WWE Hall Of Famer and current Knox County, TN Mayor Glenn “Kane” Jacobs was interviewed on the latest “Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw” podcast.
Here are some highlights:
Glenn Jacobs talking about the originations of Kane and how his name was going to be Inferno:
“I was always under contract with WWE from 1995 when I signed that developmental deal through Isaac Yankem, the fake Diesel, and then Kane. I was back working with Lawler. I was under a mask because they didn’t want anyone to know that this was Isaac Yankem, then the fake Diesel guy. The Kane thing came about when Vader got arrested in Kuwait. They had that deal where Leon had roughed up the talk show host and literally got arrested in Kuwaiti jail. They needed someone to work with Mark (Undertaker).
The thought was, ‘Ok, we’ll hotshot this deal. We needed an angle. Well, Glenn can do it. He matches up physically with Taker. What’s the storyline?’ I don’t know if it was Bruce or Vince that initially came up with the thought of, well, he would come back under a mask as the brother who got burned in the fire. Well, Vince liked it so much, he said, ‘Why are we going to waste this on just one match when we can turn this into an actual long-term angle?’ I’m down in Memphis and all this stuff is happening. I get a call, I think from Cornette, or it might have been Bruce, I don’t remember exactly who, and they run this thing by me. ‘Hey, you’re going to be working with Mark.’
Initially, the character was going to be called Inferno. Bruce always liked the name Kane. I thought Inferno sounded very comic book characterish for where we were going with this, so we suggested the name Kane. Undertaker when he initially came in was Kane the Undertaker, and then they dropped the Kane part and it became the Undertaker. Also with the biblical story of Kane and Abel, we thought that fit.”
Kane said The Hell in the Cell was built for his debut:
“I do know, at least Cornette has told me this, and Bruce will probably tell you the same thing, that the Hell in the Cell structure was built for that debut. That’s really where it came from. They wanted a steel cage because of Taker vs Shawn. They didn’t want any interference. They wanted a structure that looked impenetrable that no one could get in, and that was the idea.”
Click below for the entire interview.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit “Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw” with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
