WWE Nixed Original Kane Gimmick Because It Was Terrible

Kane made his debut in WWE in 1997 at Badd Blood: In Your House. This event, the 18th in the series, is renowned for changing the course of WWE history by introducing both the Hell in a Cell match and Kane, the Big Red Machine. Although red was integral to Kane’s persona from the start, WWE made adjustments to perfect his in-ring character.

On a recent episode of Something To Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard discussed why Kane stopped wrestling under red lights, why the concept was flawed, and more. The decision to remove the red lights was straightforward, because it simply wasn’t effective.

“Because it sucked. The sh*ts. Okay, hang on man, think about this. You take a guy dressed in red and black. Full body suit. Primary color: Red. Following me so far? Let’s take out the white lighting that spotlights the participants in the match, and let’s go with red!… It’s the sh*ts, I can’t see anybody. It is a horrible idea. It is—you know, we tried it. And there’s a lot of horrible ideas. But there are a lot of great ideas that people thought were horrible in the beginning. You just gotta try them, and you have to make sure what works and what doesn’t work. Guess what? This didn’t work.”

Interestingly, WWE later had Bray Wyatt’s Fiend character wrestle under red lights, and many of those matches received negative feedback. The 2019 Hell in a Cell match between Seth Rollins and The Fiend exemplified the problems with this lighting.

When asked if anyone ever pushed for the red light idea, Prichard admitted he couldn’t recall any supporters. The general view was that the red light detracted from the match quality.

“Yeah, I don’t remember anybody advocating for it. I think that it was a situation of doing it and saying, ‘Wow, man, this sucks.’ But when you’re in it, you can’t just get out of it. You got to finish it out. Thank God it was short. But yeah, not good, no. Not all ideas, you know, work the first time. Or the second time, or the third.”

Kane has mentioned the possibility of wrestling again, but it’s unlikely he would do so under red lights. Currently, Kane is serving as the Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, and makes occasional appearances in pro wrestling headlines due to his political statements.

We will continue to monitor this story and other WWE developments at Ringside News. WWE constantly explores new ideas, even those involving different lighting atmospheres.

What’s your take on Kane wrestling under red lights? Did WWE make the right decision to discontinue this gimmick? Share your thoughts in the comments section!