Brothers of Destruction
Brothers of Destruction | |
---|---|
Tag team | |
Members | The Undertaker Kane |
Name(s) | Brothers of Destruction Kane and The Undertaker |
Billed heights | The Undertaker: 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)[1] Kane: 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)[2] |
Combined billed weight | 632 lb (287 kg)[3] |
Debut | August 24, 1998 |
Disbanded | November 22, 2020 |
Years active | 1998–2000 2001 2006–2009 2012–2020 |
The Brothers of Destruction were a professional wrestling tag team in WWE composed of storyline half-brothers The Undertaker and Kane.[3]
With more deep-seated drama and dysfunction than other WWE tag team combinations, their relationship/brotherhood was furnished with an elaborately dark and disturbed domestic backstory. In what became a fickle WWE sibling relationship with Paul Bearer (later learned to be Kane's father) only adding to the pendulum and complexities, The Undertaker and Kane went back and forth from one extreme to the other: alternatively feuding to barbaric lengths and yet teaming together as The Brothers of Destruction from 1997 to 2020 (The Undertaker's retirement).
As the Brothers of Destruction, they won three
Fictional backstory
During The Undertaker's childhood, he had a little brother named Kane. The two were inseparable, spending every minute of every day together, causing destruction and chaos in their wake. However, young Kane soon became obsessed and fascinated with fire. One day while The Undertaker was coming home from school, he returned to his parents' funeral home to find it completely burned to the ground, killing his parents as well as Kane—or so The Undertaker thought. It was soon discovered that Kane himself had started the fire, and Paul Bearer, who oblivious to The Undertaker at the time was present during the fire, hid Kane in a mental asylum during the rest of Kane's youth into adulthood, eventually bringing him to the World Wrestling Federation to confront his brother. Unbeknownst to The Undertaker until spring 1998, his late mother had an affair with Bearer and, as a result, gave birth to Kane (therefore making Kane his half-brother).[4][5] In the fall of 1998, The Undertaker admitted that he was actually the one that set fire to the funeral home, scarring Kane's face, and, in the same process, killing their mother and The Undertaker's father. To jusitfy this, Undertaker stated that he had always known that Kane was the weaker and worthless of their mother's children, and sought to eliminate him with the fire.[4]
While hiding his son away for years and apparently keeping this information confidential, Paul Bearer, in the meantime, joined the World Wrestling Federation and formed an alliance with The Undertaker. Bearer stood by his side for six years before eventually turning on him at
History
Kane's debut (1997–1998)
After The Undertaker won the WWF Championship from Sycho Sid at WrestleMania 13, he started a feud with Mankind, managed by his former manager Paul Bearer. The Bearer/Undertaker feud escalated at April's Revenge of the 'Taker: In Your House event when The Undertaker launched a fireball into the face of his former manager. During the following weeks and months, Bearer threatened the exposure of The Undertaker's "deepest, darkest secret".[4] Finally, at Badd Blood: In Your House, Kane made his debut[9] and interfered during the Hell in a Cell match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.
During the following months, Undertaker refused to wrestle Kane, stating he had promised their parents that he would never fight his own brother. This allowed Kane to frequently attack and humiliate The Undertaker on several occasions, as Undertaker would not retaliate. At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Kane cost Undertaker a casket match against WWF Champion Shawn Michaels and, after the match, Kane and Bearer locked Undertaker in the casket and set it ablaze, leading everyone to believe The Undertaker had been killed.[2][10][11] After 2 months of absence, The Undertaker returned and finally agreed to face Kane at WrestleMania XIV, which Undertaker won after hitting Kane with three Tombstone Piledrivers.[1][2][10][12][13] They met once again the following month in the first-ever Inferno match (Kane's signature match) at Unforgiven: In Your House, which again Undertaker won.[1][10][14]
At
Collusion and betrayal, Undertaker's arson confession and feuding (1998–1999)
After Austin and Undertaker dropped the titles back to Kane and Mankind, Undertaker and Kane began to work as allies, facing the WWF Champion Steve Austin at Breakdown: In Your House in a triple threat match. Per stipulations put in place by Vince McMahon, Undertaker and Kane were forbidden from pinning each other, making it a de facto handicap match. At the end of the title match, they pinned Austin at the same time following a double Chokeslam.[2][10][18] The title was vacated since there was no clear winner, and both men faced each other the following month at Judgment Day: In Your House with Austin as the special referee. Undertaker turned heel during the match, as he betrayed Kane to side with Paul Bearer. The match ended in a no contest as Austin attacked Undertaker. Their feud continued when Undertaker faced Austin at Rock Bottom: In Your House in a Buried Alive match; during the match, Kane interfered and attacked Undertaker, thus helping Austin get the win. The brothers then separated from each other and went on their own.
In early 1999, with Kane now a member of The Corporation, and Undertaker now the leader of the Ministry of Darkness, they faced each other in their second Inferno match, which Undertaker once again won. In the summer of 1999, The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness had disbanded, while Kane was involved in a lengthy partnership with X-Pac, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice. The Undertaker then attempted to reunite the Brothers of Destruction, but Kane made the ultimate decision to loyal to X-Pac after learning the Undertaker only wanted to use him for his own selfish gains. Shortly after, Undertaker would form The Unholy Alliance with Big Show, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice, to feud with Kane and X-Pac. The Undertaker eventually was injured in the fall of 1999, with Kane going his own way again.
Tag team division dominance (2000–2001)
The Undertaker and Kane reunited again in the summer of 2000. At this time, The Undertaker had transformed into the "
At the
The Undertaker and Kane started focusing on then-Intercontinental Champion Triple H and WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had recently formed a surprise alliance known as the
With Kane injured, The Undertaker began targeting Steve Austin and his WWF Championship. On an episode of Raw is War, Undertaker was told by police officers that his wife Sara had been involved in a car accident; The Undertaker arrived home, only to find out that it was all a set-up by Austin. At Judgment Day, Kane defeated Triple H to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship in a chain match, despite interference from Austin.[10][30][31] Later that night, Triple H interfered in the Undertaker's WWF Championship match, using his sledgehammer, allowing Austin to pin The Undertaker and retain his championship.[30][32]
The Brothers of Destruction then began a feud with KroniK (Brian Adams and Bryan Clark), who were brought to WWF by Stevie Richards. Richards wanted revenge on the Undertaker for what happened to him on the April 26, 2001 episode of SmackDown!, when Undertaker faced Richards' Right to Censor stable in a 4-on-1 handicap match, causing the stable to disband. On the September 17 episode of Raw is War, Kane and Undertaker lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to The Dudley Boyz after KroniK interfered.[37] At Unforgiven, they successfully defended their WCW tag titles against KroniK,[10][38] before losing them to Booker T and Test on the following episode of SmackDown!.[39] They continued on as a team representing the WWF side through to the end of the Alliance Invasion angle, including their participation at Invasion[40] and Survivor Series,[41][42] after which The Undertaker immediately turned heel once more and the two did not interact with each other for a long while.
Sporadic encounters (2002–2005)
The duo first appeared together in 2002's
The demonic duo had a short run-in with each other in 2005; at the
The last time Kane and the Undertaker would meet in 2005 was during an interpromotional match where neither of the men from Raw or SmackDown! were involved. While Kane, who was helping his partner Big Show against
Brothers of Destruction reunions (2006–2010)
The return of the Brothers of Destruction was announced on October 27, 2006 episode of SmackDown!. Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) interfered with Kane's match against Mr. Kennedy, helping Kennedy beat down on him. As a result of the interference, General Manager Theodore Long scheduled a tag team match pitting the Brothers of Destruction against Kennedy and MVP.[50] The next week on SmackDown!, the Brothers of Destruction reunited for the first time as a tag team in five years and gathered three wins over MVP and Kennedy in that one night.[10][51][52] The first two wins were made by countout, and disqualification at which point General Manager Theodore Long twice came out and restarted the match with no disqualifications or countouts.[51] Finally, the brothers hit simultaneous chokeslams, and Undertaker finished with a Tombstone Piledriver to Mr. Kennedy.[51][52]
The brothers continued their rivalry with their individual opponents before reuniting for a rematch on the last SmackDown! before
On the October 12, 2007 episode of SmackDown!, the Brothers of Destruction reunited for the first time in 2007, defeating then-
On the April 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Undertaker and Kane faced each other for the first time since WrestleMania XX. The match finished with no decision as "
Final sibling rivalry feud: Kane's closure and victories (late 2009–2010)
On the June 4 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long announced that The Undertaker was found in a
Kane and Undertaker met at Night of Champions, which Undertaker lost. Kane had seemingly grew stronger than his older half-brother (seemingly resolving previously unfinished business from their youth when The Undertaker set Kane on fire as teenagers, later reasoning that it was because Kane was "too weak"). In an attempt to regain momentum over Kane, The Undertaker was boosted by the return of his former manager/Kane's father, Paul Bearer (who hadn't been seen in years, since June 2004 when The Undertaker betrayed Bearer by drowning him in a crypt of cement, seemingly paying Bearer back for his unforgettable act of betrayal at SummerSlam 1996 and following acts of introducing Kane).
With Bearer by The Undertaker's side like old times, the two brothers squared off again at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in a Hell in a Cell match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bearer, however, betrayed The Undertaker by blinding him with the urn, allowing Kane to chokeslam The Undertaker for the victory (repaying Undertaker for the Concrete Crypt burial at The Great American Bash). The feud culminated in what would be the brothers' final one-on-one match, a Buried Alive match at Bragging Rights, in which The Undertaker once again lost and in his own specialty match, this time resulting in part from interference by The Nexus.
Brief reunions and final tag match (2012–2020)
On July 23, 2012 during
WWE Hall of Fame (2021–2022)
In the aftermath of Undertaker's retirement from the WWE, the following year, Undertaker announced that Kane would be inducted into the
Championships and accomplishments
- CBS Sports
- Worst Angle of the Year (2018) vs. Triple H and Shawn Michaels[71]
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Manager of the Year(1998) – Paul Bearer
- World Wrestling Federation/WWE
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (2001) vs. KroniK at Unforgiven
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (2018) vs. D-Generation X at Crown Jewel
1 The Brothers of Destruction won title during The Invasion and also held the WWF Tag Team Championship at the same time, thus briefly unifying the two championships, however they defended and lost each title on separate occasions.
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External links
- The Undertaker on WWE.com
- Kane on WWE.com