Wrestling Kane

[Daria]

Jacobs began his professional wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992, wrestling in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995.[8] Jacobs played various characters until 1997, when he was repackaged as the masked wrestler Kane, a horror-themed personification of fire and the juggernaut younger half-brother of The Undertaker and son of Paul Bearer. This "hellfire and brimstone" gimmick was rooted in acts of arson by The Undertaker as part of their characters' backstory.[9] Jacobs would alternatively feud and team with The Undertaker, the latter as the Brothers of Destruction.

Following his WWF debut, Kane remained a pivotal component of the company's "Attitude Era" of the late 1990s and early 2000s, defeating the era's "poster boy"[10] Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship in his first pay-per-view (PPV) main event at King of the Ring in June 1998. He continued to headline PPV cards through 2018's Crown Jewel, and has appeared in more PPVs than any other performer in WWF/WWE history other than Randy Orton.[11][12]

Within WWE, Kane is a three-time world champion (having held the WWF Championship, ECW Championship and World Heavyweight Championship once each) and a 12-time world tag team champion (having held the World Tag Team Championship, WCW Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championships with various partners). He is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a Money in the Bank winner, as well as the third man to complete WWE's Grand Slam. The last title Kane won was the 24/7 Championship on September 16, 2019, the only title won under his real name.[13] Veteran wrestler Ric Flair described Kane as "the best in the world",[14] while Big Show dubbed him "the best big man ever".[15] Kane holds the record for the most appearances in a Royal Rumble match at 20, as well as the highest cumulative total eliminations at 46.[16]

Outside of professional wrestling, Jacobs has made numerous guest appearances in film and on television, including the lead role in the 2006 WWE Studios production See No Evil and its 2014 sequel. He is also a longtime supporter of libertarian political causes. In March 2017, Jacobs announced that he was running for the mayoral seat of Knox County, Tennessee as a Republican.[17] He won the Republican primary election on May 1, 2018,[18] and the general election on August 2, 2018.[19] He was re-elected as Knox County Mayor on August 4, 2022.[20]

Jacobs was born in the Spanish town of Torrejn de Ardoz[21][22][23] to a United States Air Force family that was stationed in Spain at the time of his birth.[24] He grew up near St. Louis, Missouri, and attended high school in Bowling Green, Missouri, where he excelled in football and basketball.[25] He went on to earn a degree in English literature at Northeast Missouri State University, where he played both basketball and football.[26]

Jacobs was trained by Dean Malenko,[6] Ray Candy,[6] and Jeff Bradley.[7] 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.[6] 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 a garish costume (made by Jacobs'a mother) featuring a green mask, candy cane-striped sleeves, and tinsel.[27][28][29] The Christmas Creature unsuccessfully challenged Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship before leaving the USWA later that month.[30]

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 the ring name "Bruiser Mastino". Later that year, he relocated to Tampa, Florida, in order to further his training.[31] 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 a WWF Superstars taping in Burlington, Vermont. In December 1993, he wrestled in Japan for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi under his real name.[2]

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 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.[3]

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 the Unabomber).[32] 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 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 the following month's Fire on the Mountain 1995 event, with the Thugs defeating the Dynamic Duo in a loser leaves town match.[33][34][35][36]

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.[37]

Jacobs made his first television appearance with the company as "Isaac Yankem, DDS", Jerry Lawler's private dentist, in a vignette on the June 26, 1995 episode of Raw.[37][38][5] 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.[37] At that month's SummerSlam event, Yankem 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.[37] 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 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.[39]

In September 1996, play-by-play announcer Jim Ross introduced Jacobs as Diesel, and Rick Bognar as Razor Ramon, as part of 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 the main event of the December 22 edition of Superstars and defeated Marc Mero on Shotgun Saturday Night on January 11, 1997.[39] 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.[40] 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 a Loser Leaves Town match at USWA.[41] In July 1997, Jacobs briefly returned to the United States Wrestling Association as Doomsday, winning the USWA Heavyweight Championship from Spellbinder.[42] 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,[43] a horror-themed juggernaut and hellish personification of everything relating to fire.[44] The character's theme and persona is rooted in malevolent acts of arson by his older half-brother, The Undertaker, that occurred during their youth.[9] Rounding out his "Hellfire and Brimstone" gimmick,[44] Kane was combined with the Inferno match, a specialty match personalized to him.[45]

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 protg Mankind do 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 protg. The Undertaker begrudgingly acceded to Bearer's wishes for 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.[38] 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 the incident, was left physically and mentally scarred. Undertaker claimed that Kane, a "pyromaniac", was the one who started the fire and could not possibly have survived (however, in October 1998 Undertaker confessed to purposefully burning down the home in attempt to murder Kane).

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