8 Returns WWE Dropped The Ball On
1. Kane
Over the decades, The Devil’s Favourite Demon has had more returns than most wrestlers. Some masked, some unmasked. Some great, some awful.
The one where WWE dropped the ball the most, though? That would be his return in early 2000.
After his pairing with X-Pac had ended with a punch to the balls, an X-Factor, and then the revelation that X-Pac and Tori had been getting up to saucy shenanigans behind his back, Kane was off TV for a short while. But when he returned? Well, the crowd went absolutely nuts!
That return would happen on the 7 February 2000 episode of Raw – and not only Kane, but Paul Bearer would be in tow with The Big Red Machine.
After an eight-man tag team main event had descended into chaos, the crowd lost its collective mind as Kane’s music hit. Seriously, the reaction on that night was the sort of response usually only reserved for Steve Austin.
Triple H, X-Pac, Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn all felt the wrath of the returning beast, with Stephanie McMahon and Tori quaking in their boots.
Kane was back. Kane was now your hottest babyface. Kane was now destined to become WWF Champion for more than a day once he was through with X-Pac. Kane’s return couldn’t possibly be bungled.
Apart from, of course, it was.
At that month’s No Way Out PPV, X-Pac beat Kane in less than eight minutes, WrestleMania 2000 would see Kane and Rikishi defeat X-Pac and Road Dogg, and The Big Red Machine wouldn’t even be on the post-‘Mania Backlash and Judgment Day shows.
As for becoming WWF Champion? Kane’s next stint with a major title wouldn’t come until 2010, when he became WWE World Heavyweight Champion at Money in the Bank.