Kane Details Meeting He Had Where Vince McMahon Told Him He Would Be Isaac Yankem

Before he was Kane, the demonic brother of the Undertaker, Glenn Jacobs played the character of Isaac Yankeem, an evil wrestling dentist. It’s one of Vince McMahon’s “greatest” creations.

Speaking to Steve Austin on the Steve Austin Show, Kane detailed the meeting he had with Vince McMahon where it was revealed to him that he would be playing Isaac Yankem.

You hear all this stuff about Vince, like he’s an ‘evil genius’ and he’s going to get in your mind and figure out what you’re thinking,” said Kane. “He asks me, ‘You ever been afraid to go to the dentist?’ I’m thinking, ‘Is this is a personality test?’ I’m like, ‘No sir.’ He says, ‘I’ve always had this idea for a wrestling dentist. Isaac Yankem. I. Yankem. Then he starts doing the Vince laugh. I’m looking at him blank faced. Then he looks at me like, ‘I think you’d be great for it.’ Then he walks out. I’m sitting there and I went from being on top of the world to feeling like the world has fallen on top of me. ‘A wrestling dentist?'”

Kane continued, “I get home and talk to Jim Cornette. He said, ‘It’ll be fine. That’s just (Vince’s) first thought. They’ll come up with something cool.’ Two months later, I talk to Cornette and he says, ‘The good news is, you’re coming up soon. The bad news is, you’re going to be a dentist.’ I had to put paint on my teeth to make them look decayed. Everyone has this cool music. I got a dentist drill.”

Jacobs’ run as Yankem lasted just over a year starting in 1995. It peaked at SummerSlam 1995 with a match against Bret Hart. Following the summer, Yankem was regulated to an enhancement talent role. He would later become the Fake Diesel in 1996 before debuting as Kane in 1997.