WWE Superstars Kane, Undertaker Have One of the Greatest Storylines in History
Legendary WWE superstar Kane recently recalled his relationship with the Undertaker, calling it the best, most epic storyline that has ever been done. He went on to say “really it was almost like you took Greek mythology and put it into wrestling with us.” SI’s Justin Barrasso spoke to Madelyn Burke about the unique relationship between the two wrestlers, the similarities between the hero and villain, and how Kane was able to maintain such longevity in the sport while endearing himself to wrestling fans.
Courtesy of WWE
Read the Full Video Transcript:
Madelyn Burke: Legendary WWE superstar Kane recently spoke about his relationship with the Undertaker and called it the best, most epic storyline that has ever been done, saying, quote, Really, it was almost like you took Greek mythology and put it into wrestling with that. I'm joined now by SI's Justin Barasso. And Justin, you spoke to Kane recently about this relationship. Is there a character more closely aligned to the Undertaker than Kane?
Courtesy of WWE
Justin Barrasso: No, I mean, with the exception of Paul Bearer, his original manager, unfortunate Paul, Percy Pringle, passed away. But in terms of in the ring, there's nobody quite like Kane in terms of the Undertaker. Right from that night, he was debuted at WWE's bad blood. You know, Paul Bearer, the storyline had built up this this character, this younger brother of the Undertaker seeking revenge and redemption. And the match was so good with Shawn Michaels first ever hellin the cell, you kind of forgot about it. So when Kane came out and it's it's Vince McMahon on the broadcast and Jim Ross in and they really doing a great job of selling that, that's got to be Kane. So through hell, fire and brimstone. Yeah, he he again, a guy, too, behind the scenes, Glenn Jacobs, who couldn't, just couldn't find the right role in the first, what, five years of his career and then found a role in Kane. That was I mean, twenty three years later, it's still going strong. So I think so. I think when you think of Kane, you certainly think of the Undertaker.
Courtesy of WWE
Madelyn Burke; Well, and you mentioned twenty three years later that longevity right there, when you look back at the beginning, though, was there a breakout moment for Kane and did you ever think he would have this kind of longevity?
Justin Barrasso: So it's a good question. I don't know that because everything with the Undertaker was one offs, Madelyn. It was it was it was billed them bringing a monster, you know, maybe to a good match, maybe not to a good match, but giant Gonzalez or Kamala or even Yokozuna. Those are good matches. But it was always bringing a monster in there. King Kong Bundy at Wrestle Mania and then have him disappear. So with Kane, I think you would think it was just gonna be a one off. And they built toward Wrestlemania. I think that Wrestlemania in Boston is the moment, though. That's the moment for me at least, that wrestle mania 14 when it's a strange open, but it's in Boston and Pete Rose comes out and just rips into the crowd about, you know, being on the Reds and beating the Red Sox, the World Series and Bill Buckner, the ball going through his legs and just kind of being a great, bad guy to the crowd. And Kane comes out in Tombstone's, Pete Rose and the crowd lights up. So to me, that was the moment where it was like. And then they worked the match. And Kane talks about this in the interview. They weren't imagined in Kanes the villain and the Taker is the good guy. But it was still such a great moment with Pete Rose. Fast forward to six years later, Wrestlemania 20 they had the Kane-Undertaker rematch and Wrestlemania and then fast forward another seven or eight years and you have the Kane really entertaining stuff on his own. He ends up teaming with Daniel Bryan in Team Hell no. And that was extremely entertaining. He makes some connections in the interview between the Undertaker and Daniel Bryan. So I think the plan couldn't have been for Kane. I'm sure that they liked Glenn Jacobs. They had high hopes for him. But I think this this definitely exceeded everyone's expectations.
Madelyn Burke: Absolutely becoming a legendary household name. To say the least. Justin Barrasso, thanks so much for the time.
Justin Barrasso: Thank you.
Latest News and Videos from Sports Illustrated
