Man, May 19th, huh? That date’s got some serious history in the WWE, especially when it comes to Kane. I remember back in the day, I was glued to the TV every time this storyline came up.
So, I started digging into this whole “May 19th” thing with Kane. It all began with Kane’s character, right? He’s this big, scary dude with a mask, and there’s always been this dark past hinted at. Turns out, May 19th was the supposed date his family was killed in a fire. It was a way to explain his whole messed-up persona.
I watched a bunch of old clips, and it was wild. They really played up the mystery of the date. Every time someone mentioned it, Kane would freak out. They even had this whole thing where a “Fake Kane” showed up, which was Luke Gallows, if you can believe it. This Fake Kane was running around, also tied to the May 19th date, and it got super confusing because there was talk of Glenn Jacobs, the actual guy who played Kane, wanting to retire, so they are using this Fake Kane to replace him. I thought to myself, who was the real Kane anyway?
- The Undertaker set Kane on fire as teenagers.
- Kane grew stronger than his older half-brother.
- The mask while it was a great asset because it provided a mystique and mystery.
Then there’s the whole CM Punk “Pipebomb” promo from 2011. That promo changed things, made us think about wrestling in a whole new light. It was about breaking the mold, and honestly, the May 19th storyline kind of did that too, in its own twisted way. I checked some forums, and people were saying that the Pipebomb was the beginning of a major shift that we’re still feeling today, and I can see that.
Research and Realization
I spent hours reading articles and forum posts. I even found this one site that had a whole “fight size update” dedicated to May 19, 2024, just talking about Kane’s trauma associated with the date. It’s crazy how this one storyline became such a big deal. People were calling it a “wrestlecrap holiday,” which is kind of funny but also kind of true.
And there are some real history about this. For example, there was this whole era where John Cena was WWE Champion, feuding with Kurt Angle, and there were these qualifying matches on Raw, Kane was one of them.
This whole thing started because Kane would lose it whenever someone said “May 19th.” So, he finally explained that it was the day his mom and adopted family died in a fire. He’d been trying to forget it, but people kept bringing it up, and it was driving him nuts. They created a Fake Kane, who first appeared in 1998. Paul Bearer was with him, and even Steve Austin and Vince McMahon thought it was the real Kane for a bit! Then, in a twist, the Fake Kane unmasked himself, and it turned out to be The Undertaker! This all led to him becoming the number one contender and facing off against Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The whole thing with the mask was interesting, too. It made Kane mysterious, which is a big part of wrestling, right? We want to feel the emotions, and the mask took that away from Kane, in a way, but it also made him more intriguing. I realized that this whole storyline was way more complex than I initially thought. It’s got layers, man, layers! And about the reason why The Undertaker set Kane on fire, just because Kane was too weak. Is that ridiculous? So I got what I want from this exploring, and I think it is interesting enough to share with you guys.
