|
|
Post by cordless2016 on Jun 29, 2024 7:49:17 GMT -5
There’s always been this debate among fans as to whether Kane truly needed to unmask in 2003. Glenn Jacobs has said in interviews that he hated wrestling in the mask and he was on board with unmasking, but knowing how the WWE pretty much dropped the ball after a few weeks of this happening, was it worth it?
I think it’s undeniable that by 2003, the Kane character had been watered down. He returned in the fall of 2002 with a half mask, physically slimmed down, and was doing the “Kane-er-ooni.” The Katie Vick storyline broke all established-lore for the character, and by 2003 was stuck in lower-card tag segments with RVD against Sean Morley and Lance Storm. And the unmasking itself…was underwhelming. I think most fans understand that having Glenn work every week with prosthetic-burns wasn’t going to work, so the “psychological” burns were fine, but it was always going to be a let down based on what fans had been conditioned to believe how he had looked for years.
And despite all this, Kane was still over with the fans prior to his unmasking. He was a double champ in 2002 with fans supporting his “freaks are cool” gimmick, and even Meltzer confirmed that Kane was one of the better house show draws in the entire company during the second half of 2002. Fast forward to the night he unmasked, and the MSG crowd was 100% behind him. They, like most fans, didn’t want to see him unmasked. They wanted to see him take down HHH and get revenge for the Katie Vick crap from the previous year. Had Kane won the belt, it would have provided all the re-invigoration his character needed and opened up Raw’s main event scene from just the “HHH Show.”
Anyone else feel unmasking him in 2003 was the right move, or was it a mistake and done simply to pop a rating?
|
|
|
|
Post by Lone Wölf on Jun 29, 2024 8:58:16 GMT -5
I hated it. Absolutely hated it.
The minute it happened it killed all the lore of Kane. Bald, eyebrowless Glen Jacobs isn't scary. Booking definitely didn't help, either. I was still a fan of his but he lost pretty much all his cool factor with me and I just mainly appreciated him as a talent.
Kane should've beaten HHH at No Mercy 2002 and never unmasked. At least not til down the road for a better storyline and away from HHH.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Brain on Jun 29, 2024 10:45:06 GMT -5
I will admit I was invested early on after the unmasking with him all insane burning JR,tombstoning Linda etc. but then the Shane feud happened...The character never recovered after that in my eyes
97-00 will always be my fav from his run
|
|
|
|
Post by ASR (therockisback) on Jun 29, 2024 10:54:22 GMT -5
It was amazing at first but started to suck hard lol.
|
|
|
|
Post by cordless2016 on Jun 29, 2024 10:57:29 GMT -5
I will admit I was invested early on after the unmasking with him all insane burning JR,tombstoning Linda etc. but then the Shane feud happened...The character never recovered after that in my eyes 97-00 will always be my fav from his run Those matches with Shane were frustrating as hell. Kane wasnt allowed to pin or submit him in either match. Instead, one ended with Shane taking himself out by jumping off the Titan Tron, and the other was Kane loading him into an ambulance. A guy who was running scared from X-PAC just a few years earlier was now being portrayed as a threat to a psychotic, unmasked Kane. |
|
|
|
Post by The Brain on Jun 29, 2024 11:03:38 GMT -5
I will admit I was invested early on after the unmasking with him all insane burning JR,tombstoning Linda etc. but then the Shane feud happened...The character never recovered after that in my eyes 97-00 will always be my fav from his run Those matches with Shane were frustrating as hell. Kane wasnt allowed to pin or submit him in either match. Instead, one ended with Shane taking himself out by jumping off the Titan Tron, and the other was Kane loading him into an ambulance. A guy who was running scared from X-PAC just a few years earlier was now being portrayed as a threat to a psychotic, unmasked Kane.100% right on the money here. My thoughts exactly |
|
|
|
Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Jun 29, 2024 11:56:45 GMT -5
I am sure that it hurt Kane in the long run for wrestling figure money. If he had kept the mask and just changed the colour of his ring attire. Why not blue and black?? Or white and black?? Different coloured masks would make more wrestling figures.
Instead, that same half haired bald Kane who wore long black tights with some red on them at times was released constantly in that Jakks RA era. If you get one Kane, that's all you need - whether playing with them or having them on display.
As for the concept of it?? It was intriguing. I think we all were curious as to what Kane would look like when the mask came off. I am guessing everyone who writes on this thread is old enough in 2003 to know that Kane really wasn't burnt. But I was curious how they were going to make it seem like he was. It disappointed greatly.
Black eye paint and a crappy ass haircut that his wife was angry about because she loved his long hair. Great. What a pay off.
The turning on RVD and going heel too after that made no sense either. You would think he would have wanted revenge on Evolution at the time.
Now in 2015 when Kane turned heel and became corporate Glenn Jacobs "Kane" with Seth, Triple H, and them, I liked that a lot actually. It was like when Mick Foley took the mask off as Mankind and we got to see the real person.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Brain on Jun 29, 2024 13:23:37 GMT -5
Really liked this entrance they gave em briefly. Really fit the new edge to his character  |
|
|
|
Post by ASR (therockisback) on Jun 29, 2024 23:10:37 GMT -5
He should have won the World Title after unmasking. I loved it when he finally won it in 2010 but he deserved it in 03.
|
|
|
|
Post by hbkjason on Jun 30, 2024 6:20:51 GMT -5
The initial reveal was really well done and truly shocking and for a few weeks I was very invested. The problem was the Shane feud. Why people love Shane O Mac is beyond me! He does these over the top dangerous spots not for the benefit of the match or to get his opponent over, it is purely an ego thing so people think he is a badass and to get himself over. A long running program with RVD would have made way more sense. Had the just had Kane completely destroy Shane, ok, but to have Shane as a somewhat equal was just a slap in the face to the audience.
|
|
Old Zeke
Main Eventer
'Fraid old Zeke, he rides up here with me. Can't trust a pig with watermelons, you know.
Joined on: Jun 24, 2019 13:46:50 GMT -5
Posts: 3,257
|
Post by Old Zeke on Jun 30, 2024 6:43:09 GMT -5
The first few weeks afterwards where he was out of control were really entertaining - but then the Shane feud happened, and that destroyed any credibility the character had left.
|
|
|
|
Post by ¡Twist Of Lime Green Jello! on Jun 30, 2024 7:54:01 GMT -5
The heel turn that came along with it was great. It was as close to a Michael Myers character as you can get. That sort of thing has a limited shelf life though. Shane as his first opponent made sense. He needed someone to brawl and do crazy crapwith. You can’t have him enter the ring in chains then have a wrestling match. After that feud, the mystique of his character had mostly gone and he was just another guy. They could have gotten several more years of mileage out of him before taking the mask off him.
|
|
Rocky Balboa
Main Eventer
ジュリア
Joined on: Jan 1, 2021 6:00:02 GMT -5
Posts: 3,770
|
Post by Rocky Balboa on Jun 30, 2024 8:22:45 GMT -5
I think it was 'fine'. Like, I dug Kane from 2003-2011. I think he got much worse when he put the mask back on personally. But had he just kept the mask I am sure it would have been good.
|
|
|
|
Post by hbkjason on Jun 30, 2024 10:02:59 GMT -5
The heel turn that came along with it was great. It was as close to a Michael Myers character as you can get. That sort of thing has a limited shelf life though. Shane as his first opponent made sense. He needed someone to brawl and do crazy crap with. You can’t have him enter the ring in chains then have a wrestling match. After that feud, the mystique of his character had mostly gone and he was just another guy. They could have gotten several more years of mileage out of him before taking the mask off him. . I respectfully disagree. A long program with RVD would have been so much better. RVD was a hardcore ECW original and could have way more believable "fought" Kane over the stupid crapShane was doing with him. |
|
|
|
Post by JokerFC on Jun 30, 2024 10:52:51 GMT -5
Those matches with Shane were frustrating as hell. Kane wasnt allowed to pin or submit him in either match. Instead, one ended with Shane taking himself out by jumping off the Titan Tron, and the other was Kane loading him into an ambulance. A guy who was running scared from X-PAC just a few years earlier was now being portrayed as a threat to a psychotic, unmasked Kane.100% right on the money here. My thoughts exactly Agreed. The character was killed in cold blood here & I couldn't have given one shiney sh#t about him afterwards |
|
TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,768
|
Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jun 30, 2024 13:30:45 GMT -5
I think Kane had plenty of mileage left wearing the mask. Especially considering he had just returned with a fresh look in late 2002 and was absolutely jacked. I loved that version of the character.
Another thing that killed the unmasking angle was them pivoting away from any kind of physical deformity by explaining that all of his scarring was mental. The guy supposedly survived a fire, but looked like an unblemished beluga whale.
|
|
TheEvilDoink1987
Main Eventer
Joined on: Feb 22, 2010 21:37:52 GMT -5
Posts: 2,768
|
Post by TheEvilDoink1987 on Jun 30, 2024 13:36:33 GMT -5
The heel turn that came along with it was great. It was as close to a Michael Myers character as you can get. That sort of thing has a limited shelf life though. Shane as his first opponent made sense. He needed someone to brawl and do crazy crap with. You can’t have him enter the ring in chains then have a wrestling match. After that feud, the mystique of his character had mostly gone and he was just another guy. They could have gotten several more years of mileage out of him before taking the mask off him. I will agree with you there and admit they ran some cool segments where he really came off like a Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. The one that immediately comes to mind was when he wakes up in the hospital. Most of my issues with the unmasking come from his actual physical appearance. Just didn't do it for me and felt he was way scarier with the mask. |
|
|
|
Post by MKSavage on Jun 30, 2024 14:53:37 GMT -5
Probably to further the character development, but I was never really a fan of his after his initial run (first year or so). Plus, his face never looked like someone horribly scarred by fire, so it hurt the back story of his character.
|
|
|
|
Post by CM Tusk on Jun 30, 2024 17:40:56 GMT -5
Really liked this entrance they gave em briefly. Really fit the new edge to his character This era Kane is by far my favorite. Just an absolute unit. |
|
|
|
Post by K5 on Jun 30, 2024 19:18:46 GMT -5
he was really popular returning as a face. got a mega pop on raw. then hhh wiped him out and they turned him heel.
this was also the era of endless 6 man tags for raw main events. lol. but we got rvd, hbk and Goldberg on a team so I’m not complaining
|
|
