Kane made his WWE debut in the year 1997 during the Bad Blood PPV. The moment has become an infamous one since it happened during the first ever Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. The horrifying character of the Big Red Machine took birth on that night which is perhaps the most intimidating gimmick that came out of Vince McMahon’s mind.
The monster from the depths of hell wearing a mask was the primary reason that he was able to establish himself as a monster. It was indeed terrifying to watch someone coming out with that weird mask putting on, every week with the whole arena going red. Back in the days, WWE was not even in the PG era, so they could portray it with more intensity.
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Now, the former world champion was a guest on the latest edition of the Edge & Christian podcast where he talked about the sudden removal of his mask in the year 2003. It was considered as an integral part of his evil gimmick.
He was put into a match against Triple H in a Raw episode that took place at the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York. As per the stipulation, he would have to remove the mask if he loses the match. The Evolution interfered in the match to let The Game win the contest.
That night, the Big Red Monster showed his burnt face to the world. He went completely out of control at that point. Speaking of the reason for the same he said it was his idea which was approved by Vince McMahon. They both agreed that the masked persona has run out of the course and needs a makeover.
So, although some of the creative did not like the idea, they decided to go with it. Earlier, Kane stated the following about the incident:
“Actually, it was my idea because I did feel it was at the point where the mask was restricting what I could do. People ask what the advantages are of wearing a mask and the first thing, of course, is the mystery people don’t know exactly what Kane is thinking.
Taking it off, it also made me a much better performer and that really is what our business is all about. What do you do with the emotion of the audience? Do you want them to empathise you with what you’re doing if you’re the bad guy? You want them to hate you. If you are the good guy, you want them to have sympathy for you. It could be thought of as a form of communication in that respect”.
As you can see, Kane pointed out the removal made him a better performer from that point onwards. Indeed, he emerged as the main event guy, afterwards. He became the world champion, a Money in the Bank winner, later. Also, it helped him to become a good guy, as well.
