What Was Kane Almost Called Before His WWE Debut?

Kane defied the one-dimensional nature of his gimmick to become a WWE legend.

Instead of fading away after being beaten by The Undertaker like so many monsters before him, the 'Big Red Machine' was able to spin away from his kayfabe brother and carve out a successful career on his own. Incredibly, he wasn't called Kane originally.

Nah, he was called 'Inferno'.

Kane revealed this on Steve Austin's podcast, and said that the general gist was that he had been so badly burned by fires that he'd taken on a fiery alter ego. Someone suggested that the company might want to back off from literally calling him a walking fire, and so Kane was born.

The character wasn't actually supposed to debut when it did either. Had Vader not been arrested over in Kuwait in April 1997, Kane doesn't think he would've been readied for a major debut before 1998. That's mind-blowing to think about, in retrospect.

Vader could've been the one tearing doors off Hell In A Cell, not Kane. Thankfully, the big man lost his spot and 'Inferno' got the nod to work one of the most memorable debuts ever.

Sorry, Kane.