The Return Of Corporate Kane.....Do You Care?

[Mitch Henessey]

After returning his mask to Stephanie last week, Kane returned on Raw tonight wearing a suit to reintroduce the Corporate Kane persona.

I can't say I'm too excited to see Corporate Kane again. From what I remember, Corporate Kane spent most of his time running around as an authority figure/lackey for Stephanie and Triple H, with the occasional wrestling match every now and then, and the novelty of The Monster wearing a suit wore off after a couple of weeks.

On the surface, you could say Kane is a suitable replacement for Triple H (unless I missed something, Triple H didn't make an appearance on tonight's show) and Stephanie, if they're not around on Raw or Smackdown. And you don't have to worry about a problem for a cluttered stable of authority figures now, because Vickie and Brad Maddox are gone.

Still, Corporate Kane is a dull character overall, and I can't think of one single memorable moment (Punk's walkout happened before the feud had a real chance to go anywhere) or match from his first run as the corporate stooge. Also, my big problem with Corporate Kane is every time Kane puts on the suit, it's hard to ignore the feeling of Corporate Kane diminishing the mystique of The Monster/Demon version of Kane.

 

[L@RISANO]

As long as he doesn't wrestle in anymore matches as other superstars do, then I don't mind him as Corporate Kane too much.

Just don't give him a major role, but rather just be a fill-in GM type like Vickie and Maddox were before their firings...

Also, I hope the Demon Kane is never brought back. It has had its run...

 

[Reflection]

Still better than the weak demon character, I guess. That one is totally stale; this one still allows him to show his intelligent side and natural promo skills. Also, with there being no GM, he fills that void as well, instead of having Randy or Rollins make matches.

 

[L@RISANO]

However, it would be brilliant if instead of Corporate/Any Kane, Bad News Barrett, who was doing dirty work for HHH before his unfortunate injury, could do that fill-in GM job, until he becomes fully fit again.

It would help keep him relevant,lMO. Though, I suppose, Creative would rather Barrett returns to focus again on the IC title.

 

[Soulblazed]

However, it would be brilliant if instead of Corporate/Any Kane, Bad News Barrett, who was doing dirty work for HHH before his unfortunate injury, could do that fill-in GM job, until he becomes fully fit again.

It would help keep him relevant,lMO. Though, I suppose, Creative would rather Barrett returns to focus again on the IC title.

Point well taken! Barrett should be a GM if they ever wanna bring that role back..He'd actually be entertaining, talk shit and get his point across..

As far as Corporate Kane goes, what's the point of him going back to being a suit-wearing stooge? I thought he was going to take a hiatus until The Royal Rumble but obviously I was wrong..

As far as Kane being a "Demon" goes..As much as I've always been a Kane fan, Kane can't get away with doing shit that he used to get away with back in 1997 and 1998, which is pretty damn sad because to me that's how Kane should've always been..A monster not to be fucked with, instead of a comedy act who ended up at various times with Hogan, Danielson, etc

 

[LBGetBack]

Any "authority" figures other than Stephanie/HHH are pointless. Kane has no real power and is pretty unnecessary to the show.

Taking someone like Kane and putting him in the Briscoe/Patterson stooge- lackey role.....nah.

 

[Slash-LN]

I wish there was more to the story.
He gave his mask back because he lost his match last week?
That's all we get?

It just seems like they don't know what to do with him right now.

It doesn't bother me that he's corporate Kane I guess. I haven't really thought too hard on it.

 

[TheICChampion]

However, it would be brilliant if instead of Corporate/Any Kane, Bad News Barrett, who was doing dirty work for HHH before his unfortunate injury, could do that fill-in GM job, until he becomes fully fit again.

That'd be awesome. Every so often (maybe once every few weeks so it doesn't get stale) have him come out and make changes to matches or make "impromptu" matches. Something along the lines of "I bet you thought you were going to have an easy night. Just come out here and talk and then go home. Well, I'M AFRAID I'VE GOT SOME BAAD NEEWWWSS!" Something like that. Anyway, as far as Kane goes, I really lost all interest in his character, whether the Devil's favourite demon or The Authority's favourite lackey. So it really makes no difference to me. That being said, I do think he's more believable as "Corporate Kane".

 

[Hbk4life]

I think it's a horrible idea. If they're insistent on it, then I at least wish they waited until after SS. Regardless, imo, he should never be a lackey and he should never have the mask off. They've killed his character for good now.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I don't like this Corporate Kane at all, as I was such a huge Kane fan from his debut up until he took the mask off for the first time- that's the Kane I like to remember, he was awesome until the gimmick was ruined by revealing his face. He hasn't been the same to me since.

I think the suit-wearing Kane is just boring, but it could be worse I guess. I'm disappointed he has returned as a stooge so quickly though, I was expecting him to take a bit of time off and then come back with a bang, not just show up in a suit a couple of weeks after walking out, it just screams "lazy booking" once again from WWE. They REALLY need to improve the writing team, it is SO dull.

 

[MartialHorror]

I like Corporate Kane, but he seemed a bit rusty on the mic. No matter though, I'm for it as long as he stops doing nothing but jobbing to the younger talent. I personally still think a face turn is on the horizon, although WWE is giving mixed signals about it.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Also, my big problem with Corporate Kane is every time Kane puts on the suit, it's hard to ignore the feeling of Corporate Kane diminishing the mystique of The Monster/Demon version of Kane.

For sure. The difference between "Kane the Monster" and "Kane the Administrator" is like night and day. Still, it was a new idea management wanted to try back then, and many of us figured: why not? We learned, to our surprise, that Kane could talk much better than we ever thought, so why not let him put his monster persona in mothballs and see what he could do on the mic?

We saw the result; there was never much interest from the fans. Yes, Glenn Jacobs is a good talker but it was impossible to look at him in a suit and tie without wishing for the monster that lie within, right? So, even while wearing the Brooks Brothers clothing, he began backing up his corporate edicts by hitting people. No big surprise there. (Talk about a "Corporate Killer")

Still, when he went back under the mask, I thought it a logical progression ....and was relieved to see it, figuring: "Okay, they tried it, Now let him go back to where he belongs."

That they've switched it all again goes against reason, in my opinion. If he's unable to wrestle anymore, that's fine.....he needn't retire, but if they want to give him a non-violent way of continuing with the company, I wish they had tried something other than going back to what didn't work in the first place.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

Kane's been done for at least a decade. From 1997-2000 Kane was an awesome, compelling character and I loved his feats of strength and physical charisma in the ring. Seeing a guy throw around the likes of Vader and Big Show was incredible. When the mask came off in 2003, that was it for me; it ripped out the character's heart and there was no going back. When he re-masked in 2011 I was mildly excited, but my enthusiasm quickly fizzled out when he became embroiled in a pitiful feud with Cena and was fed to him like just another jobber.

Today I really wish Kane would just go away.

 

[chicagokmc]

I like Corporate Kane, but he seemed a bit rusty on the mic. No matter though, I'm for it as long as he stops doing nothing but jobbing to the younger talent. I personally still think a face turn is on the horizon, although WWE is giving mixed signals about it.

Agree totally here. I'm fine with him finishing off his WWE time in this role and fading into retirement. This waffle between Corporate/Demon is not only stale its ridiculous because in the end he continues to job when he's supposed to be this bad ass monster.

 

[flaircokenotstril]

The constant back and forth with Kane has tarnished the character massively. It's apparent that Glenn Jacobs is well respected in the back because he continues to see TV time, in segments that make it also apparent that WWE writers are inept.

I prefer a Kane that doesn't talk, catches things on fire, and alludes to killing people. This is why I was low key excited when I read that he may be bringing Jacob Goodnight to the WWE. Of course this will be a ruse to put over a potentially terrible horror film, produced under the WWE banner, but it will be refreshing to see Kane get back to what made him great... being terrifying in the ring. It's doubtful, but I'd like to see some new moves.

 

[TheDrix]

I don't..only thing I hope for is, that he won't wear the mask again..then put it off and then wear it again. Kane, now you gave the mask back, don't ever put it on your face again. No one would take "Devil's favourite Demon" seriously now.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I don't care at all. And the more he flip flops like this, the more damaging I feel it is to him. Unless this all kind of leads to a "crazy dual personality" character, which he kind of hinted at last night by saying "it's like beating two people", but I'm not sure if WWE is actually that creative. He's not a credible threat in the ring anymore, and I think he's an awkward choice to play the B-Authority type like Lauranitis and Vickie Guerrero.

 

[loef]

They have ruined one of the best gimmicks and heels there is. Kane was always best with "no direction" as such. Due to the gimmick he could be slotted into any storyline with no back story needed.

But Im willing to give Kane a byball as during the late 90's early 0's he was fantastic.

 

[LSN80]

My guess is that Glenn Jacobs is injured, or something of that nature. I can't think of any other reason for them to come back to the gimmick. It's such an incredible step down from "Demon" Kane that it's hard to take him seriously. Which is why I believe Glenn Jacobs, then man who plays Kane, is injured. That or they really want to keep Kane on TV for some unbeknownst reason, and "Demon" Kane was needing to be booked to lose so much to advance others storylines.

As for being excited about seeing him back? No, I inwardly groaned. It was a unique character first for a wrestler who has made a career out of making innovative, unique gimmicks work. But from early on, the character sucked. His monotone way of speaking got annoying fast, and him wrestling in slacks and dress shoes really made him show his age. I was there at the Rumble when Punk eliminated him in 15 seconds, then saw all realism zapped from his character as he laid against the barricade and joked around with a referee before eventually eliminating Punk.

Those things along are such that make me groan audibly this time at the thought of Corporate Kane being involved in anything, and would rather see him take the time off and come back as a fresh version of masked Kane. Corporate Kane, the Authority stooge, conversely, is a terrible use of him, and makes him worth less and less each time he tries to come back as the demonized version of himself.