Glenn Thomas Jacobs: Every wrestling fan’s worst nightmare

Actor may have terrified children as Kane in WWE but outside the ring, he couldn’t be any lesser of a 'monster'

KARACHI: Millennials who grew up watching professional wrestling, specifically WWE, definitely remember being mesmerised by larger-than-life characters like Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker and Mankind. But there was one character that haunted every child’s dreams: Kane.

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The wrestler, who debuted in 1997 as the younger half-brother of The Undertaker, was presented as a monster, draped in red and black, who brought hellfire and brimstone on his opponents.

PHOTO: F4WONLINE.COM

Who can forget the most iconic debut in WWE history, when Kane interrupted the Hell in a Cell match between Take and Shawn Michaels, ripped off the cage door and ‘tombstoned’ his brother? For the next 20 years, WWE has been the Devil’s Playground and Kane was the commissioner who ruled it with his wrath and fury.

However, fans know little about the man behind the character that became their childhood nightmare. And it’d perhaps be a surprise to know that Glenn Thomas Jacobs, the man who plays Kane, doesn’t ‘choke slam’ people or set them on fire in real life. In fact, he is the exact opposite.

PHOTO: STILL REALTOUS

Jacobs grew up playing basketball and football and holds a degree in English literature – not quite what one would expect from the seven-foot-tall devil’s favourite demon. He also occasionally works as an actor. Fans may remember him from the 2006 horror-slasher film See No Evil and its 2014 sequel, wherein he played Jacob Goodnight, the monster who gouged his victims’ eyes out.

Outside of the ring, he’s one of the most gentle and intelligent monsters one will come across. Even Daniel Bryan once said Kane may “look like a monster but is the smartest man I know.” And it may not be farfetched because after decades of working in WWE, not one wrestler has anything negative to say about Jacobs.

PHOTO: FILE

The wrestler has helped make stars and consistently been one of the top performers in WWE, even to this day, at the age of 51. He may be a twisted pyromaniac and psychopath in WWE, but outside, he runs and operates his own insurance company ‘The Jacobs Agency’ along with his wife, Crystal Maurisa Goins.

Besides, the man is heavily involved in libertarian politics and has been giving back to the community for years. In fact, he is currently running to be the mayor of his hometown, Knoxville Country, Tennessee. He recently won the Republican primary elections for the mayoral seat and is now in the forefront to getting to serve the community of around 500, 000 people.

PHOTO: FILE

The majority may think his association with wrestling goes against his political pursuits but it doesn’t. In fact, in an interview with the New York Post, Jacobs said, “It’s sort of cool because your sort of entrenched political class is going to think that, ‘Oh, he’s a wrestler and that’s going against him.’ It doesn’t. It actually works for me because you know people think that’s cool, but people know who I am too and the things that I have been doing in the community for years.”

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Jacobs claims he got into politics because he is “not enamoured with politicians.” In three months, we shall know whether Jacobs will be a new mayor or not. While he may be at the twilight of his WWE career, the decorated superstar is definitely a future WWE Hall of Famer after having done it all and is already looking forward to a big change in life.

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