10 Controversial WWE Moments From 20 Years Ago
Everything old is new again.
Kane's surprising Monday Night Raw return at the climax of the Braun Strowman/Roman Reigns steel cage war came as a surprise to most, not least because the man behind the mask has mere weeks remaining on the campaign trail to become mayor of Knox County.
Few predicted Sunday's TLC topliner would become a five on three handicap match, but the symmetry around Kane's return and the durability of the 'Big Red Machine' following the pinfall he'll likely suffer at the hands of the 'Hounds Of Justice' more than justifies his place in one last main event 20 years after he brutally impacted one of the company's greatest show-closers ever.
There are numerous justifications for his sudden reemergence that will perhaps remain little more than head canon for discerning fans and observers, but the tight legacy his memorable debut maintains highlights how powerful the moment was.
Between 1996 and 1998, WWE found itself in unfamiliar territory as the world's number two promotion in almost every metric. Necessity was the mother of invention then in a way it never ever would be now, but fans were serviced with some of the most shocking scenes ever to occur in the industry, paving the way for the balls-out Attitude Era that would propel Vince McMahon's empiric vision back into the mainstream's fickle pop culture vacuum.
10. Civil War
It has since been admitted by most parties involved that the Bret Hart heel turn was never designed to scythe quite the divide between America and their neighbours to the north.
His scathing diatribes at the fans the night after WrestleMania 13 and again the following week did heap scorn on the 'American wrestling fans coast-to-coast', but the partisan Canadian crowds that showered love on the reunited Hart Foundation were apparently an accidental by-product of Bret's bile.
As it turned out, 'The Hitman' had tapped into beliefs many Canadians genuinely harboured towards the United States, inadvertently becoming an even bigger hero to his countrymen than he'd been the previous several years.
The Canada/America 'war' became a weekly treat, especially when the Raw taping cycle called for alternate trips across the border. The likes of Shawn Michaels and Steve Austin would be castigated by raucous Canadian crowds then worshipped for their attacks on the Hart clan back in America. It was unprecedented for the company to promote such an angle.
The pinnacle of the conflict was the mind-blowing Canadian Stampede ten-man tag, pitting Bret and his comrades against an American unit lead by Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The rising noise levels from the rambunctious Calgary crowd as each Foundation member makes their individual entrance remains one of the company's most stirring ever scenes.