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The match, a brainchild of Mr. McMahon, gave Kane a distinct advantage since his face and body were covered, making it nearly impossible to confirm if he was bleeding. During the match, the referee was knocked out, and Undertaker ran to the ring with a steel chair to interfere. He swung at Kane but nailed Stone Cold, busting his head wide open. When the referee regained consciousness, he saw the blood and awarded the match to the Big Red Monster. Undertaker later revealed that he intended to bust open Stone Cold so that his half-brother wouldn’t set himself on fire. This punctuated a theme in the difficult sibling relationship, as they’d battle often but align at times to achieve great success as well. They’d also innovate during their heated rivalry, inventing such contests as the Inferno Match.

The night following the First Blood victory, Mr. McMahon decorated the ring with a red canvas and crowned Kane the new WWE Champion. The reign lasted only one night, but it was still an amazing accomplishment considering his debut was only eight months prior. Kane did pin the WWE Champion on one other occasion, but he did so simultaneously with the Undertaker. The event was Breakdown 1998, and because the half-brothers both covered Stone Cold, neither was declared champion. Instead, the WWE Championship was vacated.

While Kane hasn’t recaptured the world championship, he’s experienced enormous success. He’s a two-time Intercontinental Champion and eight-time World Tag Team Champion. He’s shown near-unprecedented versatility in the tag-team ranks, winning championships with brawlers such as Stone Cold and Mankind, as well as smaller, quicker partners such as The Hurricane and X-Pac. He’s also twice won the World Tag Team Championship with his half-brother, including a reign during the Alliance Invasion when they simultaneously held the World Tag Team Championship and WCW Tag Team Championship.

But it was during his time teaming with Rob Van Dam that Kane experienced one of the most emotional nights of his career. After being egged on for weeks about becoming “soft,” Kane agreed to a “Mask vs. Championship” Match against Triple H. Despite a valiant effort, Kane lost, and as RAW came to a close, the 7-footer unmasked and revealed his face to the world.

Once the mask was removed, Kane went on a hell-bent trail of destruction. He chokeslammed RVD, Eric Bischoff and Stone Cold. Then, he set RAW announcer Jim Ross on fire. But the action that could not be tolerated was hitting WWE CEO Linda McMahon with a Tombstone. That forced Shane McMahon to return to the ring in defense of his family, but even the risk-taking Shane-O-Mac couldn’t stop the Big Red Monster’s rage.