In an era steeped in reality, are Kane and The Undertaker the last of their kind? At Night of Champions, “The Demon” Kane thwarted Sheamus’ Money in the Bank cash-in attempt and choke slammed an exhausted Seth Rollins. The next night on Monday Night RAW, Corporate Kane denied any knowledge of the Demon’s return, beginning a split-personality gimmick. During the same show, it was announced that the Undertaker will be facing Brock Lesner in a Hell in a Cell match, the rubber match to their two year feud. Both men are in the twilight of careers that may never see their equal.
Undertaker made his first appearance for the WWF at the 1990 Survivor Series as a mystery member of the Million Dollar Man’s squad. Led to the ring by the crimson visage adorned Brother Love, the Undertaker lumbered slowly down to the ring, seemingly just as cold and dead as the bodies he moved during his alleged day job. Fittingly, he took on the managerial services of Paul Bearer and the two brought a supernatural vibe to the WWF. Bearer carried and protected an urn at ringside and during all backstage segments. Taker seemed to feed off of the urn as a source of power. At times it was filled with ashes and on at least one occasion it emanated a bright white light.
The Phenom’s supernatural feats are nonpareil. Not only did he go undefeated at Wrestlemania for twenty-one straight matches, he has gone undefeated against death itself. Despite being burned alive inside of a casket twice and buried alive three times, he continues to turn arenas cold and manipulate the lights based on his whims. Like any great show or idea, a spin-off is never far in the offing and it wasn’t for this character. After the very real accusation that the Deadman burned his family alive, his half-burned masked half-brother unnaturally ripped the Hell in the Cell open to gain a measure of revenge. From that point forward, the two would be inextricably linked together as the Brothers of Destruction, avatars for ludicrous paranormal antics in the WWE.
Wrestling relies on the suspension of belief. The audience is smartened up enough to know match outcomes and feuds are predetermined and scripted, and throw these truths to the wind while getting lost in the product. Kane and the Undertaker have always pushed that line of what the fans are expected to “believe”. Humans obviously cannot come back from the slings and arrows that Undertaker and Kane have suffered in their respective careers nor can they manipulate lights or fire at their simple beck and call. Kane spoke through an external voice box because of his badly burned throat, only to miraculously heal during his time in the company, despite having this ailment for presumably his entire life. Both of these men have adopted more reality based characters at one point in their careers, the Undertaker as a Harley loving biker and Kane as a corporate employee, and still returned to their supernatural personas.
Yet both of these characters have been supported fervently by the fans. While the likes of the Boogeyman, Hornswoggle and their ilk have lacked success in winning over large followings due to the obvious phony character types, Kane and the Undertaker have both amassed a large group of devotees who look past the logical and embrace the mystical nature of the characters ascribed to Mark Calloway and Glenn Jacobs. Based on the reception to newer characters that eschew the laws of science, it seems that leading up Wrestlemania 32, with the assumed last run for both of these characters, the WWE will never again see characters with personas such as these ever succeeding again.
In an age of social media and the death of traditional kayfabe, no new on air talent can convincingly stay in the character long enough in the current 24 hour news cycle to even attempt to sway the audience into accepting such a ludicrous persona. Even Stardust, denying his true identity seems more borne out of a mental disorder and not the illusion that he is actually not Cody Rhodes. Despite his odd tweets as this cosmic character, he still has a separate Twitter for the person he really is. To buy into a gimmick such as Kane or Undertaker requires full time dedication. Seeing pictures online of Kane buying charcoal for his BBQ or Undertaker going to the movies would have severed the tenuous grasp they had on the idea that these men transcended the vulnerabilities of everyday life that the rest of us are beholden to. When the two decide to hang up their boots for the last time, the type of characters they were able to play with rest in peace as well.
