When Kane debuted in WWE in 1997 he had to do so with the mask on to cover his face. In the storyline, his face was burned because of a fire and he had scars. At least that's what we all thought. In addition to that, Glenn Jacobs spent the previous year wrestling as Fake Diesel so if he walked out there without a mask on people would be like "hey that's just Fake Diesel" not to mention he was Isaac Yankem too. In 2003, six years after his Kane debut, he was unmasked. At first there were scars and a weird haircut, but then he found success as a creepy bald dude that had great facial expressions. The best year may have been 2010 when he was at his craziest, but also doing some of the best promos of his career. He had some really good moments and feuds without the mask. Since he was a big guy that was creepy to look at, he could always make it work. In the last few years, he has gone from unmasked to masked again so many times that we've really lost track of how many times it has been. When he did the Team Hell No stuff with Daniel Bryan in late 2012-13 it really revived his career. They were able to do comedy, which really only worked because he was this big red freak in the mask. The unmasked version of Kane did some really good stuff in his career. No doubt about it. However, the guy in the mask is the Kane that people are always going to remember more fondly and celebrate. It was another instance where a mask helped a guy stand out.
John wrote at WhatCulture from December 2013 to December 2015. It was fun, but it's over for now. Follow him on Twitter @johnreport. You can also send an email to mrjohncanton@gmail.com with any questions or comments as well.
