John
05-01-2010, 05:52 PM
Even the might of an erupting volcano can’t keep Kane from missing a slew of World Wrestling Entertainment matches in Europe.
The WWE star — who is an East Tennessee resident when he isn’t in the ring — was recently in Europe when an Iceland volcano triggered a shutdown of most of the airports. He was among the 5 million travelers stranded in Europe.
When you have heads to pound in a foreign land, it’s even more important to get through. Getting to the matches wasn’t glamorous by any stretch.
“It was like ‘European Vacation,’” he said by phone recently. “We were in Germany, and we had a show in Switzerland the next day.
“We couldn’t fly out so we ended up taking a 6-hour train ride from Germany to Switzerland.”
Then he was stuck in Switzerland, mainly because the WWE buses can only travel a limited amount of hours per day, and the time allowed would not get him to his next match.
So, with travel options slowly fading because of the volcanic ash flying around, Kane and his fellow wrestlers stuffed their massive bodies into small vans and drove from Switzerland to Madrid, Spain. The drive took 19 hours, he says.
After that, he was able to fly back to the United States, though it meant canceling an appearance in Turkey, which, he says, was going to be a “monster show” because of the number of tickets sold.
“We wouldn’t have been able to get there or get home if we had tried (Turkey),” he says. “We got back to New Jersey. It was brutal getting
Safe and back home, Kane is pumped for the WWE match set for Saturday at the Civic Coliseum. It’s a non-televised event.
Kane is one of the featured matches. He’ll face Chris Jericho (a former Morristown, Tenn., resident, no less). An autograph session with Kane has been set from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Toyota of Knoxville.
Whatever the outcome of the match, Kane promises the WWE match will be more family friendly than, say, a show from 10 years ago. The WWE is switching up the way its shows are presented.
Now, the matches include fewer scantily clad women and scenes of graphic violence.
After 15 years with the WWE, Kane has seen many changes and approves of this latest trend.
“I think it is good,” he says. “When you watch a lot of TV, you see there is a lot of graphic stuff.
“You don’t watch your kids watching (violence) like ‘The Sopranos.’ Some of the hardcore fans may be disappointed, but I think it’s great we’re getting more families to come out.”
knoxville.com
The WWE star — who is an East Tennessee resident when he isn’t in the ring — was recently in Europe when an Iceland volcano triggered a shutdown of most of the airports. He was among the 5 million travelers stranded in Europe.
When you have heads to pound in a foreign land, it’s even more important to get through. Getting to the matches wasn’t glamorous by any stretch.
“It was like ‘European Vacation,’” he said by phone recently. “We were in Germany, and we had a show in Switzerland the next day.
“We couldn’t fly out so we ended up taking a 6-hour train ride from Germany to Switzerland.”
Then he was stuck in Switzerland, mainly because the WWE buses can only travel a limited amount of hours per day, and the time allowed would not get him to his next match.
So, with travel options slowly fading because of the volcanic ash flying around, Kane and his fellow wrestlers stuffed their massive bodies into small vans and drove from Switzerland to Madrid, Spain. The drive took 19 hours, he says.
After that, he was able to fly back to the United States, though it meant canceling an appearance in Turkey, which, he says, was going to be a “monster show” because of the number of tickets sold.
“We wouldn’t have been able to get there or get home if we had tried (Turkey),” he says. “We got back to New Jersey. It was brutal getting
Safe and back home, Kane is pumped for the WWE match set for Saturday at the Civic Coliseum. It’s a non-televised event.
Kane is one of the featured matches. He’ll face Chris Jericho (a former Morristown, Tenn., resident, no less). An autograph session with Kane has been set from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Toyota of Knoxville.
Whatever the outcome of the match, Kane promises the WWE match will be more family friendly than, say, a show from 10 years ago. The WWE is switching up the way its shows are presented.
Now, the matches include fewer scantily clad women and scenes of graphic violence.
After 15 years with the WWE, Kane has seen many changes and approves of this latest trend.
“I think it is good,” he says. “When you watch a lot of TV, you see there is a lot of graphic stuff.
“You don’t watch your kids watching (violence) like ‘The Sopranos.’ Some of the hardcore fans may be disappointed, but I think it’s great we’re getting more families to come out.”
knoxville.com