Well, the WWE finally pulled the trigger on the damn mask, so now what do they do? Do you have Kane wrestle as a *scarred* freak? How about shaving his head and cover him in face paint. Or you can go back to the mask. The mystery is over sure, but I think it might beat the alternative. I can't see him going very far with the look that he was sporting at the end of the show, but it is a shame if he chopped all his hair for that one moment. No matter how you shake it though the WWE = HAIR BUTCHERS!
ya it was obviously shaved and the hair on the mask was started this week, last week it wasnt like that, when he came to the ring i kept thinking, what the hell is wrong with is hair?
Originally posted by rob_rouillard14ya it was obviously shaved and the hair on the mask was started this week, last week it wasnt like that, when he came to the ring i kept thinking, what the hell is wrong with is hair?
You must be some kinda GENIUS (who can't use capital letters)
Originally posted by BigDaddyLocoWell, the WWE finally pulled the trigger on the damn mask, so now what do they do? Do you have Kane wrestle as a *scarred* freak? How about shaving his head and cover him in face paint. Or you can go back to the mask. The mystery is over sure, but I think it might beat the alternative. I can't see him going very far with the look that he was sporting at the end of the show, but it is a shame if he chopped all his hair for that one moment. No matter how you shake it though the WWE = HAIR BUTCHERS!
My feeling is that this angle will either end up going over really well, or will end up as Wrestlecrap. How they book Kane over the next few weeks may well determine how well he can draw for the rest of his career. If they book it right, angry, burned, deformed Kane might be the next step in the development of that character. If they book it wrong, it could tar him like Terry Taylor's Red Rooster gimmick. Either way, they're taking a huge risk.
What I'm wondering at the moment is if - hypothetically - this does tank, could they stick a mask back on Kane and simply forget about it? Or would it indeed premanently damage his career (as I predicted above)? And how should they book Kane to make sure that it doesn't end up as Wrestlecrap?
Certainly during the match he was over enough to have carried the world championship for at least a couple of months - then again almost any wrestler could beat Trips right now and the same would be true. *Hopefully* they're saving it for someone worthwhile. This, in contrast, is a longer shot at getting Kane over than doing that would have been.
I guess he could return next week with a different mask or face-paint on - certainly it would be easier than doing the make-up for it every week. or they could have him - as a heel - like that. I guess it also depends on what sort of reaction he'll get next week - if people will feel sorry for him and cheer, or treat him as a heel - or even know how to react.
Here's what I would do with Kane now. Play on the scarred (or mascara'ed) face and build up the fact that he's a monster. Have him destroy random people during matches over the next few weeks (a la WCW Sid Vicious, early Brock, etc.) as he builds toward a SummerSlam match with RVD.
The key is at SummerSlam for him to absolutely DESTROY Van Dam and play up that losing his mask has made him a madman again. At all costs, do NOT align with Evolution or any other stable. He has to be a loner.
From there, you could have feud with Goldberg post-SummerSlam, whom I'm assuming will win the World Title at that event. Reason being is that Kane is probably the one person fans wouldn't shit on if he was presented as an unstoppable monster. He has at least five years of history as such, even if the last year or so has been focused on developing `funny, cool Kane'. There's still time to undo that, especially now that he's been unmasked.
What I'm wondering at the moment is if - hypothetically - this does tank, could they stick a mask back on Kane and simply forget about it? Or would it indeed premanently damage his career (as I predicted above)? And how should they book Kane to make sure that it doesn't end up as Wrestlecrap?
If they go back to a mask they have to do it soon otherwise it will seem like a copout. He can get just as angry behind the mask and probably have better long term value. Hell, maybe they could even bring back Paul Bearer to help fuel the angry Kane's fire.
They really could do something big here or theycould just Katie Vick the whole thing here in a couple of weeks.
Originally posted by spf2119Well I think it was obvious this board needed more Kane ;)
I think this proves that the angle was an effective attention-grabber. And this thread is proving that even jaded people are having fun speculating on the next step in the Kane saga. And as an old wise sage used to say, "That's not a bad thing..."
Molly over Trish on Heat? WWE, you're the best. And don't let anybody tell you any different.
TS, the greatest Wiener rated 6.4894 ever to live!! Oops, I mean 5.5...4.5?? Oh, dammit! I guess Notorious FAB was right.
Certainly during the match he was over enough to have carried the world championship for at least a couple of months - then again almost any wrestler could beat Trips right now and the same would be true.
To hell you say... Triple H has spent 10 months building up his World Title reign. Kane is NOT main event over, hasn't been main event over in 5 years, and will never be main event over. I do not want to see a title reign that's been built up so strongly end in a nothing RAW match just to hotshot the title...or end with having Kane as the new World's Heavyweight Champion.
To hell you say... Triple H has spent 10 months building up his World Title reign. Kane is NOT main event over, hasn't been main event over in 5 years, and will never be main event over. I do not want to see a title reign that's been built up so strongly end in a nothing RAW match just to hotshot the title...or end with having Kane as the new World's Heavyweight Champion.
Wait, are you kidding me? You think Triple H's title reign is really that solid? I'm sorry but this title reign has been mostly just smoke and mirrors, and if Kane is not worthy of the title then who? If you are going to hotshot an angle that's been off and on for 6 years, why not a title that's being used as a prop.
Originally posted by cfgbCertainly during the match he was over enough to have carried the world championship for at least a couple of months - then again almost any wrestler could beat Trips right now and the same would be true.
To hell you say... Triple H has spent 10 months building up his World Title reign. Kane is NOT main event over, hasn't been main event over in 5 years, and will never be main event over. I do not want to see a title reign that's been built up so strongly end in a nothing RAW match just to hotshot the title...or end with having Kane as the new World's Heavyweight Champion.
Kane has been effective as a main event ratings draw. In the main event, in fact, is the only place where Kane DOES draw well. Triple H, on the other hand, isn't even the biggest drawing heel on Raw.
Originally posted by cfgbTriple H has spent 10 months building up his World Title reign. Kane is NOT main event over, hasn't been main event over in 5 years, and will never be main event over. I do not want to see a title reign that's been built up so strongly end in a nothing RAW match just to hotshot the title...or end with having Kane as the new World's Heavyweight Champion.
Stephanie?!? Is that you?!?
Seriously, I can't see them not putting the mask back on ASAP. Someone here made an interesting point in one of the other Kane threads, which is that they're going to have to do this hair cut and makeup job for as long as he's with the company, including each house show.
I think whatever 'shock' they were planning on getting from this angle would be killed if he continued to be without the mask even for a week, much less forever. Everytime he's on tv, it'll look more and more fake until it's as real as the Hulk. Put the mask back on, and hope that as time goes on, people remember it as being scarier.
Tribal Prophet
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Originally posted by cfgbCertainly during the match he was over enough to have carried the world championship for at least a couple of months - then again almost any wrestler could beat Trips right now and the same would be true.
To hell you say... Triple H has spent 10 months building up his World Title reign. Kane is NOT main event over, hasn't been main event over in 5 years, and will never be main event over. I do not want to see a title reign that's been built up so strongly end in a nothing RAW match just to hotshot the title...or end with having Kane as the new World's Heavyweight Champion.
Kane has been effective as a main event ratings draw. In the main event, in fact, is the only place where Kane DOES draw well. Triple H, on the other hand, isn't even the biggest drawing heel on Raw.
Hate it if you must, but Triple H is the biggest drawing heel on RAW. He sells more merchandise than anyone else that's on the show, which means those people came to see him, which means he's the biggest draw in terms of heeldom.
Caped Boy: Excuse me, ladies. You may remember me as the guy who came to dinner a few weeks ago with underwear on my head. My name is Keith Stat from Milbourne, New Jersey. State bird, the mosquito. And as you may have heard I am recently a crowned class B dungeon-master. So if any of you would like to play D&D today, please speak now or forever hold your peace. [He chuckles, and there is an awkward silence at the table.] Caped Boy: Anyone? Alexa! [Alexa gives him a withering glare.] Caped Boy: Maybe you would like to join in? We do need a druid, and you have definitely cast a level 5 charm spell on me. Alexa: In your dreams, douche-bag! Caped Boy: Douche-bags are hygienic products, I take that as a compliment. Thank you. [Keith walks off] Alexa: Ewww!
Originally posted by TheMASKEDComputerGeekHe sells more merchandise than anyone else that's on the show, which means those people came to see him, which means he's the biggest draw in terms of heeldom.
shopzone.wwe.com has no triple h merch in the top 10 sellers, and it lists his t-shirt as the fifth best selling overall in that category -- behind austin, goldberg, and shawn michaels (all raw talent).
he may be the biggest heel draw, but he's got the belt, he's supposed to be. if they would give someone else a serious push as a heel then that person would draw equally well with the gold. his act, even with the injection of orton, flair, et al, is still stale.
Adversity introduces a man to himself. - Arn Anderson
shopzone.wwe.com has no triple h merch in the top 10 sellers, and it lists his t-shirt as the fifth best selling overall in that category -- behind austin, goldberg, and shawn michaels (all raw talent).
To be fair to HHH, as a heel he SHOULDN'T move as much merchandise as a top face.
To be fair to all that's sane and logical, the reason HHH is a heel is because the fans failed to care about him enough to keep him a face.
To me, HHH is an Arn Anderson or a Tully Blanchard in a more marketable body. His personality is that of an enforcer-- not as the leading man. Despite all this "cerebral assassin" talk, HHH always seems so blah and unintelligent. Not dumb-- but not particularly bright either.
As rv581 said, HHH is a heel, so it's understandable why his merchandise doesn't sell well. The question is: does HHH being the heel help sell the merchandise of the faces?
Considering the number of different people HHH has plowed through in the last year and their current positions on the card, I think that's hardly the case.
(edited by SKLOKAZOID on 26.6.03 0538) "If you're asking if I would ever date a wrestler, certainly I would. However it wouldn't be good business for me to get romantically involved with anyone in any aspect of our business." -Stephanie McMahon (Off the Record, June 3rd, 1999)
Originally posted by mattstewhe may be the biggest heel draw, but he's got the belt, he's supposed to be.
...so, he's doing his job, then.
if they would give someone else a serious push as a heel then that person would draw equally well with the gold.
As low as ratings are, and everyone calling HHH a gigantic failure as far as drawing... doing "equally well" wouldn't do anything but prove that HHH is as good as they've got, as far as heels go.
I'm not fond of HHH, he hasn't entertained me in quite a while... but he's a better choice than the rest of the crop of Raw talent, with the exception of Chris Jericho, and he's actually managed to change a little bit in the past few weeks. As far as I'm concerned, HHH as champion isn't what needs to change... it's the writing.
Kansas-born and deeply ashamed The last living La Parka Marka
"They that can give up essential liberty to gain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
In a probably futile attempt to get the subject back to Kane and away from Triple H's drawing power or lack thereof:
If they're really hoping to get Kane over as a megaheel, I'd love to see him destroy Austin. After the shock at the end of last Monday's Raw, there's no space in the angle for a slow burn -- having Kane spend several weeks tossing around random jobbers like Spike Dudley and Tommy Dreamer won't get him over and will just waste whatever momentum he's built up. Austin's a perfect target: he's a crowd favorite, he's got the bad neck for sympathy heat, and it'd actually show a little continuity with that promo a few weeks back where Austin verbally punked out Kane -- Austin did ask for the return of the Kane who whipped his ass in 1998, after all.
I'm actually kinda looking forward to a Kane/RVD feud the more I think about it. It's a classic matchup -- big, indestructible monster against small, agile, skilled guy. Okay, Kane's not Undertaker and RVD's not Shawn Michaels, but if they book it like the UT/HBK feud from back in the day, it could be good.
Edited to add that no, pun was not intended with "slow burn."
(edited by Shem the Penman on 25.6.03 2127) "next to of course god america i love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh say can you see by the dawn's early my country tis of centuries come and go and are no more what of it we should worry in every language even deafanddumb thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry by jingo by gee by gosh by gum why talk of beauty what could be more beaut- iful than these heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think they died instead then shall the voice of liberty be mute?"
Originally posted by cfgbCertainly during the match he was over enough to have carried the world championship for at least a couple of months - then again almost any wrestler could beat Trips right now and the same would be true.
To hell you say... Triple H has spent 10 months building up his World Title reign. Kane is NOT main event over, hasn't been main event over in 5 years, and will never be main event over. I do not want to see a title reign that's been built up so strongly end in a nothing RAW match just to hotshot the title...or end with having Kane as the new World's Heavyweight Champion.
Kane has been effective as a main event ratings draw. In the main event, in fact, is the only place where Kane DOES draw well. Triple H, on the other hand, isn't even the biggest drawing heel on Raw.
Hate it if you must, but Triple H is the biggest drawing heel on RAW. He sells more merchandise than anyone else that's on the show, which means those people came to see him, which means he's the biggest draw in terms of heeldom.
'Fraid not.
Meltzer actually did a year study, based on the quarterly ratings & such. Triple H's ratings averaged lower than Jericho's.
Definitely. Id probably even rank Shelton below Chris Masters on the mic, at least in terms of convincing me that he believes what hes saying. Whenever hes engaging in any sort of dialogue, it seems like theres a pause right before he can speak.