WWE Gimmicks That FAILED The HARDEST Every Year (1985-2025)
20. ‘Retro’ Kane (2006)
Wrestling has tried the doppelgänger thing a few times over the decades. Infamously, a battle of The Undertakers flopped at SummerSlam 1994. It's just as well that Bret and Owen Hart went longer than they were supposed to be in a steel cage war, because Undertaker vs. 'Underfaker' was supposed to be longer than the 9 minutes allotted.
In 2006, WWE tried the 'wrestler wrestles himself' premise again by bringing 'Retro Kane' into view in late-May. Luke/Doc Gallows was given a hilariously bad wig, Kane's old mask and the character's earliest outfit as he attacked the unmasked 'See No Evil' update on Raw. It was genuinely crappy.
So was their 7 minute match at Vengeance that June.
24 hours after that, Kane (the proper one) sent "Kane" packing by ripping his mask off and shoving him out the company exit doors. It was a literal way to put Luke's experimental gimmick out to pasture. Here's something: Fake Kane was so ghastly that it made Glenn Jacobs own portrayal of Kevin Nash's Diesel character in 1996 look passable, which is an incredible thing to say.
The writers surely wanted to squeeze more from this second Kane than they did, but they were never going to get the chance. It was clear instantly (as soon as Gallows debuted under the mask) that fans thought it was silly. They were never coming onboard, because Doc looked sod all like Kane did back in 1997 and they'd seen this trick before.
It didn't work then, it didn't work in 2006 and it wouldn't work now with somebody else. Stop doing this!