The Undertaker & Kane Discuss The Latter's WWE Debut At Inaugural Badd Blood
In 1997, WWE presented the first-ever Badd Blood pay-per-view, featuring the introduction of the Hell in a Cell stipulation in the main event between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. Along with Hell in a Cell's introduction, the night is best remembered for the long-awaited debut of Kane as an onscreen character in WWE after months of build-up.
Appearing together on "Six Feet Under," Mark Calaway (The Undertaker) and Glenn Jacobs (Kane) looked back on the masked wrestler's debut, among other topics. Even before anything significant had happened, Calaway remembered feeling that the night of Badd Blood 1997 was going to be special. The two former tag team partners and kayfabe brothers revealed that they did not speak very much ahead of Kane's debut — mostly because they didn't feel they needed to.
"I think our biggest concern was the [cell] door," Calaway said. "[Kane] was going to rip the door off. ... And then when you're out there, and you're in it, and we're face-to-face, you can just feel the buzz."
Though Jacobs had played other characters on WWE TV in the past, the wrestler described his Kane debut as the first time he truly felt like a "superstar." Upon making his first entrance, Jacobs felt the crowd fall silent before he was met by an explosion of sound as the live audience realized who he was.
"It was probably the first time I felt like I belonged there," Jacobs said.
The Tennessee mayor credited Calaway's performance as The Undertaker that night for helping establish the new character in the eyes of fans. While everyone involved at Badd Blood performed well, Jacobs believes none of it would have worked if it wasn't for The Undertaker making Kane feel like a big deal.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Six Feet Under" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.