A Look Back: Kane's Title Reign

[mrbrownstone]

Just so there is no confusion, this thread is only about Kane's recent run not his one day title run.

Kane won his title at July's Money in The Bank PPV by cashing in his MITB contract on a weakened Rey Mysterio, he held this title for 154 days or just over 5 months before he lost it at TLC to Edge.

During his reign Kane had three major title feuds; Rey Mysterio who he feuded with in the lead up to Summerslam after Kane cashed in his MITB briefcase on Rey. This feud mainly revolved around which one of the two took out The Undertaker, they had a rather lacklustre title match at Summerslam where Kane was revealed to have done that. Which leads us to his second feud.

The Undertaker, these two feuded throughout the summer over the fact that Kane took his brother out and Taker wanted his revenge, this feud also saw the return of Paul Bearer. This feud provided us with some very good promos but the three title matches were again lacklustre, with the best of the bunch coming at NOC which was average at best. This feud culminated at Bragging Rights in a Buried Alive match.

His third feud, with Edge, revolved around the kidnapping of Paul Bearer. These two had matches on SD and at Survivor Series which were once again lacklustre (notice a trend?). This culminated in a four way TLC match where Kane finally lost the title. This feud also featured the (second) death of Paul Bearer.

Now with the history lesson out of the way lets get down to the subject of this thread. Basically what I want to know is, now that it is over, what is your overall opinion on Kane's title reign? Pretty simple premiss right. Anyway, here is my opinion.

In short I hated it, a lot. He had at best one good match during a five month title reign in the TLC match, and, the success of that match had far more to do with the other three men than with him so I'm not sure you can even count that. Sure he improved drastically on the mic during this good reign but a few good promos were not enough to save this reign in my eyes.

So those are my views, what are yours? Do you agree? Disagree? What ever the case explain why in here.

 

[#hamler]

In all honesty, I loved Kane's World Title reign. It finally slodified his spot as a sure hall of famer. A five month World Heavyweight Championship reign is really something to be proud of regaurdless of the quality of good matches. A five month title reign means the WWE put a lot of faith in you to deliver as a world champion. You mention his matches were umm, "lacklustre", well that's only part of being a World Heavyweight Champion. You tell me how great the feud was with the Undertaker? Or how funny it was watching Edge torment Paul Bearer. Kane was given the World title because of his expirience. His ability to sell and put real emotion into any feud he's in. I mean do you remember all the kick ass promos? They were perfect examples of overlooked mic ability on Kane's part. He had temendous mic skills which contributed to his great promos.

His matches could've been better but I for one looked at the lead up to each match. Kane and the WWE kept me guessing in each and every single match Kane defended his World Heavyweight title. He defeated one of the greatest in Undertaker, and showed who the real dominant brother is. Everytime Kane faced 'Taker, I always said, "well this is it." I always thought Taker would come out on top. It wasn't predictable at all. Kane kept us tuned in to see what would happen next. I think the title reign was a great way to give Kane the respect he deserves for all the years of dedication.

Call his title reign bullshit but I for one loved it.

 

[LSN80]

I thought Kane's title run started off hot, and was downhill from there. He was cutting the promos of his life leading up to, and during the first few months of his reign. His program with Mysterio was simple but effective as it stretched out the "Who attacked the Undertaker" storyline while also involving the WHC. A personal feud for the title is far more effective to me then one that's simply about the title. This also served as a vehicle to return the Undertaker, make the reveal and heel turn for Kane, and allow Kane to get the upper hand in the first exchange in the long feud with the Undertaker. I also felt that the match he and Mysterio had at Summerslam was a step above their matches from their feud in 2008. This was a good feud for Kane.

Kane's promos continued to be money as he shifted his attention from Mysterio to the Undertaker. He displayed poise and control that he hadn't before other then screaming into the microphone. I enjoyed their first matcn, the No Holds Barred match, and thought it was the best of their three. The introduction of Paul Bearer, and specifically, his siding with Kane, was the turning point in this feud for Kane. His match with Undertaker at and inside Hell In A Cell was bad, as was Bearer's involvement. I liked Bearer in the past, but felt he detracted from Kane's mic work in this feud rather then enhancing it. Their match at Buried Alive was awful, and it was there that Kane's title run began to get very stale. Im mixed on the feud with Undertaker, because the first month or so it had the makings of being the feud of the year. It was a feud that had it's moments, especially Kane's early promos, but it steadily got worse as the feud went along.

Edge winning the number one contenders match and the subsequent feud with Kane was the real downfall of kane's title run. He should have been booked as an unstoppable monster after defeating the Undertaker 3 straight times, yet he easily fell victim to Edge's mind games. Undertaker tried throughout their feud to get inside Kane's head, and was quite unsuccessful. All it took was Edge kidnapping Paul Bearer and Kane went from unstoppable to quite weak. Logically, it made sense, but it failed to fit Kane's character. The backstage segments with Edge tormenting Bearer were campy at best, and it was hard to suspend disbelief that Edge kept Bearer with him week after week. Edge's committing of felony murder was the last straw, as it spit in the face of logic. JBL had Cena arrested in 2005 for vandalizing his limo, but Edge's kidnapping, imprisonment, and subsequent "murder" of Paul Bearer didnt warrant any action. This was a bad feud and Edge winning the belt off of Kane was a welcome relief.

Still, this was an excellent thing for Kane. He was given a solid 5 month title reign that allowed him to look very strong for the most part and like the dominant heel champion he should have been a long time ago. It solidified him as a HOF wrestler and finally gave him the upper hand over the Undertaker, which few wrestlers can claim to have gotten. One would think that Taker would at some point go over Kane, but he never did. That along with his promo work shouldn't allow what transpired at the end of his run to ruin what was an excellent reign for Kane. it was time to take the belt off of him, but he deserved every bit of the solid 5 months he was given.

 

[JGlass]

Kane's title reign started off really strong and then sort of fizzled out. His feud with Rey was bizarre but decent. They had worked in the past, so they weren't strangers to each other, but they didn't exactly set Smackdown on fire either.

Kane's feud with The Undertaker, however, was awesome. I was shocked when Kane was able to beat Taker and out muscle him on several other occasions. Though many people didn't like the Paul Bearer turn, I didn't see anything wrong with it, and it was a good way to set the otherwise unstoppable Undertaker back a few paces. The feud ended with a Buried Alive match, which if nothing else, is quite a spectacle.

The feud with Edge, though, was bad. Plain and simple, it was bad. It got off to a decent enough start, but their match at Survivor Series sucked. It was a boring match and the ending was stupid. It only got worse from there as Edge kidnapped Paul Bearer. I'm sure there are some people in the world who enjoy kidnapping storylines, but I don't see appeal. I did enjoy Edge screwing with Kane's mind with the mannequins, but that was more because of the slap-stick nature of Edge's antics rather than the psychological thrill of it all. I did not get a chance to watch their match on Sunday, but I can't imagine a TLC Fatal-4 way was anything but a crowded sloppy mess.

So overall, Kane's title run wasn't too bad. The Undertaker feud was good, and that sort of makes up for the fact the other two weren't. More than anything, it was good to see the belt on Kane. He's given many years to the WWE and has never taken any serious time off, so he deserved it.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Overall, I have to say that I've enjoyed Kane's run as World Heavyweight Champion. One big reason for that was because I, like many others, had really just sort of written Kane off. He was a very solid presence in the upper mid-card area and was a hard worker and that's pretty much where I figured that he'd always remain.

While his feud with Edge has been pretty lackluster overall thus far, I think that Kane has been overall better and far more interesting in the past 6 months than he has at any other time in his career. Kane has given some promos over the course of that time frame that've been 100% solid gold in my view. He's cranked up the emotions, particularly anger, and combined it with some very articulate speaking on the mic. I honestly didn't really think that Kane had it in him and he surprised me pleasantly.

When I first read on the internet that the plan was for Kane to be the one responsible for attacking The Undertaker, I cringed a little like most other people. However, I was surprised by the overall quality of the feud and I liked the direction that they went with making The Undertaker a little more human and vulnerable than he'd ever been portrayed. Taker is getting older, we all know that his body is succumbing to the wear and tear of the road and the aftermath of pushing himself to work long periods of time while hurt so he can heal and rest up at a later time. So this added something different to this feud and the fact that Kane came out on top was very nice in my view. The matches weren't classics, but I thought that they were solid matches that were successful at making Kane look stronger than he's ever been. After all, how many wrestlers can claim to have three straight ppv match victories over The Undertaker at any point in his career?

Overall, I think Kane had a pretty good run as WHC. Between The Undertaker himself & Kane this year, I think that they helped give the WHC some needed stability as the WWE did play hot potato a lot with it in 2009.

 

[cliffordlfc]

Kane has had the best title reign this year without a doubt. 3 great feuds, great matches, and he has improved on his mic skills and in-ring skills. Kane has earned my respect this year as when he won it, I wasn't very fond but after his feud with Undertaker, I couldn't do anything but respect the guy.

 

[Freddy4190]

I was pretty much indifferent to it. Kane is a great wrestler, but I don't know about him as champ. Did he deserve it? Sure, why not? Was it entertaining? Eh, I suppose. They just kept beating the dead horse that is the Taker vs. Kane angle. It was pretty cool to see Paul Bearer on TV again, and nostalgic in another way I guess, but i'm glad his reign is over.

 

[Long Island Iced WXYZ]

Kane cut great promos, but the matches didn't follow.

He may have gotten three big wins over the Undertaker, but none of his matches are memorable. And the HIAC match was terrible.

What a waste of a title reign.

It's funny you see the IWC saying the WWE gives us the same old guys over and over and then gets all happy about Kane finally getting a title run.

It should have went to someone like Christian instead.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I loved his Title reign, sure the matches were not too great except the TLC and Summer Slam matches but he was great during TV. Also what benefited him the most during the title reign is dominating the Undertaker in three straight PPV's its a long time coming and, considering they have had on and off programs since 1998, it was great to finally see Kane score PPV victories over the deadman.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

I agree with Fred. I was indifferent to this particular title run as well.

I also agree with those who say it started off hot, which I think was partly due to how surprising MITB cash ins tend to be. The Undertaker feud has been done before, and its been done better. Then it disappointed me to see Edge pretty much take the wind outta Kane's sails week after week with that odd kidnapping thing.

All in all, its the kind of thing we usually get with Kane pushes which is kind of a shame as he's quite intelligent and very talented.