Wrestling with Classic Success

MATTHEW ROBERTSON REACHED into the livewell at a raucous Thompson-Boling Arena and pulled out two water bottles. Somewhere in the crowd, 7-foot-tall Glenn Jacobs knew exactly what was next. As Robertson clashed the bottles together in midair, sending a spray of liquid onto the stage, a memory raced through the giant’s mind. “This is just like the WWE,” he thought.

Jacobs would know. Today, he’s the mayor of Knox County, Tenn., host of this year’s GEICO Bassmaster Classic presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods. But for over 20 years, Jacobs stormed into your living room almost every Monday night as the WWE’s fictional demon character known as Kane. There, the mountain of a man would loom over the wrestling ring as a fiery, pyrotechnic apocalypse illuminated the arena from all sides. More often than not, he’d square off against global icons like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or “Stone Cold”