The world of professional wrestling is well-known for its bizarre storylines, epic feuds, and family dynasties. However, there is one story that combined all three over several decades to create one of the craziest pieces of lore wrestling will ever see, the family history of The Undertaker and Kane.
Paul Bearer introduced The Undertaker’s long-lost brother
After years of success together, Paul Bearer shockingly turned on The Undertaker at SummerSlam in 1996. Following the betrayal, Bearer formed an alliance with Mankind, who feuded with The Phenom for months. During this time, Bearer revealed his darkest secret.
According to Bearer, when The Undertaker was young, he burned down his home with his family inside, killing both his parents and younger brother, at least that’s what Taker thought.
It turned out that Bearer knew about the cause of the fire because he witnessed the event and rescued Kane, hiding him away in a mental asylum for years. As the revelations kept coming, it was revealed that Paul Bearer had a special connection to Kane because he was in fact, Bearer’s own son.
Bearer said he had an affair with The Undertaker’s late mother, with Kane being the result of the union, making him his half-brother. In 1998, Bearer told a disbelieving Undertaker that Kane had survived, albeit with horrific scarring, and was coming for revenge.
At Badd Blood that October, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels intended to end a lengthy rivalry inside the first-ever Hell in a Cell match. However, that was when Kane decided to strike, making his way to the ring just as Undertaker looked to be on the verge of victory. Kane tore the cell door off its hinges and attacked his astonished brother, delivering a Tombstone to hand the victory to Michaels.
For months, Kane ran roughshod through the WWF roster much like his brother had done years prior, all the while demanding a match against The Phenom. However, Undertaker refused, saying he had promised his parents that he would never fight his own flesh and blood.
At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Kane locked Undertaker in a casket before setting it on fire, seemingly trying to end his life. This proved to be a step too far, as when The Demon of Death Valley returned two months later, he finally challenged Kane to a match, saying he would now “Walk through the fires of hell” to face him.
The two met in the ring at WrestleMania 14 and Undertaker overcame Kane, but only after three huge Tombstone Piledrivers. This was only the first of dozens of matches the pair would have in the following decades in a rivalry Undertaker has called the greatest of his career
The Undertaker and Kane were both allies and enemies
Over the following decades, The Undertaker and Kane alternated between allying with each other as The Brothers of Destruction – a team that won multiple Tag Team Championships over the years – and fighting each other in brutal feuds.
Before hanging up their boots in recent years, the pair had buried each other alive, set one another on fire in Inferno Matches, and beat each other senseless in Hell in a Cell, No Holds Barred, and Casket Matches.
With a family history as wild as it was, it’s no surprise that the pair couldn’t decide whether they loved or hated each other.