The Undertaker And Kane On How Their Rivalry In 2010 Was Different, Kane’s Unmasking

At Survivor Series, The Undertaker had his Final Farewell to the WWE Universe. The event marked the 30-year anniversary of Undertaker’s WWE debut, and perhaps no one shared a ring with Taker more so than Kane.

Whether as an opponent or a teammate, Kane and The Undertaker had numerous memorable matches and storylines. They started off as foes before later becoming The Brothers of Destruction, and the two of them joined Notsam Wrestling to talk about teaming together.

“Obviously, that was just due, I think, to the rivalry and the fact that, ‘Okay, we are brothers.’ I think at first, it probably dawned on me because it happens inevitably when your character – even as a heel character like Kane, it doesn’t matter – eventually, you become cool,” said The Undertaker.

“You become cool to your audience, and that’s where I think Glenn [Kane] had gotten to the point because he had done so much cool stuff, had all these epic battles with Undertaker, and now, these other people, so the audience kind of starts turning you anyway.

“Once we finally did [team], it was like, ‘Oh yeah.’ It was nuts because you got two bona fide killers in over the top, supernatural gimmicks. Just start feeding us. I think that’s ultimately the reason they had to split us back too, was there weren’t enough people for us to work us because we were just too dominant. That’s my take on it.”

The Brothers of Destruction had many incarnations dating back to The Attitude Era all the way to taking on DX at 2018’s Super Show Down. The Undertaker was asked what his favorite era of teaming with Kane was, and also to share memorable moments from their storylines.

“I thought the best version– even though when I was more of the traditional Undertaker and he was Kane were great. For me, my favorite part was when I was the American Bad Ass and he was still Kane in the mask because, I don’t know, it made it even more real to me because you know how the world of WWE goes. Sometimes, you’ll have some kind of split variation and creative changes in a whole other way,” stated The Undertaker. “Although, I was something completely different from when the two characters come together, we were still linked because we were brothers.

“I mentioned it in [The Last Ride], we did this pre-tape and I don’t think we were doing anything together at the time. There’s a pre-tape that we did, and I think I was working with Lesnar when he came in the first time. I’m sitting in this locker room, and I don’t know if I’d just gotten my ass kicked or whatnot, but then, something has happened to Kane in the show and he comes in the dressing room. He sits down next to me, and I think this was the first time they’ve seen us together in a while. Kane turns to me and he goes, ‘Well, how was your week?’ Nobody may see it, but when somebody gave me that, I was like, ‘That is so funny and so good.’ It’s worth going back and look at because I just thought it was really, really cool.

“Just one of the little nuggets of history there that really stands out. Obviously all the matches and the angle, but that’s one of the things that really made me smile when I looked back doing that pre-tape.”

After Kane’s debut in 1997 and subsequent feud with Taker, the two then teamed together for a while before going into separate storylines. They wouldn’t step into the ring against each other again until WrestleMania XX in 2004, in which Taker defeated his half-brother.

Taker was asked if by that ‘Mania match he had a level of comfort in going toe-to-toe with Kane in a ring.

“Oh, absolutely. So, I was off for a while. You always get a little nervous when you take time off. I got more used to it later on, but I knew that part would take care of itself, and it all felt like it just– it’s organic, really. Everything we do is organic. It just always fits together,” said The Undertaker. “I think the thing is that Glenn knows his character so well and I know mine so well, and then, we know them together so well that we just know what to do to make it real, to make it evolve and to do something good.

“It was probably one of the less stressful WrestleManias for me other than the fact that I was moving it forward, but I was bringing it back a little bit. When I went to the American Bad Ass, in my head, I’m thinking, ‘This is going to be cool. This is going to be what the character needs.’ But you still always have that part in the back of your brain, ‘What if they just completely crap on this?’ Fortunately, my instincts were right.

“You always roll the dice when you have characters that are so beloved in so many layers and people are so invested in. It’s always a roll the dice of going too far or so.”

After nearly five years of wrestling as a masked Superstar, Kane lost a match stipulation in 2003 and was forced to unmask. The unmasking made the Kane character even more emotionally unstable and added a new dimension to the gimmick.

It was the unmasking which eventually led to that WrestleMania XX match vs. Taker, and Kane reflected on that next incarnation of his character.

“I really enjoyed it creatively. One of the coolest things I think we ever did was in my entrance. I pull up in a paddy wagon, and I’m in all the chains like Hannibal Lecter when he comes out with the coat and with the mask. That was the coolest entrance I’ve ever done,” admitted Kane. “When you think monster, that’s the dude you don’t want to meet in a dark alley. It was just cool to be able to do all that stuff.

“Eventually, the entire WWE Universe is looking towards Undertaker again. It almost felt like going home back into a WrestleMania match with ‘Taker. For the evolution of the character, I was having a great time. To do the WrestleMania 20 match with Undertaker again, that just felt like you’re reading a book. You get to the chapter and you’re like, ‘This is the chapter I’ve been waiting for.’ That’s kind of what it felt like for me.”

WWE knew that the Kane and Undertaker feud was one they could always go back to and find success, and after some more years apart, the two again feuded in 2010. This time, Kane was the World Heavyweight Champion and their feud consisted of a Hell in a Cell match, a Buried Alive match, and a New York Street Fight.

However, unlike their initial feud and their WrestleMania XX match, Kane had the upper hand throughout this time. Kane talked about that 2010 storyline and what they were trying to do differently than the past encounters between them.

“That was really a chance thing and WWE just taking advantage of that. The trick this time was to try to do it differently, how not to be the sequel, and how to make it unique,” revealed Kane.

“What Mark did in his idea, was like, ‘This was a chance to elevate Kane.’ Kane and Undertaker are truly equal as far as in the eyes of WWE. For me, it was thanking him very much for doing that.

“That was, from my perspective anyway, of his thinking in this is how do you get Kane to really be the equivalent of The Undertaker? Which was no small feat because we had this long history before. I guess the biggest challenge though was how do we make this different and unique this time.”

The Undertaker’s viewpoint on that 2010 feud echoes that of Kane’s, and the two thinking alike is almost like they are real-life brothers instead of just storyline ones.

“I didn’t have any doubt that we could make it good and make it relevant again. It was just being creative, and then just changing the narrative from what people had seen early on,” said The Undertaker. “That was Kane dominating The Undertaker, and it was like, ‘Oh, okay. I guess little brother finally caught up to big brother, and now, he’s going to pay the price.’ It was fresh and new again.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Notsam Wrestling with a h/t to PWrestling.com for the transcription.

Mehdy Labriny contributed to this article.