Theodore Robert Rufus Long (born September 15, 1947) is an American former professional wrestling referee , manager and authority figure best known for his tenures in NWA , WCW and WWE .
213-729: Long began his career in the National Wrestling Alliance and made his WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation) debut in 1998 as a referee. He transitioned to be an on-screen manager in 2003 and later served as General Manager of SmackDown for two tenures lasting a combined six years as well as a one-year stint as ECW General Manager. In 2017, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Ron Simmons and John Layfield . Long started out as an errand boy for wrestlers Tommy Rich and Abdullah
426-690: 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 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
639-594: 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
852-588: 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
1065-408: 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
1278-653: A World Title tournament for the vacant NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Unbeknownst to any one, the event was staged for ECW's public withdrawal from the NWA, with tournament winner Shane Douglas throwing down the NWA title belt and instead picking up the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt, proclaiming himself to be the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. ECW founder Tod Gordon would subsequently announce ECW's secession from
1491-514: A controversial segment from that month's Samhain PPV event, in which Father James Mitchell along with several women and wrestlers were seen consuming cocaine , drew negative reactions online. The following month, The CW signed a deal with WWE for its weekly NXT program. Though it was rumored to be in-response to the Samhain segment, Corgan later revealed in a 2024 interview with Fightful that
1704-720: 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
1917-500: 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
2130-454: A World Heavyweight Championship match between Randy Orton and Christian who had just won it for the first time five nights previous at Extreme Rules . On the June 3 episode of SmackDown , Christian was chosen by Long as the special guest referee for a World Heavyweight Championship match between Orton and Sheamus who beat Christian and Mark Henry in a triple threat number one contender's match for
2343-646: 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
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#17327830499242556-544: A brief backstage appearance during Raw 25 Years . Long also made an appearance on the January 4, 2021 episode of Raw under the Raw Legends Night special wherein he announced that he booked The Miz and John Morrison in a tag-team match against The New Day , in which the latter won, He also appeared on the special throwback episode of SmackDown on May 7, 2021. On January 23, 2023, Long appeared on Raw
2769-502: 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
2982-584: 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
3195-460: 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
3408-486: A fatal four-way match against Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett to determine the number one contender for Henry's title which would be defended on the November 29 episode of SmackDown in a steel cage match. After TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs , Santino Marella replaced Zack Ryder (who had just won his first United States Championship) as the assistant SmackDown general manager. On February 21, 2012, Long
3621-404: 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
3834-586: 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
4047-634: A feud with Drew McIntyre , the first part of which revolved around McIntyre qualifying for the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI , which was instead won by Jack Swagger. On the May 7 episode of SmackDown , after McIntyre brutally assaulted Matt Hardy, Long stripped McIntyre of his Intercontinental Championship and fired him. As a result, the Intercontinental Championship
4260-606: 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
4473-568: 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
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#17327830499244686-471: A fight. On the June 25 episode of SmackDown , Long reinstated Hardy and made McIntyre compete against the returning Hardy. Hardy would win the match, but after the match, Long came out and told McIntyre that his work visa had expired, and made security carry him out of the arena. On the July 9 edition of SmackDown , McIntyre was reinstated and pleaded forgiveness from Long, even going so far as to nominate Long as
4899-509: 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
5112-405: A frustrated McIntyre announced a match between Long and McIntyre would take place the following week on SmackDown per orders of McMahon. McIntyre said if Long didn't compete, he would be fired. McIntyre then went on to win the match the following week, after it was ordered that Long had get down on his knees, proclaim Drew as "The Chosen One" and then lay on his back and let McIntyre pin him without
5325-659: 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 a one-off appearance with World Championship Wrestling , losing to Sting on an episode of WCW Saturday Night filmed in Macon, Georgia , under
5538-467: 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
5751-427: A holding company run by Houston, Texas-based attorney and wrestling promoter R. Bruce Tharpe, sued Trobich, Baucom, the NWA, and its then-parent company, Trobich's Pro Wrestling Organization LLC, claiming insurance fraud regarding the NWA's liability insurance policy. A settlement was negotiated that transferred the rights to the NWA name and trademarks from Trobich's company to Tharpe's. The new organization moved from
5964-565: A job as his new assistant, to which Long reluctantly accepted. Laurinaitis hired the evil Eve Torres to be his Executive Administrator, and informed Long that he would now be working under Eve and would report to her. As Eve's subordinate, the next few weeks were hell for Long. Eve found the role to be a power trip and enjoyed abusing her position by bullying and humiliating Teddy on numerous occasions. She took great pleasure in humiliating him by forcing him to do menial, degrading tasks; such as making him wear an apron and name tag at all times, like
6177-507: A larger audience than ever before. Rising demand and national expansion made wrestling a much more lucrative form of entertainment than in decades previous. This era would go on to be known as the "Golden Age" of professional wrestling. From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcast wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the DuMont Television Network . In 1956, allegations were made that
6390-409: A loose coalition of independent promotions, with NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) given exclusivity over its World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships from June 2002 to May 2007. In August 2012, the NWA discontinued its memberships and started licensing its brand to wrestling promotions. In 2017, it was purchased by Billy Corgan through his Lightning One, Inc. company. By late 2019–2023,
6603-547: 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
Theodore Long - Misplaced Pages Continue
6816-478: A maid. As well as stand guard by a door dressed as a Queen's soldier. She also enjoyed ordering him to get her coffee, and would throw the coffee all over him if it wasn't to her satisfaction. Long was also forced by Eve to rub oil on Antonio Cesaro for a photoshoot, this was particularly humiliating for Teddy as it was in front of his ex love interest (and Cesaro's girlfriend) Aksana, who seemed to find Long's predicament extremely entertaining. At Extreme Rules , he
7029-477: 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
7242-413: A match with Kane. Long won the match when Randy Orton attacked Kane at ringside, which distracted Laurinaitis. The Aksana-Kane match never took place. A 12-man Tag Team match was then set up at WrestleMania XXVIII , where six superstars would represent both general managers. Long chose Santino Marella as his team captain, along with Kofi Kingston, R-Truth , Zack Ryder, The Great Khali and Booker T over
7455-408: A member of the WWE Hall of Fame as well as get on his knees and proclaim Long "the best boss he ever had." Long, however, did not believe him and announced a Money in the Bank qualifying match (for the upcoming Money in the Bank pay-per-view) against Kofi Kingston. On the January 21 episode of SmackDown , Long was found ( kayfabe ) unconscious in his office, suffering a head injury. He returned on
7668-459: A membership model to a licensing model and significantly reduced the amount of territory some of the members held, which caused many promotions to immediately cut ties with the NWA. On September 9, 2012, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) announced it had left the NWA. CWFH was the unofficial home promotion of both the then-current NWA champion ( Adam Pearce ) and the most recent previous champion ( Colt Cabana ), both of whom publicly left
7881-421: A minute playa!” and his kayfabe obsession for placing wrestlers in a “ tag team match!”. National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) is an American professional wrestling promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional promotions,
8094-614: A name-change to the New Superstar Initiative , when Long moved to ECW in 2008 and would see the debuts of Sheamus , Jack Swagger , Kofi Kingston , Evan Bourne , Tyler Reks , Trent Baretta , Caylen Croft , DJ Gabriel , Ricky Ortiz , Gavin Spears , Braden Walker and ECW referee Aaron Davis. As part of the SmackDown! vs. Raw feud , Long defeated Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff at Survivor Series with
8307-463: A new distribution agreement with FITE TV . As part of this agreement, the NWA would remove content from their YouTube channel. On January 5, 2022, the NWA announced the launch of the NWA All Access subscription package on FITE TV, including past and upcoming pay-per-view events (PPV), new episodes of Powerrr on Tuesdays, and the newly announced NWA USA weekly series. In addition, it
8520-666: A new promotion called NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA). NWA:TNA was given creative control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships through an agreement with the NWA. This would last until March 2007, when the NWA terminated its agreement with TNA. TNA would lose control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships by the morning of the 2007 Sacrifice pay-per-view event on May 13. On September 17, 2010, KDOC-TV Los Angeles premiered NWA: Championship Wrestling from Hollywood . In August 2012, International Wrestling Corp.,
8733-605: A non-title match, and on 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
Theodore Long - Misplaced Pages Continue
8946-646: A number of issues. At the time Quinn walked out, a wrestler of his named Édouard Carpentier was involved in an angle where he and Lou Thesz were both being presented around the NWA as world champion after Carpentier had a disputed win over Thesz on June 14, 1957. As the 1950s came to a close, professional wrestling was losing television ratings, and soon TV stations dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups. The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which aired as late-night filler programming. Promoters started using localized television by purchasing airtime from rival territories, at
9159-597: A planned conspiracy. As he returned from the ring to the back stage area, he entered his waiting limousine only to be kidnapped by The Undertaker, who was in the driver's seat. The following week on SmackDown Long was brought into the arena inside a coffin by Undertaker's druids where he again legalized Undertaker's Hell's Gate submission hold. Long made a guest appearance on Raw and later Shawn Michaels performed his finishing maneuver Sweet Chin Music on Long after Long refused to draft Michaels to SmackDown. He then began
9372-492: 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
9585-721: 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
9798-546: A result of a low blow and reset the match, with the disqualification and countout rule waived. On the June 22, 2007 episode of SmackDown! , Long asked Kristal to marry him. Kristal ran out of the ring, crying, but later agreed to marry him. On the July 27, 2007 episode of SmackDown! , Ron Simmons was named the best man for "Theodore Rufus Long" and Kristal's wedding on the September 21, 2007 episode of SmackDown! emanating from Long's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. The wedding
10011-487: 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
10224-473: 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
10437-571: A stark contrast to other WWE managers, such as Eric Bischoff and Mr. McMahon , who would blatantly favor heels. At first, he continued to use the "Hater-ade" catch phrase he started using as a bad guy, but less aggressively, and with more humor in it. Long would also introduce the New Talent Initiative during this time, which saw the likes of Bobby Lashley and Mr. Kennedy debut in 2005 and Montel Vontavious Porter in 2006, among others. The New Talent Initiative would continue, with
10650-566: 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
10863-493: 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
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#173278304992411076-504: 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
11289-462: 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
11502-725: A stretcher. He wrestled in a 3 on 2 handicap match with The Rock and Jack Doan defeating Kane and Rikishi on Monday Night Raw on January 8, 2001. By late 2002, Vince McMahon wanted Long to become a heel manager like he was in NWA and WCW and decided to take Long off of television and the road for a while and by late summer 2003, He returned under his full name, and perhaps his most notable managing stint in this period came when managing D'Lo Brown , Rodney Mack , Christopher Nowinski , Rosey , Mark Henry and Jazz at different times, telling fans to "Get down wit' da Brown" and to "Back da Mack". Long teamed with Mack and Nowiniski, losing to The Dudley Boyz at Insurrextion (2003) . When he
11715-587: 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
11928-399: 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
12141-471: 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
12354-427: 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
12567-436: 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
12780-537: A year of inactivity, Long was released from WWE along with ten other contracts, ending his long tenure with the company. On October 10 for the 15th Anniversary of SmackDown , Long made a surprise appearance; getting into an argument with John Laurinaitis. This led to a 16-man Tag Team match, in which Team Teddy (Sheamus, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, The Usos , Los Matadores and El Torito ) defeated Team Johnny (Cesaro, Gold and Stardust , Bo Dallas , Damien Mizdow , Heath Slater , Titus O'Neil and Hornswoggle ). After
12993-524: Is War . Long went by the shortened Teddy Long name during this period. He was a referee at the Over The Edge 1999 PPV, during the match after Owen Hart 's tragic death: a mixed tag match between Jeff Jarrett / Debra and Val Venis / Nicole Bass . Long was the referee when Darren Drozdov ended up paralyzed and can be seen in WWE's Don't Try This At Home warning looking at the paramedics lift Droz up on
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#173278304992413206-453: Is XXX , celebrating the 30th anniversary of Monday Night Raw , where he booked a six-man tag match between Seth Rollins with The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) and Imperium ( Gunther , Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci ), after Imperium disrespected D-Generation X . On April 26, 2024, Long was seen as part of SmackDown backstage team during the 2024 WWE Draft . In 2014, Booker T had announced that Long would serve as
13419-458: Is a documentary series chronicling the journey and career of the current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion as well as others in the division. Debuting on October 20, 2017, on the NWA's YouTube channel, it was the first series to be produced after the organization's acquisition. NWA Shockwave was a web television program that aired on the NWA's YouTube channel and Facebook page. The series debuted on December 1, 2020. On August 10, 2020, it
13632-496: 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
13845-645: Is the flagship program of the NWA which currently streams on Tuesday nights on The CW 's app. The series debuted on October 8, 2019, originally airing on the NWA's YouTube channel. From 2021 to the end of 2022, the show had a first airing on Tuesday at 6:05 pm ET on FITE TV , with the episode debuting on the NWA's YouTube channel later in the same week in Friday at 6:05 pm ET. A companion series, titled NWA Power Surge (stylized as NWA Powerrr Surge ), premiered on April 13, 2021, and features wrestler interviews, unseen matches, and Powerrr recaps. Ten Pounds of Gold
14058-585: 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
14271-526: 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,
14484-475: The Breaking Point PPV, Long restarted the World Heavyweight Championship match between CM Punk and The Undertaker after Undertaker made Punk submit using his Hell's Gate submission finisher, stating that the ban on the maneuver was still in effect. On the September 18, 2009 episode of SmackDown , WWE chairman Mr. McMahon instructed Long to go down to the ring and explain his actions regarding
14697-521: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship . The match took place on November 12 and saw Storm retain the title. This was the first title match under the new NWA regime headed by Corgan. On December 9, Aldis defeated Storm in a rematch at Cage of Death 19 to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the second British-born champion after Gary Steele . In 2018, the NWA briefly allied with Impact Wrestling ,
14910-627: 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
15123-601: 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
15336-432: 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
15549-858: 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 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
15762-545: The United States . It remained the largest and most influential body in wrestling until the mid-1980s by which time most of the original member promotions went out of business as a result of the World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF, now WWE) national expansion . In September 1993, the largest remaining member promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), left the NWA. The NWA would continue as
15975-404: The World Heavyweight Championship . He started to feud with Guerrero over her position as the general manager as she continued to favor Edge. On the May 16, 2008 episode of SmackDown , Long quit his role of assistant general manager. On the June 3, 2008 episode of ECW , it was announced that Long had become the new general manager of the ECW brand by order of the WWE board of directors. On
16188-555: 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 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
16401-731: 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 was hired by Jim Cornette for his Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion in Morristown, Tennessee , where he was named "Unabomb" (a reference to
16614-491: The independent circuit in 1992, wrestling in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling and 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
16827-408: The "Sheriff", came out with an ATV and chased him around the ring and the arena. After Van Dam won the match, Austin continued to chase Long until he was cornered by both him and Van Dam; in which they pushed Long back into the ring. As he begged Austin not to hurt him, Long offered him a handshake. He accepted it, only to give Long a stunner in the process for restarting the match. After Kurt Angle
17040-587: The 1970s, the NWA once again took over as the top promotion and gained huge dominance with their program, Georgia Championship Wrestling , which would become the first nationally broadcast wrestling program on cable television through then-superstation TBS in 1979. They brought in Gordon Solie , dubbed "The Walter Cronkite of Professional Wrestling," from former NWA President Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida territory to be lead commentator and host. Videotape trading and cable television paved
17253-857: The 1970s. They changed their name from the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. At some point during the decade, Muchnick reportedly declared Atlanta, Georgia as the "leading wrestling city" for its "drawing capacity and near-capacity crowds at the City Auditorium or the Omni every Friday." While the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF) both faltered during
17466-532: 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
17679-545: 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
17892-626: 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
18105-505: The April 7, 2009 episode of ECW , Long announced he was returning to SmackDown as general manager, with Tiffany replacing him on ECW . By doing this, he became the first person in the history of the company to have a second term as general manager. He made his official return to SmackDown on April 10, when he announced that the Hardys ( Matt and Jeff ) would face each other in the first-ever stretcher match in SmackDown history. At
18318-433: 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
18531-405: 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
18744-417: 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
18957-404: 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
19170-618: The Butcher . He eventually became a member of the ringcrew and was promoted to referee in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 as Teddy Long. In 1989, at the Chi-Town Rumble event, Long was the replacement referee when Ricky Steamboat won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Shortly thereafter, Long began to turn into a villainous character when he started to bend the rules for heel wrestlers. On April 2, 1989, at Clash of
19383-821: The CW executives didn't have a problem with the spot, and that "it was a completely invented story by either a troll inside the company, a leaker or something.” Following Samhain, episodes of Powerrr were later added to The CW's app in November. In January 2024, NWA announced that new episodes of Powerrr would be available on The CW app from February 6. The same year, NWA included new territories: NWA Chicago in Chicago , Illinois , Kross Fire Wrestling (KFW) in Sevierville, Tennessee , World League Wrestling in Missouri as NWA's developmental system, and NWA Texas. Powerrr
19596-717: The Champions VI in New Orleans , Long blatantly made a fast count allowing Mike Rotunda and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams to defeat The Road Warriors for the NWA World Tag Team Championship . After this match, the National Wrestling Alliance relieved Long of his refereeing duties. This was actually a story lifted from Championship Wrestling from Florida , where Long had been a referee and did several heel-decisions in
19809-430: 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
20022-656: 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
20235-444: The February 18 episode of SmackDown , where he revealed Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler to have attacked him. He then scheduled a match between the new World Heavyweight Champion Ziggler and Edge. Edge would win the match, becoming an eleven-time world champion. After the match, Long would then fire Ziggler. The following week, he fired Guerrero after she lost a mixed tag team match. On the May 6 episode of SmackDown , Long scheduled
20448-436: 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
20661-547: 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
20874-399: 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
21087-431: The July 19 episode of SmackDown , after the returning Booker T and Raw General Manager Brad Maddox had an argument on who was to be SmackDown General Manager, Mr. McMahon came out to say Vickie Guerrero was named SmackDown's new general manager. After a backstage segment, with Guerrero, Long was escorted out by a security team. This marked his last appearance as a major authoritative figure. On June 12, 2014, after nearly
21300-415: The Limit against Kofi Kingston. On the May 28 episode of SmackDown , Long read a letter from Mr. McMahon's office given to him by Drew McIntyre which stated that Matt Hardy was suspended until further notice after Hardy attacked McIntyre at Over the Limit and told Hardy not to go near McIntyre and if he did so, Long would be fired as the general manager of SmackDown. On the June 11 episode of SmackDown ,
21513-506: 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
21726-517: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was featured at All In , with Cody defeating Aldis for the title, becoming the first second-generation NWA World heavyweight champion. After All In, the NWA would return to hosting its own events. The NWA 70th Anniversary Show , which took place on October 21, 2018, was the first to be produced directly under Lightning One, and was co-produced with Global Force Entertainment ;
21939-552: The NWA World Heavyweight, World Tag Team and World Junior Heavyweight Championships all changed hands at NJPW events. In September 2016, NWA signed a deal with the new Japanese Diamond Stars Wrestling (DSW) promotion to promote shows in not only Japan, but also other parts of Asia. As part of the deal, DSW chairman Hideo Shimada was appointed the NWA Vice President of the Asian Pacific region while Jimmy Suzuki
22152-604: The NWA and ROH. This would be the last event to be co-promoted with ROH; on July 24, 2019, the NWA announced that had ended their partnership. Subsequently, it was announced the following month that the NWA would host tapings in Atlanta on September 30 and October 1 for a new television series, later revealed to be titled NWA Powerrr . In January 2020, Marty Scurll , and other Ring of Honor characters, began to appear at NWA events once again as part of an inter-promotional angle. In addition to re-signing with ROH, Scurll would join
22365-422: The NWA had transitioned into a stand-alone, singular promotion. In October 2023, the NWA re-established its territory system, with Michael Hutter's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first promotion sanctioned. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In 1948, Paul "Pinkie" George , a professional wrestling promoter from the U.S. Midwest , founded
22578-408: The NWA reestablished itself as a governing body, with EC3 's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first territory to be sanctioned. On December 4, NWA welcomed Joe Cazana Promotions (JCP) to their territory system. On October 18, it was reported by news blog Haus of Wrestling that NWA had signed a deal with The CW to air Powerrr and a reality show documenting behind the scenes footage. However,
22791-755: The NWA was an illegal monopoly blocking competition. An investigation led by the US Department of Justice resulted in the NWA Consent Decree of 1956 ( United States v. National Wrestling Alliance ). Several promoters would leave the organization during this time, with some managing to find niches in the United States. In 1957, Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn walked out of the August NWA meeting in St. Louis, having fallen out with Muchnick over
23004-505: The NWA's Bunkhouse Stampede . The NWA responded by creating Clash of the Champions on TBS to counterprogram WrestleMania IV . By 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions was facing bankruptcy. On October 11, under the direction of owner Ted Turner , TBS bought the assets of JCP and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after the TV show of the same name. Originally incorporated by TBS as
23217-550: The NWA, Corgan would also purchase Tharpe's stake in the NWA's "On Demand" VOD service and licensing of the Paul Boesch wrestling library. Corgan's ownership of the NWA took effect on October 1, 2017. All licenses granted by Tharpe to use the NWA branding expired the previous day, putting Corgan in complete control of both the brand and its championships. On September 23, 2017, Nick Aldis made his debut for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and challenged Tim Storm for
23430-480: The NWA, rechristening the promotion as Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 1998, the World Wrestling Federation reached an agreement to use the likeness of the NWA titles, branding, and its history, to create a storyline. It would be later claimed that WWE still owned the rights. Despite the NWA receiving international television publicity during the angle, it was considered a failure due to low viewer interests. In June 2002, Jeff and Jerry Jarrett launched
23643-477: The NWA, with Pearce vacating the NWA World Title while exiting. Other major NWA territories like NWA Pro/NWA Pro West , NWA Georgia , NWA Pro East , NWA Southwest and NWA Midwest folded. In 2013, the NWA re-established a relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where Bruce Tharpe became an on-screen character, portraying a villainous manager of wrestlers representing the NWA. Over the next two years,
23856-570: The NWA. On September 5, 2020, Rosa unsuccessfully challenged AEW Women's World Championship Hikaru Shida at All Out . On October 27, 2020, Serena Deeb defeated Rosa during the United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live event to become the new NWA World Women's Champion. On March 2, 2021, the NWA announced their return to promoting events, with the Back For The Attack and new Powerrr episodes as part of
24069-427: The National Wrestling Alliance with the backing of six other promoters: Al Haft , Tony Stecher , Harry Light , Orville Brown , Don Owen , and Sam Muchnick . The concept of the NWA was to consolidate the championships of these regional companies into one true world championship of professional wrestling, whose holder would be recognized worldwide. The newly formed NWA Board of Directors decided that Brown would become
24282-430: 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
24495-516: 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 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
24708-471: 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
24921-417: 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
25134-674: 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 a degree in English literature at Northeast Missouri State University , where he played both basketball and football. Jacobs
25347-509: 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 was making a special appearance with SMW. He made his final appearance with SMW at
25560-523: The Undertaker and son of Paul Bearer . Kane alternatively feuded and teamed with the Undertaker, 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
25773-585: The United States. That same year, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and the NWA created its primary supercard , Starrcade , the first to be broadcast via closed-circuit networks and was regarded as their flagship event. On Saturday, July 14, 1984, in what would become known as Black Saturday , McMahon bought NWA member Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) and merged it into the WWF. The WWF would take over GCW's TV slot on TBS , which had been home to GCW's World Championship Wrestling program for 12 years. This move proved disastrous as ratings would plummet, and
25986-548: The Universal Wrestling Corporation, Turner promised fans that WCW would retain the athlete-oriented style of the NWA. The sale was completed on November 2, 1988, with a television taping of NWA World Championship Wrestling that very same date in WCW's hometown of Atlanta. By September 1993, WCW would withdraw completely from the NWA. On August 27, 1994, NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) held
26199-486: The WWF would end up losing money on the deal. Then-NWA President Jim Crockett, Jr. , the owner of JCP, would buy the World Championship Wrestling program from McMahon for $ 1 million and returned NWA programming to TBS. By 1985, JCP would become the flagship territory of the NWA by acquiring more time slots on TBS and merging with other NWA territories in an attempt to compete with the WWF. With
26412-398: 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
26625-451: 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
26838-424: 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
27051-625: The World Tag Team Titles. He also managed Johnny B. Badd , One Man Gang , Norman the Lunatic, The Skyscrapers ( Sid Vicious , Dan Spivey and "Mean" Mark Callous ), Marcus Bagwell , 2 Cold Scorpio , Joey Maggs , Craig Pittman , Jim Powers , Bobby Walker , Ice Train and Bobby Eaton while in Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW. Long debuted in the WWF as a referee on the December 21, 1998 episode of Raw
27264-519: 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
27477-486: 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
27690-525: The announcement of the restored WWE brand extension, on the June 6, 2016 episode of Raw , Long returned in the opening segment between the Money in the Bank participants, requesting another run as general manager of SmackDown, only to be turned away by Stephanie McMahon . He would make several other appearances throughout the course of the night including his attempt of making a tag team match between The Golden Truth ( Goldust and R-Truth) and Breezango ( Tyler Breeze and Fandango ) before being escorted out of
27903-414: 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
28116-432: The building by security. On February 13, 2017, it was announced that he would be inducted in the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame . On the April 3, 2017 episode of Raw , Long made an appearance, thinking that Mr. McMahon would appoint him to be the new general manager of Raw, but McMahon said that it was not him; instead, Vince chose Kurt Angle, another 2017 WWE Hall of Fame inductee, as general manager. On January 22, 2018, Long made
28329-413: 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,
28542-429: 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
28755-486: 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
28968-540: The company's booking team, enabling him to appear for both the NWA and ROH. However, in the fallout of the Speaking Out Movement , Scurll was accused of having intercourse with a 16-year-old female who was inebriated. After an investigation, Scurll would be removed from his position as booker, and by the following January in 2021, would be no longer under contract. Nick Aldis was scheduled to face PCO at Supercard of Honor XIV on April 4, 2020, before
29181-614: The conclusion of the World Heavyweight Championship Submission match between champion CM Punk and The Undertaker in which Long, as well as referee Scott Armstrong and CM Punk played key roles in recreating the infamous Montreal Screwjob at Breaking Point (held at the Bell Centre in Montreal , Quebec , Canada, site of the 1997 fiasco), this time, with The Undertaker being the target of
29394-547: The consequence of putting some of them out of business. On January 24, 1963, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match and was declared NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the third and final time. However, after the event, Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt of the Capital Wrestling Corporation (CWC) refused to recognize the title change since Thesz
29607-432: 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
29820-449: 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
30033-774: The event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 18, 2020, Dave Lagana resigned as Vice President of the NWA after allegations of sexual assault were made public. The promotion would go into hiatus as a result of this and the pandemic. During this time, several wrestlers would also leave the NWA, including former Tag Team Champions James Storm , Eli Drake , Marti Belle , and Royce Isaacs , former Women's Champion Allysin Kay , former Television Champion Ricky Starks , former Television Champion Zicky Dice . NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa would make appearances for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) while under contract with
30246-452: The event was streamed live on FITE TV . The main event saw Aldis defeat Cody to recapture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Willie Mack winning a tournament for the vacant NWA National Championship , which became the main secondary title. The Fourth Crockett Cup , an eight-team, single-elimination tournament that was revived to crown new NWA World Tag Team Champions , took place on April 27, 2019, as another collaboration between
30459-655: 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
30672-481: 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
30885-419: 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
31098-462: The first ever NWA World Heavyweight Champion . In 1950, Sam Muchnick , one of the original promoters of the NWA and Lou Thesz 's booker, was named the governing body's President, a position to which he was unanimously re-elected and held until 1960, making him one of the longest-tenured presidents in the organization's history. Following the advent of television , professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during this time, reaching
31311-531: The following SmackDown! , JBL suffered the same fate after losing the United States Championship to Bobby Lashley, and then losing a World Heavyweight Championship match to Rey Mysterio in his Judgment Day rematch. On the September 4, 2006 episode of Raw , Long appeared to a tremendous ovation in his hometown of Atlanta . During a six-person, intergender tag match between Randy Orton, Edge , and Lita against Trish Stratus , Carlito , and John Cena , some fans chanted Theodore's name. In April 2007, Long became
31524-467: 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
31737-601: The following night on Raw . After Laurinaitis' firing as general manager, Long served as guest general manager for both Raw and SmackDown on July 2 and July 3 respectively. On the August 3 edition of SmackDown , Long was made the senior advisor to new SmackDown General Manager Booker T. Despite originally getting along with Booker very well, beginning in March 2013, Booker began to get angry at Long for booking matches without his permission on both Raw and SmackDown. However, from mid April onwards, Long began running SmackDown again temporarily with Booker T away due to surgery. On
31950-495: 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
32163-459: The following weeks. A stipulation was added that the winning team at WrestleMania would determine who would become the general manager of both shows. At WrestleMania, Team Teddy lost to Team Johnny, ending Long's run as SmackDown General Manager. On the April 6 edition of SmackDown , Long prepared to give his farewell speech, but Laurinaitis threatened to discontinue a trust fund Long had set up for his grandchildren's college education unless he took
32376-594: The former NWA:TNA, to hold an Empty Arena match at Universal Orlando in Orlando, Florida. It was contested by Tim Storm and Jocephus and served as a qualifier to challenge then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. The match was recorded on January 14, 2018, and uploaded to YouTube the next day. Starting in 2018, NWA allied with Ring of Honor (ROH). NWA wrestlers such as Aldis, James Storm , and Eli Drake appeared at several ROH events, with ROH-contracted talent even winning NWA titles. On September 1, 2018,
32589-524: The general manager for his Reality of Wrestling promotion's Summer of Champions iPPV. Teddy Long acted as the general manager for SWE Fury , a nationally televised wrestling promotion based in Plano, Texas . Long left the company in August 2021. From 2021 to present, Long has worked as commissioner for Alabama Independent promotions Main Event Wrestling and Independent Wrestling Network. Long
32802-597: 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
33015-431: The heads of which made up the board of directors. The group operated a territory system which sanctioned their own company championships while recognizing a singular world champion who defended his title across all the territories, participated in talent exchanges, and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions. Prior to the 1960s, it acted as the sole governing body for professional wrestling in
33228-408: The help of The Boogeyman . Long had problems with Booker T and his defense of the United States Championship , however, as Booker T attempted to get out of title defenses on a number of occasions by pretending to be injured, and having other wrestlers fight on his behalf. Eventually, Long got tired of these shenanigans, and at No Way Out , Booker T was told to face Chris Benoit or be stripped of
33441-400: 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
33654-437: 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),
33867-457: 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
34080-417: 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
34293-564: 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
34506-471: 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
34719-514: 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
34932-412: 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
35145-428: The on-screen boyfriend of Kristal Marshall , after weeks flirting with each other backstage. Long then began to look for an assistant so he could spend more time with Kristal, eventually revealing Vickie Guerrero as his new assistant on May 25, 2007, an appointment made partly at Kristal's request. At Vengeance: Night of Champions he appeared after Edge lost a Last Chance match against Batista via disqualification as
35358-423: 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
35571-626: 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
35784-566: 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
35997-510: 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
36210-604: 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 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
36423-422: 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
36636-454: The ring, including one for Ron Simmons over Skip Young . Long got his head shaven bald after losing a Hair vs Hair match to Paul Ellering at Capital Combat PPV. While riding with Kevin Sullivan and Eddie Gilbert , Long would DJ for them. After hearing Long talk, the two convinced Jim Ross to give Long a managerial role, managing Norman the Lunatic . Long became the manager of Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed ) and led them to
36849-408: 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
37062-505: 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
37275-477: The success of WrestleMania III in 1987, the WWF would schedule another pay-per-view, Survivor Series , on Thanksgiving night to compete directly with NWA's Starrcade event, and demanded exclusivity from cable providers on carriage of the event. As a result, Starrcade was moved to December the following year, with the show now held around Christmas Day beginning in 1988. The WWF then scheduled their first Royal Rumble event in January 1988 to counterprogram against
37488-409: 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,
37701-422: 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
37914-466: 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
38127-412: The title the week before. Christian would turn heel by hitting Orton with the title he had retained and lost to Orton again at Capitol Punishment despite his foot being under the bottom rope. Christian blamed Long and as a result Long scheduled Orton to defend his title against Christian at Money in the Bank . Christian would manage to find a way to include a clause that if Orton were to get disqualified,
38340-648: 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
38553-527: The title would switch hands. On the July 29 episode of SmackDown the new COO Triple H made Zack Ryder Theodore Long's new Assistant. On the November 25, 2011 episode of SmackDown , after Daniel Bryan seemingly successfully cashed in the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase on Mark Henry to win his first World Heavyweight Championship, Long rushed down to the ring and declared the title change void, as Mark Henry had not yet been medically cleared to compete in an official match. He would schedule Bryan in
38766-414: The title. Benoit won the match and was congratulated by Long. After Randy Orton had cheated to obtain Rey Mysterio 's title shot at WrestleMania 22 , Long placed Mysterio back in the match and made it a Triple Threat match, at the same time warning Orton that he could still remove Orton from the match if he disobeyed Long. At Judgment Day Long fired Melina and Johnny Nitro from SmackDown! . On
38979-616: 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
39192-456: The way for the decline of the NWA's inter-regional business model, as viewers could now see plot holes and inconsistencies between each territories' storylines. The presence of stars like Ric Flair on TV every week made their special appearances in each region less of a draw. The WWF left the NWA for good in 1983, as Vincent K. McMahon , who bought the WWF from his father in 1982, worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across
39405-462: Was announced that Powerrr would return to YouTube, airing on Fridays after the FITE premiere, and that NWA USA would air on Saturdays on the platform before moving to Sundays on FITE. Finally, it was announced that the NWA would expand their PPV schedule to six events per year, as part of a new deal with FITE TV. Though the partnership ended in 2023, with NWA's programming returning to YouTube, FITE still carries NWA PPV events. On October 9, 2023,
39618-403: Was announced that the NWA will partner with the United Wrestling Network (UWN) to produce a live, weekly pay-per-view (PPV) series named UWN Primetime Live . Matches from this series would also be featured as part of Shockwave . NWA USA is a weekly program that debuted on January 8, 2022, on YouTube and focuses on the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship division. The last episode
39831-498: Was appointed senior NWA consultant. On May 1, 2017, it was reported that Billy Corgan , lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins , had agreed to purchase the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks and championship belts. The report was confirmed by Tharpe that same day. Over the following weeks, the NWA trademarks were moved from Tharpe's International Wrestling Corp. over to Corgan's Lightning One, Inc. production company. According to multiple sources, as part of his acquisition of
40044-436: 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
40257-419: 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
40470-493: Was brought to ringside by druids to reveal 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
40683-457: 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
40896-461: Was criticized by Interim Raw General Manager John Laurinaitis , which prompted the WWE board of directors to switch the general managers of their respective shows for one week. Long took charge of the March 5 episode of Raw , with Laurinaitis taking charge of the March 9 edition of SmackDown During Laurinaitis' time in charge of SmackDown , he set up a match between himself and Long, where, if Long lost, Aksana , Long's girlfriend, would be placed in
41109-460: Was criticized for spinning a wheel to determine what match Cody Rhodes and Big Show would face off in by making it a tables match. At Over the Limit he mocked David Otunga and Eve Torres ahead of Laurinaitis' bout with John Cena which if he lost he would be fired. This further angered Laurinaitis who defeated Cena to keep his job with help from Big Show. At No Way Out , Laurinaitis was fired and Long enjoyed watching him being attacked by John Cena
41322-426: 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
41535-404: 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
41748-449: 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
41961-431: Was drafted to SmackDown! , he managed Mark Jindrak . On the January 5, 2004 edition of Raw , he was filling in as the guest General Manager for Eric Bischoff . During a match between Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam , announcer Lilian Garcia had announced that Van Dam had won by DQ in a No Disqualification Match , but Long grabbed the microphone and ordered to restart the match. Just then, Stone Cold Steve Austin , as
42174-412: 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
42387-474: 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
42600-440: 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
42813-517: 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
43026-453: Was fired from the general manager position in July 2004, Long became the new and first African-American general manager of SmackDown!. Long immediately turned face on his first night as general manager when he fined Angle $ 1,000 for not having his wrestling gear with him. Because of his face turn, his new position saw him giving the fans what they wanted and making matches that put heels at disadvantages, notably John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL),
43239-406: 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
43452-473: Was married to his wife Tasha Long for forty years. They remained married until her death in September 2022. While portraying the role of the SmackDown general manager, Long revived many old and made new match types: Long is well known for his various catchphrases while portraying an authority figure, most notably telling villainous wrestlers to go “one on one with The Undertaker !”, his trademark “Holla, holla, holla!”, his peacemaking “(Now) hold on just
43665-532: Was not a strong draw in their Northeastern territory. They then withdrew the CWC from the NWA. As a result, McMahon and Mondt formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later to be known as WWE ) with Rogers as its first world champion in April 1963. Although both Gagne and McMahon promoted their own world champions, their promotions continued to have representatives on the NWA Board of Directors and regularly exchanged talent with NWA promotions during this time. Wrestling's popularity continued to decline in
43878-400: Was not completed, however, due to constant disruptions and Long having a heart attack just as he started to say "I do". He then fell into a coma . The storyline never finished out as planned as Marshall left the WWE shortly afterwards due to creative differences. Long returned on the November 30, 2007 episode of SmackDown! as the assistant general manager and made a match at Armageddon for
44091-441: Was released May 8, 2023. Singles Tag Team Kane (wrestler) 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
44304-401: 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 the lead role in the 2006 WWE Studios production See No Evil and its 2014 sequel . Jacobs was born in
44517-486: 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
44730-488: 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
44943-432: 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 the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in Memphis, Tennessee , appearing as the "Christmas Creature," an "evil Christmas character" who wore
45156-406: Was vacant. Thus, Long issued the Intercontinental Championship tournament involving Christian , Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler . However, after Kingston emerged victorious against Christian, Long was issued a letter from Vince McMahon reinstating McIntyre and forcing Kingston to give his title back to McIntyre. He then made a match for McIntyre's Intercontinental Championship at Over
45369-408: 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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