WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.660 Okay, let's unpack this because I have been staring 00:00:02.660 --> 00:00:05.500 at two photographs on my desk for the last hour. 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:07.740 I have a feeling I know exactly which photos 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:09.859 you were looking at. My brain is just having 00:00:09.859 --> 00:00:11.980 a really hard time reconciling that these are 00:00:11.980 --> 00:00:14.480 the exact same human being. It is the dichotomy 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.879 to end all dichotomy. Right, because on the left 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.539 side of my desk, I have a picture of a seven 00:00:19.539 --> 00:00:22.239 foot tall behemoth. Naturally. He is wearing 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.980 a mask that looks like it is made of... stitched 00:00:25.980 --> 00:00:30.100 together human flesh or leather at least he is 00:00:30.100 --> 00:00:33.140 covered in red and black spandex and he is probably 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:35.520 doing something completely unhinged he is literally 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:37.619 in the process of setting a cameraman on fire 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:40.340 yeah just a standard tuesday night in the late 00:00:40.340 --> 00:00:43.259 90s wrestling scene a literal horror movie monster 00:00:43.259 --> 00:00:46.359 come to life and then uh on the right side of 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:49.020 the desk i have a photo of a man in a very sensible 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:51.700 suit and tie a completely different world completely 00:00:51.700 --> 00:00:55.020 he is sitting behind a mahogany desk he has reading 00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:57.640 glasses on, and he is signing a municipal zoning 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.359 ordinance regarding stormwater drainage in Knox 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.200 County, Tennessee. And depending on your perspective 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:05.439 on local government, you know, that second photo 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.799 might actually be the scarier one. That is a 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.060 fair point. But the central fascination here, 00:01:11.140 --> 00:01:14.519 the absolute core of our deep dive today, is 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:17.500 how these two worlds collided. It is a wild trajectory. 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:20.120 We are looking at the life and career of Glenn 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:24.620 Jacobs. To the world, he is Kane, the devil's 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:27.560 favorite demon, the big red machine. Or to the 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:30.579 citizens of Knox County, he is Mr. Mayor. So 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:32.719 our mission today, diving into the source material, 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:35.680 primarily the extensive Wikipedia archives covering 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:38.420 his early life, his wrestling career, filmography, 00:01:38.540 --> 00:01:41.140 and his political tenure, is to figure out... 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:44.560 Exactly. How does this happen? How does a failed 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.659 football prospect who stumbled through some of 00:01:46.659 --> 00:01:48.980 the absolute worst character ideas in television 00:01:48.980 --> 00:01:51.439 history evolve into one of the longest tenured 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:54.280 superstars in WWE history? And not just survive 00:01:54.280 --> 00:01:56.659 it, but build a legacy. Right. And then how does 00:01:56.659 --> 00:01:59.780 he take that specific legacy and pivot into a 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:02.739 serious, highly ideological political career? 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:05.579 I think the word we keep coming back to for you 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.680 guys listening today is adaptability or honestly 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:11.210 survival. Survival is a great way to put it. 00:02:11.289 --> 00:02:13.889 Because when you look at the sources, you see 00:02:13.889 --> 00:02:17.550 a man who was handed failure after failure. Just 00:02:17.550 --> 00:02:20.870 terrible idea after terrible idea. Truly humiliating 00:02:20.870 --> 00:02:24.289 stuff. And he somehow managed to outlast everyone 00:02:24.289 --> 00:02:27.150 else by just doing the work. Well, let's jump 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:29.150 straight into the origins. Because when you see 00:02:29.150 --> 00:02:32.770 a guy who is 7 feet tall and 320 pounds, you 00:02:32.770 --> 00:02:34.770 kind of assume he was building a lab somewhere. 00:02:34.949 --> 00:02:37.289 Right. Or born in a funeral home. If you believe 00:02:37.289 --> 00:02:39.469 the wrestling storyline. Which we will get to. 00:02:39.750 --> 00:02:41.710 But the reality is a bit more international, 00:02:41.870 --> 00:02:44.990 isn't it? It is. Glenn Thomas Jacobs was actually 00:02:44.990 --> 00:02:49.849 born on April 26, 1967 in Torrejon de Ardoz, 00:02:49.849 --> 00:02:52.389 Spain. Spain. I really did not see that coming 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:53.969 when I started researching this. Yeah, he was 00:02:53.969 --> 00:02:56.389 a military brat. His father was in the United 00:02:56.389 --> 00:02:58.389 States Air Force and was stationed over there 00:02:58.389 --> 00:03:00.509 at the time. Got it. So he starts his life bouncing 00:03:00.509 --> 00:03:02.009 around a bit, eventually landing in the United 00:03:02.009 --> 00:03:04.110 States. Yeah. And he grows up near St. Louis, 00:03:04.189 --> 00:03:07.479 Missouri. And from a very young age, the defining 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:09.639 characteristic for him was simply his massive 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.259 size. You really cannot teach seven feet. He 00:03:13.259 --> 00:03:14.819 went to high school in Bowling Green, Missouri, 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.900 and he was just a physical force of nature. Which 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:20.280 naturally pushes you toward athletics. Absolutely. 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:24.300 He excelled in football and basketball. But here 00:03:24.300 --> 00:03:26.780 is the first nugget from our sources that usually 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:28.979 stops people in their tracks. Let's hear it. 00:03:29.310 --> 00:03:31.729 We tend to stereotype pro wrestlers, especially 00:03:31.729 --> 00:03:35.009 the giant monster types, as, well, meatheads. 00:03:35.289 --> 00:03:37.590 Grunters, guys who just lift heavy things and 00:03:37.590 --> 00:03:40.610 put them down. Exactly. But Jacobs went to Northeast 00:03:40.610 --> 00:03:42.870 Missouri State University, which is now Truman 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:46.030 State, and he didn't get a degree in sports medicine 00:03:46.030 --> 00:03:48.710 or general studies. What did he study? He earned 00:03:48.710 --> 00:03:52.189 a degree in English literature. Get out. So the 00:03:52.189 --> 00:03:55.180 guy who became famous for not speaking. for being 00:03:55.180 --> 00:03:58.099 a literal mute monster, is sitting in a dorm 00:03:58.099 --> 00:04:01.379 room analyzing Shakespeare and Faulkner. It creates 00:04:01.379 --> 00:04:03.379 this incredible irony that runs through his entire 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:06.219 life. He is arguably one of the most well -read 00:04:06.219 --> 00:04:08.699 guys in any locker room he walks into. But his 00:04:08.699 --> 00:04:11.080 job is to look like a caveman. Right. It speaks 00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:13.759 to a level of intellectual curiosity that he 00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:16.019 had to sort of hide for a very long time. But 00:04:16.019 --> 00:04:18.339 at that stage in his life, the literature degree 00:04:18.339 --> 00:04:20.540 was essentially the backup plan. Oh, for sure. 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:23.180 The main plan was the NFL. Which makes total 00:04:23.180 --> 00:04:25.939 sense. If you are that big and you can move your 00:04:25.939 --> 00:04:28.579 feet, the NFL is going to find you. And they 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:31.720 absolutely did. The draft scouting reports viewed 00:04:31.720 --> 00:04:34.439 him as this diamond in the rough. He played center 00:04:34.439 --> 00:04:37.040 for the basketball team and defensive line and 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:38.959 guard for the football team. No, he was athletic, 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.740 not just big. Very raw. But the potential was 00:04:42.740 --> 00:04:46.660 undeniable. And after the 1991 draft, he got 00:04:46.660 --> 00:04:49.540 the call every single college football player 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:52.439 dreams of. The Chicago Bears. The Chicago Bears 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:55.000 invited him to their rookie camp as an undrafted 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.160 free agent. The monsters of the midway. That 00:04:57.160 --> 00:04:59.560 is the dream scenario for a defensive lineman. 00:04:59.579 --> 00:05:01.399 He was right there. He was right there at Hallis 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.300 Hall. But this is where we hit that first major 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:08.000 pivot point in his life. The big almost moment. 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.810 What happened? He failed the physical. Oh, man. 00:05:10.949 --> 00:05:13.290 That is absolutely valuable. It was a knee injury 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:15.170 from his college days. He'd only played seven 00:05:15.170 --> 00:05:17.129 games in his final season because of it. So the 00:05:17.129 --> 00:05:19.689 damage is already done. Yeah. The Bears doctors 00:05:19.689 --> 00:05:22.670 took one look at the knee and just said, no chance. 00:05:22.910 --> 00:05:26.089 And just like that, the NFL door slammed shut. 00:05:26.209 --> 00:05:28.269 That has to be devastating. You have the size, 00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:30.069 you have the drive, but the physical machinery 00:05:30.069 --> 00:05:32.149 just fails you at the finish line. It is the 00:05:32.149 --> 00:05:35.170 reality for so many athletes. So you are a seven 00:05:35.170 --> 00:05:38.560 -foot English major with a bad knee. In the early 00:05:38.560 --> 00:05:42.939 90s. What do you even do? If you are that size, 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:45.980 there is really only one other industry that 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:48.699 pays. You go to the modern carnival. Professional 00:05:48.699 --> 00:05:50.019 wrestling. Professional wrestling. It was the 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:52.660 only other place where being a giant was an actual 00:05:52.660 --> 00:05:55.540 asset, not a liability. So he started training. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:58.660 And he debuted in 1992 on the independent circuit. 00:05:59.019 --> 00:06:01.259 Now, I really want to spend some time here. Because 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:03.519 when we think of the name Kane today, we think 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:06.509 of a legend. A Hall of Famer. But looking at 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:09.689 this timeline of his early career, it is a gallery 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:12.069 of horrors. And not the cool horror movie kind. 00:06:12.269 --> 00:06:14.970 No, the embarrassing kind. Yeah. It is the struggle 00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:18.769 phase. And it goes deep. People assume he walked 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:22.379 into an arena and was a star immediately. But 00:06:22.379 --> 00:06:24.439 the road to success was paved with some of the 00:06:24.439 --> 00:06:26.759 most embarrassing gimmicks in television history. 00:06:26.939 --> 00:06:29.279 He started out as Angus King, right? Yeah, Angus 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:32.100 King on the indie circuit in 1992, which is fine. 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.819 Generic big man stuff. Nothing offensive about 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:38.680 that. But then he goes to the USWA. The United 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:40.800 States Wrestling Association down in Memphis. 00:06:41.019 --> 00:06:44.180 This was Jerry Lawler's territory. Exactly. And 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:46.920 they gave him his first real character. Oh, I 00:06:46.920 --> 00:06:48.839 saw this in the source material. I need you to 00:06:48.839 --> 00:06:50.439 describe this for the listener because if they 00:06:50.439 --> 00:06:52.360 haven't seen the pictures, they are not going 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:54.480 to believe us. The Christmas Creature. The Christmas 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.899 Creature. It is exactly what it sounds like and 00:06:56.899 --> 00:06:58.600 somehow it is worse than you were imagining. 00:06:58.779 --> 00:07:01.100 Paint the picture. Picture a seven foot tall 00:07:01.100 --> 00:07:04.899 man. Now, wrap him in a bright green bodysuit. 00:07:05.610 --> 00:07:07.410 Put a mask on him that looks like it was made 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:10.470 of cheap felt. Okay. Bad start. Give him sleeves 00:07:10.470 --> 00:07:13.829 that are striped like candy canes. It gets worse. 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:18.209 And this is the specific detail that gets me 00:07:18.209 --> 00:07:22.370 every single time. Drape him in actual tinsel. 00:07:22.490 --> 00:07:25.170 Tinsel. Like you would buy at a pharmacy in December. 00:07:25.490 --> 00:07:28.449 Yes. He was billed as an evil Christmas character 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:31.050 from the North Pole. The absurdity of that is 00:07:31.050 --> 00:07:33.970 staggering. And here is the absolute kicker from 00:07:33.970 --> 00:07:38.220 the archives. The costume was homemade. His mother 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:41.670 actually sewed it for him. No. Imagine having 00:07:41.670 --> 00:07:44.170 a degree in English literature, having read The 00:07:44.170 --> 00:07:46.670 Great Gatsby, and then standing in your childhood 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:48.949 bedroom while your mom sews tinsel onto your 00:07:48.949 --> 00:07:51.089 arm so you can go fight Jerry the King Lawler. 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:54.649 It perfectly highlights the absolute carny absurdity 00:07:54.649 --> 00:07:56.850 of the wrestling business. But more importantly, 00:07:57.069 --> 00:07:59.870 it highlights Jacobs' incredible work ethic. 00:08:00.029 --> 00:08:02.230 How so? Think about it. A lot of guys with his 00:08:02.230 --> 00:08:04.970 size, or guys who almost made the NFL, would 00:08:04.970 --> 00:08:07.410 have a huge ego. They would have said, I am not 00:08:07.410 --> 00:08:09.470 wearing that. I am a serious athlete. But Jacobs 00:08:09.470 --> 00:08:11.430 put the tinsel on. He put the tinsel on. He went 00:08:11.430 --> 00:08:13.930 out there and he tried his hardest to be the 00:08:13.930 --> 00:08:16.389 scariest Christmas tree in Memphis. That willingness 00:08:16.389 --> 00:08:19.170 to be humiliated really pays off later. But it 00:08:19.170 --> 00:08:21.129 didn't pay off immediately, did it? No, not at 00:08:21.129 --> 00:08:23.189 all. Because he eventually gets signed to the 00:08:23.189 --> 00:08:27.269 WWF, the big leagues, in 1995. And you would 00:08:27.269 --> 00:08:29.529 think, OK, Vince McMahon, the genius marketer, 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:32.549 he will see this giant and make him a gladiator. 00:08:32.690 --> 00:08:35.519 You would think that. But Vince McMahon has a 00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:38.440 very specific, sometimes bizarre sense of humor. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:41.159 That is an understatement. He saw this massive, 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:44.059 imposing giant and thought, you know what is 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:50.669 scary? Dentistry. Isaac Yankum? Jerry Lawler's 00:08:50.669 --> 00:08:54.250 private dentist. This was Jacobs' big debut on 00:08:54.250 --> 00:08:56.509 national television. They brought him in to feud 00:08:56.509 --> 00:08:58.789 with Bret Hart, right? Yes, Bret Hart, who was 00:08:58.789 --> 00:09:00.929 the top guy in the company at the time. And the 00:09:00.929 --> 00:09:02.789 gimmick was simply that he was an evil dentist. 00:09:03.110 --> 00:09:05.149 But not just an evil dentist. He was a dentist 00:09:05.149 --> 00:09:08.429 with spectacularly bad teeth. That is the crucial 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:11.190 nuance. They emphasized that he had terrible 00:09:11.190 --> 00:09:14.110 yellow rotting teeth. The psychology there is 00:09:14.110 --> 00:09:16.289 just baffling. It makes no sense. They played 00:09:16.289 --> 00:09:18.549 generic drill noises over the arena speakers 00:09:18.549 --> 00:09:21.090 when he came out. And practically speaking, for 00:09:21.090 --> 00:09:23.389 the performer, it was a disaster. Why? Just because 00:09:23.389 --> 00:09:25.850 it was embarrassing? Worse than that. He had 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:28.289 to wear this massive dental appliance in his 00:09:28.289 --> 00:09:31.250 mouth to make his teeth look rotten. Oh, wow. 00:09:31.669 --> 00:09:33.889 Which made it incredibly hard to breathe while 00:09:33.889 --> 00:09:36.629 wrestling and virtually impossible to talk clearly. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:39.720 And he was wrestling Bret Hart, one of the greatest 00:09:39.720 --> 00:09:42.519 technical fast -paced wrestlers ever. While the 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:45.840 announcers are just making terrible tooth puns 00:09:45.840 --> 00:09:48.539 the entire match. And what was the result? He 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:52.200 lost. A lot. He was what industry calls a jobber 00:09:52.200 --> 00:09:54.779 to the stars. Meaning his job was just to make 00:09:54.779 --> 00:09:57.799 the main event guys look good. Exactly. He lost 00:09:57.799 --> 00:10:00.139 to Bret Hart. He lost to The Undertaker. He lost 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:01.940 to The Ultimate Warrior. The character was a 00:10:01.940 --> 00:10:05.409 total bust. A complete failure. By late 1996, 00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:08.509 the Isaac Yankum character was effectively retired 00:10:08.509 --> 00:10:11.129 from television. So let's look at the scorecard. 00:10:11.429 --> 00:10:14.429 Strike one, the NFL says no. Strike two, the 00:10:14.429 --> 00:10:17.370 WWF says you are a bad dentist. Most people would 00:10:17.370 --> 00:10:19.250 absolutely quit here. But then somehow it gets 00:10:19.250 --> 00:10:21.730 even worse. We have to talk about the fake Diesel 00:10:21.730 --> 00:10:24.629 saga. This genuinely feels like a fever dream 00:10:24.629 --> 00:10:26.809 to look back on. This is arguably the lowest 00:10:26.809 --> 00:10:29.049 point of his entire career. Give us the context 00:10:29.049 --> 00:10:31.929 for why this even happened. So Kevin Nash, who 00:10:31.929 --> 00:10:35.100 wrestled as Diesel, And Scott Hall, who was Razor 00:10:35.100 --> 00:10:39.059 Ramon, were huge stars for the WWF. Household 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:42.220 names at that point. Huge names. But they left 00:10:42.220 --> 00:10:45.320 the WWF to go to WCW, the rival television company, 00:10:45.500 --> 00:10:47.840 for guaranteed money. The start of the Monday 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:50.960 Night Wars. Exactly. And it was a massive blow 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:54.440 to Vince McMahon. Vince was furious. Understandably. 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:57.500 But Vince legally owned the intellectual property 00:10:57.500 --> 00:10:59.759 of the Diesel and Razor Ramon characters. He 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:01.480 owned the names and the costumes. That's right. 00:11:01.769 --> 00:11:04.789 So he decided to try and prove a point to the 00:11:04.789 --> 00:11:07.870 audience and to his rivals. He essentially said, 00:11:07.970 --> 00:11:10.490 I made those stars. I own those names. I can 00:11:10.490 --> 00:11:12.370 just put the costumes on other people and the 00:11:12.370 --> 00:11:14.929 fans won't care. Which is an insane theory. That 00:11:14.929 --> 00:11:16.909 is like replacing Harrison Ford in the middle 00:11:16.909 --> 00:11:18.830 of an Indiana Jones movie and just pretending 00:11:18.830 --> 00:11:21.730 nobody notices. It is exactly like that. So they 00:11:21.730 --> 00:11:24.009 took Glenn Jacobs, put him in Kevin Ash's leather 00:11:24.009 --> 00:11:26.909 outfit, gave him a fake black wig and sent him 00:11:26.909 --> 00:11:29.230 out to the ring as Diesel. And how did the fans 00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:32.220 react? They completely revolted. They hated it 00:11:32.220 --> 00:11:34.620 with a passion. I remember the chants. The chant 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.120 Fake Diesel followed him into every single arena. 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:39.320 And that isn't just regular wrestling heat, is 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:42.559 it? No, it was a, boo, you are the bad guy. It 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:44.399 was, boo, get off my television screen. This 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:47.259 is creatively insulting. It has to be so humiliating 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:49.659 for the performer. Unbelievably humiliating. 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:51.419 You aren't even playing a character. You are 00:11:51.419 --> 00:11:53.960 playing a counterfeit version of a guy who is 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:56.190 currently famous on the other channel. It is 00:11:56.190 --> 00:11:58.610 usually a career death sentence. Almost always. 00:11:58.710 --> 00:12:00.929 When you are the fake version of someone else, 00:12:00.990 --> 00:12:03.730 you have zero identity of your own. So let's 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:06.110 pause and look at where we are. We are in 1997. 00:12:07.009 --> 00:12:10.509 Glenn Jacobs is 30 years old. He has been a Christmas 00:12:10.509 --> 00:12:13.429 tree. A bad dentist and a counterfeit trucker. 00:12:13.470 --> 00:12:16.149 He has absolutely zero credibility with the audience. 00:12:16.330 --> 00:12:19.169 Why didn't the company just fire him? Or why 00:12:19.169 --> 00:12:20.950 didn't he just quit and use his English degree? 00:12:21.210 --> 00:12:23.889 This is the absolute key insight from this early 00:12:23.889 --> 00:12:26.350 period. This is the big so what of his origins. 00:12:26.549 --> 00:12:30.230 Lay it on us. He survived because he was reliable. 00:12:30.929 --> 00:12:33.669 Even his fake diesel, while thousands of fans 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:36.429 were jeering him out of the building, he showed 00:12:36.429 --> 00:12:38.750 up on time. He didn't complain to management. 00:12:39.450 --> 00:12:41.990 He never complained. He worked safe, meaning 00:12:41.990 --> 00:12:43.870 he didn't hurt his opponents in the ring, which 00:12:43.870 --> 00:12:46.370 is huge for a man his size. Just a consummate 00:12:46.370 --> 00:12:48.769 professional. Exactly. In an industry full of 00:12:48.769 --> 00:12:52.090 drug issues, massive ego problems, and guys just 00:12:52.090 --> 00:12:55.450 not showing up for work, Glenn Jacobs was professional. 00:12:55.730 --> 00:12:58.250 He was boring in the best way possible for a 00:12:58.250 --> 00:13:00.610 boss. And because he was so incredibly reliable, 00:13:00.990 --> 00:13:03.330 the company kept him on the payroll just long 00:13:03.330 --> 00:13:06.190 enough for the right idea to finally land. And 00:13:06.190 --> 00:13:09.740 when that idea landed... It landed like a meteor. 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:13.600 October 1997. The birth of the monster. The debut 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.960 of Kane. This is a masterclass in long -term 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.679 narrative storytelling. It really is. For months 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:22.460 on television, Paul Bearer, this creepy, high 00:13:22.460 --> 00:13:24.740 -pitched manager who carried a golden urn around, 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:27.059 had been telling The Undertaker that his secret 00:13:27.059 --> 00:13:29.460 was out. He was threatening to reveal this dark, 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:31.919 horrible secret from the past. The soap opera 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.139 element kicks into high gear right here. The 00:13:34.139 --> 00:13:36.580 backstory they created was basically Shakespearean 00:13:36.580 --> 00:13:39.110 tragedy. What is the lore? The story was that 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:42.049 the undertaker, as a child, had burned down the 00:13:42.049 --> 00:13:44.169 family funeral home, killing their parents. Dark 00:13:44.169 --> 00:13:47.990 stuff. Very dark. But Paul Bearer revealed that 00:13:47.990 --> 00:13:50.690 the younger brother, Kane, had actually survived 00:13:50.690 --> 00:13:53.629 the fire. But he wasn't okay. No, he was physically 00:13:53.629 --> 00:13:56.429 scarred, he was mentally broken, and Paul Bearer 00:13:56.429 --> 00:13:58.830 had kept him locked away in an asylum all these 00:13:58.830 --> 00:14:01.889 years. And now he was finally coming for revenge 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:04.750 against his older brother. It is so much better 00:14:04.750 --> 00:14:07.950 than Evil Dentist. It has actual stakes. It has 00:14:07.950 --> 00:14:11.330 deep emotional tragedy. It has incredible pathos. 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:15.169 And the actual debut at the pay -per -view of 00:14:15.169 --> 00:14:19.309 Bad Blood in your house is legendary. It is one 00:14:19.309 --> 00:14:20.929 of the most famous moments in wrestling history. 00:14:21.049 --> 00:14:23.250 Set the scene for us. It is the first ever Hell 00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:25.870 in a Cell match. The Undertaker versus Shawn 00:14:25.870 --> 00:14:28.490 Michaels. They are inside this massive chain 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:31.029 link cage with a roof. The cage is completely 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:33.049 locked from the outside. There's absolutely no 00:14:33.049 --> 00:14:36.370 way in. And then the arena lights go red. That 00:14:36.370 --> 00:14:38.669 terrifying organ music hits. And Jacobs walks 00:14:38.669 --> 00:14:41.330 out. But he looks completely different than anything 00:14:41.330 --> 00:14:43.210 he had done before. He is totally transformed. 00:14:43.549 --> 00:14:46.110 He is covered head to toe in this thick red and 00:14:46.110 --> 00:14:48.990 black bodysuit. To hide the burn scars. Right. 00:14:49.570 --> 00:14:52.710 And he is wearing a leather mask that covers 00:14:52.710 --> 00:14:55.870 his entire face. Except for his eyes and mouth. 00:14:56.309 --> 00:14:58.750 He looked like a comic book supervillain come 00:14:58.750 --> 00:15:01.110 to actual life. And he walks right up to the 00:15:01.110 --> 00:15:03.730 cage door. He walks up to this massive steel 00:15:03.730 --> 00:15:07.690 structure, grabs the door, and literally rips 00:15:07.690 --> 00:15:09.889 it off the hinges. Quick note for the listener 00:15:09.889 --> 00:15:12.490 here. That door was specially rigged by the prop 00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:14.929 department, obviously, but visually. Visually, 00:15:15.009 --> 00:15:17.710 it looked incredible. It established him immediately 00:15:17.710 --> 00:15:21.070 as a monster who was physically stronger than 00:15:21.070 --> 00:15:23.330 the Undertaker. Which nobody was at that time. 00:15:23.470 --> 00:15:26.600 Nobody. He walks into the ring, stands face -to 00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:28.679 -face with The Undertaker, who is 6 '10", himself, 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:31.620 and Jacobs actually looks down at him. And then 00:15:31.620 --> 00:15:33.919 he attacks him. He delivers the Tombstone Piledriver, 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:37.039 The Undertaker's own finishing move, to his own 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.440 brother. In five minutes, Isaac Yankum was completely 00:15:40.440 --> 00:15:42.639 erased from the public consciousness. Kane was 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:44.759 suddenly the scariest thing on television. And 00:15:44.759 --> 00:15:46.879 this kicked off what might be the most complex, 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.039 long -running relationship in wrestling history. 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:53.080 The Brothers of Destruction. It went on for literally 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.139 decades. The dynamic was so fascinating because 00:15:56.139 --> 00:15:59.360 it constantly shifted. One month, Kane is trying 00:15:59.360 --> 00:16:02.240 to actively murder the Undertaker. And the next 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.360 month, they are hugging and dominating the tag 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:07.759 team division together. The stats back that up 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:11.679 too. They won the WCW and WWF tag team championships 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.419 during the massive invasion angle. But when they 00:16:14.419 --> 00:16:18.009 were fighting each other, it was brutal. We really 00:16:18.009 --> 00:16:20.309 have to talk about the inferno match in 1998. 00:16:20.769 --> 00:16:23.909 Yes, I remember watching this as a kid. The ring 00:16:23.909 --> 00:16:27.259 was literally surrounded by actual fire. This 00:16:27.259 --> 00:16:30.879 was a spectacle tailor -made for Kane's pyromaniac 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.220 character backstory. How did it even work? They 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:36.240 rigged the entire ring apron with gas jets. The 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.139 flames would shoot up six feet in the air whenever 00:16:38.139 --> 00:16:39.860 there was a big impact move in the ring. And 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:42.000 the rules of the match. To win, you had to literally 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:44.679 set a part of your opponent's body on fire. Think 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:46.779 about the actual danger there for the performers. 00:16:47.059 --> 00:16:49.340 It was insane. The oxygen was constantly being 00:16:49.340 --> 00:16:51.740 sucked out of the ring area by the flames. It 00:16:51.740 --> 00:16:54.700 was reportedly about 120 degrees inside the ropes. 00:16:55.159 --> 00:16:58.559 And Jacobs is wearing a full, thick bodysuit 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:00.440 and a heavy leather mask. He was practically 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:04.640 boiling alive in there. But he did it. And it 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.740 completely solidified the character as this unstoppable 00:17:07.740 --> 00:17:10.220 force of nature. And he reached the absolute 00:17:10.220 --> 00:17:12.400 mountaintop pretty quickly after that debut, 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:14.599 right? He won the big one. He did. King of the 00:17:14.599 --> 00:17:17.839 Ring, 1998. It was a first blood match against 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:20.279 Stone Cold Steve Austin. The rules being the 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:23.180 first man to bleed loses. Right. And the stipulation 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:26.500 was... If Kane loses, he has to set himself on 00:17:26.500 --> 00:17:28.960 fire. Incredibly high stakes. Very high stakes. 00:17:29.140 --> 00:17:31.220 Yeah. But he actually won. He defeated Stone 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:33.160 Cold, who was arguably the biggest star in the 00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.259 history of the business at that moment, to become 00:17:35.259 --> 00:17:38.400 the WWF champion. Now, granted, the booking was 00:17:38.400 --> 00:17:41.039 a little chaotic. He lost the title back to Austin 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:43.460 just 24 hours later on Monday Night Raw. But 00:17:43.460 --> 00:17:46.119 that moment cemented him forever. He wasn't just 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:48.059 a sidekick or a monster of the week anymore. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:51.099 He was a legitimate... Main event player. Okay, 00:17:51.140 --> 00:17:53.299 so he is the monster. He is established. But 00:17:53.299 --> 00:17:55.140 here are the fundamental problem with wrestling 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:58.720 monsters. They all have a shelf life. They always 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:01.440 do. Once we see the monster bleed, once we see 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:04.460 him lose a big match, he stops being scary. And 00:18:04.460 --> 00:18:07.380 usually the character just dies out. And now 00:18:07.380 --> 00:18:09.500 he wears out. But Kane lasted for another 20 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:12.460 years. How does that happen? This brings us to 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:15.400 the psychology of reinvention. And this is where 00:18:15.400 --> 00:18:19.369 Jacobs' intelligence that... English lit degree, 00:18:19.529 --> 00:18:22.910 that deep adaptability really shines through. 00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:25.049 He knew he couldn't stay the same. He understood 00:18:25.049 --> 00:18:28.990 that the big red machine would get stale. If 00:18:28.990 --> 00:18:31.829 he just stayed a silent robotic monster, he would 00:18:31.829 --> 00:18:34.009 just become a nostalgia act. He had to evolve 00:18:34.009 --> 00:18:36.130 the character. And the first big evolution was 00:18:36.130 --> 00:18:38.970 the half mask era in 2002. Right, where he started 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:41.650 talking a little bit and showing more human personality. 00:18:42.049 --> 00:18:43.970 But the real shock to the system was the complete 00:18:43.970 --> 00:18:47.150 unmasking in 2003. This was a huge gamble for 00:18:47.150 --> 00:18:50.109 the company and for him. Massive. For six straight 00:18:50.109 --> 00:18:53.630 years, that mask was his entire identity. The 00:18:53.630 --> 00:18:55.549 entire lore of the character was that he was 00:18:55.549 --> 00:18:57.690 hideously scarred underneath it. But he lost 00:18:57.690 --> 00:19:00.029 a stipulation match to Triple H and Madison Square 00:19:00.029 --> 00:19:02.710 Garden. Crowd is totally hushed. He reaches up, 00:19:02.710 --> 00:19:05.589 he peels the mask off. And everybody in the arena 00:19:05.589 --> 00:19:08.430 is expecting Freddy Krueger. Exactly. But when 00:19:08.430 --> 00:19:11.630 he took it off, he just looked like a guy. A 00:19:11.630 --> 00:19:14.210 completely normal face. A dirty, smudged guy. 00:19:14.680 --> 00:19:17.779 With a really weird patchy haircut, sure. But 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:20.119 physically, there were no burns. There were no 00:19:20.119 --> 00:19:22.440 scars at all. Which could have absolutely killed 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:24.960 the character dead. The fans could have revolted 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:27.059 again. They could have easily said, hey, he is 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:30.200 a phony. The lore was a lie. But they spun the 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:32.519 psychology of it brilliantly. They explained 00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:35.319 that the scars weren't physical. They were purely 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:38.059 mental. He believed he was hideous. Yes. The 00:19:38.059 --> 00:19:40.420 trauma made him believe he was a monster. And 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:43.980 taking the mask off. completely unleashed psychopath 00:19:43.980 --> 00:19:47.059 Kane. He stopped being a slow robot and started 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:49.779 being an emotionally unstable, erratic villain. 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:53.059 And this era got really dark really fast. It 00:19:53.059 --> 00:19:55.930 did. There are specific incidents from the sources. 00:19:56.230 --> 00:19:59.089 He set the lead announcer, Jim Ross, on fire 00:19:59.089 --> 00:20:01.170 during an in -ring interview. He attacked the 00:20:01.170 --> 00:20:04.130 CEO of the company, Linda McMahon. It was a massive 00:20:04.130 --> 00:20:07.589 shift from supernatural horror to very grounded 00:20:07.589 --> 00:20:10.029 psychological horror. And we definitely have 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:13.130 to acknowledge the Lita storyline from 2004 here. 00:20:13.269 --> 00:20:15.089 We should put a content warning on this part 00:20:15.089 --> 00:20:17.390 because it hasn't aged well at all. It really 00:20:17.390 --> 00:20:21.269 hasn't. It involved Kane developing a very dark 00:20:21.269 --> 00:20:23.940 obsession with the wrestler Lita. There was a 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:26.299 forced marriage storyline. And a very controversial 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:28.920 pregnancy and miscarriage storyline involving 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.960 another wrestler, Gene Snitsky. It was very uncomfortable, 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.559 soap opera drama. but from a pure performance 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:38.059 standpoint. It showed range. It proved Jacobs 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:41.420 could carry heavy, continuous, dialogue -driven 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:43.900 drama, which nobody thought the Christmas creature 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:45.859 could ever do. And then, just to give the audience 00:20:45.859 --> 00:20:48.619 absolute whiplash, a few years later, he pivots 00:20:48.619 --> 00:20:51.799 to pure comedy. Team hell no. Team hell no. This 00:20:51.799 --> 00:20:53.859 might genuinely be my personal favorite version 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:56.650 of Kane. This is around 2012. He teams up with 00:20:56.650 --> 00:20:59.029 Daniel Bryan. They are both playing these highly 00:20:59.029 --> 00:21:02.309 angry, volatile characters. So the onscreen authority 00:21:02.309 --> 00:21:05.349 figure forces them to attend anger management 00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:08.569 classes together. The hug it out era. Yes. You 00:21:08.569 --> 00:21:11.450 have this massive seven foot monster sitting 00:21:11.450 --> 00:21:13.710 in a tiny folding chair wearing a welder's mask 00:21:13.710 --> 00:21:17.569 talking about his deep emotional feelings with 00:21:17.569 --> 00:21:21.380 a therapist. named Dr. Shelby. It was genuinely 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:23.680 hilarious television. And it was significant 00:21:23.680 --> 00:21:26.460 because it proved that Jacobs could do pure slapstick 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:30.059 comedy without completely losing his physical 00:21:30.059 --> 00:21:32.680 intimidation factor when the bell rang. They 00:21:32.680 --> 00:21:35.079 become tag team champions and easily one of the 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.299 most popular acts in the entire company. And 00:21:37.299 --> 00:21:40.920 then we get yet another major reinvention, Corporate 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:44.480 Kane. The authority era around 2013. He officially 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.740 trades the red mask for a tailored suit and tie. 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:49.079 He becomes the director of operations. He is 00:21:49.079 --> 00:21:51.359 basically playing a middle management. corporate 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:54.400 bureaucrat, but one who also acts as the physical 00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:57.180 enforcer for the bosses. It is so funny in hindsight 00:21:57.180 --> 00:21:59.299 because it is almost like he was practicing for 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:01.720 his future political career. Truly. He is wearing 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:04.799 a suit. He is dealing with HR issues, which in 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:07.279 WWE usually meant chokeslamming a guy through 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:09.779 a wooden table. It was almost a meta commentary 00:22:09.779 --> 00:22:12.990 on his own incredible longevity. he'd become 00:22:12.990 --> 00:22:15.269 an absolute institution within the company. So 00:22:15.269 --> 00:22:17.609 they just made him a literal corporate institution 00:22:17.609 --> 00:22:20.589 on screen. So we have the silent monster, the 00:22:20.589 --> 00:22:23.230 unstable psycho, the comedian, and the corporate 00:22:23.230 --> 00:22:26.569 executive. And through all of this constant change, 00:22:26.869 --> 00:22:30.089 he is quietly racking up records that frankly 00:22:30.089 --> 00:22:33.869 seem impossible. The sheer volume of his career 00:22:33.869 --> 00:22:36.289 output is really hard to comprehend. What do 00:22:36.289 --> 00:22:38.630 the stats say? He officially holds the record 00:22:38.630 --> 00:22:41.589 for the most matches in WWE history, especially 00:22:41.589 --> 00:22:43.589 when you include the dark matches and the house 00:22:43.589 --> 00:22:46.710 shows, the untelevised live events. He was the 00:22:46.710 --> 00:22:48.809 ultimate workhorse. And his dominance in the 00:22:48.809 --> 00:22:52.210 Royal Rumble match is legendary. That is basically 00:22:52.210 --> 00:22:54.930 his signature event. It is. He holds the record 00:22:54.930 --> 00:22:57.029 for the most Royal Rumble match appearances of 00:22:57.029 --> 00:23:00.549 all time at 20. Think about the physical toll 00:23:00.549 --> 00:23:02.849 of that 20 years of showing up for that specific 00:23:02.849 --> 00:23:05.650 grueling match. For years, he held the record 00:23:05.650 --> 00:23:07.930 for the most cumulative eliminations across all 00:23:07.930 --> 00:23:10.750 rumbles with 46. Someone just broke that recently, 00:23:10.869 --> 00:23:13.730 right? Yes, but he held it for a very long time. 00:23:14.109 --> 00:23:17.569 And in 2001, he eliminated 11 different people 00:23:17.569 --> 00:23:20.849 in a single match, a record that stood untouched 00:23:20.849 --> 00:23:23.509 for 13 years. He was the guy the company called 00:23:23.509 --> 00:23:25.410 when they needed to clean house and look terrifying. 00:23:25.690 --> 00:23:27.869 He was also a Grand Slam champion. Meaning he 00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:30.309 won everything. The first wrestler to win the 00:23:30.309 --> 00:23:33.559 WWE Championship. the ECW Championship, and the 00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:36.160 World Heavyweight title. But beyond the championship 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:38.859 belts and the rumble stats, what really strikes 00:23:38.859 --> 00:23:41.160 me in the source material is the peer reviews. 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:43.440 The quotes from his colleagues are incredibly 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:46.200 telling. It quotes some absolute heavy hitters 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:48.799 in the industry. It does. The Undertaker himself, 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:51.559 Mark Calloway, went on record stating that if 00:23:51.559 --> 00:23:53.299 he were to ever start his own wrestling company, 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:56.000 Glenn Jacobs is the very first person he would 00:23:56.000 --> 00:23:59.119 hire. Wow. First pick overall. Not The Rock. 00:23:59.549 --> 00:24:02.609 Not Steve Austin. No, Kane. Because Calloway 00:24:02.609 --> 00:24:05.049 says he is the total package. In what sense? 00:24:05.210 --> 00:24:07.849 He is selfless. He is completely willing to put 00:24:07.849 --> 00:24:09.869 other people over and makes them look good. And 00:24:09.869 --> 00:24:12.670 he is safe. He is incredibly safe. He doesn't 00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:15.809 injure the people he works with. And he is dependable. 00:24:16.150 --> 00:24:20.009 In a world of absolute chaos, Glenn Jacobs was 00:24:20.009 --> 00:24:22.349 the rock. Ric Flair called him the best in the 00:24:22.349 --> 00:24:25.150 world. Big Show called him the best big man ever. 00:24:25.329 --> 00:24:27.109 And he was rightfully inducted into the Hall 00:24:27.109 --> 00:24:30.359 of Fame in 2021. That idea of him being safe 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:32.960 is really interesting to analyze because his 00:24:32.960 --> 00:24:36.460 entire on -screen character is entirely about 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:39.500 unhinged violence. But the actual job of a pro 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.980 wrestler is protecting your partner. That is 00:24:41.980 --> 00:24:44.220 the grand paradox of professional wrestling. 00:24:44.380 --> 00:24:47.019 To look like a vicious killer to the audience, 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:49.440 you have to be an absolute savior to your opponent. 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:51.900 You are trusting a 300 -pound man to drop you 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:53.680 on your head and neck without actually breaking 00:24:53.680 --> 00:24:56.500 your spine. Jacobs did that for 25 years and 00:24:56.500 --> 00:24:59.599 rarely ever had an accident. That requires immense 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.119 physical control and deep spatial intelligence. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:04.079 Which brings us right back to that core idea 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:07.099 of reliability. He survived the terrible early 00:25:07.099 --> 00:25:08.880 dimmicks because he showed up and did the work 00:25:08.880 --> 00:25:11.220 safely. And that specific work ethic apparently 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:14.140 translated perfectly to his second life. Because 00:25:14.140 --> 00:25:16.160 while he was chokeslamming people on television 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.759 every Monday, he was apparently sitting on the 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:22.759 tour bus reading Murray Rothbard. And this brings 00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:26.460 us to the massive political turn. Which wasn't 00:25:26.460 --> 00:25:28.200 as sudden as it seemed to the general public, 00:25:28.339 --> 00:25:31.099 was it? Not at all. Jacobs had been a serious 00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:33.640 student of libertarianism for a very long time. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:35.819 Yeah, he wasn't just a celebrity dabbler who 00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:38.240 decided to run for office on a whim. He was writing, 00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:41.059 actively writing. He was. He wrote essays for 00:25:41.059 --> 00:25:44.589 LewRockwell .com. He maintained his own political 00:25:44.589 --> 00:25:47.450 blog called The Adventures of Citizen X. He knew 00:25:47.450 --> 00:25:49.869 his stuff. He cites heavy academic economists 00:25:49.869 --> 00:25:52.509 like Ludwig von Mises and Harry Brown as his 00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:55.230 major influences. He even identifies theoretically 00:25:55.230 --> 00:25:58.650 as a Rothbardian. Yes. We should probably define 00:25:58.650 --> 00:26:00.450 this for the listener so they understand exactly 00:26:00.450 --> 00:26:03.029 where his ideology sits. Please do. What is the 00:26:03.029 --> 00:26:06.269 Austrian school of economics? Is it just the 00:26:06.269 --> 00:26:08.789 standard conservative taxes are bad platform? 00:26:09.029 --> 00:26:11.069 It is much deeper and more philosophical than 00:26:11.069 --> 00:26:13.990 that. It is a school of economic thought that 00:26:13.990 --> 00:26:16.329 heavily emphasizes the spontaneous organizing 00:26:16.329 --> 00:26:19.569 power of the price mechanism. And it is deeply, 00:26:19.650 --> 00:26:22.950 fundamentally skeptical of any government intervention, 00:26:23.289 --> 00:26:26.130 central banks like the Federal Reserve and fiat 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:29.069 currency. It advocates for radical individualism, 00:26:29.150 --> 00:26:31.869 radical individualism and completely free markets. 00:26:32.170 --> 00:26:35.609 Murray Rothbard specifically was an anarcho capitalist, 00:26:35.809 --> 00:26:37.690 believing that the state itself was essentially 00:26:37.690 --> 00:26:41.049 unnecessary and coercive. So he is not just a 00:26:41.049 --> 00:26:44.069 generic middle of the road Republican. He is 00:26:44.069 --> 00:26:47.650 a hardcore libertarian ideologue. Theoretically, 00:26:47.650 --> 00:26:50.220 yes. He has spoken at think tanks like the Ludwig 00:26:50.220 --> 00:26:52.640 von Mises Institute and the Free State Project. 00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:55.599 But he operates in reality. Right. He acknowledges 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:57.279 that he has to work within the existing political 00:26:57.279 --> 00:26:59.960 system. He is pragmatic about governance, but 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:01.839 his core philosophy is very much centered on 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:04.160 individual liberty. I just try to imagine him 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:06.140 sitting in the locker room, taping up his wrists 00:27:06.140 --> 00:27:08.839 for a cage match and calmly explaining to John 00:27:08.839 --> 00:27:11.359 Cena why the Federal Reserve causes systemic 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.819 inflation. By all accounts, he did exactly that. 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:16.500 He was very well known for discussing complex 00:27:16.500 --> 00:27:18.900 politics backstage with anyone who would listen. 00:27:19.079 --> 00:27:22.900 So fast forward to 2018. The Big Red Machine 00:27:22.900 --> 00:27:25.900 officially decides to run for mayor of Knox County, 00:27:26.019 --> 00:27:29.160 Tennessee. The transition begins. And I imagine 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:30.759 a lot of people probably thought, oh, it's a 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:32.779 famous wrestler. It'll be a fun novelty campaign. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:35.720 He will win in a landslide based on name recognition. 00:27:35.859 --> 00:27:38.140 That was the assumption. This wasn't a landslide 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:40.400 at all, was it? The general election was comfortable, 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.519 but the primary. That primary was an absolute 00:27:43.519 --> 00:27:45.759 nail biter. Break down the numbers for us. He 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:48.759 ran as a Republican. And in a place like Notch 00:27:48.759 --> 00:27:51.579 County, winning the Republican primary is essentially 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:54.359 the real battle for the seat. And how close was 00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:58.039 it? He won the primary by exactly 23 votes. 23 00:27:58.039 --> 00:28:01.079 votes. Out of tens of thousands cast. That is 00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:02.940 basically a rounding error. That is literally 00:28:02.940 --> 00:28:05.599 a large extended family deciding to stay home 00:28:05.599 --> 00:28:08.519 for dinner instead of going to the polls. If 00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:11.680 12 people switch sides, Kaine loses the election 00:28:11.680 --> 00:28:14.119 and the political career ends before it starts. 00:28:14.299 --> 00:28:16.779 It perfectly shows that every single vote actually 00:28:16.779 --> 00:28:20.259 counts. But in the general election, he won very 00:28:20.259 --> 00:28:23.680 decisively. He pulled in over 66 % of the vote 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.660 against his Democratic opponent, Linda Haney. 00:28:26.009 --> 00:28:28.430 So the wrestler officially becomes Mayor Jacobs. 00:28:28.650 --> 00:28:31.250 He takes office. And for a while, it is pretty 00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:34.170 standard local government stuff. He is cutting 00:28:34.170 --> 00:28:36.769 ribbons. He is talking about keeping taxes low, 00:28:36.910 --> 00:28:39.230 focusing on infrastructure. Standard mayoral 00:28:39.230 --> 00:28:43.210 duties. But then 2020 hits. The COVID -19 pandemic. 00:28:43.549 --> 00:28:46.329 The absolute crucible for local leaders. And 00:28:46.329 --> 00:28:49.509 suddenly... having a mayor with a very specific 00:28:49.509 --> 00:28:52.430 hardline libertarian philosophy actually matters 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:55.309 in a very tangible way. Most mayors across the 00:28:55.309 --> 00:28:57.509 country just followed the CDC guidelines and 00:28:57.509 --> 00:28:59.950 state mandates without much question. But Jacobs 00:28:59.950 --> 00:29:02.609 had spent 20 years reading about government overreach. 00:29:02.710 --> 00:29:05.269 Exactly. So when the pandemic hit and the Knox 00:29:05.269 --> 00:29:06.970 County Board of Health started issuing strict 00:29:06.970 --> 00:29:09.150 mask mandates and forcing the closure of businesses, 00:29:09.450 --> 00:29:14.170 Jacobs pushed back. No, and we want to be completely 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:16.369 impartial in reporting this based on the sources. 00:29:16.450 --> 00:29:18.589 What was his actual argument? Was it scientific 00:29:18.589 --> 00:29:21.690 denialism? No, his argument wasn't that he didn't 00:29:21.690 --> 00:29:23.410 believe the virus existed or wasn't dangerous. 00:29:23.589 --> 00:29:26.210 His argument was entirely about authority and 00:29:26.210 --> 00:29:28.930 jurisdiction. The Libertarian Corps. Right. He 00:29:28.930 --> 00:29:31.490 argued that unelected bureaucrats sitting on 00:29:31.490 --> 00:29:34.230 the Board of Health should not possess the unilateral 00:29:34.230 --> 00:29:37.549 power to shut down private businesses or legally 00:29:37.549 --> 00:29:40.660 mandate what citizens wear. He viewed it as a 00:29:40.660 --> 00:29:43.420 fundamental violation of property rights and 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:45.539 personal liberty. He was the only dissenting 00:29:45.539 --> 00:29:47.720 vote on the board regarding this. The only member 00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:51.500 to vote against the mask mandate. Yes. And he 00:29:51.500 --> 00:29:53.900 didn't just cast a protest vote. He went on the 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:56.579 political offensive. What did he do? He narrated 00:29:56.579 --> 00:29:59.400 a public video directly attacking the board members 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:01.980 as unelected bureaucrats. Which caused a lot 00:30:01.980 --> 00:30:04.579 of friction. A ton of conflict. But he successfully 00:30:04.579 --> 00:30:06.859 pressured the county commission to actually intervene. 00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:08.619 They changed the rules. They stripped the Board 00:30:08.619 --> 00:30:10.700 of Health of its policy -making powers entirely 00:30:10.700 --> 00:30:14.079 and demoted them to just an advisory body. That 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:17.880 is a very specific, real -world application of 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:21.619 his economic philosophy. He systematically dismantled 00:30:21.619 --> 00:30:23.779 the administrative state at a localized level. 00:30:24.259 --> 00:30:26.819 Exactly. And whether you as a listener agree 00:30:26.819 --> 00:30:28.940 with his stance on public health protocols or 00:30:28.940 --> 00:30:31.220 not, you have to look at the objective record 00:30:31.220 --> 00:30:34.940 and admit. He governed exactly the way he said 00:30:34.940 --> 00:30:37.160 he would. He wasn't a hypocrite. He prioritized 00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:39.740 liberty and business operation over collective 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:43.220 safety mandates, which is the absolute core of 00:30:43.220 --> 00:30:45.660 the Austrian ideology he studied. And how did 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:47.839 the voters react to this highly controversial 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:50.539 move? Did they punish him at the polls? Not at 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:53.240 all. He was comfortably reelected in 2022. He 00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:56.279 won a second term. He won with over 55 percent 00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:58.200 of the vote. It was a slightly smaller margin 00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:00.440 than his first general election, but still a 00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:02.920 very decisive victory. The people of Knox County 00:31:02.920 --> 00:31:06.220 seemingly really liked the big red mayor. They 00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:08.220 approved of his governance. Now, looking to the 00:31:08.220 --> 00:31:10.799 future, there are a lot of rumors swirling that 00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:13.559 he might parlay this into a run for governor 00:31:13.559 --> 00:31:16.339 of Tennessee. The big red governor. It has a 00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:18.640 ring to it. Those rumors were very heavy for 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.299 a while. But as of August 2025, he officially 00:31:22.299 --> 00:31:24.660 squashed them. He confirmed he is not running. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:27.079 He confirmed he is not running for governor and 00:31:27.079 --> 00:31:29.980 is instead supporting Marsha Blackburn. And he 00:31:29.980 --> 00:31:32.339 can't stay mayor forever. Right. Because of local 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:34.859 term limits, he cannot run for a third consecutive 00:31:34.859 --> 00:31:38.079 term as mayor in 2026. So his immediate political 00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:40.240 future is a bit of a question mark right now. 00:31:40.339 --> 00:31:43.140 It is. But he has remained very active in the 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:45.680 broader national political conversation. He has 00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:48.559 a history of major endorsements. He officially 00:31:48.559 --> 00:31:51.359 endorsed Ron Paul for president way back in 2008, 00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:54.440 which tracks perfectly with his libertarian views. 00:31:54.700 --> 00:31:57.839 And more recently. In 2024, he endorsed Donald 00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:00.710 Trump. There was actually a TikTok video that 00:32:00.710 --> 00:32:04.329 went incredibly viral featuring Jacobs, The Undertaker 00:32:04.329 --> 00:32:06.750 and Donald Trump all appearing together. That 00:32:06.750 --> 00:32:09.430 is just a wild hallucination come to life. The 00:32:09.430 --> 00:32:12.109 Undertaker, Kane and a former president on TikTok. 00:32:12.369 --> 00:32:14.890 It perfectly captures the very strange cultural 00:32:14.890 --> 00:32:17.700 timeline we are currently living in. The traditional 00:32:17.700 --> 00:32:20.160 lines between sports entertainment and serious 00:32:20.160 --> 00:32:23.140 national politics haven't just blurred. They 00:32:23.140 --> 00:32:25.400 have been completely erased. It is a surreal 00:32:25.400 --> 00:32:28.240 visual. Now, before we wrap up, we should definitely 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:30.359 mention his personal life outside the ring in 00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:32.619 the office. Because, again, it provides such 00:32:32.619 --> 00:32:36.519 a stark contrast. It is remarkably normal for 00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:39.119 a guy who spent his career magically appearing 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.619 out of flaming coffins. It really is. He has 00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:44.400 been married to his wife, Crystal, since 1995. 00:32:44.819 --> 00:32:47.940 At his 30 straight years. years, which in professional 00:32:47.940 --> 00:32:50.160 wrestling years is basically three lifetimes. 00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:52.359 We have a family together. Two daughters and 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:55.359 now two grandchildren. And this is honestly my 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.940 favorite detail from the entire deep dive. He 00:32:57.940 --> 00:33:00.500 works as an insurer. An insurer. He and his wife 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:03.220 actually own an all -state insurance agency in 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:05.579 Knoxville. It is just so perfect. The Big Red 00:33:05.579 --> 00:33:08.119 Machine will help you bundle your home and auto 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:11.240 policies. It is intensely practical, but it also 00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:13.640 fits his economic worldview perfectly, if you 00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:16.259 think about it. How so? Insurance is all about 00:33:16.259 --> 00:33:18.539 private risk management, protecting your own 00:33:18.539 --> 00:33:21.220 personal assets, planning for the future without 00:33:21.220 --> 00:33:24.180 relying on a state bailout. It is very mathematically 00:33:24.180 --> 00:33:27.200 logical. Very Glenn Jacobs. He's also dabbled 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:29.299 a bit in Hollywood acting outside of his wrestling 00:33:29.299 --> 00:33:31.480 promos. Oh, right. The W .W. Studios movies. 00:33:31.740 --> 00:33:34.339 He starred as the villain Jacob Goodnight in 00:33:34.339 --> 00:33:37.720 the horror film See No Evil back in 2006. And 00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:39.599 they made a sequel to that, too. It was a pretty 00:33:39.599 --> 00:33:42.359 standard slasher film totally playing to his 00:33:42.359 --> 00:33:45.720 established type. A massive, silent, terrifying 00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:48.039 killer. The marketing for that movie was deeply 00:33:48.039 --> 00:33:50.420 intertwined with the wrestling product. It was. 00:33:50.660 --> 00:33:54.079 The promotion tied directly into his weekly storylines 00:33:54.079 --> 00:33:57.160 on Monday Night Raw. They used the specific date, 00:33:57.339 --> 00:34:00.559 May 19th, which was the actual theatrical release 00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:03.460 date of the movie, as a psychological trigger 00:34:03.460 --> 00:34:06.619 phrase for Kane on TV. Right. If anyone in the 00:34:06.619 --> 00:34:09.119 arena or the locker room even casually said the 00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:11.260 words May 19th, he would absolutely lose his 00:34:11.260 --> 00:34:13.559 mind and destroy them. It was a very clever... 00:34:13.800 --> 00:34:16.820 if incredibly repetitive, way to market a film 00:34:16.820 --> 00:34:19.099 to a captive audience. He did some television 00:34:19.099 --> 00:34:21.000 too, didn't he? He made a guest appearance on 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:24.199 the Superman prequel show, Smallville, and he 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:27.039 popped up in the comedy film, MacGruber. So when 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:29.300 we step back and look at this entire sprawling 00:34:29.300 --> 00:34:31.500 picture... It is a lot to take in. We have a 00:34:31.500 --> 00:34:33.840 Spanish -born military brat, English literature 00:34:33.840 --> 00:34:36.739 major, failed NFL prospect, failed evil dentist, 00:34:37.019 --> 00:34:39.320 legendary demon wrestler, insurance salesman, 00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:42.079 libertarian philosopher, and two -term municipal 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:45.010 mayor. It is a resume that completely defies 00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:48.230 any standard categorization. So what is the big 00:34:48.230 --> 00:34:50.630 takeaway here for you listening at home? What 00:34:50.630 --> 00:34:54.230 does the strange dual life of Kane and Mayor 00:34:54.230 --> 00:34:57.090 Glenn Jacobs actually teach us? I really think 00:34:57.090 --> 00:34:59.010 it teaches us that the concept of authenticity 00:34:59.010 --> 00:35:02.010 is highly complicated. Expand on that. We constantly 00:35:02.010 --> 00:35:04.750 tell people that the key to success is just being 00:35:04.750 --> 00:35:08.010 yourself. Right. But... Jacobs achieved massive 00:35:08.010 --> 00:35:11.050 success by being whatever the specific situation 00:35:11.050 --> 00:35:15.030 required him to be and doing it with 100 % absolute 00:35:15.030 --> 00:35:17.389 commitment. That is a great point. When the boss 00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:19.590 told him to be the Christmas creature, he put 00:35:19.590 --> 00:35:22.449 on the tinsel. When the story required him to 00:35:22.449 --> 00:35:25.309 be the monster, he didn't speak a word. And when 00:35:25.309 --> 00:35:27.510 he became the mayor, he sat down and read the 00:35:27.510 --> 00:35:30.389 municipal budget. It is about supreme professionalism. 00:35:30.710 --> 00:35:33.329 Precisely. Yeah. It is the rare ability to completely 00:35:33.329 --> 00:35:35.809 separate the performer from the motion and the 00:35:35.809 --> 00:35:39.019 job. from the ego he didn't let the isaac yankum 00:35:39.019 --> 00:35:41.480 failure define his self -worth he didn't let 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:44.019 the fake diesel embarrassment stop him from pursuing 00:35:44.019 --> 00:35:46.579 the career he just kept pivoting and adapting 00:35:46.579 --> 00:35:48.599 until he finally found the thing that worked 00:35:48.920 --> 00:35:52.119 And then he rode that specific wave for two full 00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:55.019 decades. And even when he transitioned to politics, 00:35:55.239 --> 00:35:58.079 he definitely leveraged that wrestling fame to 00:35:58.079 --> 00:35:59.840 get his foot in the door. But he backed it up 00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:02.559 with actual academic study and rigid ideology. 00:36:02.860 --> 00:36:05.059 He wasn't just Kane running a novelty campaign 00:36:05.059 --> 00:36:07.679 for mayor. No, he was Glenn Jacobs, a man who 00:36:07.679 --> 00:36:10.099 just happened to have played Kane on TV. And 00:36:10.099 --> 00:36:13.400 that is a crucial distinction. He garnered legitimate 00:36:13.400 --> 00:36:16.599 respect in two completely different fields because 00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:19.360 he took the requirements of both fields seriously. 00:36:19.659 --> 00:36:22.780 It really is an incredible American story. From 00:36:22.780 --> 00:36:25.360 ripping the door off the hell in a cell to securing 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:27.980 votes at the ballot box. And considering The 00:36:27.980 --> 00:36:30.179 Undertaker specifically called him the total 00:36:30.179 --> 00:36:33.639 package and the ideal employee, it raises a really 00:36:33.639 --> 00:36:35.800 provocative question to leave the listeners with 00:36:35.800 --> 00:36:39.039 today. What is that? We so often attribute. massive 00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:42.320 legendary success to raw natural talent or that 00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:45.800 elusive undefinable it factor the superstar aura 00:36:45.800 --> 00:36:49.000 right but in glenn jacob's case how much of his 00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:51.460 legendary status was actually just compliance 00:36:51.460 --> 00:36:55.059 that is fascinating was his true superpower simply 00:36:55.059 --> 00:36:59.500 the willingness to say yes to difficult, humiliating 00:36:59.500 --> 00:37:01.340 things that would have completely broken someone 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:03.559 with a bigger ego? Whether that meant jumping 00:37:03.559 --> 00:37:06.260 out of a giant cake on live television, safely 00:37:06.260 --> 00:37:08.980 dropping a guy on his head, or grinding through 00:37:08.980 --> 00:37:12.119 a zoning board budget proposal. Exactly. Maybe 00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:14.639 the ultimate superpower isn't superhuman strength 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:17.920 or incredible charisma. Maybe it is just the 00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:20.500 willingness to do the unglamorous work, no matter 00:37:20.500 --> 00:37:23.059 how weird or difficult the work gets. That is 00:37:23.059 --> 00:37:25.579 a phenomenal thought to end on. From the Inferno 00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:28.219 match to the insurance agency, Glenn Jacobs has 00:37:28.219 --> 00:37:30.820 truly done it all. Thank you for joining us on 00:37:30.820 --> 00:37:33.159 this deep dive into the life and legacy of the 00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:35.239 Big Red Mayor. It is always a pleasure to unpack 00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:37.219 these stories with you. We will catch you all 00:37:37.219 --> 00:37:37.860 in the next one.