Highlights
- The unmasking of "The Big Red Machine" Kane was a shocking and terrifying moment for wrestling fans, revealing burn scars on his face.
- Paul Bearer betrayed The Undertaker by threatening to reveal his darkest secret, involving a mortuary accident that killed his family, including his brother Kane.
- Kane's unmasking gave him a much-needed character revamp, making him a more interesting and compelling figure in the world of wrestling.
"The Big Red Machine" Kane debuted in WWE in 1997. For years, fans never saw what Kane looked like as he always wore a mask. Then one night, he finally unmasked and fans were surprised. Behind the mask, there was Kane who had burn scars on his face, though it looked more like a paint job gone wrong. But even then, it was one of the most terrifying television moments for wrestling fans at that time.
RELATED: Every Kane Vs. Undertaker WWE Match, Ranked Worst To BestEveryone has secrets, right? There’s always something that you have to keep inside you and often take it to the grave. Now secrets range from something very tiny, to even drastic ones. Benjamin Franklin said, “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead” and in The Undertaker’s case, this was very true. Both Paul Bearer and Kane came to bite The Deadman from his past. In Undertaker’s case, his secret was that he was directly involved in a mortuary accident that killed his family, including his brother Kane. The plot twist, of course, being that Kane was alive.
Paul Bearer Revealed The Undertaker's Darkest Secret
Let’s start with the time when Paul Bearer betrayed The Undertaker at SummerSlam 1996 during his match against Mankind. This turned into a feud, and the next year, Bearer literally forced Undertaker to become his manager again on television. He knew about a very deep secret that Undertaker wanted to stay buried in the past. He threatened to reveal the secret to the world if Undertaker didn’t oblige him. The secret was so powerful that even someone as mysterious and powerful as The Phenom caved in, in order to keep that knowledge hidden, or so he thought. After forcefully aligning himself with The Undertaker, Bearer’s attitude towards him changed completely. After a while, Undertaker had enough of him and parted ways with him by walking out on his tag-team partner Vader, who was also Bearer’s protégé.
RELATED: Why Paul Bearer Betrayed The Undertaker, Explained
On the June 30, 1997, episode of Monday Night Raw, Paul Bearer finally revealed the secret. He called the Undertaker a murderer and told a story about the time the Undertaker burned down his family's funeral home, killing his father, mother, and also a brother named Kane. Apparently, they were smoking cigarettes in the back, and the Deadman just decided to burn everything down and kill everyone. When Bearer came back, he saw the 'Taker by the bushes. Later that night, The Undertaker shared his side of things as well. He blamed his little brother Kane for burning down the funeral home after a chemical mishap caused a fire. Of course, the entire experience was traumatizing for the Undertaker, and it shaped him into the man he was at that time. It had happened twenty years ago, but just now fans were finding out about it.
Kane Debuted In WWE
The next week, Bearer came up with another bombshell. He claimed that Kane was alive. A week later, he promised to prove it, but it all turned out to be a waste of time. Apparently, one half of a grim reaper statue was enough to prove that Kane was alive. Eventually, Kane debuted in WWE and went on to become one of the most terrifying characters. A year into their rivalry, the Undertaker switched up his gimmick, and it was around the Ministry of Darkness days that he admitted to intentionally burning down the funeral home house to kill his own family. This happened on the Raw after his match against Kane at Judgment Day: In Your House, where he reunited with Paul Bearer. Undertaker's reasoning was that Kane was weak, so he wanted to get rid of him. They feuded for a bit before going their separate ways and later crossed paths again when Kane joined The Corporation. They did later reunite and even became World Tag Team Champions a few times.
RELATED: Brothers Of Destruction: 10 Undertaker & Kane Moments You Completely Forgot About
Kane's Unmasking Gave Him A Much-Needed Revamp
On a related note, Kane’s unmasking was one of the best moments of his career as it really leveled up his game and allowed him to become a much more interesting character. Although behind the scenes, no one was really on board with this change except for Kane and Vince McMahon. Even the scars that were very visibly on his face when he first unmasked were gone, and the kayfabe explanation given to fans was that this was all just a psychological thing and Kane had always been fine.
All in all, Undertaker vs. Kane was one of wrestling’s greatest stories that is still talked about to this day. These two had gimmicks that were one of a kind, and no one in wrestling was ever successfully able to replicate something like this again.
