Kane Talks The Highlight Of His Wrestling Career, The Three Biggest Stars Of All Time, Steve Austin
As noted, legendary professional wrestling commentator Jim Ross recently spoke with WWE's Kane, also known as Glenn Jacobs, on The Ross Report podcast. The celebrated big man discussed a number of pro wrestling topics including working with WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin and winning the WWE Championship.
In Kane's estimation, beating Austin for the WWE Championship at King Of The Ring (1998) was the highlight of 'The Big Red Machine”s pro wrestling career. Kane went on to say that working Austin was so easy because of how over he was.
"Actually, winning my first world championship in the First Blood match at King Of The Ring, of course, that was overshadowed by the Hell In A Cell match between Taker and Mick [Foley], but that was my first world championship and it was against Austin. And the thing is, when people ask me the highlight of my [pro wrestling] career, despite the fact that it was so early, that was it because Austin was well on his trajectory to be one of the three biggest stars of all time. To me it's Austin, [Hulk] Hogan, and The Rock. And he was taking off and I was right there. The thing about Austin was you didn't have to do anything because Steve was so over. He was so popular it didn't matter. Everyone was just waiting for The Stunner, and then for Steve to jump up on the ring post and turnbuckle, and drink some beer. And that was it. It made it so easy that it was just tremendous."
As exciting as winning the strap was, Kane claimed that dropping the title the next night on WWE Monday Night RAW was even more exciting.
"I lost [the title] the next night in Cleveland and I will never forget the atmosphere at what was then the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. You want to talk about electric, the excitement was tangible. I'd never been in front of a crowd like that. So as exciting as it was to win the world championship, it was even more exciting to lose it the next day because you realize you're in the middle or a part of something so special and so amazing, which is what that was. And that segment, up until that time, was the highest rated segment on RAW ever and from there, the show just went straight up, and, of course, Austin went straight up too."
On the subject of Austin, Kane described the self-professed 'Global Icon And National Treasure' as an everyman that lived out the fantasies of fans from all walks of life. Moreover, the record-holder for most Royal Rumble eliminations compared Austin to the late great Dusty Rhodes. Additionally, Kane went on to say that Austin was the most important component of 'The Attitude Era'.
"[Austin] was the guy who could say whatever he wanted and get away with it, do whatever he wanted and get away with it. Most of us have mouths that write checks that our body can't cash. Well, he cashed all his checks and I think that was the thing that appealed to everyone. The dude talked trash and backed it up and backed it up against everybody! And then, in the end, he was just a guy. He was a common dude. In a way, he was almost like the Dusty Rhodes of his time. He's quite a bit different, but nevertheless, he was a common guy and backed up everything he said. And, yeah, told his boss to shove it, which is, in the end, what a lot of folks would like to do." Kane continued, "frankly, I mean, you can credit 'The Attitude Era' to whoever, but if there hadn't been a 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, it never would have been like that. He was the most integral part of that whole era."
Bah gawd, start the damn podcast! If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Ross Report with an H/T to WrestlingINC for the transcription.
Source: The Ross Report