Kane's Mic Skills

[Chill]

Originally Posted By xfearbefore:
I don't see them. I'd put Kane's promos right next to Orlando Jordan as one of the most embarrassing things in wrestling today. Are we supposed to be taking him seriously? Because I can't every time he cuts a promo right out of a 3rd rate B movie.

To compare Kane to Orlando Jordan is just a slap in the man's face and a comparison that I certainly don't see myself. But an opinion's an opinion.

The guy is the World champion right now and no one gives a shit, he's probably like the 5th or 6th most disliked heel on the roster. Pretty bad for a world champ.

Probably because Kane has now reached that stage where he is so liked, people find it hard to boo him no matter what he does. Nothing will ever change the fact that he is a popular wrestler who has been on TV for a long time now, people recognize that and they like Kane. For example, if they were to turn The Undertaker heel, the fans may not display the type of reaction they are looking for because people like him so much. The same thing happens to Sting in TNA, people don't want to boo him. I'm not saying Kane is on the same level of popularity of any of those men today, but I think it's a similar sort of situation nonetheless.

Please, please tell me you did not just compare Kane to Piper, Flair, Hogan, and The Rock. That's almost offensive to even suggest such a thing.

No, I'm not doing that, I'm simply saying that over-the-top is acceptable and encouraged in the WWE. If you call Kane over-the-top and one who can't employ subtlety, then you'd have to say the same about the Hogans, Pipers and Flairs, none of whom employed much subtlety in their hey day. I personally don't get the hype about Piper on the mic for example, he often came across as a parading bafoon to me but that's a different argument and only my opinion...

See because unlike Kane, Piper, Flair, Hogan and the Rock all made the crowd care about their matches and their promos got the crowds riled up. Kane is met with dead silence, every time. He's lucky to get a few 12 year olds booing him in the front row.

But you can't really compare Kane on the mic to any of those men, really. None of them where playing a 'monster' character....it's not like Kane can come out and talk smack on the local audience's football team to get them riled up, or suck up to them to elicit a major pop, so in that sense he's kind of confined in how he can draw a response. So just to reiterate, no, I'm not saying Kane is on the level of The Rock or even Flair but I am saying he does very well with what he's given and I feel he is very good/excellent on the mic, judging him by the standard of a 'monster' character.

His promo about a week or two ago on Smackdown was literally like 90% yelling. He spits and slobbers on the mic from how much he overacts, it's absolutely awful to watch. Subtlety? What exactly is subtle about yelling about the same shit you've been saying for 13 years while giggling like a madman from a horror movie and trying to sound "scary"?

This all comes down to personal preference really. I love it when Kane starts yelling because he comes across as a madman and a psycho to me and I like that and he's supposed to come across as such. But again, I often find a typical Kane promo will consist of him talking 'normally' for the first 90% of the promo before it finally builds to him yelling at the end, at which point the promo is over anyway.

So, I like to look at the yelling as a type of crescendo to the promo, as if the yelling is something being gradually built up. It's not just Kane yelling, he does yell certainly, but there's more to it than that.

It didn't come across well, it came across very very poorly. Like if someone walked into the room and saw me watching that, I'd literally be embarrassed to be seen watching it, that's how bad he is on the mic.

See I largely feel that way when I watch TNA or Hornswoggle but not Kane. My friend actually walked in the other day during a recent Kane promo and this guy is only a casual fan, and he said 'I didn't know Kane could talk that well'....I'm not saying that's indicative of how everyone will perceive these promos but not everyone finds Kane to be shit on the mic.

His "character" has been dead for years now, let's not pretend otherwise, this title reign of his is his first in 13 years for a valid reason---he's simply not very good anymore.

His character was dead since '05 until Summer of this year, that's because Creative did sweet feck all to preserve and maintain it. However, to be fair, they are currently doing a great job of resurrecting the old Kane that people first loved and that's why you see so much praise in here from the vast majority. Nobody has had their character butchered and failed as much by WWE than Kane, yet he's still here and World Champion no less. No Kane isn't what he once was, but he is more than good enough to hold that title for a few months, no doubt about it in my mind.

Oh sure he used to be awesome about 10 years ago. Unfortunately not he's as intimidating and frightening as a bunny rabbit and both his in-ring work and mic work is subpar at best.

Yeah Kane was awesome 10 years ago and now he is beginning to show signs of that again. His mic work is very good and while he's not as good in the ring as he once was, he is still able to put on a good match by WWE's standards. I'm not saying he's going to put on 'match of the year' bouts, he never has, but he is good at doing what he's meant to do.

I've given Kane promos a chance, one after the other week after week, I can't take it anymore. I give him about 60 seconds and by then it's usually too cringe-worthy to continue watching.

Well that's fair enough, you're entitled to do that. At least you tried...

So are you agreeing with me then that Kane's heel shtick against Taker is old as hell now? It hasn't been entertaining in years, it's a horse that's been beaten to death and literally no one gives a shit about seeing yet another terrible Taker-Kane match.

Kane and Undertaker feuding against each other hasn't been done now since 2004 and it has never been done with the title being the main reason for their conflict. That in itself is different and 'new'.

I remember reading one of your posts a while back that said, you weren't interested in this feud, unless they made Kane look dominant and go over 'Taker. So far, they've made Kane look dominant and we've yet to see him go over 'Taker, whose to say this wont happen during this feud? Let's wait and see.

Reading through a lot of the posts on here, I get the impression that people are now warming to the feud because Kane's renewed push and new lease of life have got people saying, 'let's give this a chance'. Behind Nexus, this feud is easily one of the best going in WWE today.

See because The Undertaker doesn't sound like a baffoon when he says those things. He's been doing it for 20 years and unlike Kane, knows how too cut a subtle promo. You never see Undertaker screaming and yelling and slobbering all over a microphone like Kane, he's always calm and collected and it adds to his character.

But that's your opinion, people could just as easily say they'd be embarrassed to be seen watching a man standing in a hat talking about reaping souls and the dark side, while trying to convince us he has magical powers. Point being here, we as fans, suspend our disbelief when watching guys like 'Taker and Kane.

If you say Kane is cartoony and corny, you cannot do so without mentioning 'Taker who could easily rival Kane in that category, hell he could take the crown! Kane and Undertaker are characters, they are larger than life, they are corny and over-the-top, that's why people like them. Over-the-top is what keeps it interesting.

People don't complain because unlike Kane, the Undertaker is a legend and probably one of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots. Unlike Kane, who hasn't been good in about a decade now.

People don't complain because WWE has afforded The Undertaker God- like status, particularly the last few years. Kane has been assassinated in the character department...imagine had 'Taker been booked the same as Kane, chances are you'd be sitting here saying 'Taker is shit as well. Kane wasn't booked well, 'Taker was pushed to hell and that's what shapes people's perception.

I never singled out Kane for being repetitive. I never said that he was repetitive in fact, so I'm not sure what you're getting at here.

Perhaps not, but you did mention he's been saying the exact same thing about 'Taker for 13 years now which indicates repeatitivness to me. All I was doing was pointing out that everyone repeats themselves, whether it be 'Taker wanting to make you 'Rest in Peace' or Jericho telling us he's the best in the world at what he does, in that monotone voice of his...

And I literally find it baffling that you guys are all creaming over this shit. I saw a better promo cut by the Dudebusters on Superstars a few weeks ago.

It's not baffling because Kane is good on the mic. Again I'm not saying he's an Austin or Rock but as a monster character (which is what he's meant to be), Kane is excellent on the mic. The Dudebusters have potential but at the moment they couldn't hold a candle to Kane's mic work, and not many can who presently work for WWE either, in my opinion. There are a few, but not many.

When did I ever say I didn't respect you if you liked Kane? Don't recall saying that.

Looking back on it, you didn't say that, so there you go. I apologize.

I'm just explaining my point of view, which is that Kane is terrible on the microphone. Which he is.

Good stuff. And I'm just explaining my point of view that he is good at portraying the type of character which he is meant to do and that's why we're all creaming about it in here, that's all.

 

[Dave]

Kane’s mic skills have come on tremendously since the Undertaker was written out of the show. Now, it might not be that he is rising to the challenge. It may be that he is just exploiting the freedom that the WWE is finally giving him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I am fan of his. However, over the last 4 or 5 years, he has been critically underwhelming. He hasn’t had a decent feud and only a few months ago people were calling for him to be fired on here. Now though, he is like a breath of fresh air through Smackdown and his mic skills have been mostly to the credit of that claim.

This last Friday on Smackdown, I was utterly blown away by what he said. It was like an ending to a whodunit mystery and it was completely enthralling. Kane has found something that he can run with and at this point, he looks like a good Champion. He speaks very competently and confidently and it is giving credence to his current run as Champion.

It remains to be seen, however, whether the WWE will continue to give him this time after he has the World Heavyweight Championship taken from him. Will they allow him the time to tell stories like they did on Smackdown last Friday? Probably not. However, for the moment, his mic skills are impressing me week in and week out. More power to him, I say.

 

[Bill Lesnar]

Bill Lesnar believs Kane is rather Wooden and lethargic on the microphine. Kane in Bill Lesnars eyes ia not as big a monster as two legends who had thier careers cut short in 2004. Kane is rather dreary for Bill Lesnar, Bill Lesnar would prefer Kane to job to Mason RYan on NXT season 3.

 

[M. Winters]

Kane obviously has some serious talent on the mic, I just don't get why the Smackdown creative team feels the need to put that cheesy music behind all of his promos. If he was just in the ring, just him and a mic I would be a lot more of the older wrestling fans would take him seriously.

 

[KKarvox]

I'm sorry but WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE SMOKING? And WHERE can I obtain this insanely potent drug that clearly makes you hallucinate that Kane is good on the microphone? I literally have to hit the fast forward button on my DVR every time Kane cuts a promo because it's just so horrid by about 60 seconds in that it's literally embarrassing to watch, like I feel bad for Kane for how foolish he looks cutting these incredibly over-the-top cartoonish promos with some of the worst overacting I've ever seen. Ever heard of a fucking thing called SUBTLETY Kane? You don't need to scream and try to talk REALLY-INTENSELY to come off as angry or scary, try cutting a promo that isn't the exact same shit you've been saying about 'Taker for the last 13 years. Oh you don't like your brother, do you? I think we've established that by now asshole.

I'm literally baffled by how many people in here are raving about Kane's promos when they're by far one of the worst things going on in wrestling today. Notice how the crowds are DEAD QUIET through out every single fucking Kane promo? It's because he can't cut a promo for shit, and if he could he'd make the crowd give a shit about him, but they continue not to just as they haven't for years now.

Seriously, someone, anyone, explain to me how Kane's promos are so awesome. I feel like I'm watching a mentally ******ed man attempt to act in a school play.

Very harsh, you are entitled to your opinion, but damn. I will agree with the fact that when he does a promo with mostly yelling, that it does take away from it, and does come off as overdone, however, his last promo on Smackdown only had one part done like that,and the rest was done very calmly, which i think came across alot better. I usually don't care for Kane's promos, but that one was great. I can understand if you say that 90% of the promos Kane has cut were sub par, but that one last week generally drew me into a storyline like no one else has done in any company since i was little, it suspended disbelief, it was well recited, very articulate, and flawlessly performed. He was able to do something even the best mic workers in the bussiness can't do, and that is cut a 15 minute long promo without losing interest. I sat there and was sucked in from minute one to the end. The music was cheesy yes, but really added in my opinion. It was like i was watching as a kid again, and i loved it!

 

[Miss Flawless]

Some people are saying that Kane's mic skills suck because he's saying the same thing over and over again...

w-o-w...Kane's character is a psycho, madman who seeks "vengeance". He will yell and spit (ew) into the microphone when he talks, he will laugh like those evil dudes in cartoons, and he will be "scary" to the little kids.

Some people are just saying that Kane's mic skills suck because they don't want to see another Undertaker/Kane feud. Believe me, I don't want to see another one either, but I'm pretty sure that they just brought this feud up because the younger kiddies haven't seen it. Hell, if my dad didn't have tapes of RAW, I wouldn't have even seen it.

Kane's mic skills are very good according to his gimmick. I was watching SD! last week, and Kane was cutting a promo when my dad walked in from work, and he watched it in full silence, looking shocked. He's been watching wrestling for a very long time, and he never new Kane could cut a promo like that.

For the few people who thought Kane's promo skills suck, either haven't seen him talk before, or have no intelligence on cutting promos. You're all entitled to your opinion, but Kane's promos do not suck.

You know why the crowd goes silent when Kane cuts a promo? Cause, the older people are shocked, and the little people are either a) scared or b) intelligent enough to listen and not boo him. The crowd doesn't go dead silent because they're bored of him. If they were bored of him, they would boo him, like how I boo Zach Ryder when I'm bored of his stupid "promos".