Childhood & Early Life
Kane was born Glenn Thomas Jacobs in Torrejon de Ardoz, Spain, on April 26, 1967, into a ‘US Air Force’ family. His parents were stationed in Spain for a while, but they later moved to the US.
Glenn grew up near St. Louis, Missouri. He attended ‘Truman State University’ and earned a degree in English Literature.
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Early Career
Glenn made his wresting debut in 1992 with the ‘CSWA’ in St. Louis, Missouri. He was known as ‘Angus King’ in the ring.
Later, he moved south to try his luck in the ‘USWA’ where he appeared as ‘Doomsday.’ In ‘SMW,’ he wrestled as ‘Unabomb’ and held the ‘SMW Tag Team Championship’ with Al Snow.
Jacobs also held the ‘USWA Heavyweight Championship’ for a while. In 1993, playing with the ring name, ‘Bruiser Mastino,’ he was defeated by ‘Sting’ in his only ‘World Champion Wrestling’ (WCW) match.
Jacobs also made a place in the ‘World Wrestling Council’ (WWC) in 1994-95, where he faced the ‘Invader #1.’
Career
Jacobs made his ‘World Wrestling Federation’ (WWF) debut on February 20, 1995, with the ring name ‘Mike Unabomb.’ He defeated ‘Reno Riggins’ in a match at ‘Raw.’
However, his first television appearance on ‘Raw’ came on June 26, 1996, as Jerry Lawler’s private dentist, ‘Issac Yankem,’ who Lawler had hired to throw out Bret Hart from the ‘WWE’ arena. Jacobs made his debut in the ring on August 15, 1996, against Hart and lost to him via countout.
He was next introduced as ‘Diesel’ in September 1996, where he paired with Rick Bognar, then known as ‘Razor Ramon.’ He last appeared as ‘Diesel’ at the ‘1997 Royal Rumble’ with ‘Ramon’ only to be brought back as ‘Kane,’ a ring name that made him a ‘WWE’ superstar.
Jacobs character was re-built as ‘The Undertaker’s’ long-lost half-brother who came to ‘WWE’ to challenge him. It was revealed by The Undertaker’s former manager, Paul Bearer, when his attempt to reunite with Undertaker after a long period of mutual hostility met with failure.
Bearer then divulged the big secret of ‘The Undertaker’ to the world. He tormented ‘Taker’ by linking his burned face with the latter’s childhood home that ‘Taker’ had accidentally burnt down. This fire had killed his family, with the exception of Kane, who managed to survive with a burnt face.
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Jacobs made his debut as ‘Kane’ on October 5, 1997, against Shawn Michaels at ‘Badd Blood: In Your House.’ He wore a red and black mask and attire with long hair that complemented his monstrous built.
‘The Undertaker’ initially refused to face him since ‘Kane’ was family but after Kane cost him ‘WWF Championship,’ he agreed for a match at ‘WrestleMania XIV.’ Kane lost to ‘Taker’ but their feud continued for a while.
On June 1 episode of ‘Raw,’ he became No.1 contender for the ‘WWF Championship’ after defeating ‘The Undertaker.’ He won the championship after defeating ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin’ at the ‘King of the Ring.’
In 1998, he formed a tag team with ‘X-Pac,’ associated with ‘D-Generation,’ and acquired a girlfriend, ‘Tori.’ He was betrayed by ‘Tori’ and ‘X-Pac’ whom he defeated at ‘WrestleMania 20.’
At the 2000 ‘Royal Rumble,’ Kane set a then-record of eliminating 11 wrestlers and became the runner-up, after being eliminated by ‘Steve Austin.’ In 2001, ‘Kane’ and ‘The Undertaker’ became the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ and fought with ‘Edge and Christian,’ ‘Rikishi and Haiku’ and many others.
He defeated ‘Triple H’ to become the ‘Intercontinental Champion’ followed by third ‘Grand Slam Champion’crown. In 2003, Kane removed his iconic mask before he chokeslammed his then Tag Team partner, ‘Rob Van Dam.’
His 2004-05 storyline with ‘Lita,’ whom he married and later, impregnated, became quite popular with fans. Due to an accident in the ring, Lita suffered a miscarriage.
The feud ended when ‘Lita’s’ real-life boyfriend and ‘WWE’ superstar, ‘Edge,’ came in-between her affair with Matt Hardy. In 2010, he defeated ‘Rey Mysterio’ to win the ‘World Heavyweight Championship,’ by cashing-in his ‘Money in the Bank’ suitcase.
He also became the first ever wrestler to win the ‘WWE Championship, ’ECW Championship,’ and the ‘World Heavy Weight Championship.’ His most recent appearance in ‘Raw’ came on March 19, 2018, where he choke slammed John Cena after the latter called out ‘The Undertaker’ to acknowledge Cena’s challenge to face him in the upcoming ‘WrestleMania.’
Awards & Achievements
Glenn has received several awards and honors. A few of them are the ‘WWF Championship,’ the ‘ECW Championship,’ and the ‘World Heavy Weight Championship.’
He is also a 12-time ‘World Tag Team’ champion with various partners. He also won the ‘Money in the Bank’ competition in 2010.
Overall, he has won 18 championships in his ‘WWE’ career. He was also ranked at number 4 among the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the ‘Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500’ in 2011.
Personal Life
Jacobs married his wife, Crystal Maurisa Goins, on August 23, 1995. The couple has two daughters from the marriage.
He is also involved in libertarian politics and also publishes his blog that contains his libertarian views. In May 2016, Jacobs also expressed his wish to run for ‘Knox County’ mayoral seat in 2018.
In March 2017, he announced his official run for the seat as a Republican.