8 Things We Learned From Kane On The Ross Report
4. Both He And JR Hated The Fire Angle
14 July 2003 will forever be a day that both Kane and Jim Ross look upon with disdain. Shooting a sit down interview together for Monday Night Raw, the pair weren't fond of where the angle was going; towards the end, as a horrified Steve Austin looked on helplessly from the ring, Kane set JR on fire and taunted him.
This was right back at the start of Kane's 'demented psychopath' character. He'd taken the mask off, which Jacobs didn't seem to recall fondly either, and had changed up his gimmick from chargrilled monster to psycho killer. The whole arson idea didn't sit well with Ross or Kane before shooting, and they didn't think it worked in execution.
That fire concept was one of those ideas that likely looked great on paper, but it didn't come across well on television. Maybe Kane felt it was too much of a departure from the origins of the character. Whilst he didn't go into details on that, both he and Ross described the fire angle as one they didn't enjoy.