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165-562: Glenn Thomas Jacobs, (born April 26, 1967) also known by his ring name Kane, is an American politician, actor and professional wrestler . He rose to fame in WWE and is regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of his generation. In 2018, he became the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee . Jacobs began his professional wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992, wrestling in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and

330-423: A Battle Royal for a shot at his Cruiserweight Championship. Malenko entered the battle royal dressed as masked wrestler Ciclope and won the match, after Juventud Guerrera shook his hand, and eliminated himself. He then unmasked, revealing himself to the crowd following his win. Malenko went on to defeat Jericho for his fourth and final WCW Cruiserweight Championship, thus becoming the first-ever wrestler to win

495-592: A First Blood match following interferences by Mankind and The Undertaker to win the WWF Championship. Kane lost the title back to Austin the following night on Raw Is War . In June 1998, Kane formed a tag team with Mankind , with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice that summer. After dissension between the partners saw their second reign end at SummerSlam , Kane broke away from Mankind and allied with The Undertaker, with

660-586: A Last Man Standing match at Armageddon . Kane turned face once again by reforming his alliance with The Undertaker immediately after the Royal Rumble in which he eliminated 11 wrestlers and was the runner-up, after being eliminated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. In early 2001, Kane competed for the Hardcore Championship , defeating Raven for the title at WrestleMania X-Seven in a triple threat match that also featured Big Show , later losing

825-405: A Last Man Standing match , he relinquished his mask and gave it to Stephanie McMahon. The following week on Raw , Kane resumed his role as The Authority's Director of Operations. At Survivor Series , Kane was part of Team Authority in the main event, and was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler , who ultimately won the match for Team Cena. After Survivor Series, he began feuding with Ryback , which led to

990-491: A parody of the fictional character, James Bond . The gimmick was born out of a match with The Godfather , who offered one of his female escorts to Malenko instead of wrestling him. Malenko gladly accepted his opponent's offer. As Double Ho Seven, Malenko competed for the affections of Lita and feuded with her tag team the Hardy Boyz . He even offered Lita a title match for his Light Heavyweight Championship, but under

1155-730: A tag team working in Puerto Rico, Japan, and Australia until his brother retired. On January 24, 1992, Malenko defeated "The Superstar" for the Suncoast Pro Wrestling (SPW) Southern title in Palmetto, Florida . Malenko defeated Jimmy Backlund for the ICWA Light Heavyweight title on March 12, 1992, in Tampa. Then, Malenko teamed with his brother losing to Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff at Clash of

1320-716: A Loser Leaves Town match at USWA. In July 1997, Jacobs briefly returned to the United States Wrestling Association as Doomsday, winning the USWA Heavyweight Championship from Spellbinder . He then dropped the title to Steven Dunn on September 6. In April 1997, the WWF "slowly and meticulously" began building up to the debut of Jacobs's new character Kane , a horror -themed juggernaut and hellish personification of everything relating to fire. The character's theme and persona

1485-498: A Triple H series of masks) getting an enema . The angle was very unpopular with fans, and was de-emphasised before the title match. Triple H defeated Kane at No Mercy, due to Triple H and Flair cheating, unifying the two titles. On the October 28 episode of Raw , Kane defeated Triple H in a non-title Casket match to end their feud. At Survivor Series on November 17, Kane participated in the first-ever Elimination Chamber match for

1650-644: A battle royal before WrestleMania XXIV on March 30, 2008, Kane won by last eliminating former rival Mark Henry, earning a match for the ECW Championship against Chavo Guerrero later that night. Kane defeated Guerrero in the second fastest WrestleMania match with a record-setting eleven seconds to win the ECW Championship. Shortly after winning the championship, Kane officially joined the ECW brand. At Backlash on April 27, Kane successfully defended

1815-500: A chair during the match. This storyline gave Jacobs time to complete his role in the film, See No Evil . Kane returned by defeating Snitsky at New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005. Kane and Lita reconciled with one another and began antagonizing Lita's rival Trish Stratus . This led to a match between Kane and Stratus' hired bodyguard Viscera at Backlash on May 1 that was won by Kane. Lita later turned on Kane and started an on-screen relationship with her real-life boyfriend at

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1980-581: A chairs match between the two at TLC , where Ryback emerged victorious. At Royal Rumble , Kane eliminated four superstars, thus surpassing the record for most overall eliminations in the Royal Rumble match. At Fastlane , Kane, Big Show, and Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan , and Ryback, after Kane pinned Ziggler. Kane participated in the 2nd Annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31 , and

2145-608: A degree in English literature at Northeast Missouri State University , where he played both basketball and football. Jacobs was trained by Dean Malenko , Ray Candy , and Jeff Bradley . He debuted in 1992 under the ring name "Angus King" for the Central States Wrestling Association in Hannibal, Missouri , which was owned and run by his childhood friend Mark Morton. In December 1992, he joined

2310-456: A double countout at the Royal Rumble . After the match, Kane attacked Ryder with a Tombstone Piledriver and then he chokeslammed Cena. On February 19 at Elimination Chamber , Cena defeated Kane in an Ambulance match to end the feud. In March, Kane initiated a feud with Randy Orton by attacking him. Kane later explained that he needed to feel like a monster again, and believed that defeating Orton would allow him to do that. Orton retaliated in

2475-401: A feud between Kane and Shane McMahon, Linda's son, with Kane defeating Shane in a Last Man Standing match at Unforgiven on September 21 and an ambulance match at Survivor Series on November 16. At Survivor Series, Kane also interfered in a Buried Alive match between Vince McMahon and The Undertaker, helping McMahon bury The Undertaker and win the match. On January 25, 2004, Kane took part in

2640-586: A feud between the two. Kane started to walk around with a hook, similar to the hook he used as Jacob Goodnight in See No Evil . At WrestleMania 23 on April 1, Kane lost to Khali. During the match, in homage to Hulk Hogan slamming André the Giant twenty years earlier at WrestleMania III , Kane picked up Khali for the first time and body-slammed him to the mat. After WrestleMania, he began to feud with William Regal and Dave Taylor . The Boogeyman then joined

2805-654: A feud with Team Rhodes Scholars ( Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow ), and successfully defended the championship against them on multiple occasions. On the November 26 episode of Raw , both Kane and Bryan were assaulted by The Shield ( Dean Ambrose , Seth Rollins , and Roman Reigns ). Team Hell No allied with Ryback to face The Shield, but lost a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs . Further successful title defenses against Team Rhodes Scholars and 3 MB ( Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater) followed throughout December 2012 and January 2013. On

2970-567: A few months but eventually lost his patience with Bearer's abrasive management of him and rejected all association with him. Bearer responded by publicly revealing that his long-lost brother, Kane (later revealed as Bearer's illegitimate son and the Undertaker's half-brother ), was coming to the WWF to challenge him. In sharing this news, Bearer disclosed that The Undertaker had started a fire at his family's funeral home, in effect murdering his family. Kane, who The Undertaker thought long dead from

3135-465: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

3300-564: A few weeks before quietly disappearing off television as the WCW / ECW Invasion storyline began in summer 2001. Malenko's third-last wrestling match took place at the 4th Annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in August 2001, where he teamed with longtime friend Perry Saturn and defeated Raven and Justin Credible . That December, he defeated his student, Chad Collyer , by disqualification in

3465-562: A four-way Tables, Ladders and Chairs match also involving Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio . Kane received his rematch for the World Heavyweight Championship on the January 7, 2011 episode of SmackDown in a Last Man Standing match, but was unsuccessful. Kane competed in the 2011 Royal Rumble match , the largest Royal Rumble match in history, and was the 40th and final person to enter the match. Kane then competed in

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3630-467: A heavily criticized storyline mocking the departure of former employees Kevin Nash and Scott Hall respectively, while attempting to portray Ross as a disgruntled employee. The pair competed primarily as a tag team, losing a WWF Tag Team Championship match to titleholders Owen Hart and The British Bulldog at December's In Your House 12: It's Time . As Diesel, he lost to The Undertaker via disqualification in

3795-647: A loss to CM Punk in May in a qualifying match for the World Heavyweight Championship match for the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view event. On the June 4 episode of SmackDown , Kane stated he had found his brother The Undertaker in a "vegetative state" over Memorial Day weekend and vowed revenge on whoever was responsible. Due to Undertaker's injury, a battle royal was held to determine his replacement for Fatal 4-Way, which Rey Mysterio won by last eliminating Kane. Mysterio would go on to win

3960-463: A match between Chris Benoit and Triple H , and the three embraced. After the 2006 Royal Rumble , he was seen congratulating Rey Mysterio on his Rumble victory. At Vengeance: Night of Champions in June 2007, he appeared in a backstage segment watching Chavo Guerrero Jr. . The next night on the Chris Benoit memorial episode of Monday Night Raw, he talked about the life of Chris Benoit. He

4125-476: A match ultimately won by CM Punk. During the 2009 draft Kane beat The Brian Kendrick for a draft pick and, later in the night, was drafted to the SmackDown brand. There, Kane feuded with CM Punk and defeated him at Backlash on April 26. He then took a break to tour India and also heal injuries, returning at The Bash on June 28 to assist Dolph Ziggler in his match with The Great Khali by hitting Khali with

4290-477: A number of losses suffered when working as a tag team with Saturn. The feud led to a triple threat match at Judgment Day 2000 where Guerrero retained the WWF European Championship against both Malenko and Saturn. After a brief absence from TV , Malenko returned to reform The Radicalz with Guerrero, Benoit, and Saturn. Around this time, Malenko briefly became known as "Double Ho Seven",

4455-646: A one-off appearance with World Championship Wrestling , losing to Sting on an episode of WCW Saturday Night filmed in Macon, Georgia , under the ring name Bruiser Mastino. Later that year, he relocated to Tampa, Florida , in order to further his training. During his time in Florida, he wrestled a handful of matches for the International Championship Wrestling Alliance as "Sid Powers". After leaving Florida, he returned to

4620-487: A postmortem human body after an autopsy . He interrupted the main event between Mark Henry and John Cena , attacking Cena before removing the metallic mask to reveal a new red mask and turning heel once again. Kane continued to attack Cena in the following weeks, claiming he wanted Cena to "embrace the hate" from Cena's detractors, rather than try to "Rise Above Hate", as Cena's T-shirt proclaimed. Kane also attacked and injured Cena's ally Zack Ryder . Kane and Cena fought to

4785-720: A rematch took place under two out of three falls rules, which Kane's team won. On the April 22 episode of SmackDown , the duo defeated Corre members Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater to win the WWE Tag Team Championship , their second championship as a team. Big Show and Kane then started feuding with the New Nexus. After defending the titles against CM Punk and Mason Ryan at Over the Limit , Kane and Big Show lost

4950-580: A road agent for WWE from 2001 until 2019. Malenko was born into a wrestling family, and his father Boris Malenko was a prominent wrestling figure. He started out as a referee in the Tampa area and even worked briefly as a referee for the WWF in the mid-1980s. He has wrestled all over the world and has spent much time wrestling in Mexico and Japan. He wrestled with his brother Joe Malenko from 1988 to 1992, forming

5115-537: A short feud with Mark Henry , losing to him in a Lumberjack match at One Night Stand on June 3 due to interference from lumberjacks Kenny Dykstra and Chavo Guerrero and then took a short hiatus. On the July 6 episode of SmackDown! , General Manager Theodore Long announced that Kane would face Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash on July 22. After Edge

Kane (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5280-473: A spot in his stable Evolution . Raw co-general manager Stone Cold Steve Austin offered Kane the opportunity to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship if he rejected Triple H's offer. Co-general manager Eric Bischoff insisted that if Kane lost the match, he would unmask. Kane accepted Austin's offer and challenged Triple H the following week in Madison Square Garden . Triple H won

5445-562: A steel cage match, resulting in them holding both the WWF Tag Team and the WCW Tag Team Championships . Kane and The Undertaker defeated KroniK at Unforgiven and both participated in the ten-man Winner-Takes-All match at Survivor Series as members of the victorious Team WWF. On March 25, 2002, the WWF was divided into two brands , Raw and SmackDown!, with Kane being drafted to Raw. Kane shortly feuded with

5610-491: A steel chair and then giving a Tombstone Piledriver. On April 4, they faced each other again at Mayhem in Manchester, where the Undertaker defeated Kane again. They continued to feud until Unforgiven: In Your House on April 26, when The Undertaker defeated Kane in the first ever Inferno match. In this match, Bearer tried to help Kane by attacking Undertaker, but as Kane was retreating backstage, Vader forced Kane back towards

5775-504: A steel chair, allowing Ziggler to win. This started a feud with Khali, whom he defeated at SummerSlam on August 23 and in a Singapore Cane match at Breaking Point on September 13. Alongside Chris Jericho, Kane was co-captain for the victorious Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights on October 25. On the October 30 episode of SmackDown , Kane then unsuccessfully challenged Jericho in a number one contender's match for an opportunity to face World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker and Big Show in

5940-459: A steel chair. WWE reported the attack had fractured Kane's fibula , likely to sideline him for five months. Beginning in November 2011, WWE began airing vignettes featuring Kane and a burning red mask and ending with the words "Kane Resurrected" appearing on screen. Kane returned on the December 12 episode of Raw SuperShow wearing a metallic mask and new ring attire inspired by the incisions of

6105-584: A successful title defense at WrestleMania 22 on April 2. The following evening, Kane and the Big Show lost the World Tag Team Championship to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey . One week later, Kane and Big Show faced Spirit Squad members Johnny and Nicky in a rematch for the title, but were disqualified after Kane "snapped", ostensibly due to "voices in his head". In subsequent weeks, Kane began attacking anyone who mentioned

6270-420: A three-way feud with WWE Champion CM Punk and Daniel Bryan after Bryan interfered in a non-title match between Kane and Punk to frame Punk for attacking Kane with a steel chair. On the June 1 episode of SmackDown , a WWE Championship match between Kane and Punk ended in a double disqualification after Bryan attacked both men. On the June 4 episode of Raw SuperShow , Kane beat CM Punk in a non-title match, and on

6435-522: A triple threat match at Survivor Series on November 22. In November, Kane reunited with The Undertaker to feud with Big Show and Jericho, thus turning face. At WrestleMania XXVI , during the Money in the Bank ladder match, Kane was unsuccessful in claiming the briefcase as Jack Swagger won the match. Over the next few months, Kane was involved in sporadic singles matches on episodes of SmackDown , including

6600-426: A triple threat match that also involved Big Show. On the July 7 episode of Raw , Kane lost a number one contender's fatal four-way match to Batista (Batista would advance to the World Heavyweight Championship match at The Great American Bash on July 20), leading him to attack commentators Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, thus turning heel in the process. At The Great American Bash, Kane interfered and attacked both

6765-754: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

Kane (wrestler) - Misplaced Pages Continue

6930-544: A week later, Malenko dropped the title back to Guerrero. The two continued to battle over the Television Title and fought a series of matches that led to them being offered a WCW contract. His last ECW match was a two out of three falls match against Guerrero, which took place on August 26. The match ended in a draw as the last fall had both men's shoulders on the mat. This would be both men's last match in ECW and they both gave—and received—an emotional farewell to

7095-434: A woman named Katie Vick. He claimed that after Vick was killed in a car crash , Kane had sex with her . Triple H later threatened to show video footage of Kane committing the act in question. The footage that finally aired showed Triple H (dressed as Kane) simulating mock sex with a mannequin in a casket; Kane's tag team partner The Hurricane responded the following week by showing a video of Triple H (rather, someone wearing

7260-595: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

7425-483: Is a three-time world champion (having held the WWF Championship, ECW Championship and World Heavyweight Championship once each), a 12-time world tag team champion (having held the World Tag Team Championship , WCW Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championship ), and a WWE Grand Slam Champion . He holds the record for the most appearances in a Royal Rumble match at 20, as well as

7590-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

7755-493: Is rooted in malevolent acts of arson by his older half-brother, The Undertaker, that occurred during their youth. Rounding out his " Hellfire and Brimstone " gimmick, Kane was combined with the Inferno match , a specialty match personalized to him. At In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker , The Undertaker launched a fireball into the face of his former manager, Paul Bearer , who had previously had his protégé Mankind do

7920-584: The 1996 Royal Rumble match in January. The remainder of Yankem's televised run through April included losses to The Undertaker, Jake Roberts , Marc Mero and The Ultimate Warrior . Jacobs was used on a series of live events in Kuwait in May, as well as a September tour of South Africa , after which the Yankem gimmick was retired. In September 1996, play-by-play announcer Jim Ross introduced Jacobs as Diesel , and Rick Bognar as Razor Ramon , as part of

8085-524: The 2011 Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, eliminating Drew McIntyre and Big Show before being eliminated by Edge. The following month, Kane reunited with the Big Show against a common enemy, The Corre , thus turning face once again in the process. Kane and Big Show began challenging them for the tag team titles and saving other wrestlers from their attacks. At WrestleMania XXVII , Big Show and Kane teamed with Santino Marella and Kofi Kingston to beat The Corre. The next week,

8250-625: The ECW Tag Team Championship , making Malenko a double champion. A month later at Extreme Warfare , Malenko dropped the Television title to 2 Cold Scorpio . On April 8 at Three Way Dance , he and Benoit lost the tag titles to The Public Enemy ( Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock ). In the summer of 1995, Malenko feuded with TV Champion Eddie Guerrero , culminating in a match on July 21 where Malenko defeated Guerrero to win his second ECW Television Championship. Only

8415-786: The Indianapolis -based Championship Wrestling as Doomsday, as well as making a handful of further appearances with Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi in Japan. In May 1994, he relocated to Puerto Rico to wrestle for the World Wrestling Council as Doomsday, where he feuded with Invader 1 . In November and December 1994, Jacobs wrestled for the Catch Wrestling Association in Germany as "Spartacus", competing in its Catch Cup tournament. In January 1995, Jacobs

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8580-630: The New World Order (nWo) and began acting human by talking through his mask and referring to his fans as "Kanenites". Kane returned to the renamed WWE as part of the Raw roster in August, with a new outfit and half-mask where his facial hair was shown. On the September 23 episode of Raw , Kane and The Hurricane won the WWE Tag Team Championship after defeating The Un-Americans ( Lance Storm and Christian ). The following week on Raw , Kane won

8745-604: The New World Order (nWo), particularly Eric Bischoff . Malenko and Benoit also battled The West Texas Rednecks ( Curt Hennig and Barry Windham ) during this period. At SuperBrawl IX , they lost to the Rednecks in the finals of a tag team tournament for the vacant World Tag Team Championship. At Uncensored 1999 , however, they defeated the Rednecks in a lumberjack match to win the WCW World Tag Team Championship . Two weeks later, they lost

8910-600: The Royal Rumble match; he was eliminated when he heard the bell toll from The Undertaker's entrance music, distracting and distressing Kane, and enabling Booker T to eliminate him. Over the following weeks, Kane repeatedly insisted that The Undertaker was "dead", only to be met with various paranormal incidents such as a rainstorm localized over the ring in which he stood. The Undertaker finally returned at WrestleMania XX on March 14 (again sporting his "Deadman" persona) with Paul Bearer at his side, defeating Kane. After losing at WrestleMania XX, Kane fell in love with Lita , but

9075-432: The Royal Rumble . After the match, Kane locked Undertaker in a casket and set it on fire. After a couple months of absence, Undertaker resurrected on an episode of RAW, in which he was reproduced from a coffin that was struck by lightning, in this moment furiously challenging Kane. The Undertaker defeated Kane at WrestleMania XIV on March 29. After the match, Kane and Paul Bearer attacked The Undertaker, hitting him with

9240-751: The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in Memphis, Tennessee , appearing as the "Christmas Creature," an "evil Christmas character" who wore a garish costume (made by Jacobs'a mother) featuring a green mask , candy cane -striped sleeves, and tinsel . The Christmas Creature unsuccessfully challenged Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship before leaving the USWA later that month. In March 1993, Jacobs made

9405-483: The United States Wrestling Association before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ) in 1995. He played various characters until 1997, when he was repackaged as the masked wrestler Kane, a horror -themed personification of fire and the juggernaut younger half-brother of the Undertaker and son of Paul Bearer . Kane alternatively feuded and teamed with the Undertaker,

9570-437: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

9735-433: The ring name Dean Malenko , is an American retired professional wrestler . He is signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a senior producer. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) as a wrestler and a road agent and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Although never a world champion , Malenko achieved championship success in ECW, WCW and the WWF, winning 11 total titles across

9900-737: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

10065-587: The André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and was the runner-up, being eliminated by eventual winner Baron Corbin . On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft , Kane was drafted to the SmackDown brand. At Backlash in September, Kane defeated Bray Wyatt following interference by Randy Orton . At Survivor Series , Kane defeated Luke Harper on the kick-off show. A rematch between the two was made on the November 29 episode of SmackDown Live , in which Kane

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10230-542: The April 21 episode of Raw , Stephanie McMahon announced Kane as the number one contender to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules , prompting Kane to attack champion Daniel Bryan and his wife Brie Bella . Kane lost his title match to Bryan at Extreme Rules. At Money in the Bank , Kane helped Seth Rollins win his Money in the Bank contract , and then he competed in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship ladder match, which

10395-620: The April 22 episode of Raw , Team Hell No and The Undertaker were defeated by the Shield in a six-man tag team match. Kane and Bryan then faced members of the stable in both tag team and singles competition, but were mainly unsuccessful. On May 19 at Extreme Rules , Kane and Bryan lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending their reign at 245 days. Team Hell No lost their WWE Tag Team Championship rematch against Reigns and Rollins on

10560-433: The August 23 episode of Raw . Although he was attacked by Hardy during the ceremony, he gained the upper hand and ultimately chokeslammed Hardy off the stage. A week after the wedding, General Manager Eric Bischoff gave Kane and Lita the wedding gift of choosing any match that Kane wanted at Unforgiven on September 12. Shawn Michaels was chosen and defeated Kane in a no-disqualification match at Unforgiven. The next night, on

10725-404: The August 31 episode of SmackDown! after interference from Hornswoggle . Kane then made an appearance on the October 16 episode of ECW as the hand-chosen partner of ECW Champion CM Punk , helping him defeat John Morrison, The Miz, and Big Daddy V in a three-on-two handicap match. In retaliation, Big Daddy V attacked Kane on the October 19 episode of SmackDown! , igniting a feud between

10890-466: The Bank , Kane participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match , which was won by Sheamus . On the July 13 episode of Raw , Kane was injured by Brock Lesnar , who smashed his ankle with the steel ring steps. Following the attack, Rollins berated Kane and kicked his injured ankle. Kane returned at Night of Champions with his mask as his "Demon" persona, preventing Sheamus from cashing in his Money in

11055-399: The Bank contract and attacking Seth Rollins , thus turning face in the process. Kane appeared as both his "Demon" and "Corporate" personas and continued his feud with Rollins, defeating him in a lumberjack match on the October 12 episode of Raw . "Demon" Kane lost his WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against Rollins at Hell in a Cell , and as per the stipulation, "Corporate" Kane

11220-547: The Champions XIX . On August 27, 1994, Malenko debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a heel participating in a professional wrestling tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship . He defeated Osamu Nishimura in the quarterfinals before he ended up losing to the eventual winner Shane Douglas in the semifinals. Malenko became known as "The Shooter " and

11385-556: The Cruiserweight Title but ended up losing the match. In mid-1998, Malenko engaged in a heated feud with Chris Jericho . To better Malenko's claims, Jericho boasted that he was "The Man of 1,004 Holds" and the two had a final showdown at Uncensored 1998 for the Cruiserweight title. After a long match, Jericho forced Malenko to submit in an angled Liontamer . After the match, the otherwise collected Malenko

11550-559: The Cruiserweight title four times. Malenko was stripped of the title, however, as he did not earn the title shot as himself. At The Great American Bash 1998 , Malenko and Jericho faced each other in a match for the vacant Cruiserweight title. Malenko lost by disqualification , making Jericho the champion. At Bash at the Beach 1998 , Malenko interfered in Jericho's title defense against Rey Mysterio Jr. allowing Mysterio to pin Jericho for

11715-428: The ECW Championship against Guerrero. He then continued teaming with CM Punk to earn a WWE Tag Team Championship match at Judgment Day on May 18, which they lost to John Morrison and The Miz . On the June 23 episode of Raw , as part of the 2008 WWE Draft , Kane was drafted to the Raw brand, making the ECW Championship exclusive to Raw. Kane lost the ECW Championship to Mark Henry at Night of Champions on June 29 in

11880-652: The February 11 episode of Raw , Kane defeated Dolph Ziggler to earn the final spot in the number one contender Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was the second man eliminated from the match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29 , Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston in another successful title defense. Following WrestleMania, Team Hell No rekindled their rivalry with The Shield after they saved The Undertaker from The Shield. On

12045-480: The February 19, 2001, edition of Raw Is War . He also briefly feuded with Jacqueline and Ivory , who were disgusted by his lecherous ways. A title feud with Crash Holly would begin after Crash interfered in a two-on-one intergender handicap match between Malenko, and both Jacqueline and Ivory, costing him the match. After both Guerrero and Benoit drifted away from the Radicalz, Malenko teamed with Saturn for

12210-519: The Intercontinental Championship from Chris Jericho , despite interference from Triple H and Ric Flair . On the October 7 episode of Raw , Kane successfully single-handedly defended the World Tag Team Championship in a four-team Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match , as The Hurricane had been attacked earlier that evening by Triple H and Ric Flair and was unable to compete. That match was later nominated as WWE's 2002 "Match of

12375-545: The Intercontinental Championship. Kane and the look-alike continued to fight one another in subsequent weeks, leading to a match between the two being scheduled for Vengeance on June 25, in which the real Kane lost to the impostor. On the June 26 episode of Raw , Kane threw the impostor out of the arena and removed his mask, saying "I believe that this is mine". Kane was absent from WWE television for two months thereafter as he toured Europe to promote See No Evil . Kane returned at SummerSlam on August 20, attacking Umaga , who

12540-399: The January 26, 2007 episode of SmackDown! , Kane was involved in a six-man elimination over-the-top-rope battle royal, with King Booker, MVP, The Miz , Chris Benoit, and Finlay . This match went to a no-contest as The Undertaker interrupted after Kane had been eliminated and punished by the remaining opponents. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, Kane eliminated King Booker, who re-entered

12705-577: The June 22 episode of SmackDown , Kane defeated Daniel Bryan. Meanwhile, Bryan's jilted ex-girlfriend AJ Lee turned her affections to both Punk and Kane. The feud culminated in a triple threat match at No Way Out , where Punk retained the WWE Championship after AJ distracted Kane. At Raw 1000 , Kane turned face once again when he was saved by his brother The Undertaker from an attack by Jinder Mahal , Drew McIntyre , Tyler Reks , Curt Hawkins , Hunico and Camacho . At SummerSlam , Kane

12870-415: The June 5, 2018, episode of Smackdown Live , Malenko appeared during the contract signing between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura . On April 26, 2019, Malenko and WWE ended their working relationship. This came after Malenko was a road agent for them for the previous 18 years. Pro Wrestling Insider would later report that he did not do anything wrong, WWE was just in the process of cycling out some of

13035-501: The May 27 episode of Raw . On the June 14 episode of SmackDown , Kane, Bryan and Randy Orton ended the Shield's unpinned/unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag matches. Kane unsuccessfully challenged Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship two days later at Payback and the following night on Raw . On the July 8 episode of Raw , Kane beat Christian in a Money in the Bank qualifying match, then he

13200-430: The October 29 episode of SmackDown was named the new challenger to Kane's World Heavyweight Championship at Survivor Series . On the November 12 episode of SmackDown , Edge kidnapped Bearer and started to play mind games with Kane, trying to psychologically wear him down before their title match. At Survivor Series, Kane retained his title after the referee determined the match a draw due to both men pinning each other at

13365-798: The Rock 'n' Roll Express in a coal miner's glove match for the SMW Tag Team Championship (Jacobs' first championship ). They held the titles until July 1995, when they lost to the Thugs . Later that month, the feud between the Dynamic Duo and the Rock 'n' Roll Express culminated in a street fight at Summer Blast 1995, with the Rock 'n' Roll Express victorious. On August 4, 1995, at the Superbowl of Wrestling event, Jacobs lost to World Wrestling Federation wrestler The Undertaker , who

13530-470: The September 13 episode of Raw , Kane accidentally fell on Lita during a match with the debuting Gene Snitsky , who hit him on the back with a steel chair, ostensibly causing Lita to miscarry. Kane turned face by seeking revenge against Snitsky for causing the death of his child but lost to Snitsky in a steel chain match (which was selected by the fans) at Taboo Tuesday on October 19. Kane was sidelined for several months after Snitsky crushed his larynx with

13695-416: The SmackDown! brand. On the November 3 episode of SmackDown! , Kane reunited with The Undertaker as The Brothers of Destruction to defeat Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Mr. Kennedy . Kane continued a feud with MVP competing in several gimmick matches. The result of the feud was an Inferno match at Armageddon on December 17; Kane won by setting MVP's back on fire which resulted in first degree burns. On

13860-524: The USWA as "Doomsday." On October 10, 1993, he wrestled in a dark match for the World Wrestling Federation under his real name, defeating Mike Bell at a WWF Superstars taping in Burlington, Vermont . In December 1993, he wrestled in Japan for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi under his real name. In 1994, Jacobs began wrestling for Tri-State Wrestling promotion in Central City, Kentucky , and

14025-526: The WWF farm promotion, the Heartland Wrestling Association , in what was Malenko's final match. Malenko appeared in the ring along with other WWE alumni during WWE Raw Homecoming on October 3, 2005. His close friend Eddie Guerrero died on November 13, 2005, and Malenko made a special appearance on the November 14 edition of Raw alongside Chris Benoit. The following Friday on SmackDown! , Malenko once again appeared after

14190-443: The World Heavyweight Championship against Mysterio, and following their match, The Undertaker appeared. Kane was revealed as The Undertaker's attacker, thus turning heel once again and reigniting their feud. He successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match at Night of Champions . On the following episode of SmackDown , a casket was brought to ringside by druids to reveal

14355-502: The World Heavyweight Championship, which was won by Shawn Michaels . Kane then formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam , with the duo eventually winning the World Tag Team Championship from Chief Morley and Lance Storm in a triple threat elimination match (also involving The Dudley Boyz ) on the March 31, 2003 episode of Raw . After they lost their World Tag Team Championship to La Résistance at Bad Blood on June 15, Triple H offered Kane

14520-422: The World Heavyweight Championship. He became the first wrestler to cash in the Money in the Bank contract on the same night it was won and also holds the record for the fastest cash in at 47 minutes. On the next SmackDown on July 23, Kane accused Mysterio of putting The Undertaker in a vegetative state; Mysterio countered the accusations, claiming that Kane himself was the perpetrator. At SummerSlam , Kane retained

14685-518: The Year". Kane and The Hurricane lost the World Tag Team Championship to Chris Jericho and Christian the following week on Raw . Also in October, Kane began feuding with Triple H, leading to a match at No Mercy on October 20 in which both Kane's Intercontinental Championship and Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship were at stake. In the weeks preceding the match, Triple H claimed that, several years earlier, Kane had an unrequited relationship with

14850-485: The aforementioned voices and mask video began playing, Kane chokeslammed JBL and Mysterio, before leaving the ring. On the following episode of Raw , he claimed that May 19 was the date on which his mother and adopted family were killed in a fire. The voices continued to the May 29 episode of Raw , when Kane was confronted by the source of the voice, an impostor Kane ; wearing Kane's old mask and ring attire, he chokeslammed Kane during his match against Shelton Benjamin for

15015-414: The back of a truck. The following week, Kane accidentally injured Bearer, believing it to be another hoax by Edge, and Bearer was written out of the storyline. The week after, Kane rampaged into the stadium to hunt down Edge hoping to get back at him but the two were nearly restrained by the entire Smackdown roster. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Kane lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Edge in

15180-536: The belt back, Malenko hit him in the back of the head with the camcorder and knocked the champion out, enabling him to pin Guerrero and win his first United States Championship. He retained the belt at Slamboree on May 18, 1997, by defeating Jeff Jarrett , but lost the title to him on the June 9, 1997, episode of Nitro . At World War 3 , Malenko participated in a 60-man, three-ring battle royal won by The Giant . At Starrcade 1997 , he challenged Guerrero for

15345-413: The champion CM Punk and the challenger Batista, causing the match to end in a double disqualification. In September, Kane began a feud with Rey Mysterio that lasted through Survivor Series on November 23. On the March 2, 2009 episode of Raw , Kane pinned Mike Knox in a triple threat match, also involving Rey Mysterio, to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 25 on April 5,

15510-427: The championship to Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga the following night on Raw . The team disbanded after the match, as Big Show suffered an injury. Kane participated in the second annual SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match , but the match was won by Daniel Bryan . On the July 22 episode of SmackDown after losing a street fight to Randy Orton, Kane was attacked by Mark Henry , who injured his leg with

15675-482: The company as "Isaac Yankem, DDS ", Jerry Lawler 's private dentist, in a vignette on the June 26, 1995 episode of Raw . Placing emphasis on Jacobs' imposing height and weight, Yankem was portrayed as a monstrous figure whom Lawler had hired for the purpose of ridding the WWF of his long-time nemesis, Bret Hart . The character's in-ring debut occurred at a Superstars taping on August 15, where Jacobs lost to Hart by count-out. At that month's SummerSlam event, Yankem

15840-399: The condition that if she lost she would be obliged to go on a date with him. Lita accepted and almost caught Malenko by a few nearfalls throughout the match, but in the end lost the match by submitting to his signature Cloverleaf. Malenko's feud with the Hardy Boyz and Lita continued in early 2001, culminating with Lita pinning him (with some assistance from Matt Hardy ) in a match on

16005-431: The date May 19. During the match between Kane and Big Show at Backlash on April 30, Kane's voice began echoing throughout the arena saying "May 19th", "It's happening again" and "They're all going to know", leaving Kane visibly shaken. Big Show then struck Kane with a chair, resulting in a no contest. On May 19, Kane appeared on SmackDown! as John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL)'s hand-picked opponent for Rey Mysterio . After

16170-503: The duo being known as the Brothers of Destruction . At Breakdown: In Your House in September 1998, Kane, The Undertaker, and Stone Cold Steve Austin competed in a triple threat match for Austin's WWF Championship; Kane and Undertaker were prohibited from pinning each other, so they pinned Austin at the same time . The half-brothers fought one another for the vacant WWF Championship at Judgment Day: In Your House in October 1998, with

16335-464: The fact that he had caused him to lose his Cruiserweight belt and began to attempt to win the United States title from him. The match between the two took place at Uncensored the next month and interference from Syxx played a role again. The Cruiserweight Champion again tried to take Guerrero's title, but in the process dropped the camcorder he carried to the ring with him. After Guerrero took

16500-653: The faction of which X-Pac was a member. His first unaided words were the DX slogan "suck it". The duo won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice. The tag team broke apart when X-Pac turned on Kane and rejoined DX. Kane and X-Pac then engaged in a lengthy feud against each other, which was exacerbated in early 2000, when Tori betrayed Kane and joined X-Pac and DX, leading to Kane briefly reuniting with Paul Bearer. With Bearer once again by his side, Kane proceeded to terrorize DX at every opportunity he could, once forcing

16665-599: The fans. In September 1995, Malenko and Benoit joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he continued to be a villain . Malenko came to be known in WCW as "The Iceman" Dean Malenko because of his cold, calculating demeanor and was also given the nickname of "The Man of 1,000 Holds". On May 2, 1996, Malenko defeated Shinjiro Otani for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in Orlando . He held

16830-481: The feud, teaming up with Kane. On the May 4 episode of SmackDown! , Kane competed in a number one contender's match for the United States Championship against MVP. Kane lost due to interference by Regal and Taylor. On the May 25 episode of SmackDown! , Kane competed in a fatal four-way number one contender's match for the World Heavyweight Championship which was won by Batista. Kane then entered

16995-419: The first Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels . In keeping with the notion that Kane had been burned and scarred by the fire—and to conceal Jacobs's identity—the character wore a mask , sported long hair, and wore red and black ring attire that almost covered his entire body. Kane and The Undertaker feuded with one another over the following year, during which time their history vis-à-vis one another

17160-488: The following weeks, leading to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII , which Kane won. In a rematch on the following SmackDown , Orton defeated Kane in a No Disqualification match. After Kane attacked Orton and his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton , the pair faced off at Extreme Rules , in a Falls Count Anywhere match, which Orton won by utilizing a steel chair. At the Over the Limit preshow, Kane defeated Zack Ryder. Kane then engaged in

17325-646: The group to send Rikishi after Kane to stop him. The former partners' feud eventually ended at WrestleMania 2000 , where Kane teamed with Rikishi to defeat X-Pac and Road Dogg . Kane returned on the May 29 episode of Raw , when he helped The Undertaker and The Rock fight off the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. His involvement in this feud culminated in a main event match at King of the Ring against Vince and Shane McMahon , and then-champion Triple H . The Undertaker and Kane's rivalry resurfaced during

17490-604: The highest cumulative total eliminations at 46. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 . A long-term supporter of libertarian political causes, in March 2017, Jacobs announced that he was running for the mayoral seat of Knox County, Tennessee as a Republican. He won the Republican primary election on May 1, 2018, and the general election on August 2, 2018 . He was reelected on August 4, 2022 . Jacobs made numerous appearances in film and on television, including

17655-400: The incident, was left physically and mentally scarred. Undertaker claimed Kane, a pyromaniac , started the fire and could not possibly have survived (in October 1998 Undertaker confessed to purposely burning down the home in attempt to murder Kane). Kane debuted at Badd Blood: In Your House on October 5, 1997, using The Undertaker's signature tombstone piledriver to cost him the victory in

17820-482: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

17985-435: The insane asylum. During this time, Kane aligned himself with Chyna and feuded with Triple H . At WrestleMania XV , Kane was betrayed by Chyna and thrown out of The Corporation. Kane then formed a tag team with X-Pac and acquired a girlfriend, Tori . While teaming with X-Pac, Kane evolved from being mute to aided speech through an electrolarynx to speaking unaided. He also became associated with D-Generation X (DX),

18150-644: The latter as the Brothers of Destruction . Following his WWF debut, he remained a pivotal component of the company's Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, defeating top star Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship in his first pay-per-view (PPV) main event at King of the Ring in June 1998. He continued to headline PPV cards over the next 20 years, with more PPV appearances than any other performer in WWF/WWE history besides Randy Orton . In WWE, Kane won numerous championships ; he

18315-595: The lead role in the 2006 WWE Studios production See No Evil and its 2014 sequel . Jacobs was born in the Spanish town of Torrejón de Ardoz to a United States Air Force family that was stationed in Spain at the time of his birth. He grew up in the United States near St. Louis , Missouri, and attended high school in Bowling Green, Missouri , where he excelled in football and basketball . He went on to earn

18480-455: The main event of the December 22 edition of Superstars and defeated Marc Mero on Shotgun Saturday Night on January 11, 1997. Diesel and Ramon last appeared on television at the 1997 Royal Rumble , where Jacobs was the third-to-last participant. Jacobs continued to work sporadic live events as Diesel through April. In May he and Razor Ramon went to Mexico to work for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide . On June 24, 1997, Jacobs lost to Razor Ramon in

18645-466: The match at Fatal 4-Way. Kane participated in his fourth Money in the Bank ladder match at its first eponymous pay-per-view . He won the match, and cashed in his Money in the Bank contract later that night, defeating Rey Mysterio (who had just defeated Jack Swagger) to win the World Heavyweight Championship, thus making Kane the first wrestler in WWE history to win the WWE Championship, the ECW Championship, and

18810-562: The match ending in a no contest when special guest referee Austin counted a double pinfall and declared himself the winner; during the match, The Undertaker betrayed Kane for Paul Bearer, turning Kane face . At Rock Bottom: In Your House , Kane interfered in the Buried Alive match between Austin and The Undertaker, attacking Undertaker and costing him the match. As a result, The Corporation had Kane committed to an insane asylum. In December, Kane joined The Corporation to stay out of

18975-468: The match following interference from his stablemates, and on the June 23 episode of Raw , Kane removed his mask and chokeslammed Van Dam, turning heel in the process. The unmasking rendered Kane emotionally unstable, and in an interview with Jim Ross on the July 14 episode of Raw , Kane attacked Ross and set him on fire. He later attacked Linda McMahon on the Raw stage the following week. This action sparked

19140-510: The match, but they patched their relationship up soon after. Kane later turned heel by assaulting The Undertaker, leading to a match between the two at SummerSlam . The match ended when The Undertaker removed Kane's mask, causing him to flee the ring, covering his exposed face. Kane stayed in contention for the WWF Championship for the remainder of the year and ended 2000 in a feud with Chris Jericho ; Kane defeated him at Survivor Series and again at Rebellion , but he ultimately lost to Jericho in

19305-471: The night after his last WCW match, Malenko signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and debuted during the Attitude Era on January 31, 2000, edition of Raw Is War . Malenko first appeared in the crowd with the infamous Radicalz – himself, Eddie Guerrero , Chris Benoit , and Perry Saturn – who all made exits from WCW at the same time. While not having as much success in the WWF, Malenko

19470-408: The number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship, and defeating champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the titles at Night of Champions . Kane and Bryan made their first successful title defense the following night on Raw , defeating the former champions in a rematch. The following week on Raw , "Team Hell No" was chosen as the official team name via a Twitter poll. Team Hell No entered

19635-581: The older agents, due to the recent signings of multiple new agents. On May 24, 2019, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) announced that Malenko had joined them as a senior producer , which he makes occasional appearances on TNT since his last match on the December 27, 1999, episode of WCW Monday Nitro . He made an appearance in Philadelphia following the October 8, 2021, edition of Rampage when Tony Khan called him out alongside Jerry Lynn , Taz and Chris Jericho to thank them for inspiring him. Simon

19800-622: The others in the ring were attacked by the Nexus . Malenko appeared along the rest of the WWE roster after the April 23, 2012, episode of Raw to celebrate John Cena 's 35th birthday. In November 2015, Malenko was inducted into 2300 Arena Hardcore Hall of Fame . On the September 11, 2017, episode of Raw , Malenko made a brief backstage appearance alongside Jamie Noble , where the two were seen as possible choices by Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as their partners for an eight-man tag-team match, but were quickly dismissed. On

19965-601: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Dean Malenko Dean Simon (born August 4, 1960), better known by

20130-420: The process. As part of his character change, he appeared unmasked and wore a suit and tie to fit in with the corporate ideology of The Authority, and was given a fictional role as "Director of Operations". When appearing in a suit and tie Kane was referred to as "Corporate Kane." Kane participated in the 2014 Royal Rumble , and was eliminated by CM Punk. He reappeared later during the match, eliminating Punk to tie

20295-625: The record for most eliminations in the Royal Rumble match; his 13-year-old record for most eliminations in a single Rumble was broken by Roman Reigns . Kane then involved himself in The Authority's feud with Daniel Bryan, which included Kane booking himself in a match with Bryan on the February 17 episode of Raw and interfering in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber (where Randy Orton

20460-622: The remainder of 2005, during which time they engaged in an inter-promotional feud with members of the SmackDown! brand. On the December 12 episode of Raw , Kane defeated Triple H in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match, then Kane participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship at New Year's Revolution on January 8, 2006 but he was eliminated by Carlito and Chris Masters . He and Big Show feuded with Carlito and Masters throughout early 2006, culminating in

20625-444: The return of Paul Bearer, supporting The Undertaker. At Hell in a Cell , Bearer turned on The Undertaker and allied himself with Kane, who retained the World Heavyweight Championship in a Hell in a Cell match with Bearer's help. At Bragging Rights , Kane defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match after help from The Nexus to retain the title once again, thus ending their feud. Kane then rekindled his feud with Edge , who on

20790-507: The ring and eliminated him. On the February 2 episode of SmackDown! , while receiving the key to the city in his hometown of Houston, King Booker was attacked by Kane starting a feud between the two. At No Way Out on February 18, Kane defeated King Booker. On the February 23 episode of SmackDown! , Kane lost to King Booker in a Falls Count Anywhere Money in the Bank Qualifying match after interference from The Great Khali , sparking

20955-542: The ring, and The Undertaker attacked them both by jumping over the ring ropes surrounded by fire before setting Kane's right arm on fire. At Over the Edge: In Your House , Kane defeated Vader in a Mask vs. Mask match . On the June 1 episode of Raw Is War , Kane defeated The Undertaker to become the number one contender to the WWF Championship. At the King of the Ring , Kane defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin in

21120-407: The same time. As Edge still had Bearer in his captivity, Kane agreed to a rematch at the next pay-per-view. On the December 3 episode of SmackDown , Edge defeated Kane in a non-title match to win the right to determine the stipulation for the title match; Edge chose a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match before leaving Kane with a Paul Bearer lookalike and driving away with the genuine Bearer strapped to

21285-505: The same to The Undertaker prior to the event. On the May 12 edition of Raw , Mankind reintroduced Bearer, who attempted to reunite with Undertaker because of his status as WWF Champion. This was all following a long period of mutual hostility between the two. After The Undertaker's adamant refusals, Bearer used the ultimatum of revealing The Undertaker's "deepest, darkest secret" to the world in order to coerce him into being his protégé. The Undertaker begrudgingly acceded to Bearer's wishes for

21450-497: The three organizations. Pro Wrestling Illustrated named Malenko the #1 wrestler in the world in 1997, and he was inducted into the Hardcore Hall of Fame in 2015. He has been described by commentators as one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time. Multiple-time world champion Bryan Danielson said that his "number one guy, growing up, was Dean Malenko". Following his retirement as an in-ring competitor, he worked as

21615-407: The time Edge . This led to a feud between Kane and Edge, whom Kane defeated at Vengeance on June 26 despite interference from Snitsky. The feud ended when Edge defeated Kane in a Stretcher match on the July 25 episode of Raw . Kane returned to WWE television on the October 17 episode of Raw , winning an 18-man battle royal. As a result of his victory, he, along with Big Show and Shawn Michaels,

21780-471: The title after pinning Kane for the win at The Great American Bash. Kane later teamed up with Batista on the August 18 Saturday Night's Main Event to defeat Khali and Finlay. Kane then entered a storyline with Finlay, which led to a match at SummerSlam on August 26, which Kane won after chokeslamming Finlay. They continued to feud, which included Kane losing to Finlay in a number one contender's tournament on

21945-465: The title by any means. Kane again lost to Benoit, and following the match, Lita came to the ring and low-blowed Kane, who initially went to chokeslam her in revenge, but stopped when he realized that she was trying to force him to cause her to miscarry their child. Kane and Matt Hardy faced one another in a "Till Death Do Us Part" match at SummerSlam on August 15, with Lita obliged to wed the victor. Kane defeated Hardy at SummerSlam, and "married" Lita on

22110-512: The title for two months, making successful defenses against the likes of Brad Armstrong , Rey Mysterio Jr. and Disco Inferno before losing the title to Mysterio on the July, 8 edition of Nitro . He defeated Mysterio Jr. for his second WCW Cruiserweight Championship at Halloween Havoc 1996 . After a successful title defense against Psychosis at World War 3 , Malenko lost the Cruiserweight title to Ultimate Dragon (Último Dragón) at Starrcade 1996 where Dragón's J-Crown Championship

22275-729: The title to Rhyno on an episode of SmackDown! . Kane and The Undertaker began teaming as The Brothers of Destruction, and in the course of the year they feuded with Edge and Christian , Rikishi and Haku , and The Two-Man Power Trip . At Judgment Day , Kane defeated Triple H to win the Intercontinental Championship . Kane lost the title to Albert on an episode of SmackDown! following interference from Diamond Dallas Page . During The Invasion , Kane and The Undertaker feuded with Page and Kanyon after Page began stalking The Undertaker's wife Sara. The feud culminated at SummerSlam , where they defeated Page and Kanyon in

22440-479: The title to Scotty on the April 17 edition of Raw Is War before he won his second WWF Light Heavyweight Championship from Scotty on the April 27 episode of SmackDown! . At Backlash 2000 , Malenko successfully defended the title against Scotty, thus ending the feud between the two. Later that year, with Benoit having drifted away from the group, Malenko engaged in a feud with Guerrero and Saturn which stemmed from Guerrero's on-screen relationship with Chyna and

22605-414: The title. The title was returned to Jericho, however, because of interference by Malenko. Malenko was fired in storyline, but returned at Road Wild 1998 as the special guest referee during Jericho's defense against Juventud Guerrera . Juventud won the match and the title. In September 1998, Malenko became a part of the final incarnation of Ric Flair 's Four Horsemen faction . They feuded with

22770-545: The titles to Rey Mysterio Jr. and Billy Kidman . After the Horsemen were finally disbanded in May 1999 due to Flair's abuse of power, Malenko joined up with Shane Douglas ' faction, The Revolution , which was formed in July 1999. They feuded with David Flair , Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon . At Bash at the Beach (1999) , Malenko challenged David for the US title but lost the match. They battled many teams throughout

22935-612: The two. The two continued to battle in the following weeks. Kane was voted to face the defending champion MVP for his United States Championship at Cyber Sunday on October 28, which Kane won by countout and thus did not win the title. After this, he continued to feud with Big Daddy V, with the two ending up on opposite teams at Survivor Series on November 18, where Kane's team won. Big Daddy V eventually began to team with Mark Henry, while Kane teamed with CM Punk. The feud concluded at Armageddon on December 16, where Kane and Punk lost to Big Daddy V and Henry after Big Daddy V pinned Punk. In

23100-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

23265-405: The year including West Texas Rednecks, First Family , The Filthy Animals and The Varsity Club . Malenko's last WCW match was a " catch-as-catch-can " match with Billy Kidman at Souled Out in January 2000. Early on, Malenko instinctively left the ring to regroup and was disqualified under the match stipulations because his feet hit the arena floor. After being granted his release from WCW

23430-400: Was a force in the promotion 's light heavyweight division . Along with Guerrero, Benoit, and Saturn, he had some measure of success as part of The Radicalz. On the March 13 edition of Raw Is War , Malenko defeated Essa Rios for his first Light Heavyweight Championship . In April 2000, he feuded with Scotty 2 Hotty who was the new challenger for his Light Heavyweight title. He dropped

23595-496: Was also on the line. Malenko defeated Dragón on the January 22, 1997 Clash of the Champions XXXIV to win his third WCW Cruiserweight Championship. He would hold the belt for nearly a month before losing it to Syxx at SuperBrawl VII . Malenko lost the match after Eddie Guerrero inadvertently caused Malenko to be hit with Guerrero's United States Title belt . Malenko then entered a feud with Guerrero, angry over

23760-436: Was attacked and injured by Kane and the title was vacated, Batista faced Kane in a number one contender's match on the July 20 episode of SmackDown! . During the match, new World Heavyweight Champion The Great Khali interfered by attacking Batista; the match was ruled a no-contest and both men were ruled the number one contenders and were scheduled to face Khali in a triple threat match at The Great American Bash. Khali retained

23925-415: Was attacked and injured by the debuting Wyatt Family , removing him from his scheduled match at Money in the Bank . Kane returned three weeks later, losing to Bryan. Following the match, he was attacked again by The Wyatt Family, setting up a Ring of Fire match at SummerSlam against Bray Wyatt . Kane lost the match, following interference from Erick Rowan and Luke Harper , and after another attack, he

24090-454: Was carried out of the arena by The Wyatt Family. The storyline was put in place to allow Jacobs time off to film See No Evil 2 . Following a two-month hiatus, Kane returned at Hell in a Cell on October 27, attacking both The Wyatt Family and The Miz . The next night on Raw , Kane pledged allegiance to Stephanie McMahon by handing her his mask, and reinforced his loyalty the next week by aiding members of The Authority , turning heel in

24255-423: Was defeated by Bryan. As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby and they were later forced to compete in a "Hug it Out" match. At the arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant infighting during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time Players ( Titus O'Neil and Darren Young ) to become

24420-400: Was defending his championship against Bryan, John Cena, Sheamus , Cesaro , and Christian .) Following WrestleMania XXX , after Kane and The New Age Outlaws lost to The Shield, Kane was berated by Stephanie McMahon and told to find the "Big Red Monster" that he was before. He returned to his masked self that same week, attacking Big Show following the April 15 episode of Main Event . On

24585-448: Was disqualified when he hung Hart by twisting him in the top and middle ropes by his neck. He lost to Hart in a steel cage match in the main event of the October 16 episode of Raw and finally in a tag team match against Hart and Hakushi , in which he was partnered with Lawler on November 6. After his initial run with Hart, Jacobs was part of an unsuccessful team in an elimination match at November's Survivor Series and participated in

24750-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

24915-514: Was eliminated by Cesaro . At Extreme Rules , Kane served as the "gatekeeper" for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage match between Seth Rollins and Randy Orton, which Rollins won by escaping the cage. At Payback , Kane secured his role as Director of Operations by helping Rollins retain his title in a fatal four-way match against Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns. At Money in

25080-555: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

25245-538: Was expounded. Jacobs won his first match as Kane against Mankind at Survivor Series . The Undertaker initially refused to face him and adamantly so while Kane humiliated him, The Undertaker claiming he had promised his parents he would never do harm to his own "flesh and blood." After what was thought to be a brief partnership, Kane betrayed The Undertaker by costing him the WWF Championship, Kane interfering in The Undertaker's title match against Shawn Michaels at

25410-505: Was featured in an Internet poll to decide who would receive a shot at the WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday on November 1. In the weeks before Taboo Tuesday, Kane and Big Show teamed together on several occasions. The poll was won by Michaels, and Kane and Big Show teamed together to face Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch , defeating them for the World Tag Team Championship. The duo successfully retained their championship throughout

25575-511: Was fired from his role as The Authority 's Director of Operations. Following Hell in a Cell, Kane reunited with The Undertaker to feud with The Wyatt Family . At Survivor Series , The Brothers of Destruction defeated Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper in a tag team match. Kane was the seventh entrant in the 2016 Royal Rumble match , and was eliminated by Braun Strowman . At Fastlane , Kane teamed up with Big Show and Ryback to defeat The Wyatt Family. At WrestleMania 32 , Kane participated in

25740-563: Was given a gimmick similar to an Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter (due to his resemblance to Royce Gracie ). On November 4, 1994, he defeated 2 Cold Scorpio to win his first ECW Television Championship . In the beginning of 1995, Malenko formed a faction called the Triple Threat with Chris Benoit and Shane Douglas . On February 25, 1995, at Return of the Funker , Benoit and Malenko defeated Sabu and Tazmaniac for

25905-696: Was hired by Jim Cornette for his Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion in Morristown, Tennessee , where he was named "Unabomb" (a reference to the Unabomber ). He briefly teamed with Eddie Gilbert before forming a tag team with Al Snow named the Dynamic Duo and beginning a feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express . In April 1995, at the Bluegrass Brawl III event, the Dynamic Duo defeated

26070-544: Was interfering in the D-Generation-X versus Mr. McMahon and Shane McMahon tag team match. Upon his return, he faced his former partner Big Show for the ECW World Championship in a losing effort. Soon after, Kane would engage in a major feud with Umaga that concluded on the October 9 episode of Raw in a Loser Leaves Raw match, which he lost. On the October 13 episode of SmackDown! , Kane moved to

26235-488: Was left in an unusual fit of frustration. Gene Okerlund then confronted Malenko post-match, aggressively citing his many losses in the past several months and asking where he would go from this point. Dejected and worn down, Malenko replied simply, "Home," and would not be seen on WCW TV for two months. In the ensuing two months, Jericho proceeded to mercilessly taunt Malenko, including insulting Malenko's father and attacking Malenko's brother. At Slamboree 1998 , Jericho held

26400-626: Was making a special appearance with SMW. He made his final appearance with SMW at the following month's Fire on the Mountain 1995 event, with the Thugs defeating the Dynamic Duo in a loser leaves town match . Jacobs appeared with WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation or WWF) as "Mike Unabomb" at the February 20, 1995 Raw taping, defeating Reno Riggins in a dark match. He wrestled intermittently as Unabomb through August. Jacobs made his first television appearance with

26565-456: Was once again victorious. Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

26730-486: Was spurned. This led to him kidnapping Lita in May, and on the same night, Kane won a 20-man battle royal for a World Heavyweight Championship match against Chris Benoit at Bad Blood on June 13. Six days before Bad Blood in a handicap tag team match between Kane and La Resistance against Edge and Benoit, Kane pinned Benoit, then lost to him at Bad Blood. Lita later announced that she was pregnant, with Matt Hardy her then-boyfriend both on- and off-screen, assuming that he

26895-488: Was the child's father. On the June 21 episode of Raw , Kane claimed that he was the father. The next week, he explained that he had impregnated Lita to continue his legacy and justified an attack on Shawn Michaels a week earlier by claiming that Michaels had stood in the way of him winning the World Heavyweight Championship. To appease Kane, General Manager Eric Bischoff gave Kane a rematch with Benoit, instructing Benoit that he could only win by submission, whereas Kane could win

27060-471: Was very sad since two of his close friends, Eddie and Benoit, both died, but said he was happy that they were together again. Malenko next appeared on the March 31, 2008, episode of Raw to join The Four Horsemen and other WWE superstars in a farewell tribute to Ric Flair. He made an appearance on the June 28, 2010, episode of Raw congratulating Ricky Steamboat on his DVD release. He and all

27225-404: Was won by John Cena. At Battleground , Kane competed in a WWE World Heavyweight Championship fatal four-way match against John Cena, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns, but Cena retained the title. On the July 28 episode of Raw , Kane was scheduled to face Roman Reigns, but Kane and Randy Orton attacked Reigns before the match began. On the August 4 episode of Raw , after Kane lost to Roman Reigns in

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