Rate The Gimmick: Kane & Undertaker - Demonic Henchmen

[Ferbian]

It's time for another installment in Rate The Gimmick. For you who don't know what this means, it means that I take another gimmick, and I let you rate it from 1 to 10. 1 being awful, 10 being awesome. Pretty simple right?

This week we're gonna be looking into two people, of very very alike gimmicks. And that's mostly why I merge them, because while I have already done one tag team gimmick, this tag team haven't existed together for long enough, nor are they different from their separated persona's.

I would first like to point out that you're more than welcome to rate both gimmicks separately, or to rate these as a tag team together. I'll try to cover both.

The Undertaker​

The Undertaker as well know debuted in 1990 at Survivor Series as a dominant mysterious deadman, he went on to defeat the majority of his opponents team, obviously a dominant debut like few others. The Undertaker dominated for about a year prior to his first defeat, even defeating Hulk Hogan for his first WWF championship.

The Undertaker as we all know is one hell of a character, cartoon like, yet WWE have made it work for nearly 20 years soon enough. The Undertaker has defeated numerous people, in numerous different matches. He is one of the premiere guys of WWE, the big dog in the back and out on stage so to say. He has wrestled numerous first time matches, as well as he holds the record for never being defeated at Wrestlemania.

The Undertakers accomplishments are some I'm sure we all know, so I won't be addressing them. However The Undertaker have feuded with numerous people, from Shawn Michaels, to his very own brother Kane, with many many more to go.

The Undertaker has served for years as one of the few "guys to beat" around the WWE. He is the guy that is one hell of a challenge to put down, and I'm sure it's not because of backstage politics.

There's a lot to say about The Undertaker, much more than I could fit into this thread, so therefore I'm gonna move on to Kane.

Kane​

The Undertakers brother, Kane debuted about 13 years ago, after a lot of hype from Paul Bearer, a guy who formerly managed The Undertaker, only to threaten Undertaker to reveal his lost brother. Finally we saw Kane debuting, only to show that all the hype was more than worth it. Ripping off the doors to the cage that held The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, battling in the first Hell in the Cell match. It culminated with Shawn Michaels defeating The Undertaker due to Kane's debut, where he brutally tombstoned The Undertaker, to shock the world.

He went on to feud with Undertaker on a few occasions, to keep the relationship and the connection between the two of them fresh, in a way so they wouldn't have to fight alongside each other all the time.

Kane has spend a lot of his time in the mid-card, never truly accomplishing a main event stay. However, remaining dominant. Kane has pretty much from a kayfabe perspective accomplished the same stature that Undertaker has, in terms that he is one hell of a bitch to defeat, and generally brings an "oh-shit" like moment to his entrance. At least that's how I've always imagined it, even if Kane has served a good part of his career as enhancement talent.

Kane has as well as The Undertaker, numerous championships under his resume. He has also numerous people in the past that he feuded with, however not as many as The Undertaker, yet a fair deal in Triple H, Big Show, Great Khali and of course The Undertaker.

The Brothers of Destruction​

These guys have spend a lot of time together just on and off pairing with each other. Winning tag team gold together, and generally just feuding a bit here and there in the tag team division, for the sake of bringing a bit of life to the division I could only imagine.

The Undertaker and Kane's biggest time together (At least in my opinion) would have to be around the time of the Invasion angle, where they became a big part in helping WWE withstand some of the attacks from the Alliance. A moment I remember quite well with the two of them battling practically the whole alliance in the middle of the ring, only to have Austin return and kick ass alongside them (and others, but Kane and Undertaker kinda stands out, being 6.10 and 7 feet and all).

So, really there's not much more to add. Or well certainly there is, but I would leave that up to you to rate this (these) gimmick(s) from 1 to 10, and of course to give your reason to your choices.

*Edit*: So I realized brothers of destruction weren't really a worthwhile name for their gimmick. Figured demonic henchmen would be more fitting. If you got a better name, let's hear it.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I've always liked the gimmicks of both of them. Similar, but never really the same. The Undertaker has always had more of a Death-like aura around him. While Kane just comes off as a sadistic madman. The only time, it seems to me, that Kane uses the Rest in Peace/take your soul type lines are when he's working with (or against) The Undertaker. In fact, I think Kane's best promos are the ones he's cutting now against his brother. It seems to me they're making it out that he's carrying the feud right now since The Undertaker is still "weakened."

Obviously they each individually have become set in stone in the WWE. The Undertaker at this point could do anything he wants and still be loved by the fans. His gimmick at this point would best be described as classic I think. Kane has become so familiar, that even as a heel feuding with his brother he still gets a lot of cheers.

As The Brothers of Destruction I always liked them together as long as it didn't last too long. Neither one really needs the other, but in small doses it's a refreshing change of pace. Not to mention it's one of the things that has helped Kane get over with the fans along the way.

Overall, I'd give The Undertaker a 9/10. I took one off because (and I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack for this) because I never really got into the American Badass.

Kane - 8/10. He's been good his whole time except for a few stale parts here and there. But he's rarely ever been on The Undertakers level.

Brothers of Destruction - 7/10. I like them both individually, so it's hard for me to consider rating them lower. But I only like them in small doses together because they're too good to be together all the time.

 

[Chill]

I enjoy both of these gimmicks and I rate them very highly. The Undertaker is the longest enduring gimmick in the WWE and he deserves credit for making it work so well, this long. Personally, I've enjoyed all phases of his personna from the classic Western 'Taker, to the Ministry incarnation, to the 'Bad-Ass' and his current persona. The Undertaker is an important member of the roster and is one of the best, he's faced them all and while he has spent most of his career in the main event, he has also visited the mid-card working with a number of mid-carders and helping make them better than they were, such as Mr. Kennedy, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Mabel/Viscera/Big Daddy V, Heidenreich amongst others. What is there left for 'Taker to accomplish with this gimmick? Nothing is the answer, yet he is still here and is one of the most over and important people in WWE. I have to rate him a 10, if nothing else, for his longevity and overall success with the character.

Kane is my favourite wrestler to ever come out of WWE, his gimmick instantly made an impression on me when he debuted in 1997. There's no doubt that the classic masked Kane was his best incarnation and that's when his gimmick was most impressive...newer fans don't really tend to understand just how important Kane was to the roster when he first debuted, he was one of WWE's biggest stars until 2004 when they truly began to put him on the back-burner so to speak. He's never been on the level of The Undertaker in terms of overall importance but he was certainly one of the more significant and over members of the roster during the late nineties and early 2000s. Of course, recently, Kane has been delivering some of the best promos of his career and has breathed new life into his gimmick which was left to flounder for a few years. This, in my mind goes to show that the character does still have life left in it and all it took was for him to be finally pushed again. I have to give Kane a ten as well.

 

[CyberPunk]

10/10........both of the them. Why? Because these gimmicks are so cartoonish yet so perfectly done. The deadman and the big red monster, these gimmicks are not easy to pull off...yet these two have done it so well..I didn't see Undertaker debuting but still remember Kane's first appearance....I still get goosbumps thinking about it.......these two are iconic and I think the two last truely cartoonish and over-the-top gimmicks....and love them both

 

[Ellila]

Im gonna rate them both 10 out of 10. because allways when they'r music hits you know someone is in for a a** whooping. expecially when it was masked kane and American badass version of Brothers of destruction

 

[The Crock]

They get a 10. C'mon, nobody has EVER had a gimmick as good as either of these two. Remember them both around Kane's debut? It was absolutely brilliant. Undertaker and Kane have always been special, from day one. They're both gonna be WWE Hall of Famers, so their gimmicks have obviously been good. I remember when I was younger how whenever Kane would come out I would instantly be glued to the TV, same with the Undertaker. It takes a special, special gimmick to do that.

 

[SimplyJay]

This gimmick doesn't work in todays era, many tried none succeeded. But the 2 men that really pulled off this gimmick are Kane and Taker. So without a shadow of doubt these men made the gimmick 10/10 but if this gimmick were to b done by some other ppl the ratings would obviously b different.