A new Tennessee mayor who is also a semi-retired pro wrestler will once again don his ‘Kane’ gear to participate in a WWE event in Australia.
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs will take part in World Wrestling Entertainment’s Super Show-Down pay-per-view event on October 6, with his appearance billed before he took up his mayoral post.
The father of two made a career out of the ‘Big Red Machine’ character, spending his time on national TV slamming fellow wrestlers to the floor as WWE’s Kane.
While campaigning to become Mayor of Knox County, Jacobs, 51, said he wanted to focus on running the county, but wouldn’t rule out a special appearance.
Glenn Jacobs (left) became Mayor of Knox County Tennessee in May 2018 and at the time he said he wouldn’t rule out returning to become his wrestling alter-ego ‘Kane’ (right) once again
Following his debut in 1997, Kane – who garnered a loyal legion of fans- remained a pivotal component of WWE’s ‘Attitude Era’ of the late nineties and early noughties
The Melbourne event is billed as the largest collection of WWE superstars and legends to appear in Australia.
Jacobs also announced WWE will donate $100,000 to the Knoxville Public Safety Foundation ‘in appreciation for making a series of appearances for WWE this fall.’
At the height of his reign as Kane, Jacobs would work out heavily, but now a more reflective he said he works out only to keep in shape, not bulk up.
He gained a loyal following of fans and was known for his distinctive appearance, at six foot eight inches weighting nearly 300 pounds.
Jacobs is now focusing on reaching out to and hearing from the community that elected him.
In a recent interview with Knox News he said : ‘What (former Knoxville Mayor) Victor Ashe used to do is people would have a five-minute one-on-one with him, which I think is great.
‘Because a lot of times you get in these town halls and you get the questions and answers, that just doesn’t work that well.
‘If you can actually sit across from someone and have them talk a couple of minutes, I think that’s beneficial,’ he said.
Asked how his new role fitted in with his lifestyle and diet, he replied: ‘I’m a burger connoisseur, my protein intake is real high.
‘(Working out) is actually why I don’t worry too much about burgers. They’re not the best thing for you, but there are some really good burger places around town.’
He continues to work out five or six days a week, usually around 6am. He focuses mostly on cardio for 30 to 45 minutes, before working out a specific body part or muscle group.
Glenn Jacobs (pictured) was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in New Orleans in April 2014
Kane, posing during a promotional event in New Delhi in 2009 (pictured), said he still works out five to six days a week and focuses on a specific muscle area each day.
He added: ‘Now, when I was much younger I’d go to the gym and it was go heavy or go home,’ he said. ‘I don’t do that anymore by any extent of the imagination.
‘Basically, I do a lot more cardio now, get on the bike or elliptical and I’ll do half an hour to 45 minutes of cardio.
‘Then I’ll lift weights, again it’s not like I used to do. It’s a lot lighter weights and higher repetitions.
He said he began working out when he was 19 and his body is used to it.
‘The nice thing there too is once your body gets to a certain point and you get to that homeostasis I don’t have to lift weights as heavy as I used to because my body is used to it,’ he said.
Jacobs as Kane was a three-time world champion having held the WWE Championship, and is also a 12-time world tag team champion.
He also made numerous guest appearances in film and on television, including the lead role in the 2006 WWE Studios production See No Evil and its 2014 sequel.
In March 2017, Jacobs announced that he was officially running for the mayoral seat of Knox County as a Republican.
In May , Jacobs won the Republican primary election for the mayoral seat of Knox County, Tennessee by 17 votes.