“That’s gotta be Kane!”
The call from Vince McMahon that preceded one of the greatest debuts in WWE history at Badd Blood 1997, which saw the arrival of The Undertaker’s half brother.
The Brothers of Destruction would go on to both have Hall of Fame careers while repeatedly crossing paths as allies and rivals. The two former World Champions would also have their own infamous storyline of being confronted by a version of themselves.
Kane Is A Two Time Champion In WWE
The main event of SummerSlam 1994 saw The Undertaker face off against himself, with the original Deadman being victorious at the event. 12 years later at the Vengeance pay-per-view, The Devil’s Favourite Demon would be the one standing across from a fake version of himself, with the imposter defeating the original Big Red Machine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nmR_8GOPlo
While the honour of playing Imposter Kane went to the future Luke Gallows, there was talk of another member of the family potentially debuting. Former WWE star Matt Morgan was once considered to be a part of the main roster as Kane’s brother Abel.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Morgan described how he was prepared for the role while in developmental, and how Jim Cornette protested the change in attire:
“So no, Johnny Ace and Stephanie wanted me to wear a mask to work on my body language, right. And so I remember Jim Cornette just being like, ‘What? What are you doing? He’s like our top babyface champion. Why has he got to wear this? This is stupid.’ Like, totally put me over. And I’ll always be grateful to Jimmy for that. I love Jimmy. And anyway, so they put me in this stupid hood, and Jimmy found a way to make it work because he’s freaking brilliant.”
If Morgan was willing to wear the attire, the main roster plans were revealed to him by McMahon:
So then eventually, you know, Stephanie once told me that like, you know, if you don’t like it, tell us, you know, blah, blah, blah. But you might, we have an idea for you with this if you do like it, you know, and you would be brought on to television and to work with Kane.
Morgan continued, debunking the rumour that the part was given to Gallows as the plans for himself were scrapped. The Blueprint notes that when the Imposter Kane storyline was taking place, he had already departed the promotion to wrestle in TNA:
Now I’ve seen somewhere where like somebody who’s like, plans for this were abandoned and what’s his name? My boy. Good brother. [Luke Gallows] Used to be Festus? Gallows would rather than brought in to [be the other brother] No, two different time periods. When he was brought in to be fake Kane that was at a very different time. I wasn’t with WWE, I was already with TNA by this point. But anyways, so that never materialised for me being brought up to the roster as Abel. It would have been pretty cool, though. But I didn’t like wearing the hood if I’m being honest. I hated it.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to Inside The Ropes.