When Kane had his Mask, did it provide a Placebo effect?

[Midgetmania619]

(Placebo effect is just seeing something aid a person, but it doesn't actually aid them at all. Such as lucky charms, they provide the placebo effect).

So many people say that Kane's mask made him better and stronger, etc, but it was the Kane personality that made him that. He was more hell bent on destruction because he was "disfigured" to such an extent he needed a mask to *hide*, not be any better or worse.

Anyway, does Kane's mask provide a placebo effect, or did it actually make him any better?

(Kane's first feud win over Taker: Unmasked, longest world title reign: Unmasked - 6 months, Masked - 1 day). However, when Kane was masked he was more "durable", but could that have been because he was more determined for destroying what or whomever?

So Kane's mask - Legitimate or Placebo?

 

[BASSER911414]

i thnk ppl like him masked more was cuz there was less talking and more action.

just a huge machine bent on destruction.

and no i dont thnk it had any effect on his wrestling ability

 

[AxAs]

To be honest, i'm sure if you were to ask everyone i think atleast 80% (myself included) liked Kane better when he was masked. I don't know what it was I just find him a joke now. I know he has had a longer world title run without the mask but I really didn't see how he never got a long one when he was masked. It was cause of breathing trouble or something I heard why he stopped wearing it but i'd love to see a storyline where he went back to wearing it. A few years ago, I'm not quite sure how long but he teased about it with a mask in a bag, it turned out to be Rey Mysterio. It would just give such a good nostaligia feel to have him wear it again.

He was more of a monster with the mask, now he cleanly loses matches to the likes of Dolph Ziggler (who I don't dislike but you NEVER would of seen him lose cleanly to him when he was masked Kane).

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Because I was like 7, 8 years old when he had the mask, it was believable to me he was burned, he was a real monster, he looked tough, his arms were huge and he was scary.. So I don't really know whether its fair to say, he beat Taker without his mask, had a longer title run without his mask etc.. Also remember he elimated 11 men with the mask in a single rumble..

With the mask, we knew he was unstoppable and he went out to the ring and just did his business.. Simple.. It was something we expected from a monster..

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

The mask has had no effect on his in-ring performances, come on its just a mask!

But I think the aura around Kane was different when he was covered up and we couldn't see his face. It just added the the character- the badly burned monster who was angry with the world and was just beating the shit out of everyone. He just looked cooler and more threatening. Back when I was like 10 or 11 Kane was the coolest wrestler on the roster by far. I thought he looked awesome, and when he talked through the voice box for the first time I was legitimately scared of the guy.

He certainly should have been given a longer title reign back then, he was in his prime and really over with the fans. He was in great shape and had that mysterious aura about him and when he came out through the flames masked he looked a terrifying sight.

Now, he just looks like a normal wrestler, the mask was something different and made him stand out, while adding to his persona and the belief had he was burned as a child by Undertaker which aided the Deadman's evil character at this time.

 

[MizterColemine]

Unmasked Kane has had more success last year probably for his hard work and loyalty over the years. He puts on decent matches, though not the best these days and he's really smart and actually makes the writing for his promos seem decent, especially in the promos during his big push last year.
However, Masked Kane was much cooler, not to mention back then he was in magnificent shape, was a lot quicker and stronger in the ring. The mask isn't a placebo, there was actually some supplemental benefit in that pill, because it was a necessary prop for the image they wanted to get across, and it worked amazingly. But it wasn't what made Kane more special than he is now... It's the aforementioned factors characteristic of youth. He was more successful in 2010 than 2000 because of his veteran status.
But indeed, the mask was legitimate.

 

[metans]

What made masked Kane *better* back in the day was generally a greater quality of ideas and angles from the WWE bookers and writers, who used this huge man as a human brick wall, performing the role previously owned by Diesel, Yokozuna, Vader, Andre the Giant (OK so maybe Big Show filled that one a bit more) and sharing the stage with The Undertaker.

They were able to use this secretive, enigmatic character to really get over with the fans either as a heel or a face, whether he was an evil, maniacal brother bent on revenge stalking The Undertaker and building up to their anticipated first match at Wrestlemania XIV, or opening up and showing that yes, even Kane had a heart after all, in his first friendship and later rivalry with X-Pac.

One of the greatest things about Masked Kane, was that he was a "closed book" so to speak- unable to speak properly or portray emotions facially (at least with the full face mask) he was for the most part, "vacant" only cocking his head quizically considering an opponent, before the beat down began.

Losing the mask has allowed Glen Jacobs to properly act- both in the ring and in the See No Evil film. The idea was for Kane to unmask, revealing that the only physical damage from the "fire" was that his hair was burned away (and he still had soot on his face 20+ years later?) and that the "scars" that we had heard about for the past six years were in fact mental, and not physical.

The character of Kane has reflected this change too. As Jacobs is older and generally less athletic, and a muscle tear has prevented him from regaining the physique he used to have, he appears slower, and less well-built than people remember him from his masked heyday. Where once he was called "The Big Red Machine" indiscriminately ploughing through anyone who stood in his way, emotionless and methodical, he is now "The Big Red Monster" a much more cerebral, calculating figure (though somewhat more unhinged than an Edge or a Triple H) we saw this in his planning of The Undertaker's downfall which eventually culminated in winning the World Heavyweight championship at a time when most people thought his time had passed long ago.

So now that I have my windbag explainations out of the way, I have to vote PLACEBO despite a tiny voice inside screaming "But the mask was better!!", begging WWE to bring it back because it really did make a difference. We all know that it didn't- it was just way cooler.

 

[Tiedye]

I find that his mask made him more fearsome. without a face to look upon he seems less human and more of a monster/machine. Without the mask he has seemed more vulnerable as a whole. So I think he was better with his mask for his persona than without it, even though he has received more titles without the mask.

 

[The Suplexer Perfecter]

Kane was mostly a Joke WITH the Mask from 2000 until he lost it. Seen the promo with Kane, Rock, and Hogan? He didn't act like a monster during that time AT ALL.

When he lost it I'm sure he was happy so he could just feel better in the ring.

I could care less about Kane with a mask. It doesn't change anything.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that Kane's mask was one of the coolest props that the WWE had ever designed. I cannot understand what exactly you mean by placebo effect but one thing that I know for sure is that a lot of people liked him just for his mask.

When Kane debuted, his mask and the way in which his character was built up were the reasons why his character got popular so fast. After he lost his mask, a lot of his aura got destroyed and he became just another monster heel.

It would have been better if Kane had kept wearing that mask. The mask made him stand out and the whole intrigue of what he looked like kept the fans interested in his character. But I have heard that he had problems working with his mask on and so I guess that is why WWE decided to abandon it.

 

[Xemmy]

Annoyingly abstract question.

Kane's mask and original suit gave him the appearance of a monster, something that just didn't appear human. This is really calling Rey's mask a placebo, or Undertaker's hat and coat a placebo. It's just part of the appearance.

"Look at the size of this human being, or is that a human being?" - J.R.

He just didn't come of as human with the mask on. Eyes you really couldn't see and that false mouth made sure of that. His character was just this engine of destruction that didn't really have a purpose other than to bring people pain. He didn't lose his flare when he lost his mask. Not at all. He lost this appearance when he came back in 2002, with the partial mask. The opening of the mouth and eyes made him human. The key to Kane was not having a face at all. When he showed one, it changed the physchology of the character. He went from being "The Big Red Machine" to "The Big Red Monster" which all in all doesn't even fit. Giving him a face just made him another big guy. But that's the psychology of it.

This Legit vs Placebo thing is just silly sounding.

 

[slimmshady]

First of all let me address the unmasking part where we get to see kane's face for the first time on wwe tv. The "black soot" on kane's face was potrayed wrong to the audience. People still to this day believe that the black marks on his face on that night were meant to portray the soot from his burnt face. Well you people have got it all wrong. Kane once said in a interview that the black marks weren't meant to be represented as the soot you get from a fire. But instead all it was, was his black makeup eyeliner that he always seemed to put on behind the mask. All the wwe did was smudge the eyeliner to give the effect that kane had gone insane and was a psycho. Now back to your original post, yes I do believe that the mask added an enigmatic quality to kane's character. It did not make him physically better although there was the breathing issue but the reason kane decided to remove his mask was because he wanted to take his character to another level. If you can remember, kane changed his mask from the full mask to a half mask to improve his ventilation during matches. But he only had the half mask for a year because he was confident enough to believe that he would be able to maintain the same level of intensity both physically and mentally without the mask and he did so for a few years more.

 

[CT96WWE]

Loved Masked Kane, he was a true monster then! However coming to the last few years of the mask era his humerous lines such as, "20,000 screaming Kaneinites." and, "Chick's dig the mask." Took away from him being that complete monster, he should have stayed mysterious and when unmasked should have remained the man angry at the world.

 

[MizterColemine]

Loved Masked Kane, he was a true monster then! However coming to the last few years of the mask era his humerous lines such as, "20,000 screaming Kaneinites." and, "Chick's dig the mask." Took away from him being that complete monster, he should have stayed mysterious and when unmasked should have remained the man angry at the world.

I think that evolution was both appropriate and entertaining, to eventually be comfortable enough to lose the anger and start being funny once in a while and then the mask all together. Although he had to make up for mystique with going back to being disturbed, jaded, unhinged or whatever you wanna call it, but he could have done so with or without the mask... They would have written in something where he goes back to rage without really missing a beat. They did something like it with storylines involving Chyna and X-Pac. Where they wanted to take Kane at that point, they would have found success with it, because I guy was a performer.. he could execute any story as he illustrated with a good program with Undertaker and crappy program with Edge last year. I would easily consider him on Edge's level and would say he could be at Triple H's level if he was Main Eventing more often over the years.

 

[Blondie]

KAnes been just as, if not more dominant at times without the mask however you do loose that sense of machine. I loved that nickname, way better than the devils favourite demon. It gave you the sense of this unstoppable monster, but as a kane fan i cant complain about theyear that hes just had unmasked. However, im afraid wwe are gunna let him slip into jobberdom the way things are going, so to that i will quote my sig and stone cold 'What happened to the man that beat my ass and took my world title from me... does that son of a bitch still breath!!'

 

[Midgetmania619]

This Legit vs Placebo thing is just silly sounding.

How is it silly if so many people are saying constantly "Kane was better with the mask", and they are acting as if his mask gave him all his powers, like the Urn did to Undertaker except we knew of that. Kane also jobbed wearing a mask in 2003. If it were legit then we would have actually seen Kane desperate for a mask, or some stupid storyline about it.

The mask gave us an idea that he was a human with supernatural powers due to his child hood, but he was a 'monster' gimmick, still a human. He wasn't at near immortality like Undertaker always was (except for ABA).

 

[litarock82]

Yes but his ability also helped the mask become legendary, the mask didnt make him a top dog, his ability mixed with the character did