I enjoyed his recent fueds with The Undertaker and with Edge and I was glad to see Paul Bearer return for a short while. The whole storyline revolving around these guys has been and remains being one of my favourite aspects of the WWE since it began all those years ago and I am sure others feel the same. I don't put what happens in the ring above a good storyline when it comes to guys like Kane so if he has slowed down a bit really is not a problem in my eyes (I never watched the Kane character for his in ring ability).
Fair enough, but why wouldn't you watch the WORLD CHAMPION for his in-ring work? Im sorry, when I purchase a PPV, it's because I care about the performers in the ring, and the stories they tell
with their work. I enjoyed Kane's mic work after Taker was put into a vegetative state as much as anyone here, but mic work can only take you so far. Im not sure I understand how one could enjoy his feuds after he became champion, specifically his feud with Edge. You actually enjoyed seeing
face Edge kidnap and torment an obese Paul Bearer while the
heel Kane cried and begged for his father's freedom?
Maybe the fact you don't understand why so many people want to see his mask appear and to you it would just be a nice short lived nostalgic gester means obviously you like others have a totally different mindset about this which is fair enough but not the same for all.
I don' speak for but J I can say this: I enjoy nostalgia as much as anyone, but nostalgia has an expiration date equal to milk. The Old School Raw was a fantastic concept that was executed perfectly, but it's not something Id want to see every week, or even more then once a year. If Kane had donned the mask for say that show, it would have been fine. But it would serve no purpose, the nostalia would wear off fast, and it wouldn't distract from the fact that he's slow and plodding in the ring. But the ring work doesn't matter to you as compared to the nostalgia factor, so take what Im saying with a grain of salt.
So what if the target audience do not remember Kane when he wore his mask?! Rhodes, Cara and Abyss all get on fine with a lot of todays younger fans..for Rhodes it's helped him as it is part of a good story..all kane would need is a good reason to wear the mask again and I am sure it would work with any target audiance.
The difference here is simple. Cara and Abyss have worn masks their entire careers, at least in-ring. In the case of Cara, he wears it out of the ring as well. Rhodes mask is part of a slow-burning storyarc with his character. I can't think of a plausible reason in this era that after all these years that Kane could put the mask back on, and have it be anything then groan-inducing. The mystique is gone. Nostalgia wears off quick.
Anyway if it never happens that is fair enough and the Kane back then resided in more limit pushing times so maybe a dilluted masked Kane would not be anywhere near as effective as a monster but I for one would like to see it happen and I belive in never say never..especially if you don't work for the WWE or have a clue what is around the corner.
And that's the problem. Masked Kane was built as an almot unbeatable monster. That has worn off as well. Kane loses more then he wins, and the etire point behind the mask was the disfigured, tormented, destructive monster underneath. Well, we've seen his face, and he's not disfigured. His face/heel turns every 4-6 months have all but eliminated the idea of a tormented monster that he once was, and the frequency of which he loses and the fact that he's lost virtually every feud he's been in over the past 5 years destroys the idea of an unbeatable monster. Even after he WON his feud with Undertaker, Edge quickly derailed that momentum, and the believability of him ever becoming that monster is less now then ever. So all you're left with is nostalgia, and I think Ive covered that pretty well. Heck no to the mask, or another championship run. His run in 2010
was that nostalgia, lifetime achievement award run. And what a quite crap run it was.