Kane is one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE history, but only held the iconic WWE Championship for one day.
For somebody so dominant, it seems odd that he only held the titular belt for a single day. He held the ECW Championship and World Heavyweight title for longer reigns, but a real reign with the WWE Championships eluded him.
Not that The Big Red Machine ever really needed the title. He was always involved in storylines that didn’t need a belt to make them exciting.
Whether it be his eternal battle with his brother The Undertaker, his tag team with X-Pac, or his girlfriend troubles with Triple H, he always had something to do that didn’t need a belt.
Kane retired in 2022, amid serving his term as the mayor of Knoxville County. With the retirement, and a final Royal Rumble appearance in 2021, this rules out him ever adding to his tally of one day with the WWE Championship.
Kane won the WWE Championship in 1998, for the first and only time. He defeated “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in a first blood match at King of the Ring 1998, the biggest win of his short career thus far.
Kane managed to draw blood from Austin before Austin did it to him. However, that seemed obvious, given the fact that Kane wore a mask and was completely covered by his body suit.
He had no skin exposed, so even if he did bleed, his bright-red outfit would show absolutely no signs of bleeding. This seems like an oversight by the WWE, who were forced to give Kane the title, only to drop it the next night.
Despite the 24-hour title reign, Kane does not begrudge WWE for the legnth of the championship victory. Whilst he would never hold the belt again, he is happy with how long he was champion, given how popular Stone Cold Steve Austin was during this time.
Speaking on “The Bam Show,” the WWE Hall of Famer spoke candidly about how he felt about winning the WWE Championship. He revealed that he was proud of the win, but also of the ratings the pair managed the next night on Monday Night Raw.
“It never bothered me, because that was Stone Cold Steve Austin when Stone Cold Steve Austin is on a rocket going to the stratosphere. And the next night dropping the title was actually more important.
There was a palpable energy in the crowd in Cleveland that I have never experienced before or since.”
“Sure, we all wanna say, ‘Hey we carried the company. We’re Bruno Sammartino with his long championship reign, but nevertheless, to do that at that time especially, that next night in Cleveland our segment drew the highest segment that RAW had done until that point.
Kane has retired from the ring, and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021.
Did you know that WWE almost brought in another brother for Kane to feud with? Click below to read about how TNA star Matt Morgan almost had the gimmick of Kane’s brother in the WWE.