Kane (wrestler)
Glenn Thomas Jacobs, also known by his ring name Kane, is an American politician, actor and professional wrestler. He rose to fame in WWE, where he holds the record for most matches in WWE history. Jacobs is considered by many to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. In 2018, he became the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.
Jacobs began his professional wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992, wrestling in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association before joining the World Wrestling Federation in 1995. He played various characters until 1997, when he was repackaged as the masked wrestler Kane, a horror-themed personification of fire and the juggernaut younger half-brother of the Undertaker and son of Paul Bearer.
Kane alternatively feuded and teamed with the Undertaker, the latter as the Brothers of Destruction. Following his WWF debut, he remained a pivotal component of the company's Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, defeating top star Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship in his first pay-per-view main event at King of the Ring in June 1998. He continued to headline PPV cards over the next 20 years, with more PPV appearances than any other performer in WWF/WWE history besides Randy Orton.
In WWE, Kane won numerous championships; he is a three-time world champion, a 12-time world tag team champion, and a WWE Grand Slam Champion. Kane currently also holds several records at the Royal Rumble, including the record for the most appearances in a Royal Rumble match at 20, the quickest elimination of another competitor at 1.9 seconds and the highest cumulative total eliminations at 46, a record held since the 2015 Royal Rumble match. Kane was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
A long-term supporter of libertarian political causes, Jacobs sought and won the mayoral seat of Knox County, Tennessee, in 2018 and was re-elected in 2022.
Jacobs made numerous appearances in film and on television, including the lead role in the 2006 WWE Studios production See No Evil and its 2014 sequel.
Early life
Jacobs was born in the Spanish town of Torrejón de Ardoz to a United States Air Force family that was stationed in Spain at the time of his birth. He grew up in the United States near St. Louis, Missouri, and attended high school in Bowling Green, Missouri, where he excelled in football and basketball.He went on to earn a degree in English literature at Northeast Missouri State University, where he played both basketball and football. As a center for the Northeast Missouri State Bulldogs basketball program, he was named honorable-mention all-conference twice. Jacobs became a guard on the football team after his basketball eligibility expired, but suffered a knee injury before the 1990 season that limited him to seven games. Eric Holm, the head football coach for the Bulldogs, described Jacobs as a "diamond in the rough who lacks experience," while NFL draft information coordinator Dave Thomas felt his size made him a better prospect if he switched to defensive line. After not being selected in the 1991 NFL draft, Jacobs attended the Chicago Bears' rookie camp as an undrafted free agent but failed his physical.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1992–1995)
Jacobs was trained by Dean Malenko, Ray Candy, and Jeff Bradley. He debuted in 1992 under the ring name "Angus King" for the Central States Wrestling Association in Hannibal, Missouri, which was owned and run by his childhood friend Mark Morton. In December 1992, he joined the United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee, appearing as the "Christmas Creature," an "evil Christmas character" who wore a garish costume featuring a green mask, candy cane-striped sleeves, and tinsel. The Christmas Creature unsuccessfully challenged Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship before leaving the USWA later that month.In March 1993, Jacobs made a one-off appearance with World Championship Wrestling, losing to Sting on an episode of WCW Saturday Night filmed in Macon, Georgia, under the ring name Bruiser Mastino. Later that year, he relocated to Tampa, Florida, in order to further his training. During his time in Florida, he wrestled a handful of matches for the International Championship Wrestling Alliance as "Sid Powers". After leaving Florida, he returned to the USWA as "Doomsday." On October 10, 1993, he wrestled in a dark match for the World Wrestling Federation under his real name, defeating Mike Bell at a WWF Superstars taping in Burlington, Vermont. In December 1993, he wrestled in Japan for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi under his real name.
In 1994, Jacobs began wrestling for Tri-State Wrestling promotion in Central City, Kentucky, and the Indianapolis-based Championship Wrestling as Doomsday, as well as making a handful of further appearances with Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi in Japan. In May 1994, he relocated to Puerto Rico to wrestle for the World Wrestling Council as Doomsday, where he feuded with Invader 1. In November and December 1994, Jacobs wrestled for the Catch Wrestling Association in Germany as "Spartacus", competing in its Catch Cup tournament.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1995)
In January 1995, Jacobs was hired by Jim Cornette for his Smoky Mountain Wrestling promotion in Morristown, Tennessee, where he was named "Unabomb". He briefly teamed with Eddie Gilbert before forming a tag team with Al Snow named the Dynamic Duo and beginning a feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express. In April 1995, at the Bluegrass Brawl III event, the Dynamic Duo defeated the Rock 'n' Roll Express in a coal miner's glove match for the SMW Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until July 1995, when they lost to the Thugs. Later that month, the feud between the Dynamic Duo and the Rock 'n' Roll Express culminated in a street fight at Summer Blast 1995, with the Rock 'n' Roll Express victorious. On August 4, 1995, at the Superbowl of Wrestling event, Jacobs lost to World Wrestling Federation wrestler The Undertaker, who was making a special appearance with SMW. He made his final appearance with SMW at the following month's Fire on the Mountain 1995 event, with the Thugs defeating the Dynamic Duo in a loser leaves town match.World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE
Early years (1995–1997)
Jacobs appeared with WWE as "Mike Unabomb" at the February 20, 1995 Raw taping, defeating Reno Riggins in a dark match. He wrestled intermittently as Unabomb through August.Jacobs made his first television appearance with the company as "Isaac Yankem, DDS", Jerry Lawler's private dentist, in a vignette on the June 26, 1995 episode of Raw. Placing emphasis on Jacobs' imposing height and weight, Yankem was portrayed as a monstrous figure whom Lawler had hired for the purpose of ridding the WWF of his long-time nemesis, Bret Hart. The character's in-ring debut occurred at a Superstars taping on August 15, where Jacobs lost to Hart by count-out. At that month's SummerSlam event, Yankem was disqualified when he hung Hart by twisting him in the top and middle ropes by his neck. He lost to Hart in a steel cage match in the main event of the October 16 episode of Raw and finally in a tag team match against Hart and Hakushi, in which he was partnered with Lawler on November 6. After his initial run with Hart, Jacobs was part of an unsuccessful team in an elimination match at November's Survivor Series and participated in the 1996 Royal Rumble match in January. The remainder of Yankem's televised run through April included losses to The Undertaker, Jake Roberts, Marc Mero, and The Ultimate Warrior. In April 1996, Jacobs was part of the "WWF Champions" tour of Germany. He was used on a series of live events in Kuwait in May as part of the Kuwait Cup tour. In May 1996 at In Your House 8: Beware of Dog, he lost to Bob Holly in a dark match. In September 1996, he took part in a WWF tour of South Africa, after which the Yankem gimmick was retired.
In September 1996, play-by-play announcer Jim Ross introduced Jacobs as Diesel, and Rick Bognar as Razor Ramon, as part of a heavily criticized storyline mocking the departure of former employees Kevin Nash and Scott Hall respectively, while attempting to portray Ross as a disgruntled employee. The pair competed primarily as a tag team, losing a WWF Tag Team Championship match to titleholders Owen Hart and The British Bulldog at December's In Your House 12: It's Time. As Diesel, he lost to The Undertaker via disqualification in the main event of the December 22 edition of Superstars and defeated Marc Mero on Shotgun Saturday Night on January 11, 1997. Diesel and Ramon last appeared on television at the 1997 Royal Rumble, where Jacobs was the third-to-last participant. Jacobs continued to work sporadic live events as Diesel through April. He competed in the 1997 Kuwait Cup, but was eliminated by Davey Boy Smith in the first round.
In May 1997, Jacobs and Razor Ramon went to Mexico to work for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. On June 24, 1997, Jacobs lost to Razor Ramon in a Loser Leaves Town match at USWA. In July 1997, Jacobs briefly returned to the United States Wrestling Association as Doomsday, winning the USWA Heavyweight Championship from Spellbinder. He then dropped the title to Steven Dunn on September 6.
Emergence of Kane; WWF Champion (1997–1998)
In April 1997, the WWF "slowly and meticulously" began building up to the debut of Jacobs's new character Kane, a horror-themed juggernaut and hellish personification of everything relating to fire. The character's theme and persona is rooted in malevolent acts of arson by his older half-brother, The Undertaker, that occurred during their youth. Rounding out his "Hellfire and Brimstone" gimmick, Kane was combined with the Inferno match, a specialty match personalized to him.At In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker on April 20, The Undertaker launched a fireball into the face of his former manager, Paul Bearer, who had previously had his protégé Mankind do the same to The Undertaker prior to the event. On the May 12 edition of Raw, Mankind reintroduced Bearer, who attempted to reunite with Undertaker because of his status as WWF Champion. This was all following a long period of mutual hostility between the two. After The Undertaker's adamant refusals, Bearer used the ultimatum of revealing The Undertaker's "deepest, darkest secret" to the world in order to coerce him into being his protégé. The Undertaker begrudgingly acceded to Bearer's wishes for a few months but eventually lost his patience with Bearer's abrasive management of him and rejected all association with him. Bearer responded by publicly revealing that his long-lost brother, Kane, was coming to the WWF to challenge him. In sharing this news, Bearer disclosed that The Undertaker had started a fire at his family's funeral home, in effect murdering his family. Kane, who The Undertaker thought long dead from the incident, was left physically and mentally scarred. Undertaker claimed Kane, a pyromaniac, started the fire and could not possibly have survived.
Kane debuted at Badd Blood: In Your House on October 5, using The Undertaker's signature tombstone piledriver to cost him the victory in the first Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels. In keeping with the notion that Kane had been burned and scarred by the fire—and to conceal Jacobs's identity—the character wore a mask, sported long hair, and wore red and black ring attire that almost covered his entire body. Kane and The Undertaker feuded with one another over the following year, during which time their history vis-à-vis one another was expounded. Jacobs won his first match as Kane against Mankind at Survivor Series on November 9. The Undertaker initially refused to face him and adamantly so while Kane humiliated him, The Undertaker claiming he had promised his parents he would never do harm to his own "flesh and blood." After what was thought to be a brief partnership, Kane betrayed The Undertaker by costing him the WWF Championship, Kane interfering in The Undertaker's title match against Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble on January 18, 1998. After the match, Kane locked The Undertaker in a casket and set it on fire. After a couple months of absence, The Undertaker resurrected on an episode of Raw is War, in which he was reproduced from a coffin that was struck by lightning, in this moment furiously challenging Kane.
The Undertaker defeated Kane at WrestleMania XIV on March 29. After the match, Kane and Paul Bearer attacked The Undertaker, hitting him with a steel chair and then giving a Tombstone Piledriver. On April 4, they faced each other again at Mayhem in Manchester, where the Undertaker defeated Kane again. They continued to feud until Unforgiven: In Your House on April 26, when The Undertaker defeated Kane in the first ever Inferno match. In this match, Bearer tried to help Kane by attacking Undertaker, but as Kane was retreating backstage, Vader forced Kane back towards the ring, and The Undertaker attacked them both by jumping over the ring ropes surrounded by fire before setting Kane's right arm on fire. At Over the Edge: In Your House on May 31, Kane defeated Vader in a Mask vs. Mask match.
On the June 1 episode of Raw Is War, Kane defeated The Undertaker to become the number one contender to the WWF Championship. At the King of the Ring on June 28, Kane defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in a First Blood match following interferences by Mankind and The Undertaker to win the WWF Championship. Kane lost the title back to Austin the following night on Raw Is War.