Kane & Undertaker's Original Plans For WrestleMania 21 Were Beyond Awful

The year 2004 was not too kind on the WWE and there was definitely some panic at headquarters as the intended face of the company, Brock Lesnar, had grown weary of the travel schedule and decided to pursue other career aspirations.

The youngest WWE champion had packed his bags and just behind him, the biggest star to emerge out of WCW, Bill Goldberg, was slated to depart as well. Goldberg was very much a credible superstar and a proven draw, but constant mistakes had rendered him as just another wrestler on the roster, lacking the unbeatable aura he possessed during his run in Atlanta.

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Austin and The Rock were happily retired and with the imminent departure of Lesnar and Goldberg, the company started to focus on other viable superstars. The aftermath of WrestleMania 20 saw John Bradshaw Layfield defeat Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Championship and despite enjoying a lengthy title reign, JBL was a transitional champion as he was keeping the belt warm for John Cena.

The Brothers Of Destruction Were To Compete In A Tag-Team Match

Meanwhile, over on the red show, the invincible stable by the name of Evolution had suffered the first crack, as Randy Orton was thrown out of the faction after a vicious beating. Orton would go on to feud with Triple H in a losing effort but much like JBL, the rightful successor was his contemporary in Evolution, Batista.

Batista and Cena were slated for the feature bouts but the card needed an extra boost. Many superstars of the previous era had departed but the company still had a bunch of popular superstars to stack the super-card. Undertaker and Kane were available and while in the end, the two legends went on to have good matches at WrestleMania 21, the initial plans for the Brothers of Destruction were downright horrifying.

WWE was picking up steam in the fall of 2004 as the storylines involving John Cena and Batista were truly entertaining and befitting of red-hot superstars on the rise. However, as Cena battled JBL’s cabinet and Batista found himself at odds with Triple H, Kane and Undertaker were feuding with Snitsky and Heidenreich respectively.

Heidenreich was portrayed as a raging psychopath with no moral compass and he was brought in by Paul Heyman to feud with the Undertaker. Aside from attacking Undertaker, Heidenreich also went ahead to beat up on fans and in a bizarre twist of character, he appreciated poetry and made some of his own.

A psychopath who has an obsession with poetry — this had catastrophe written all over it. And while Undertaker spectacularly failed to carry Heidenreich to below-average matches, his storyline half-brother Kane had problems of his own to deal with; namely, atrocious booking and a lumbering big-man too green to carry. Enter Gene Snitsky.

Snitsky was embroiled in a tasteless and almost disgusting feud with Kane and Lita. During a match with Kane, Snitsky had pushed Kane onto a pregnant Lita, which resulted in a miscarriage. Kane then turned face and feuded with Snitsky and while initially, the gimmick was simply Snitsky screaming that what had happened was not his fault, the company made the decision to devolve the whole thing even further.

Snitsky went on to kick a baby doll for extra heat and the commentators played up that Snitsky liked hurting children. Oh, and Snitsky held a fondness of poetry as well, much like a certain psychopath over on SmackDown.

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At the Survivor Series 2004 PPV, Snitsky and Heidenreich crossed paths backstage in a painful segment that involved a lot of heavy breathing and ample amounts of cringe. Snitsky remarked that he liked the poems and Heidenreich said he appreciated what Snitsky would do to babies. As stated, pure cringe and this segment served as a means to pair the two up together in a team tag-team, for a clash against the Brothers of Destruction at WrestleMania 21. Yes. WrestleMania was to feature an atrocious tag-team match.

Thankfully, A Disaster Was Averted

The heels would share another segment backstage, this time at Royal Rumble 2005 where Heidenreich was booked in a casket match against Undertaker, and Snitsky promised to help. Snitsky then interfered in the match and after beating up on the Undertaker for a while, the two dragged him towards the casket but then Kane emerged from inside the casket. The Big Red Monster set his sights on Snitsky and the two brawled out of the arena.

The implication was there and according to reports around that right, the Brothers of Destruction were booked in an inter-promotional match against Heidenreich and Snitsky. The feud would revolve around a deadman, a monster, a psychopath, and someone who enjoyed kicking babies. And with all this put together, this feud had the potential to sink the entire company if it were to proceed. Yes, it was that awful.

Thankfully, Vince McMahon came to his senses and scrapped the feud. According to the dirt sheets, Undertaker opposed the idea and the company booked Randy Orton to face him at WrestleMania. Kane went on to raise hell in the inaugural Money in the Bank match and the company was saved from an unmitigated disaster.