So - it has happened! Took me totally by surprise, and I guess that was MEANT to be . . . the WWE, KANE and his surrounding fellows, Mr. Jacobs et al, did a magnificent job of keeping this turn of events under wraps.  MOST Excellent!

Last week blew through so quickly I had to wonder if I'd actually fast forwarded through life for seven days - LOL.  And each day KANE and what was to become of him was on my mind.  It seems I was not alone . . . I expected as much from Kanenites, but was tickled to see the smark boards trying to get the jump on a scoop of what the Madison Square Garden event would reveal. Remeinds me of those TV stories where they script and leak a number of different endings, just to keep the hounds from ruining the element of surprise for the viewing audience.  Except for perceiving there was NO way Trips was gonna let another waist don 'his' title (And I truly believe that belt was made especially for him, hence the reason it was HANDED to him early on in the Brand Split), NO ONE got the 'scoop'!  I read so many different scenario possibilities, some of which I liked ~ some of which made me wonder if the previous wwe writing team members were behind them, I was positively teeming with excitement a hour before last nights show - just imagine what KANE was going through!!!

The decision to lose the mask (AND the hair) HAD to be one that KANE/Mr. Jacobs grappled with - monumental on so many levels, it was not something to be taken lightly.  Would the fans accept this change?  Would the Kanenites?  Would this truly allow for a revival of character?  How far could he take it? WAS he brutal looking enough without the demonic domino to keep the MONSTER image alive?

GAWD! And on top of that, he had to pull out all stops and wrestle Trips, KNOWING he was, in reality, taking on three men instead of one.  And accolades, accolades, accolades! ~ Kane showed WHY he is still one of the biggest draws in the WWE, and ALWAYS a fan favorite.  He gave one of the most difficult and one of the best performances in his carreer! He SHONE as bright as any star on that roster - BRIGHTER!  I can't get out of my mind the part where he's cleared the ring of all but Robb, who sits on the mat watching him - Kane lifts his arms, about to bring up the pyros, a HUGE gleaming grin covers the lower half of his face... he stops, the grin slowly fades as the arms look to be losing rigidity - through the immense satisfaction of trouncing Evolu-shun, he remembers . . .   MAN I love this guy!

KANE is anything BUT a joke in my berg of Kanenites.  Never have been able to sit through a Kane showing, flinching from his fires, screaming for him to demolish his foes, jumping up and down as he moves and works - and cry stale.  Yeah, for some time he seemed to be in a rut, seeming to be in a crazy performance loop that had him reliving the same moves and outcome night after night - mostly with the same players . . . occassionaly with different faces sprinkled in.  I myself attribute this time glitch to the cosmos wanting him to completely heal from his serious injury so as not to cause further damamge and have to deprive us of his presence even longer.  It took years to build the awesome specimen of a body he has, four months was never enough time to RE-build bruised and displaced muscle and tissue. In the mean time, Kane STILL went into the ring and grappled like it was the first time he'd met those opponents, or dealt with the dilemnas.  His fans still looked for him, still cheered him on - ooed and awed at his in ring exploits, and still celebrated when he won.  But, like most of us, Kane needed, and it seems, WANTED to grow - just as he has since his inception and world debut.  This he portrayed BEFORE Bischoff issued his stipulation.

BTW ~ I'm tickled with the notion that KANE got a hair cut while RAW was in full swing!  LOL  In the backstage shot where he was pulling - almost viciously - on some locks, you can SEE that is HIS real hair.  It isn't until Kane is stalking down the ramp that the hair looks different - straighter, fuller underneath where KANE keeps it shorn short. I thought he was trying to make it  look more like Nash's - yeah, I held out for a switcheroo - and had NO thought that he was bustin' cerebral ass all over the ring and arena with a WIG on!!!

I was shocked at the conclusion - NOT of him not winning, though I wanted that VERY much . . . I truly believe that belt is grafted onto Trips' waist. . . nor with the fact that Trips had to play any part in this monumentous event in Kane's life ~ otherwise the WWE'd HAVE to attribute the increase in viewership and crowd activity to someone else ~ but with Kane unmasking.   As I said, I was a hold out for the switcheroo scenario.  I wanted Kane to make the decision to unmask on HIS terms, not because he'd been ordered to.  The hair loss threw me for a loop so wide it could have lassoed Texas!  Mixed thoughts left me a jangle of feeling - DAYUM!!! Hadn't he said recently the mask would stay?  Ahhhh - yes and he also said " . . . anything can happen . . .".

WARNING!!! Unpopular thoughts start here . . .

I am totally behind this next stage in Kane's life!  I'm a deep-seated believer in the WWE and Mr. Jacobs putting a great deal of thought and time into this, bringing it to life slowly, as they had the whole KANE character. Kane's noticible actions previous to this event, the skin discoloration, absence of hair on the head and face where fire had once ravaged, tufts of hair atop then full at back, swelling in tissue where fluid will gather - even after so long . . . all make for a very plausible look for a young burn victim that has grown into manhood.  That the WWE want us to believe that Kane has been wrestling in a wig for the past near six years ~ when just a few months earlier Batista removed his mask and held it up - SANS wig, and a little over a year before, nWo removed his mask with long tendrils of hair caught in it, still FIRMLY rooted to Kane's head ~ is just another display of their miscalculation of fans' mental capacity and attention skills.

He doesn't look goofy - or like a baby-face.  He's scarred and tortured . . . face and soul. 

"When I was a child, everybody stared at me. Pointed. They screamed, and they laughed, and I hated them for it. I hated the World, but I hated myself. I hated what I was. So I tried to hide it with this mask. That way, I wouldn't hear your screams, or your laughter, or feel your pity."

I can visualize the face and head we saw last night, younger - when the scarring was fresher, more pronounced - and the reaction he perceived from those around him.  He's believable, and I can FEEL his pain - mental, spiritual and physical; I can understand and empathize with his rage; I can taste his desire to be accepted, to be released from the prison of awful difference erected by others and perpetuated at his own hand; I support his decision to move forward, the world and it's judgements be damned.

Kane dead?  Had they unmasked him any other way - had they allowed Evolu-shun to debase him, or Bischoff or anyone esle . . . had they NOT added the element of RVD in the position of a friend who stuck by giving support in any way he could . . . had they had Kane unmask with shame in his posture - I'd have said yes.  Instead KANE chose to unmask.  It was painful to watch, I daresay for RVD it was painful to be at hand.  But Kane did so defiantly, errupting in a deeper rage at having to do so.  Hearing the gasps, seeing the cringes of those near him in the ring before they made a hasty retreat, fueled his blazing fury to inferno heights - the man-monster bent on ferociously unleashing his inner turmoil and pain using his power and might has been re-awakened.

There are so many avenues this sequence of events can take.  SOOO many storylines that can be written.  Kane/Mr. Jacobs took steps to launch into a deeper aspect of his character and life, in keeping with the history of his character's storyline, the only limitations being the WWE creative writing team, and the fans - those of professional wrestling in general, and his.  While I have every faith that KANE fans will continue to follow, support and push for the character Kane - no matter which direction he takes on his 'chosen' path, I'm not so sure about the 'creative' writers who've dropped the ball on Kane so many times I've wondered if they were duck-pin bowling instead of trying to score winning pitches.  I fervently hope this newer team can step up to the plate and allow KANE the forum he so very much deserves.

As a Kane fan, I've been demanding more exposure for him, more storylines that have face, more of him as the raging monster of destruction  - I see that's what I'm getting with the potential for far more to come.  I've always looked forward to watching Kane - on TV and live.  NOW, I'm bursting with excitement and rejuvenated with interest in watching Kane's continued strides toward the top.