WWE Needs To Go The Extra Mile With Kane

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It is hard to argue that WWE’s handling of Kane recently has been far from outstanding. From Team Hell No and their “anger management” angle, to Kane donning the Corporate suit, his segments have been an unfortunately disappointing use of his talent. It was hard to see Kane, the devil’s favorite demon, submit to any authority figure, follow any rules, or resort to anything less than sheer violence and rage to solve his problems.

Kane is a unique superstar in WWE. He has held 18 titles in his career with WWF/E, 12 of those being Tag Team championships. He’s held the WWF Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship, and the ECW championship each once, but that’s about it. Kane has rarely been focused on winning titles and matches – he’s instead been hell bent on destruction and terrorizing the WWE roster, often being used to give rising stars a push in the process. He’s kidnapped a large number of superstars, he’s forced Lita into marriage (one of my favorite stories in WWE to date), and he’s just caused mayhem wherever he has gone, up until recently. He has the greatest scowl that I have ever seen, and his maniacal laugh sends shivers down my spine. Now, WWE seems to see “Corporate Kane” as a mistake, and are trying to get Kane back to where he came from.

The problem is that a long-running and established gimmick like that can’t easily be deviated from without completely ruining it, or the superstar’s chances for the future. Getting back to his previously great credibility is going to take a lot of work, and they really need to raise the bar if they want to rocket him back to where he was. He should be more brutal, more extreme, and more sadistic than ever before. And putting him and John Cena in matches together is kind of a laugh, because Cena has beaten him so many times that it won’t do anything at all unless he wins, which will not happen with the way they’re throwing Cena into contention for the titles at Money in the Bank. However, giving him some wins against rising stars due to sheer brutality would restore some of his credibility, and if they do it right, doesn’t have to harm the image of those he faces. It could create some feuds that are familiar in style, but can buy some attention. Kane needs to pull off some wins, and stir up the mix in the business, and he needs it quickly.

Taking this into consideration, they are also going to soon be in a time crunch. Kane is 47 years old. Fortunately, he doesn’t seem to show signs of injury or difficulty in the ring at this point. He will still be around for a while, but no superstar can last forever in the industry, and as one of my favorite stars in WWE, when the time comes for Kane to retire, I would like to see him go out as strong and feared as when he came in.