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Through Hellfire and Brimstone - The Story of Kane
Written By Fats Juggalo

Part II – Path of Destruction: The Road to WrestleMania

      On Monday October 6, 1997, the night after Badd Blood, a new young up and coming tag team known as The Hardy Boyz entered the ring for their Raw debut. They had no idea of the horror that awaited them. For standing behind the curtain at the apex of the entrance ramp, stood Kane, ready to make his own debut on Raw. As Matt and Jeff Hardy stood in the ring the lights once again went dark as Kane’s eerie music played and the fire erupted from the floor. The red lights came on as we saw Kane, and Paul Bearer emerge from the entranceway. The corpulent Paul Bearer’s face bore a smile of intense satisfaction at the fact that he had been proven right. That he had spoiled any chances of The Undertaker going to Survivor Series to face the Champion.

      The Hardy Boyz stood and the ring an watched in horror, frozen like rabbits in a pair of big red headlights as Kane approached. Kane quickly destroyed the young duo in the ring and tossed them both out of the ring. Paul Bearer had something to say. Paul gloated over the fact that “his Kane” came to Badd Blood and punished The Undertaker for his crimes against Kane. But that was not enough. Kane wanted a match against Undertaker. And that he would not rest until Kane and The Undertaker were face-to-face officially inside a WWE ring.

      The following week on Raw, Taker addressed his brother’s challenge. He was adamant that he would not disgrace the souls of his dead parents by fighting his own brother.

      “I will not fight my own brother. I will never fight Kane.” The Undertaker said.

      Paul Bearer explained that Kane’s path of destruction would continue until Taker agreed to face his brother. But The Undertaker would not budge from his beliefs. He would not fight Kane. So Kane’s “path of destruction” did indeed continue. This big red demon wreaked havoc on the WWE, interfering in matches and pummeling anyone who got in his way. As the weeks passed, the list of Kane’s victims grew. He had planted his devastating Tombstone Piledriver on the likes of Ahmed Johnson, Flash Funk, L.O.D., The Head Bangers, and even Terri Runnels. Then he attacked Dude Love, and when that happened, Mankind made his presence known. Mankind was tired of Kane’s antics and wanted to put a stop to it… at Survivor Series.

      Mankind challenged The Big Red Machine to a match at November Pay-Per-View spectacular, Survivor Series, and Kane quickly accepted. On November 9, 1997, Kane had his official match. And after a brutal match that you would come to expect from Mankind and Kane, Kane was victorious. In his first official match up Kane dominated the deranged and very dangerous Mankind. In the end even Mankind and his resilient sprit were no match for the Tombstone Piledriver. Mankind was defeated and Kane had secured his first victory.

      In the weeks that followed Kane infected World Wrestling Entertainment like an disease, causing misery and destruction in his wake. But the one Prize he sought was The Phenom himself. Kane possessed a power, never before seen in the WWE, the power to summon fire from his bare hands. Kane even displayed his mighty powers on innocent cameramen, crew, and even helpless fans. Kane even caused The Undertaker to loose his match via disqualification after an attack on Jeff Jarrett at the D-Generation X: In Your House Pay-Per-View.

      December 22, 1997 was another shocking example of the hatred that boils in Kane’s soul for his brother. It was that years Christmas edition of Raw. The Undertaker was involved in a brutal feud with D-Generation X, and more specifically Shawn Michaels. There was no secret that HBK and The Dead Man hated each other, and both HBK and Triple H outmatched even the mighty Undertaker. DX had Taker exactly where they wanted him, and they pummeled him without relent. The Undertaker was in a completely weakened state, and still being hammered upon by the degenerates, when the lights went out. Was Kane going to take advantage of The Undertakers moment of weakness? As he entered the ring, DX backed off of the Taker, and offered him up to Kane as a prize. But Surprisingly, Kane attacked DX, and quickly cleared the ring of Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Kane extended his had to the Undertaker, and helped him to his feet. Had Kane and The Undertaker put aside their differences? Was this a truce between the two towering brothers of destruction? Kane and Taker stood face-to-face once again in the center of the ring; when suddenly, Kane ruthlessly attacked The Undertaker. One man had never dominated the Phenom like Kane had done that night. And, for a brief instant it looked like Taker was going to fight back. He drew his fist back, ready to unleash his pent up fury, but he then remembered his vow, and backed down. Kane took that opportunity to thrash Undertaker even more, until he was reduced to a helpless mass on the canvas.

      The next momentous event in the career of Kane came on January 12, 1998; the week before the Royal Rumble. Shawn Michaels made the announcement that Kane had joined D-Generation X. Was it true? Did Kane indeed bleed DX green? Our questions and speculations were soon answered. Again as Triple H and HBK were viciously double-teaming The Undertaker. Kane emerged from the pits of Hell. But this time things were different. Kane wiped out DX, just as he did before. And again he found himself looking his brother right in the eyes again. Would he attack Taker? No, instead, he turned and walked away. As Kane stood at the top of the entranceway, he stared at his older brother. Getting down on one knee, Kane saluted The Undertaker in Taker’s classic pose. Taker then replied with a salute of his own as the ring post exploded in flame. The Brother’s of Destruction had united… Or so it seemed.

      The night of the Royal Rumble arrived, and the main event was once again HBK versus The Undertaker. This time, however the match was for the WWE Championship, and it was Undertaker’s specialty: The Casket Match. In this form of combat, there are no disqualifications, so Shawn Michaels had hired the help of some of the boys from the back to help him secure victory. The Undertaker was being pummeled, and his defeat was near. And here comes Kane, seemingly to the rescue. Kane made short work of the New Age Outlaw and Los Boriquas, who had been attacking the prone Undertaker. It seemed that Kane was not going to stand by and let these degenerates further wound his brother. But then Kane’s fury was turned towards Taker. It had all been a ruse. Kane Chokeslamed Taker into the casket, and Paul Bearer locked it shut. If the Undertaker would not fight Kane, then he had little choice but to inflect the same punishment on Taker that was inflected upon him. Kane and Bearer pushed the locked casket up the aisle to a clearing where he poured gasoline all over it, and then in a blaze of hellfire, ignited the coffin that housed The Phenom. When officials finally put out the fire, The Undertaker was gone.

      For seven weeks, The Undertaker was not seen or heard from. During which time Kane had a short feud with The Man Called Vader. A feud that came to an end at the Pay-Per-View entitled No Way Out. Kane defeated Vader in a No DQ match after ruthlessly smashing him over the head with a wrench. This put Vader out of action for several months.

      It was two weeks before the biggest WWE event of the year, WrestleMania. Kane and Paul Bearer stood in the center of the ring. They were mocking The Undertaker by having the timekeeper toll the bell ten times for the fallen Undertaker. After the mock ceremony, as the gruesome twosome were standing the ring the all to familer sound of The Undertaker’s trademark bells began to toll.

      “ Don’t worry, Kane. It’s not him” Paul Bearer said, trying to calm down the aggravated Big Red Monster.

      Paul Bearer was visibly nervous. His spherical body shivered as the lights in the arena turned purple, and the air was filled with the sound of clasping thunder. Then suddenly at the top of the entrance ramp, lightning stuck, and out of nowhere appeared a casket with none other than the Undertaker lying on top of it. He sat up in his all to familiar way. He stood up and stared a hole in the two men standing in the ring.

      “I have spent the past several weeks comforting or dead parents, Kane.” He said. “Comforting them because I was going to have to do the one thing I swore that I would never do. I will walk straight through the fires of Hell to face you Kane!”

      And with that, the match was made. Kane and The Undertaker would finally get it on. And the stage was set. This epic battle of brothers would take place at the greatest spectacle of them all… WrestleMania XIV.

      March 15, 1998 arrived, and WrestleMania XIV was the most anticipated event in World Wrestling Entertainment history. The official ring announcer for the Taker and Kane’s immense showdown was baseball legend Pete Rose. But, what Pete did not realize is that when Kane is in the ring, you don’t want to be there. Kane quickly grabbed Rose and Chokeslamed him to hell, but he wasn’t finished. He then scooped him up and planted him with the Tombstone.

      The match between Kane and Taker at WrestleMania was a contest between two huge monsters. Kane and Undertaker took each other to their limits. Kane managed to survive two of The Undertaker’s Tombstones, but the third was even to much for The Big Red Machine. On March 15, 1998, Kane suffered his first loss at the hands of his older brother. After the match was finished Kane preceded to smash his brother repeatedly over the head with a steal Chair. Even though Kane had been beaten, he was not defeated. This would not be the last time Kane and The Undertaker meet in the ring.

To be continued…

[PART I][PART II]
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