KANE Interview on ByteThis! Friday, October 18, 2002
Impact Reporter: E.C. Ostermeyer
Email: eco@wireco.net
10/21/02

This is the WWE Byte This! report for Friday, 18 October 2002, and I’m ol’ Extra Crispy.

Prior to the Opening Credits we get a montage from the last act of yesterday’s Smackdown, where the Undertaker saves Stephanie McMahon from being mashed to a fine slush by WWE Champ Brock Lesnar.

We join hosts Kevin Kelly and Dr. Tom Prichard live in the Byte This! studios in Stamford, CT.

Time for Droz’s Two Cents, Darren Drozdov’s weekly take on all things Raw.

Kelly moves right on to Droz’s predictions for No Mercy.

Kelly returns to Droz’s Two Cents by asking Droz who he thinks will win the Winner Take All bout between Kane and HHH?

Droz is backing Kane, because Kane is fired up (pardon the unintentional pun) over the comments that HHH said regarding Kane’s past life.

Kane’s lived his own life, says Droz, so he already knows what he’s done, if anything. For HHH to start spouting this innuendo about Kane murdering this woman will definitely play against HHH. Well, look what happened. Kane came into the ring Monday night and just cleaned house on everybody, so I can expect we may see Kane walk out of that ring Sunday as the new Heavyweight Champ.

Kelly says that HHH overplayed his hand at the wrong time in this scenario with Kane.

Dr. Tom agrees, saying that it is time for all the Kane-inites out there to get behind the Big Red Machine on this and show their support.

I gotta believe that this may be one of those matches where both Kane and HHH are gonna leave it battered and bruised, he says.

Some bright member of the Chatroom asks how Undertaker got cleared to wrestle medically, if he’s got a broken hand?

I can answer that, says Kelly, In a word, MONEY. There’s too much money invested in this match for the doctors to sideline ‘Taker and maybe cancel the Main Event of a PPV. No way in hell the Undertaker is pulled from a Main Event with this much money invested. What happens is, you suck it up and go out there and give your all. This is the business we are in.

Dr.Tom wonders who will be refereeing Hell In A Cell, since Tim White got his shoulder separated and worse the last time this bout was presented.

Dr. Tom also says that Lesnar has no idea what he’s getting into in this brutal type of a match.

Fortunately for us all, live on the phone at this time is the Big Red Machine himself, Kane.

Kelly asks how Kane is preparing for No Mercy?

Kane says that every opportunity he gets for a run at a Title is a reason to crank things up another notch, and that’s what he’s doing for No Mercy.
Kelly recounts Kane’s short-lived World Title run in 1998 after winning King of the Ring, and other incidents from his career.

What does it mean that you will walk in for the final time as the Intercontinental Champion? asks Kelly.

A lot of talented performers have won that IC Title belt, says Kane, I just hope I can do them all possible honor in retiring it when I get into the ring Sunday.

Kelly asks about the whole Katie Vick incident, and how hard it was for Kane to explain things when the Montreal crowd was giving him no help at all?

Kane says that the whole thing is just an attempt by HHH to get inside his head before their bout at No Mercy. As for the fans, well, they heard what they wanted to hear. Or not, as the case may be.

Dr. Tom says the Chatroom wants to know if there is going to be more between Kane and Terri?

Kane says that he hasn’t had much luck with women, so he doesn’t know.

(Jeez, the poor guy must be awfully, ummm, uncomfortable of late. Just when was it that Tori left the WWE? Wow, that long ago? Ouch!)

Kelly gets into the whole Kane as a Murderer angle itself, saying that some fans out there want to see wrestling, pure and simple, without the back story, while others want the background story line as well, that it humanizes the stars.

Kane says that he’s somewhere in the middle on this. He wants the wrestling, but that he realizes that the sport draws people through both the wrestling and the storylines.

We are a hybrid sport, says Kane, that’s why its called ‘sports entertainment’.

What about changes in character styling? asks Dr. Tom, such as you being able to talk clearly instead of using a voice box?

Being able to speak really added new dimension to my character, says Kane, I think it fleshes out my character, making it seem more human, more expressive. In a way, it also makes it scarier, because the fans see the human and the monster inhabit the same body.

(Chyron shows action from Kane’s Tag Title match on last Monday’s Raw.)

In response to a question from Kelly, Kane says that he loves going out in the ring, and that his career of just five years has been a great ride.

Take that show in Montreal we just did, says Kane, waiting backstage and then going through the curtains, and getting that huge roar from the fans, it’s a real rush.

Dr. Tom observes that Kane’s former partner Paul Bearer had just left WWE.

Kane says that he learned a lot from Paul Bearer, that he was somewhat of a father figure to Kane.

Kelly observes the parallels between the lives of Kane and the Undertaker seem to be intertwined, with skeletons from the past being dragged up by their respective opponents.

Kane laughs and says that Brock Lesnar is going to be dragged to places he never knew existed. Dark, evil places. Places where the Undertaker has been many times before. That’s ‘Taker’s REAL yard, that Hell In A Cell match, says Kane. Both our matches should be a warning to people that maybe things shouldn’t be dredged up from our past. Let the past remain buried, so to speak.

Any chance of you getting a Christmas card from Pete Rose this year, Kane? laughs Kelly.

I don’t know, laughs Kane, but what I said before still holds. Pete Rose will get into the Wrestling Hall of Fame before he gets into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

This cracks everybody up.

How ya liking that new mask of yours? asks Dr. Tom.

Just great, says Kane, I can breathe a lot better. I can also have more facial expressions, and be more emotional.

The Chatroom wants to know if Kane ever plans to take off the mask for good?

No, says Kane, the mask is an integral part of the character. Losing it means the character would have to be changed drastically in order to maintain the same impact with the fans.

Kelly wants to know what Kane was thinking and feeling during the recent TLC match?

Kane says he was more concerned for the other wrestlers’ safety, like when Chris Jericho too the header off the ladder, and went flying over the top rope and landed head-first on the steel steps.

I thought he’d killed himself, says Kane, I really did. When I saw him moving afterwards, I was relieved he wasn’t hurt badly. As of myself, what stands out in my mind are the number of Oohs and Aahs we got from the crowd. I thought, man, we must be really wowing them tonight. After the match, there is relief and elation. Just a lot of the people in the back coming up and saying how great the match was. The next day, well, there’s not a lot of action, because you can’t move at all, you are that sore. Jericho wasn’t on Raw this week. Bubba Ray had a Grade Three concussion so bad he didn’t know where he was. Jeff Hardy…Jeff doesn’t care, because he does that sort of thing every week. Spike Dudley amazes me with the amount of punishment he can withstand,

Rob Van Dam’s like a rubber band, he just snaps right back. But we were all pretty sore nonetheless.

Dr. Tom wants to know how Kane’s biceps injury held up to the TLC match?

Kane says that the biceps hasn’t bothered him since his return, that it is as strong as his other arm.

Kelly asks if Kane’s cardio work has him prepared for going the possible twenty minutes or more that one usually sees in World Title Championship matches?

Oh yeah, says Kane, I’m ready, all right. I have no illusions about how tough the match will be.

Dr. Tom observes that some fans were saying that the Kane that returned from the biceps injury wasn’t the same Kane as before, that maybe this Kane was an impostor.

I have joined the ranks of those select few wrestlers, laughs Kane, Ultimate Warrior being one, who the fans have sworn were impostors. I take it as a compliment that I have managed to change my physique so well that fans see me as a different person.

One thing that I had a problem with the old Kane costume was that it covered nearly all my body. I’d lose weight, but the fans couldn’t see it, because the size of the suit wouldn’t change. Because of this, the suit would make me look taller. So I tried various other types of costume to prove that I’d lost the body fat but maintained the same muscularity. The new costume makes me look lighter, more athletic.

Kelly interrupts by asking if that’s the same thing as the Dr. Tom Prichard Hair Look, and all the changes and permutations that it has gone through?

Which, of course, brings us a two-minute chyron retrospective on just that subject.

(Yow, there’s pics of Vince McMahon in a cowboy hat, one of the Bushwhackers, and Everybody’s Favorite Manager, Sunny!)

Onward to topics of lighter faire.

Kane is, of course, The True Cyber Athlete of WWE, and has been trying out his new X-Box. He’s currently doing the Max Payne game to death. He’s also competing with Stevie Richards in Madden NFL 2K3.

Booker T fancies himself a bit of a cyber athlete, too, Kane, says Kelly.

Ah, he’s not in MY league, laughs Kane.

Kelly asks what the mindset of the Raw athletes is, seeing as how Smackdown seems to be to more successful of the two brands?

No, there’s no bad morale on Raw, says Kane, just look a the matches we’ve had. The TLC match, the Title changes, the Women’s Division, and last week’s show is really tremendous. We’ve turned a corner on Raw, and the Smackdown boys had better look out.

Caller Melanie asks a question that gets drowned out by feedback, but Kane understands at least part of it, saying that he hasn’t been disappointed in his partnering with Hurricane.

Kelly asks if Kane does a lot of mental preparation before each match?

Absolutely, says Kane, Ninety percent is mental preparation, which guides the physical preparation you do all week for that match.

Kelly asks if we will be learning more of Kane’s relationship with Katie Vick?

There’s along silence, after which Kane says that the gave his side of the story, and that he expects HHH will put his spin on the tale.

Kelly says that, despite a lot of the fans saying they didn’t like the soap opera stuff, the Kane Explanation segment on Monday’s Raw was the highest rated segment of the whole show.

So SOME-body must have liked it, says Kelly.

Dr. Tom says that No Mercy may see Kane as the new World Heavyweight Champ, and that HHH may learn a lesson about stooging something like that off on somebody’s life, that maybe he better not try that again.

Kelly asks what memories Kane takes from past Champions?

Ric Flair, Harley Race, the great matches they’ve had, says Kane, knowing that the World Champ was coming to town, and that the Champ was Ric Flair, that dominated my thinking back then.

Kelly thanks Kane for being on the show, and Kane leaves.

Kelly then asks Dr. Tom if the Katie Vick angle will have any bad effect on Kane’s career and legacy?

Dr. Tom says that Kane’s career spans from his first days as Undertaker’s horribly disfigured brother, discovered and managed by Paul Bearer, to today, and that his legacy is built on that. As for the effect the Katie Vick accusations have on it long-term, well, that remains to be seen.

When this whole Katie Vick thing showed up, says Dr. Tom, Mentally, I just cringed, and wondered where this angle was going end up. It’s three weeks later now, and the angle seems to be taking on a life of it’s own. Sunday’s match is the crucial piece of the puzzle.

Yes, agrees Kelly, winning the match and becoming the Heavyweight Champion is something that Kane will have the rest of his life, no matter what happens with this Katie Vick thing. The fans remember his 24-hour reign as WWE Champion after becoming King of the Ring in 1998. When all is said and done, Kane beat Stone Cold Steve Austin, and became the Champ. It goes back to writing and wrestling. If the writing is no good, people will poop on it. If the wrestling is no good, people will poop on that, too! When both are done well, you hit it right on the money. Name one other sport where that is the expected norm week in and week out!

Full report can be found at: http://www.impactwrestling.com/content.asp?recon=2676
Audio Media credit: WWE ByteThis! in WMA format 56K or WMA format 300K.