100 Greatest WWE WrestleMania Moments
61. Brothers Of Destruction Collide (WrestleMania XIV)
What an upturn in career fortunes Glenn Jacobs experienced between 1997 and 1998. During WrestleMania 13 season, he was still playing a cosplay version of Kevin Nash's Diesel character. That was heading nowhere, and it seemed only a matter of time before the WWF would repackage him as some other abomination. They did, but "abomination" was kayfabe quality and not a grim reality of federation creativity (or lack thereof). Kane arrived in October '97.
Most figured the gimmick would stick around until losing to The Undertaker at 'Mania XIV. Then, he'd disappear before popping back up under another guise later in the year. Uh uh. If the battle between 'Brothers Of Destruction' proved anything to Vince McMahon, it's that Kane had legs as a standalone member of his roster. His performance in such a high pressure spot against one of the best ever proved it.
WWE enjoyed this one so much that they put Kane in as 'Taker's rival a second time at 'Mania XX. That was a rebirth for 'The Phenom'. Meanwhile, XIV was a way to prolong his incredible metamorphosis from slow moving zombie to genuinely watchable in-ring artist. The match vs. Kane was slow, but that fit the presentation and what both were trying to achieve.
Undertaker's jaw-dropping suicide dive sent him crashing through the Spanish announce table. Then, the battling "brothers" traded big trademark moves like chokeslams and Tombstone Piledrivers. Kane had arrived in a big way, and 'Taker went above and beyond to make sure everything would go smoothly.
One of WrestleMania's finest monster collisions.