Kane has revealed that one of WWE’s most iconic characters was never meant to last beyond a single night, explaining that the original concept came together as a last minute solution when Big Van Vader was unexpectedly taken out of the picture.
Speaking during a panel on the Going Ringside podcast at River City Wrestling Con, Kane shared that Vader had been feuding with The Undertaker during an overseas tour when things took an unexpected turn in Kuwait. A talk show appearance escalated quickly after a familiar question was asked.
“The talk show host said something to Vader, the old ‘is wrestling fake,’” Kane said. “So Leon kind of roughed him up a little, not terrible, but kind of grabbed him. Which led to his arrest in Kuwait, not the place you want to be. Middle Eastern country, probably not the most progressive criminal justice system.”
With Vader detained for around a week and no clear timeline for his release, WWE suddenly found itself needing a backup plan for The Undertaker.
“Leon is literally out of the picture, and we don’t know for how long,” Kane said. “Like, we’re gonna have to send in the airborne troops to get him out, or what’s gonna happen there. And they needed an opponent for Undertaker.”
That urgency led to the creation of Kane, introduced as The Undertaker’s long lost brother who had survived a fire. The mask was essential, not just for character reasons, but to disguise Kane’s previous appearances as Isaac Yankem and fake Diesel.
“They come up with this idea of Kane, who was the Undertaker’s long-lost brother,” Kane said. “Put me under a mask, because obviously I’d had those two characters that we should not talk about.”
What started as a short term fix quickly evolved into something much bigger after Vince McMahon saw long term potential in the storyline.
“What ended up happening is Vince liked the idea so much that he’s like, ‘Why are we wasting this on one match? This is much more of a storyline than that,’” Kane said. “And that’s kind of where the whole thing took, for me especially, a very good turn. They decided to really invest in the Kane character. In the end, it became a standalone character, even though the Undertaker obviously was a very important part of that. It wasn’t just as an opponent for Undertaker. It became more than that.”
Kane also recalled the moment he got the call that would change his career, while still working for Jerry Lawler’s USWA.
“Someone told me, ‘Hey, you need to call the office,’” Kane said. “So I’m literally stopping at a gas station, calling from a pay phone somewhere between Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee. And got told, ‘Hey, we have a really good opportunity for you.’ It turned out to be the break of a lifetime, obviously.”
Interestingly, Kane noted that his first match with The Undertaker actually happened before he officially joined WWE, during his time in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Years later, that same venue now sits in view of his office as mayor.
“Our first match ever was before I got into WWE,” Kane said. “It’s funny because now my office at the Knoxville city-county building overlooks the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, which is where our first match was when I was still working for Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling.”
When it came to bringing Kane to life in the ring, the biggest challenge was not the mask or costume, but adapting his style to mirror The Undertaker’s presence and moveset.
“Kane was emulating Undertaker’s moves. That was on purpose, because basically he was like the dark version of the Undertaker,” Kane said. “That was kind of difficult, because those weren’t my moves. Like, learn some of the things that Mark did, especially the Tombstone. I’d never done a Tombstone before.”
He added that matching The Undertaker’s pacing proved just as demanding.
“That methodical, and then all of a sudden explosive, like the things that Mark did, trying to incorporate some of those things into my repertoire, it was a little more difficult and more of a learning curve,” Kane said.
What began as an emergency creative decision ultimately turned into one of the most enduring and successful characters in WWE history, with Kane going on to enjoy a decades long career and later a life in public office.
