Why WWE Waited to Unleash Kane and The Undertaker’s Rivalry

WWE fans are well aware of Kane’s Bad Blood debut, even if they weren’t around at the time. The clip of Kane tearing off the Hell in a Cell door to interrupt Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker’s match has become iconic. However, WWE delayed this debut for a while.

Paul Bearer introduced Kane to the WWE Universe at In Your House: Badd Blood in October 1997. Kane confronted his brother, The Undertaker, during the first Hell in a Cell Match. He ripped the cage door off its hinges, attacked The Undertaker, and laid down a Tombstone, allowing HBK to win after being beaten.

The Undertaker and Kane eventually had a match at WrestleMania, but the buildup took time. The Undertaker refused to fight his brother, which added more tension to every segment. WWE waited for the right moment to make it happen.

On a recent episode of Something to Wrestle With, Bruce Prichard discussed Kane’s debut. He explained that they needed to delay the debut as long as possible because the longer they extended the drama, the better.

“Well, I think everybody was anxious. We were anxious as well. And when you’re looking at it, you’re still looking at the end game of, the first time that they ever touch is at WrestleMania. Well if you do it too soon, it’s a long time not to touch. Those are a lot of hurdles to clear. So the longer you can wait before you ever see them, the better. And at that time, we didn’t have monthly PLEs the way they are now. And it just didn’t seem to move as fast. So you had — yeah we did have monthly, but it was it was [not as special with In Your Houses]. It was just different.”

Kane and The Undertaker later formed the Brothers of Destruction tag team, gaining many wins and fan support. This legendary team wouldn’t have existed if Kane and The Undertaker hadn’t gone to war years earlier to begin their storyline as brothers.

Kane has not officially retired from in-ring competition. As Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, it would take a lot to bring him back for a match, but in WWE, you can never say never.

What’s your take on Kane’s WWE career? Do you think that he has another match left in him? Let us know what you think in the comments section!