triple H offered Kane a spot in his stable evolution Raw Co-General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin offered Kane the opportunity to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship if he rejected Triple H's offer; however, Co-General Manager Eric Bischoff insisted that Kane unmask should he lose the match. Kane accepted Austin's offer and went to challenge Triple H the following week in Madison Square Garden. Triple H won the match following interference from his stablemates, and on the June 23, 2003 Raw, Kane removed his mask. He then chokeslamed Rob Van Dam (thus turning heel), who he went on to defeat at SummerSlam. In an interview with Jim Ross at Conseco Fieldhouse it became apparent that Kane's facial scars were actually mental scars. At the end of this interview, Kane, believing that he was being mocked, attacked Ross and set him on fire. The unmasking rendered Kane emotionally unstable, on one occasion driving him to Tombstone Linda McMahon on the Raw stage. This action sparked a feud between Kane and Linda's son, Shane, with Kane defeating Shane in a Last Man Standing match at Unforgiven and an ambulance match at Survivor Series. During the latter event, Kane interfered in a Buried Alive match between Vince McMahon and The Undertaker, helping McMahon bury The Undertaker and win the match. The following month at Armageddon, Kane competed in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H and defending champion Bill Goldberg which Triple H won.

In January 2004, Kane took part in the Royal Rumble match. He was eliminated after hearing the bell toll from the Undertaker's entrance music, distracting and distressing Kane and enabling Booker T to eliminate him from the ring. Over the following weeks, Kane repeatedly insisted that The Undertaker was "dead", only to be met with various paranormal incidents such as a rainstorm localized over the ring in which he stood. The Undertaker finally returned at WrestleMania XX with Paul Bearer at his side, defeating Kane.

Relationship with Lita and face turn (2004–2005)

Following his defeat at WrestleMania XX, Kane fell in love with Lita, but was spurned. This led to him kidnapping Lita in May and asking her an unknown question, which she replied to in the affirmative later that month. On the same night, Kane won a twenty-man battle royal to receive a World Heavyweight Championship title shot against Chris Benoit at Bad Blood. Lita later announced that she was pregnant, with Matt Hardy her then-boyfriend both on-screen and off assuming that he was the child's father. On the June 21 episode of Raw, Kane claimed that he was the father. The following week, Kane explained that he had impregnated Lita in order to continue his legacy and justified a vicious attack on Shawn Michaels several weeks earlier by claiming that Michaels had stood in the way of him winning the World Heavyweight Championship. In order to appease Kane, General Manager Eric Bischoff gave Kane a rematch with Benoit, instructing Benoit that he could only win by submission, whereas Kane could win the title by any means. Despite dominating much of the match, Kane again lost to Benoit. Following the match, Lita came to the ring and low-blowed Kane, who initially went to chokeslam her in revenge but stopped when he realized that she was trying to force him to cause her to miscarry their child.


Kane and Matt Hardy faced one another in a "'Till Death Do Us Part" match at SummerSlam, with Lita obliged to wed the victor. Kane defeated Hardy, and "married" Lita on the August 23 episode of Raw. Although he was attacked by Hardy during the ceremony, he gained the upper hand and ultimately chokeslammed Hardy off the stage (in reality, Hardy needed time off because of a knee injury and later a staph infection). On the September 13 episode of Raw, Kane accidentally fell on Lita during a match with the debuting Gene Snitsky, who hit him on the back with a steel chair, ostensibly causing Lita to miscarry.

Kane turned into a face as a result, and began seeking revenge against Snitsky for causing the death of his child. He lost to Snitsky in a steel chain match at Taboo Tuesday, and he was sidelined for several months after Snitsky crushed his larynx with a chair following the match. This attack was a repeat performance of the storyline where Kane "injured" Michaels in the same exact manner. The "injury" gave Kane time to complete his starring role in the film, See No Evil. Kane returned in January 2005, defeating Snitsky at New Year's Revolution.. After WrestleMania 21, Kane and Lita reconciled with one another and began antagonizing Lita's rival Trish Stratus. This led to a match between Kane and Stratus' hired bodyguard Viscera at Backlash that was won by Kane.

Lita later turned on Kane, and sided with Edge, leading to a feud between the two. Kane was able to defeat Edge at Vengeance, despite interference from Snitsky. The feud ended when Edge defeated Kane in a Stretcher match on the July 25 episode of Raw. Lita's heel turn resulted from her real life affair with Edge and her dumping Matt Hardy, and Matt Hardy's subsequent release for making the affair public. Hardy was later rehired and Kane was dropped from the angle, with Matt and Edge having a feud over Lita.

Teaming with The Big Show (2005–2006)

Kane returned to WWE television on October 17, 2005, winning an eighteen-man battle royal. As a result of his victory, he, along with Big Show and Shawn Michaels, was featured in an Internet poll to decide who would receive a shot at the WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday. In the weeks before Taboo Tuesday, Kane and Big Show teamed together on several occasions. The poll was won by Michaels, and Kane and Big Show teamed together to face Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, defeating them for the World Tag Team Championship. The duo successfully retained their titles throughout the remainder of 2005, during which time they engaged in an inter-promotional feud with members of the SmackDown! brand. He and Big Show feuded with Carlito and Chris Masters throughout early 2006, culminating in a successful title defense at WrestleMania 22 on April 2. On the following evening, Kane and the Big Show lost the World Tag Team Championship to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey. One week later, Kane and Big Show faced Spirit Squad members Johnny and Nicky in a title rematch, but were disqualified after Kane "snapped", ostensibly due to "voices in his head". In subsequent weeks, Kane began attacking anyone who mentioned the date May 19. During the match between Kane and Big Show at Backlash, Kane's voice began echoing throughout the arena saying May 19, "They're all going to know", and "You can't hide from it", leaving Kane visibly shaken. Big Show then struck Kane with a chair, resulting in a no contest.

Various rivalries (2006)

On May 19, Kane appeared on SmackDown! as John "Bradshaw" Layfield's hand-picked opponent for Rey Mysterio. After both the aforementioned voices and mask video began playing, Kane chokeslammed both Layfield and Mysterio before leaving the ring. On the following episode of Raw, he claimed that May 19 was the date on which his mother and adopted family were killed in a fire. The voices continued on to the May 29 episode of Raw, when Kane was confronted by the source of the voice (Drew Hankinson), an impostor Kane; wearing Kane's old mask and ring attire, he chokeslammed Kane during his match against Shelton Benjamin for the Intercontinental Championship. Kane and the look-alike continued to fight one another in subsequent weeks, leading to a match between the two being scheduled for Vengeance, in which the real Kane lost to the impostor. On the June 26 episode of Raw, Kane threw the impostor out of the arena and removed his mask, saying "I believe that this is mine." Kane was absent from WWE television for several weeks thereafter as he toured Europe to promote See No Evil. Upon his return, he faced his former partner Big Show for the ECW Championship in a losing effort. When he returned to Raw, he engaged in a major feud with Umaga that concluded on October 9 in a "Loser Leaves Raw" match.

Move to SmackDown (2006–2008)

On October 13, Kane moved to SmackDown for the first time since the 2002 brand extension. On November 3, Kane reunited with The Undertaker as the Brothers of Destruction to defeat Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Mr. Kennedy. Kane continued a feud with MVP competing in several gimmick matches. The end result of the feud was an Inferno match at Armageddon, Kane won by setting MVP's back on fire which resulted in first degree burns. Kane continued to have matches throughout the year with MVP.

On the SmackDown! before the Royal Rumble, Kane was involved in a six-man elimination over-the-top-rope battle royal. This also included King Booker, MVP, The Miz, Chris Benoit, and Finlay. This match would go to a no contest as The Undertaker interrupted after Kane had been eliminated and punished the remaining opponents. At the Royal Rumble, Sabu was infamously eliminated by Kane, after he was chokeslammed through a table on the outside that Sabu had set up before he entered the ring. Later in the match, Kane eliminated King Booker. Booker then came back in the ring and eliminated Kane, even though he had already been eliminated. A couple weeks later on SmackDown!, while receiving the key to the city in his hometown of Houston, Booker was attacked by Kane starting a feud between the two. At No Way Out Kane successfully defeated King Booker. On February 23, Kane lost to King Booker in a Falls-Count Anywhere Money in the Bank Qualifying match after interference from The Great Khali, sparking a feud between the two.

On February 26, Kane interrupted Chris Masters' Master Lock Challenge to The Great Khali when Masters was unable to apply the Master Lock. Kane delivered a chokeslam and a chair shot to Masters then clotheslined The Great Khali over the top rope. Prior to WrestleMania 23, Kane started to walk around with a hook, similar to the hook he used as Jacob Goodnight in See No Evil. At the event, Kane was defeated by Khali. During the match, in homage to Hulk Hogan slamming André the Giant twenty years earlier at WrestleMania III, Kane picked up Khali for the first time and body-slammed him to the mat. After WrestleMania, he began to feud with William Regal and Dave Taylor. The Boogeyman then joined the feud, teaming up with Kane. On the May 4 edition of SmackDown!, Kane competed in a number one contenders match for the United States Championship against MVP which he lost due to interference by Regal and Taylor. On the May 25 edition of SmackDown!, Kane competed in a Fatal Four Way Number One Contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship which was won by Batista. Kane then entered a short feud with Mark Henry. Kane was defeated by Henry in a |Lumberjack match] at One Night Stand due to interference from lumberjacks Kenny Dykstra and Chavo Guerrero and would take a short hiatus thereafter.

On the July 6 edition of SmackDown!, General Manager Theodore Long announced that Kane would face Edge for his World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash. After Edge was attacked and injured by Kane and the title was vacated, Batista faced Kane in a number one contenders match. During the match, the new World Champion The Great Khali interfered by attacking Batista; the match was ruled a no contest and both men were ruled the number one contender. The scheduled match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the Great American Bash became a Triple Threat match between Batista, Kane, and The Great Khali due to Edge's injury. In the beginning of the match, Kane and Batista teamed up to send Khali through an announcer's table, by a Chokeslam-Spinebuster combination. Kane started dominating Batista back in the ring but instead chokeslamed Khali, but Batista broke up the count. The end came after Khali slammed Batista's head into the steel steps, before which Batista had decimated Kane with a thunderous Batista Bomb. Khali then nailed Kane with a Khali Bomb, which was too much for Kane to kick out, and thus Khali remained the reigning World Champion. Kane later teamed up with Batista on the August 18 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event to defeat Khali and Finlay Kane entered a storyline with Finlay, which led to a match at SummerSlam, which Kane won after chokeslamming Finlay. On the following episode of SmackDown!, Finlay and Kane competed against each other in a tournament to name the challenger for Khali's World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven. After interference from Hornswoggle, Finlay managed to defeat Kane and advance in the tournament. Finlay and Kane met again during the following week's edition of SmackDown! in a rematch of the previous month's Saturday Night's Main Event. Once again teaming with Batista, Kane defeated Finlay and The Great Khali when Kane pinned Finlay with a chokeslam.

He then made an appearance on the October 16 edition of ECW as the hand chosen partner of ECW Champion CM Punk, helping him defeat John Morrison, The Miz, and Big Daddy V in a 3-on-2 handicap match. The two continued to battle in following weeks. Kane was voted to face the United States Champion MVP at Cyber Sunday, which Kane won by count out and thus did not win the title. After this, he continued to feud with Big Daddy V, with the two ending up on opposite teams at Survivor Series with Kane's team winning. Big Daddy V eventually began to team with Mark Henry, while Kane teamed with CM Punk. The feud concluded at Armageddon where Kane and Punk lost to Big Daddy V and Henry after Big Daddy V pinned CM Punk.

ECW Championship (2008)

In a Battle Royal before WrestleMania, Kane won by lastly eliminating former rival Mark Henry which meant he would face ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero later in the night. At WrestleMania XXIV, Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero in a WrestleMania record-setting eight seconds to win the ECW Championship.Shortly after winning the championship, Kane left SmackDown! and officially joined the ECW roster. At Backlash, Kane successfully defended the ECW Championship against Chavo Guerrero. He then continued teaming with CM Punk to earn a WWE Tag Team Championship match at Judgment Day, which the duo did not win.

Return to Raw and heel turn (2008-2009)

On June 23, 2008, Kane was drafted from the ECW brand to the Raw brand, as a part of the 2008 WWE Draft in the process making the ECW Championship exclusive to Raw. By taking the title to Raw, Kane became the first and only man to hold a specific title on all three brands; He won the ECW Championship as a member of the SmackDown roster, and shortly after winning it he became an official member of ECW, and then took the title with him when he was drafted to Raw. Kane lost the ECW Championship to Mark Henry at Night of Champions in a Triple Threat match that also involved The Big Show, thus moving the title back to ECW.

Kane was not granted a World Heavyweight Championship match at The Great American Bash, and thus retaliated by attacking both the champion CM Punk and the challenger Batista during the event. Kane became a villain by attacking Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler and began a feud with Rey Mysterio that lasted until Survivor Series 2008. On the March 2 edition of Raw, Kane pinned Mike Knox in a triple threat match, also involving Rey Mysterio, to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, a match that would be won by CM Punk.

Return to SmackDown and various feuds (2009–2010)

At the 2009 WWE Draft Kane defeated SmackDown's The Brian Kendrick to earn a draft pick for Raw, and later in the night, Kane himself would be drafted back to SmackDown. After this Kane feuded with CM Punk, who was also drafted to SmackDown, and defeated Punk at Backlash thus ending the feud. After a period of absence to tour India and also heal injuries, he returned at The Bash to aid Dolph Ziggler in his match with The Great Khali by hitting Khali with a steel chair allowing Ziggler to win, starting a feud with Khali, whom he defeated at SummerSlam and in a Singapore Cane match at WWE Breaking Point, thus ending the feud as Khali needed knee surgery.

In the next two weeks, Kane defeated R-Truth and John Morrison. Then he started a brief feud with Matt Hardy defeating him at two separate occasions at SmackDown and at Superstars. Kane then confronted Chris Jericho, claiming to be the co-captain for Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights which Team SmackDown won. Kane faced Chris Jericho in a #1 Contenders match for an opportunity to face (World Heavyweight Champion) the Undertaker and Big Show in a triple threat match at Survivor Series, but lost. On the November 13th edition of SmackDown, Kane turned face to saving The Undertaker from Chris Jericho and The Big Show. On the December 14 episode of Raw, six man tag team match he teamed with The Great Khali and Christian defeated William Regal, Vladimir Kozlov and Ezekiel Jackson. In 2010, at WrestleMania XXVI money in the bank ladder match they were defeated by Jack Swagger.

World Heavyweight Championship and Heel Turn (2010)

Over the next few months, Kane was involved in sporadic singles matches on episodes of SmackDown. Ultimately, on the May 28th episode of SmackDown, he lost to CM Punk in a qualifying match for the World Heavyweight Championship for the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view event. The following week on SmackDown, Kane claimed that he found his brother The Undertaker in a "vegetative state" over Memorial Day weekend and vowed revenge on whoever was responsible. Because of the Undertakers' injury, it was announced that there would be a Battle Royal between the whole SmackDown roster to replace him for the WWE Fatal 4 Way, for which he qualified pre injury defeating Rey Mysterio. The Battle Royal was the main-event of the night, which was successfully won by Rey Mysterio by eliminating Kane.

In Kane's quest, he participated in his fourth Money in the Bank ladder match at WWE's WWE Money in the Bank. Kane won the Money in the bank ladder match. Later on, Kane cashed in his money in the bank contract and defeat Rey Mysterio, who just defeated Jack Swagger to retain his World Heavyweight Championship, to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career. On the next episode of Smackdown Kane accused Rey Mysterio of putting The Undertaker in a vegetative state.

On the August 6, 2010 episode of SmackDown, Rey Mysterio claimed he was innocent before claiming that Kane himself was the perpetrator behind the assault on the Undertaker. At SummerSlam, Kane retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio. After the match, he attempted to put Mysterio into a casket only for The Undertaker to appear. Upon his return, Kane delivered him a Tombstone Piledriver and thus, proving Kane to be the real attacker of the Undertaker, also Kane turns heel. The following SmackDown and heel turn, Kane said he had been planning his attack for years and was finally the dominant brother, with control of Undertaker's powers. With these powers he was easily able to attack his brother multiple times, prior or after his matches. Then he went on to successfully defend the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker, in a No Holds Barred match at Night of Champions Champions. On the following edition of Smackdown, a casket was brought to ringside by druids to reveal the return of Paul Bearer, who was announced to be The Undertaker's manager against Kane at Hell in a Cell. At Hell in a Cell, Paul Bearer turned on The Undertaker. After Undertaker kicked out from a devastating Tombstone, Bearer blinded Undertaker with the urn and gave it to Kane, who smashed Undertaker in the head with it and chokeslammed him to retain the World Heavyweight Champion. On the October 15th edition on Smackdown, Paul Bearer and Kane challenged The Undertaker to a Buried Alive Match at WWE Bragging Rights, which he accepted by attacking Kane. At Bragging Rights Kane defeated Undertaker in a Buried Alive Match with help from The Nexus to retain the title again. Kane will be defending his title against Edge at Survivor Series. At Survivor Series, Kane and Edge fought each other to a tie, therefore Kane was still the champion. After the match, Kane attacked Edge and Edge reversed. Edge threw Kane into the barricade using a wheelchair. On the December 10, 2010 edition of Smackdown Kane eventually found Paul Bearer on top of a two tall ladders on a Balcony. Kane thinking it was another one of Edge's Paul Bearer dummies, Kane pushes the ladders off a balcony and Bearer plummets to the concrete below. Kane then looks on in horror as he looks down at his dead father. Kane made an appearance at Tribute to the Troops 2010 in an arm wrestling contest against Major General Grimsley, the match ended in no contest due to Kane getting speared by Edge.

At WWE TLC 2010 Kane lost the World Heavyweight Champion to Edge in a Fatal Four Way.

Smackdown and various feuds (2011)

On the 1st edition of Smackdown in 2011, Kane went on to face Edge in a Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Championship. However, he was unsuccessful in winning the championship, Edge followed it up with an excruciating Chair-To to the knee, preventing Kane from answering the 10-count.

On 28 January 2011 Kane made himself the surprise third entry in Alberto Del Rio's Royal Rumble challenge. Kofi Kingston then joined the match, and threw Del Rio and Kane over the top rope. both Del Rio and Kane entered the ring to seek their revenge, Rey Mysterio came to help Kofi but soon after Vickie Guerrero made a tag team match with Rey Mysterio & Kofi Kingston against Kane & Del Rio. The Match came to an end as Kane big booted Del Rio and stormed out as Kofi and Rey got the win.

On the February 4, 2011, tapings of Smackdown, Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. Kane competed in the Elimination Chamber, eliminating Drew McIntyre and the Big Show before being speared and eliminated by Edge. After his elimination Kane viciously attacked Rey Mysterio and then chokeslammed Edge for the final time thus ending the feud between the two.

Reunion with Big Show, WWE Tag Team Champion, and injury (2011)

Following a disqualification loss to Big Show by using a steel chair in early 2011, Kane began an apparent alliance with The Corre (a group consisting of Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel when they offered to assist Kane in another match against Big Show on March 4. However, after Gabriel stumbled into him during the assault, Kane attacked him with a steel chair, and the Corre retaliated against him in defense of their teammate. This turned Kane face once again. As a result, Kane faced off against Barrett the following week. The match ended with interference from the other members of the Corre, who in turn were chased away when Big Show came to the ring and threatened the group with a steel chair. After the group left, he hit Kane with the chair for payback from the week before.

After several weeks and mutual turmoil with The Corre, Kane and Big Show reunited on the March 18 edition of SmackDown to challenge Slater and Gabriel for the WWE Tag Team Championship. Kane memorably told Show "You complete me." in a backstage segment. Although the Corre would lose the match via disqualification after Gabriel pulled the referee from the ring, Kane and Big Show did not win the championships, as titles cannot change hands as result of a disqualification. On the following edition of Raw, Kane and Big Show solidified their reunion when they came to the aid of Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, who were being attacked following a loss in a non-title match over Slater and Gabriel. It was later announced that the four would face the Corre at WrestleMania. At WrestleMania XXVII, Kane, Big Show, Santino Marella and Kofi Kingston (who replaced Kozlov due to being attacked by the Corre and injuring his arm prior to WrestleMania) defeated the Corre. The following week, a WrestleMania rematch took place with Kane and Big Show's team victorious over the Corre once again in a two out of three falls match. Ultimately, the duo defeated Slater and Gabriel for the WWE Tag Team Championship, their second championship win as a team, on the April 22nd edition of SmackDown. The following week a rematch took place for the WWE Tag Team Championship's which resulted in Kane and Big Show retaining the belts. At Extreme Rules Kane and Big Show successfully defended their titles by defeating Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson in a tag-team Lumberjack Match. On the May 2nd edition of Raw, Kane faced Mason Ryan in a match. Ryan was disqualified when CM Punk and other Nexus members attacked him. On the May 9th edition of Raw, Kane fought Mason Ryan which ended in a no contest. On the following Smackdown, Kane faced Wade Barrett in a non-title match. The Corre interfered and as a result, the match ending in a disqualification. Ezekiel Jackson came down to fight the Corre but was beat down as well. On the 20th May 2011 edition of Smackdown Ezekiel Jackson, Big Show and Kane defeated the Corre in a 6-man tag team match. At Over the Limit, Kane and Big Show successfully defended the Tag Team Championships against CM Punk and Mason Ryan. On the May 23 edition of Raw, David Otunga and Michael McGillicutty defeated Kane and Big Show to win the Tag Team Championships with help from CM Punk and Mason Ryan. After the match Big Show was run over by Alberto Del Rio's car and causing him to have a torn ACL. When Big Show returned to Raw after recovering from his injuries, Kane and Big Show went their separate ways.

Kane participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match but was unsuccessful in winning the bout, as the match was won by Daniel Bryan. On the July 22, 2011 episode of SmackDown, Kane claimed he was once again the Devil's Favorite Demon and he would kill his humanity in his match against Randy Orton but he later lost to Orton in a street fight. After the match, Kane shook hands with his opponent in a mark of respect but was attacked by Mark Henry reported that the attack had resulted in Kane suffering a fractured fibula which was likely to render him unable to wrestle for three months.

Remasking and Feuds with John Cena and Randy Orton (2011–2012)

While Kane was inactive, WWE started airing vignettes of Kane from November 2011 featuring Kane and a burning red mask. After more than four months of inactivity, Kane returned on the December 12 edition of Monday Night Raw wearing a metallic mask and interrupted the main event between Mark Henry and John Cena. Despite the fact that it was Henry who took Kane out of action for months, Kane instead chose to chokeslam Cena before removing the metallic mask to reveal a new red mask. On the December 19 edition of Raw, Kane again confronted Henry and Cena. Henry was left untouched again while Kane again attacked Cena, thus turning Kane heel. On the December 26 edition of Raw, Kane explained that he targeted Cena because he wanted Cena to "embrace the hate" from anti-Cena fans rather than try to "rise above hate," Cena's T-shirt slogan. On first Raw of 2012 Kane was scheduled to wrestle in a 6-man tag-team elimination match, but decided not to wrestle. After the match, Kane came out from underneath the ring and once again attacked Cena. Kane then went after Zack Ryder and tried to drag Ryder under the ring with him but Cena managed to save him. Cena and Ryder would ask each other if they were ok just before an explosion occurred in the middle of the ring. After a draw against Cena at the Royal Rumble, and a loss to Cena at Elimination Chamber. After his feud with Cena ended, he started a feud with another of Cena's friends Randy Orton, beating him at WrestleMania 28, however he lost in a rematch to him at the following Smackdown in a no DQ match, and again at Extreme Rules in a falls count anywhere match to end the feud.

Face Turn and WWE Tag Team Champion (2012-2013)

Afterwards Kane would turn face at Raw 1000, when he reunited with The Undertaker to beat down various attacking superstars. Later Kane would start a feud with Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam, which he lost via a rollup. Following this Kane started a team with Bryan, winning the WWE Tag Team Championship at Night of Champions. Following Night of Champions Kane and Daniel Bryan would start a feud with Team Rhodes Scholars, and successfully defended the championship against them on multiple occasions.

On the November 26 episode of Raw, both Kane and Bryan were assaulted by The Shield. Team Hell No were allied with Ryback to face The Shield, but lost a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2012. Further title defenses followed throughout December 2012 and January 2013. On the February 11 episode of Raw, Kane defeated Dolph Ziggler to earn the final spot in the number one contender Elimination Chamber for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was the second man eliminated at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. On April 7 at WrestleMania XXIX, Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E. Langston in another successful title defense.

Following WrestleMania, Team Hell No rekindled their rivalry with The Shield after they saved The Undertaker from The Shield. On the April 22 episode of Raw, Team Hell No and The Undertaker were defeated by The Shield in a six-man tag team match. Kane and Bryan then faced members of the stable in tag team and singles competition, but were mainly unsuccessful. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Kane and Bryan lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending the reign at 245 days. Team Hell No lost their rematch against Reigns and Rollins on May 27. On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, Kane, Bryan and Randy Orton ended The Shield's Unpinned/Unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag team matches. Kane unsuccessfully challenged Dean Ambrose for the WWE United States Championship three days later at Payback and the following night on Raw

On the July 8 episode of Raw, Kane was attacked by the debuting Wyatt family, removing him from his scheduled match at Money in the Bank. Kane returned three weeks later, losing to Bryan. Following the match he was attacked again by the Wyatt Family, setting up a Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam against Bray Wyatt. Kane lost the match, following interference from Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, and after another attack, Kane was carried out of the arena by the Wyatt Family.

Director of Operations (2013–2015)

On the July 8 episode of Raw, Kane was attacked and injured by the debuting Wyatt Family, removing him from his scheduled match at Money in the Bank. Kane returned three weeks later, losing to Bryan. Following the match, he was attacked again by the Wyatt Family, setting up a Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam against Bray Wyatt. Kane lost the match, following interference from Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, and after another attack, he was carried out of the arena by the Wyatt Family. The storyline was put in place to allow Jacobs time off to film See No Evil 2.

Following a two-month hiatus, Kane returned at Hell in a Cell on October 27, attacking both The Wyatt Family and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Kane pledged allegiance to Stephanie McMahon by handing her his mask, and reinforced his loyalty the following week by aiding members of The Authority. As part of his character change, he appeared unmasked and wore a suit and tie to fit in with the corporate ideology of The Authority, and was given a fictional role as "Director of Operations".

Kane participated in the 2014 Royal Rumble, and was eliminated by CM Punk. He re-appeared later during the match, eliminating Punk to tie the record for most eliminations in the Royal Rumble match; however, his thirteen-year-old record for most eliminations in a single Rumble was broken by Roman Reigns. Kane then involved himself in The Authority's feud with Daniel Bryan, which included Kane booking himself in a match with Bryan on the February 17 episode of Raw and interfering in the Elimination Chamber match between Bryan and Randy Orton at Elimination Chamber.

Following WrestleMania XXX, after Kane and The New Age Outlaws lost to the Shield, Kane was berated by Stephanie McMahon and told to find the "Big Red Monster" that he was before. He retrieved his mask that same week, attacking Big Show on Main Event. McMahon announced Kane as the number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules, prompting to Kane to attack champion Daniel Bryan and his wife Brie Bella. Kane lost his title match to Bryan at Extreme Rules. At Money in the Bank, Kane aided Seth Rollins to capture his Money in the Bank contract, but he failed to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a ladder match against seven other superstars. At WWE Battleground, Kane took place in a Fatal 4-Way match against John Cena, Randy Orton and Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but Cena retained the title. On the August 4 episode of Raw, Kane once again removed his mask, and gave it to Stephanie McMahon.

At Survivor Series, he was a member of Team Authority in a losing effort against team Cena. After Survivor Series, he began feuding with Ryback, which led to a match between the two at TLC in which Ryback won.

On January 25, 2015 at the Royal Rumble, Kane entered the Rumble match at #24, eliminating four superstars before being eliminated by eventual winner, Roman Reigns. Kane broke the record for most eliminations in the Royal Rumble match by reaching a cumulative total of 43 eliminations, passing Shawn Michaels' record of 39. At Fastlane, The Authority defeated Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback when Kane pinned Ziggler. Kane participated in the 2nd Annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 but was eliminated by Cesaro.

Kane competed in the second annual Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania XXXI Kickoff Show, but was eliminated by last year's winner, Cesaro. Kane was Gatekeeper in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage Match at Extreme Rules, where he chokeslammed J&J Security, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins, but was taken out by an RKO by The Viper. The following night on Raw, he teamed with Rollins to face Roman Reigns & Randy Orton. After taking out J&J Security, he destroyed the announce table as Orton hit Rollins with the RKO for the win. Then Kane declared that the WWE Universe chose Reigns and Orton to face Rollins in a Triple Threat Match at Payback on May 17.

Sporadic appearances (2017–present)

On the October 16, 2017 episode of Raw, after ten months of inactivity, Kane made a surprise return when he came from under the ring to attack Roman Reigns, costing him a Steel Cage match against Braun Strowman and joining The Miz's team at TLC, thus moving to Raw and turning heel in the process. At the event on October 22, Kane, Miz, Strowman, Cesaro and Sheamus lost a 5-on-3 handicap TLC match against Kurt Angle, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins after Kane and his teammates betrayed Strowman. After defeating the likes of Finn Bálor and Seth Rollins, Kane engaged in a feud with Strowman. On the December 11 episode of Raw, Kane and Strowman fought to a double countout in a match to determine the number one contender to Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship. At Royal Rumble, Lesnar retained his title in a triple threat match against both Kane and Strowman. Kane was written off television after losing a Last Man Standing match against Strowman the following night on Raw. He returned on the March 19 episode of Raw and chokeslammed John Cena after Cena called out The Undertaker. The following week on Raw, Kane lost to Cena in a no disqualification match. At WrestleMania 34, Kane participated in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and lasted until the final four but was ultimately unsuccessful.

Kane returned as a face on the June 26 episode of SmackDown Live and saved Daniel Bryan from SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers, thus reuniting Team Hell No. At Extreme Rules, Team Hell No lost to The Bludgeon Brothers in a SmackDown Tag Team Championship match after Kane was attacked by his opponents backstage.

Kane made his return on the October 1 episode of Raw and reunited with The Undertaker to feud with Triple H and Shawn Michaels. At Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia, Undertaker was defeated by Triple H following interference by Michaels. After the match, Kane and Undertaker attacked Michaels and Triple H, setting up a tag team match between The Brothers of Destruction and D-Generation X at Crown Jewel on November 2. At the event, despite dominating most of the match, the Brothers of Destruction lost to DX after Triple H pinned Kane.

Kane made his return yet again after nearly a year on the September 16, 2019 episode of Raw, this time under his real name Glenn Jacobs, Mayor of Knox County. Jacobs used his mayoral powers to give WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth a tour of Neyland Stadium, but upon arriving, Jacobs revealed the police officer as a referee and pinned Truth to capture the championship, his only championship won under his real name. Later that day, Jacobs dropped the title back to Truth after arriving at the arena. During the closing moments of the broadcast, Jacobs re-emerged under his Kane persona, and saved Universal Champion Seth Rollins from Raw Tag Team Champions Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, and The O.C. (AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson), but was subsequently attacked by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt.

Other media

Jacobs made his film debut as "Jacob Goodnight" in the first production of WWE Studios, See No Evil, released on May 19, 2006.  Jacobs has also made a cameo appearance in the film, McGruber, alongside fellow WWE Superstars MVP, Chris Jericho, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, and The Big Show. He also appeared in Smallville series episode "Combat" as Titan alongside former WWE Diva Ashley. Episode was aired on March 22, 2007.

Jacobs appeared on a special WWF edition of " The Weakest Link" in March 2002 and became the strongest link by defeating Bubba Ray Dudley in the final round. The money won was donated to Jacobs' chosen charity, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, in Memphis Tennessee.

The Kane character was featured in the fourteen issue Undertaker comic book produced by the now-defunct Chaos! Comics in 1999. The character only spoke once, in the Undertaker Halloween Special, which tied into the single issue Mankind comic book produced by the same company. Jacobs was also featured in a Chef Boyardee commercial.

After his unmasking on Raw in 2003, Jacobs revealed that performing in his mask was increasingly uncomfortable and difficult.

In an interview with Jacobs he revealed that "I think it was time. We had gone as far as we could go with the character under the mask. I actually felt the mask was limiting my ability to do some things. For years, to portray emotion I had to do it with my body. I never could do it with my face as the other superstars were able to. So, it added another dimension."

Glenn revealed that he and Vince McMahon were the only ones that were 100 percent behind the idea of the Kane character removing his mask.

In an interview with Jacobs he said that he has no plans to retire soon. "I'm still having fun," Glenn said. "I'm really at the height of my career, and I don't have any plans of packing it in, at least not in the near future."

A book written by Michael Chiappetta detailing the kayfabe origins of the Kane character entitled Journey into Darkness was released in 2005. WWE released a 3-disc anthology of Kane named, The Twisted, Disturbed Life of Kane on December 9, 2008. The DVD consisted of Kane's greatest feuds and rivalries during his first 10 years. Jacobs hosted podcasts named the Tiny Political Show, and Liberty Radio Underground under the pseudonym "Citizen-X." Liberty Radio Underground is now defunct.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role
2006 See No Evil Jacob Goodnight
2010 MacGruber Tanker Lutz
2014 Scooby-Doo! Legend of WrestleMania Himself
2014 See No Evil 2 Jacob Goodnight

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Smallville Titan Season 6, Episode 17: "Combat"

Personal life

Jacobs has been married to Crystal Maurisa Goins since August 23, 1995. Together they have two children. Jacobs is also involved in political issues, and publishes his views via a blog. He supported Ron Paul for President in 2008. He is a member of the Free State Project, and spoke at the organization's 2009 New Hampshire Liberty Forum. He has also spoken at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

In an interview on the Tom Woods Show libertarian podcast, Jacobs mentioned Woods, Harry Browne, Ron Paul, John Stossel, Peter Schiff, and Murray Rothbard as his political influences, and stated he is "theoretically a Rothbardian", but does not believe that a stateless society will be achieved in his lifetime.

In wrestling

  • Nicknames
    • "The Big Red Monster"
    • "The Devil's Favorite Demon"
    • "The Big Red Machine"
    • "Corporate Kane"

Championships and accomplishments

Lucha de Apuesta record

Wager Winner Loser Location Date Notes
Mask Kane Vader Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 31, 1998 Mask vs. Mask match on Over the Edge
Mask Triple H Kane New York June 23, 2003 Mask vs Title match on RAW between Kane's mask and Triple H's WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
Mask Rey Mysterio Kane Portland, Oregon October 5, 2008 Mask match on No Mercy, but only Rey Mysterio's mask was on the line.

See also

External links

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