By Andrew Ravens, Contributing Sports Writer
The Undertaker is known as one of the greatest creations in WWE history. However, a recent revelation from Bruce Prichard suggests the character almost had a very different identity.
Appearing on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast, the longtime WWE executive disclosed that the original name for the gimmick was “Kane The Undertaker.” According to Prichard, the name “Kane” was chosen for its dark biblical connotations.
He explained that since Cain was the first man to commit murder by killing his brother Abel, it felt like the perfect moniker for an “evil” character.
“In many ways Kane was the most evil person in biblical lore, kills his own brother, first man to ever commit murder. And I just loved that name, cool strong name Kane,” Prichard said.
The company actually moved forward with the name, using it for a brief period during the character’s introductory phase. Prichard recalled that they taped three weeks of television under the name “Kane The Undertaker” before making a sudden pivot.
“We were gonna go with that, we went three weeks with Kane, until we dropped it. We did three weeks and then we did TV, that’s why I remember its three weeks because we did that whole TV’s as Kane The Undertaker,” he noted.
When the decision was made to drop the first name and simply go with “The Undertaker,” Prichard was initially skeptical. He admitted to telling others at the time that the shortened name would “never get over” with the audience.
Of course, the name “Kane” would eventually be recycled years later for The Undertaker’s storyline brother, Glenn Jacobs, who debuted in 1997. That character went on to have his own Hall of Fame career, proving that Prichard’s instinct about the name was ultimately correct, even if it was used for a different wrestler.
Source: newsweek.com