Kane has delivered an impressive career with various changes throughout his WWE tenure. The big man always had potential, but WWE placed him in terrible situations playing Isaac Yankem and Fake Diesel. Undertaker’s storyline with Paul Bearer introducing a mysterious masked brother made Glenn Jacobs the perfect wrestler to play Kane.
Fans watched the character have success in WWE for over two decades with him still not officially retiring. Kane needed a few character changes to remain relevant in such a long run. WWE experimented with different sides of him that found varying results. Find out which versions of Kane stood out above the rest.
10 Embrace The Hate
Kane returned from a lengthy absence bringing back the mask in a feud against John Cena. Fans were surprised when Kane had two masks with the first one being strange before taking it off to reveal a version of his old school mask.
Cena was a month away from his big showdown vs The Rock and Kane was tormenting Cena to “embrace the hate.” WWE placed Kane in major angles with Cena and Randy Orton, but it was an overall forgettable run.
9 Unmasked Face
The unmasking of Kane gave fans a new side of him when showing off his face for the first time since adopting the Kane character. WWE had him play a heel at the start, but he eventually turned face during his romantic angle with Lita.
Kane was respected by the fans to make his turn easier to get cheers. The run wasn’t necessarily bad, but he fell lower down the card due to fans not necessarily buying him as a top star in the role.
8 Teaming With Rob Van Dam
The tag team of Rob Van Dam and Kane found success in the early 2000s when WWE needed new acts for the brand split. Two fan favorites working together gave the audience a top duo to cheer in the tag division.
RVD showed a new side of Kane and vice versa to help them both when struggling to find relevance after losing their respective title shots in the singles division. Kane had a nice run here that contributed but didn’t define his career.
7 Corporate Kane
WWE completely switched up the Kane character when unmasking him again to join The Authority faction led by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Corporate Kane wore a suit and helped run the show to the heels’ favor.
The run was polarizing to fans, but it did help him have a relevant role in the upper card again. Kane feuded with the likes of Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan during this chapter of his career.
6 Unmasked Heel
WWE fans were excited about the big moment of Kane unmasking for the first time in six years since debuting. Triple H defended the World Championship against Kane by forcing him to put his mask on the line.
Kane losing to unmask saw him turning heel and becoming a top villain again. Feuds with Rob Van Dam, Shane McMahon, and The Undertaker made the run a success. WWE’s idea was a bit strange since he had “scars” on his face one week before removing them altogether.
5 Teaming With X-Pac
The most underrated chapter of Kane’s career came in 1999 when completely turning face. Kane was manipulated by The Corporation and X-Pac was betrayed by Triple H to join the evil faction.
Both Kane and X-Pac had common enemies that forced them to unite. No one could have expected the chemistry to come their way as a top face tag team. WWE split them up faster than they should have to reunite D-Generation X with Triple H as a top heel or they could have teamed for another year based on fan reaction.
4 Vicious Heel
The late 2000 heel turn of Kane made him one of the top heels in the company again. Chris Jericho and Kane had great matches that helped fans remember that Kane was a top tier star even with the stacked roaster.
The 2001 Royal Rumble match featured Kane completely dominating until Steve Austin eliminated him to win. Despite taking the loss, Kane had one of the best Rumble performances of all time and was a stellar heel for this chapter of his career. The top star lost some layers of the supernatural gimmick and relied more on his talent.
3 Brothers Of Destruction
WWE started utilizing The Undertaker and Kane together as a tag team in 1998 before making them a full-time duo in 2001. Both wrestlers always had chemistry as opponents or as a tag team due to their friendship and skill sets.
Kane and Undertaker got over huge as a tag team during the Invasion era completely dominating against every other duo. WWE still got value out of reuniting the Brothers of Destruction for nostalgia in recent years.
2 Team Hell No
Kane completely reinvented his career when teaming with Daniel Bryan to form Team Hell No. The storyline started with them as rivals forced to attend anger management classes together. Both wrestlers were hilarious and showed chemistry that sparked the team starting.
Team Hell No became the most popular team in WWE and a highlight of the shows every week. The Shield likely would not have got over as quickly as they did if not for the feud against Bryan and Kane. It was a special time in the careers of both wrestlers.
1 Haunting Undertaker
The original character of Kane was the best when looking back at the success it created in a fast time. Kane debuting to cost Undertaker the first Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels instantly made him a star.
The supernatural powers of Kane haunted Undertaker and tormented many others on the roster over the first few months. Kane even won the WWE Championship from Steve Austin during this chapter of his career and it didn’t feel wrong. This version of Kane clearly set the table for his entire career in WWE.