Wrestling is a tricky business in terms of writing, mainly because on the surface it’s so simplistic that there’s only so much you can do. Writing satisfying stories is easy because a lot of the time it’s the same working tropes being used over and over again.

The problem is that whenever there’s a real breakout story, it ultimately means that we’re doomed to get lesser versions of it from here to eternity. Stuff like Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon or the New World Order get watered down repeats that usually never stack up to the original.

From that late-90s era, one of the more intriguing storylines was the introduction of Kane. While overshadowed by all the other big names of the time, Kane was a storyline that worked because it mixed mystique, patience, and payoff. It wasn’t like when Giant Gonzalez, Great Khali, Braun Strowman, or even the Undertaker simply showed up and wrecked shop. They spent five months directly heralding his appearance and even that was built off of Undertaker and Mankind’s long-running feud.

Kane showed up at Badd Blood: In Your House, where he became an instant star and finally gave the man behind the mask, Glenn Jacobs, a persona with longevity (he’s still doing his thing nearly twenty years later). He was treated like an invincible god and while his one-day title reign was a bit of a misfire, his introduction and follow-up was mostly fantastic.