Kane On The Biggest Misconception On Vince McMahon

Kane is now 15 months into his term as mayor of Knox County, Tennessee after a 25-year wrestling career. While being a wrestler may help you get into things like movies and the world of entertainment, one may wonder if it would help you go into politics.

Kane was asked if being a WWE Superstar helped him in his mayoral race when he joined Busted Open Radio.

"We tried to use it to help us with my campaign and when I say 'we' I am referring to my campaign manager and other advisors. We really couldn't run from it, but why would I run from it? I mean, I am proud of what I did and anytime that you are able to get to the level of WWE and stay there for a long time you're good at what you do, you should be proud of that," Kane stated.

"I think what has happened is the stigma and stereotype that has surrounded pro wrestling for a long time – which I believe is starting to dissipate – a lot of reasons is because of things like [Busted Open Radio] where you are able to talk to people and pull the curtain back and say that we are people too, and in some cases you have people who are very smart and talented in wrestling.

"I knew I couldn't hide from it, I was proud of it, but I also didn't want it to define who I was. It was a part of my life that we tried to have fun with and tried to open the door. Again, if I tried to ignore it, it wouldn't have worked so we tried to use it to open the door. But then also we need to have substance so that when I can get people to listen because of the pro wrestling thing, but I also had to make sure that I keep them listening because of what I was saying had substance."

Kane has made a lot of money for WWE and Vince McMahon for a long time and he was asked if McMahon was supportive of him being mayor.

"Absolutely. He was one of the first people I talked to about it because I had to have his support, of course, because I was still with WWE. Here's the thing, Vince wants people to be successful; whether it's in WWE or outside WWE because it helps his company,"Kane revealed. "Also, we've had a long relationship so in my case he wanted me to be happy in doing what I wanted to do. When we spoke he had a big grin about it. He wants me to be as happy as I can be."

As Kane stated, he and McMahon have a long relationship that dates back to 1995. He would know his boss as good as any wrestler and Kane was asked what the biggest misconception of McMahon is.

"I think that people think Vince McMahon is this heartless person that takes advantage of everyone, uses people until they are all used up and then discards the husk of the human being that he has pulled all of the energy out of. That is frankly not the case at all," Kane said. "Does Vince McMahon make business decisions? Yes. I told him to his face one time, the one thing that you are bad at as a businessman is that you give people too many chances. They stab you in the back and then you turn around and bring them back. In some cases, it's because he feels that he can make money off of them and in other cases he just has some sort of emotional bond and loyalty, it really is. Almost to a fault with him, so that is the biggest misconception.

"He is a business guy and has to make decisions based upon what he believes will lead to greater health of the company, whether we agree with it or not and in some cases I haven't, but he is making business decisions on that. But it's also not like some inhuman devil that just wants to take advantage of people, that is truly not the case."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.