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Post by charabro on Mar 29, 2022 15:38:04 GMT -5
Im sat watching Wrestlemania 14 (I know) and started thinking given the landscape at the time with how prominent the Undertaker / Kane feud was although a year after his debut and how lacklustre his eventual unmasking was in 2003 I kinda think it was a waste to not even tease it or even give us it at their peak..
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Post by K5 on Mar 29, 2022 15:52:24 GMT -5
i don't think they ever should've taken it off. taker breaking his mask off at summerslam 2000 was close enough
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Post by theoutlaw1999 on Mar 29, 2022 16:34:06 GMT -5
He should never have unmasked to begin with and it came at a bad time. In 2003 Kane was over like crazy and the new half mask allowed him to cut promos.
Kane evolved from being a dark, supernatural demon to a heroic face who wore a mask and that's how he should've stayed.
The mask gave him mystic and made him marketable, without it he was just a plain guy in black tights.
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Post by JokerFC on Mar 29, 2022 16:48:44 GMT -5
Unmasking him was an error. Feeding the newly monstrous Kane to Shane o macs ego via his idiot sisters creative was even worse.
The Kane character NEVER recovered.
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Post by charabro on Mar 29, 2022 17:01:45 GMT -5
Good points, never even considered not removing the mask at all, right in what you say that it kept the mystery
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Post by hbkjason on Mar 30, 2022 1:16:01 GMT -5
I wish that they kept it too! Like was said before, the tease at SummerSlam 2000 was more than enough.
However, at the time I must admit I was on the edge of my seat when it happened and the actual reveal was awesome... what followed was not so much lol.
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Post by CM Tusk on Mar 30, 2022 2:25:02 GMT -5
I think Kane’s unmasked heel run in 2003 what that best point in his career. It all worked so perfectly. Then post XX, it was all mostly downhill. I think putting the mask back on was the actual mistake. He looked like a  ing dweeb. Was almost as bad as the slacks. |
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Post by TKO Propagandist on Mar 30, 2022 2:36:01 GMT -5
Yeah I liked the unmasking until Shane start beating him up. Then he changed his gear which exposed his physique which wasn't as impressive as it once was. He got put in some bad angles for years after that & done job after job. The Corporate Kane run topped it off as you could count the singles matches he won on 1 hand during that gimmick.
Things started to decline in 2002 when he returned (done the kanearoonie the first night back for example). Then came Katie Vick. It was a farcry from the amazing first 5 years the character had.
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Post by Kill Em' All on Mar 30, 2022 2:40:29 GMT -5
I think it panned out fine it was just WWEs failure to capitalize on it and have Kane go on an actual psycho heel run until wrestlemania xx
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Post by HandsomeHollywood on Mar 30, 2022 10:32:02 GMT -5
I think it went as fine as it could when they decided to do it. Not sure you can sit on something too long if it wasn't in the plans to begin with.
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Mar 30, 2022 13:08:17 GMT -5
I think that 2003 Kane unmasking is pretty much what the 2000 era of Undertaker losing the dead man gimmick was. It was a way to make Kane seem like a normal human.
Sadly though, I can't think of one match that stands out during Kane's unmasked era that is a "must see" compared to his mask era from 1997 - 2003 when he had some great matches with Austin, Undertaker, Rock, Triple H, etc.
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Post by cordless2016 on Mar 30, 2022 20:16:40 GMT -5
Kane should have never unmasked IMO.
If they were gonna do it, it should have been a bigger moment with a longer build than a random Raw to fill a gap between PPVs. And if it was gonna be done, Taker should have been the one to do it. If not Taker I think a returning Batista in 2003 would have gained major heel heat by taking his mask (as they teased him doing in early 2003 before he got hurt).
I did enjoy the initial few weeks of his unmasking with Kane going after Austin, RVD, and Linda. Then Shane showed up and it all went down hill. The matches were entertaining…until you remembered it was Shane McMahon…the guy running from X-PAC a few years earlier…going toe to toe with Kane.
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Post by J'Dinkalage Morgoone on Mar 30, 2022 20:20:07 GMT -5
should have never taken it off. it immediately killed his gimmick
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Post by Scott! on Mar 31, 2022 8:47:13 GMT -5
It had to happen at some point, granted, but after how awesome the first few weeks were to then get fed to Shane McMahon for 3 months it went straight downhill. After WM20 and the Undertaker feud was done, he did nothing worthwhile until his 2010 World Title win. That's just my opinion, but once the mask was off then the mystique was gone and he was just another 7 foot wrestler.
I get him saying in his book that the character needed it and that he was at the point where he was bored of it, but I'm sure given hindsight he'd have done it differently and even NOT done it.
I think the 2002/3 era mask was perfect for him. It gave him facial expression, able to cut proper promo's. It just gave him a new range. As soon as the mask was off he was done for me. I was bored of it after 2004 and was desperate for their to be "another fire" so he could put it back on.
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teammadness
Mid-Carder
Joined on: May 10, 2020 8:09:29 GMT -5
Posts: 394
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Post by teammadness on Apr 3, 2022 13:32:05 GMT -5
IMO Wrestlemania 14 is one of the greatest Wrestlemania’s of all time.
The issue with Kane was when he came back in 02, he was a lot smaller and started going to the top rope more often which was a huge mistake. Kane should have been unmasked right after survivor series 01
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jason1980s
Main Eventer
Joined on: Sept 30, 2009 14:58:56 GMT -5
Posts: 2,335
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Post by jason1980s on Apr 3, 2022 15:38:38 GMT -5
I also don't think they should have unmasked him, at least not until later on his career but I do think it helped him in his mayor race that he had been known for being Kane without the mask for a while. If he had stayed masked I doubt it would have helped his political career.
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Post by cordless2016 on Apr 5, 2022 9:56:34 GMT -5
IMO Wrestlemania 14 is one of the greatest Wrestlemania’s of all time. The issue with Kane was when he came back in 02, he was a lot smaller and started going to the top rope more often which was a huge mistake. Kane should have been unmasked right after survivor series 01 Angle unmasking him at Mania 18 would have garnered Kurt a ton of heel heat. The story was that Kurt blamed Kane for costing him his title shot at Wrestlemania that year. Kurt could have claimed taking Kane’s mask was payback. Would have also given there feud something to care about rather than being randomly thrown together. |
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