On the August 4 episode of Raw, after Kane lost to Roman Reigns in a Last Man Standing match, he relinquished his mask and gave it to Stephanie McMahon. The following week on Raw, Kane resumed his role as The Authority's Director of Operations. At Survivor Series, Kane was part of Team Authority in the main event, and was eliminated by Dolph Ziggler, who ultimately won the match for Team Cena. After Survivor Series, he began feuding with Ryback, which led to a chairs match between the two at TLC, where Ryback emerged victorious. At Royal Rumble, Kane eliminated four superstars, thus surpassing the record for most overall eliminations in the Royal Rumble match. At Fastlane, Kane, Big Show, and Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback, after Kane pinned Ziggler. Kane participated in the 2nd Annual André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 31, and was eliminated by Cesaro. At Extreme Rules, Kane served as the "gatekeeper" for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Steel Cage match between Seth Rollins and Randy Orton, which Rollins won by escaping the cage. At Payback, Kane secured his role as Director of Operations by helping Rollins retain his title in a fatal four-way match against Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, and Roman Reigns. At Money in the Bank, Kane participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by Sheamus. On the July 13 episode of Raw, Kane was injured by Brock Lesnar, who smashed his ankle with the steel ring steps. Following the attack, Rollins berated Kane and kicked his injured ankle.

Following his debut, Kane remained a pivotal component of the company's Attitude Era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin—the "poster boy" of the era—for the WWF Championship in his first pay-per-view (PPV) main event at King of the Ring in June 1998. He continued to compete in world championship PPV matches for the next 20 years.

Jacobs began his professional wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1992. He wrestled in promotions such as Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) and the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) before joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in 1995. Jacobs played various characters until 1997, when he was repackaged as Kane, the mentally disturbed, pyromaniacal younger half-brother of The Undertaker, with whom Jacobs would alternatively feud or team as The Brothers of Destruction.

In the ring, Jacobs was first known as Angus King when he debuted in the St. Louis, Missouri area with the CSWA which was owned and run by Jacobs's childhood friend Mark Morton. Jacobs later moved south and began wrestling as Doomsday, appearing as the Christmas Creature in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) and as Unabomb in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW), where he held the SMW Tag Team Championship with Al Snow in a team called The Dynamic Duo. During his time in the USWA, Jacobs (as Doomsday) held the USWA Heavyweight Championship. Jacobs also worked for Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi under his real name. In 1993, Jacobs (as Bruiser Mastino) lost his only match for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to Sting. In 1994 and 1995 Jacobs (as Doomsday) also wrestled in the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in Puerto Rico feuding with Invader #1.

Jacobs has been married to Crystal Maurisa Goins since August 23, 1995 and together they have two daughters. He is actively involved in libertarian politics and publishes his views via a blog. Jacobs supported Texas Congressman Ron Paul for President in 2008. He is a member of the Free State Project and delivered a speech at the organization's 2009 New Hampshire Liberty Forum. He has also spoken at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, an anarcho-capitalist think-tank for promoting the Austrian school of economics.

Jacobs made his re-debut as Kane at Badd Blood: In Your House on October 5, 1997, by using The Undertaker's signature Tombstone Piledriver to cost him the victory in the first Hell in a Cell match against Shawn Michaels. In keeping with the notion that Kane had been scarred by the fire—and to conceal Jacobs's identity—the character wore a mask, sported long hair, and wore red and black ring attire that almost covered his entire body. Kane and The Undertaker feuded with one another over the following year, during which time their history vis-à-vis one another was expounded. Jacobs won his first match as Kane against Mankind at Survivor Series. In weeks prior on Raw, Kane had randomly attacked other Wrestlers including Ahmed Johnson, Road Warrior Hawk, The Hardy Boyz, Flash Funk, Crush and Cactus Jack/Mankind's alter ego, Dude Love. The Undertaker initially refused to face him, saying he would not fight his own "flesh and blood". After a brief partnership, Kane betrayed The Undertaker when he cost him the WWF Championship, as Kane interfered in his title match against Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble. After the match, Kane locked Undertaker in a casket and set it on fire, though it was later revealed that Undertaker managed to escape the casket without being seen before Kane set it on fire. At No Way Out of Texas: In Your House, Kane defeated Vader.

In December 1998, however, Kane joined The Corporation in order to stay out of the insane asylum. He was later betrayed by The Corporation and thrown out of the alliance. Shortly afterward, Kane formed a tag team with X-Pac and acquired a girlfriend, Tori. While teaming with X-Pac, Kane evolved from being mute to aided speech through an electrolarynx to speaking unaided. He also became associated with D-Generation X (DX), the faction of which X-Pac was a member. His first unaided words were the DX slogan "suck it". The duo won the WWF Tag Team Championship twice. The tag team broke apart when X-Pac turned on Kane and rejoined DX. Kane and X-Pac then engaged in a lengthy feud against each other, which was exacerbated in early 2000, when Tori betrayed Kane and joined X-Pac and DX. The former partners' feud eventually ended at WrestleMania 2000, where Kane teamed with Rikishi to defeat X-Pac and Road Dogg. Shortly after WrestleMania, Kane suffered a hand injury that kept him out of action for a month.

Jacobs appears as Kane in video games WWF War Zone, WWF Attitude, WWF WrestleMania 2000, WWF SmackDown!, WWF Royal Rumble, WWF No Mercy, WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role, WWF With Authority!, WWF Road to WrestleMania, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It, WWF Raw, WWE WrestleMania X8, WWE Road to WrestleMania X8, WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth, WWE Crush Hour, WWE WrestleMania XIX, WWE Raw 2, WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain, WWE Day of Reckoning, WWE Survivor Series, WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw, WWE WrestleMania 21, WWE Day of Reckoning 2, WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, WWE All Stars, WWE '12, WWE '13, WWE 2K14, WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18.

Kane turned face when he reformed his alliance with The Undertaker immediately after the Royal Rumble, in which he eliminated a then-record number of 11 Wrestlers and was the runner-up, after being eliminated by Steve Austin. In early 2001, Kane competed for the Hardcore Championship, defeating Raven for the title at WrestleMania X-Seven in a triple threat match that also featured Big Show. Kane and The Undertaker began teaming as the "Brothers of Destruction" and in the course of the year, they feuded with Edge and Christian, Rikishi and Haku, and The Two-Man Power Trip. While feuding with The Two-Man Power Trip, Austin and Triple H broke Kane's left arm. At Judgment Day, Kane defeated Triple H to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. He became the third Grand Slam Champion and the first person to complete the Grand Slam by winning the WWF, Intercontinental, Tag Team and Hardcore Championships. Kane lost the title to Albert on an episode of SmackDown! following interference from Diamond Dallas Page.

On October 13, Kane moved to Smackdown for the first time since the 2002 brand extension. On November 3, Kane reunited with The Undertaker as The Brothers of Destruction to defeat Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and Mr. Kennedy. Kane continued a feud with MVP competing in several gimmick matches. The end result of the feud was an Inferno match at Armageddon; Kane won by setting MVP's back on fire which resulted in first degree burns. Kane continued to have matches throughout the year with MVP. On the SmackDown! before the Royal Rumble, Kane was involved in a six-man elimination over-the-top-rope battle royal, with King Booker, MVP, The Miz, Chris Benoit and Finlay. This match went to a no contest as The Undertaker interrupted after Kane had been eliminated and punished by the remaining opponents.

Kane was the 22nd entrant in the 2003 Royal Rumble match and lasted until the final three. Kane then formed a tag team with Rob Van Dam, with the duo eventually winning the World Tag Team Championship. After they lost their World Tag Team Championship to La Résistance at Bad Blood, Triple H offered Kane a spot in his stable Evolution. Raw co-general manager Stone Cold Steve Austin offered Kane the opportunity to face Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship if he rejected Triple H's offer; however, co-general manager Eric Bischoff insisted that if Kane lost the match, he would unmask. Kane accepted Austin's offer and went to challenge Triple H the following week in Madison Square Garden. Triple H won the match following interference from his stablemates, and on the June 23, 2003 episode of Raw, Kane removed his mask. He then turned heel and chokeslamed partner Van Dam, and defeated him at SummerSlam. The unmasking rendered Kane emotionally unstable, and in an interview with Jim Ross, Kane attacked Ross and set him on fire. He later attacked Linda McMahon on the Raw stage. This action sparked a feud between Kane and Shane McMahon, Linda's son, with Kane defeating Shane in a Last Man Standing match at Unforgiven and an ambulance match at Survivor Series. During the latter event, Kane also interfered in a Buried Alive match between Vince McMahon and The Undertaker, helping McMahon bury The Undertaker and win the match. The following month at Armageddon, Kane competed in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H and defending champion Bill Goldberg, a match which Triple H won. In January 2004, Kane took part in the Royal Rumble match. He was eliminated when he heard the bell toll from The Undertaker's entrance music, distracting and distressing Kane and enabling Booker T to eliminate him. Over the following weeks, Kane repeatedly insisted that The Undertaker was "dead", only to be met with various paranormal incidents such as a rainstorm localized over the ring in which he stood. The Undertaker finally returned at WrestleMania XX (again sporting his "Deadman" persona) with Paul Bearer at his side, defeating Kane.

Kane returned to WWE television on October 17, 2005, winning an eighteen-man battle royal. As a result of his victory, he, along with Big Show and Shawn Michaels, was featured in an Internet poll to decide who would receive a shot at the WWE Championship at Taboo Tuesday. In the weeks before Taboo Tuesday, Kane and Big Show teamed together on several occasions. The poll was won by Michaels, and Kane and Big Show teamed together to face Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, defeating them for the World Tag Team Championship. The duo successfully retained their championship throughout the remainder of 2005, during which time they engaged in an inter-promotional feud with members of the SmackDown! brand. On December 12 episode of Raw Kane beat Triple H in an Elimination Chamber Qualifying match, then Kane participated in the Elimination Chamber at New Year's Revolution but he was eliminated by Cartlito and Chris Masters. He and Big Show feuded with Carlito and Chris Masters throughout early 2006, culminating in a successful title defense at WrestleMania 22 on April 2. The following evening, Kane and the Big Show lost the World Tag Team Championship to Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey. One week later, Kane and Big Show faced Spirit Squad members Johnny and Nicky in a rematch for the title, but were disqualified after Kane "snapped", ostensibly due to "voices in his head".

Jacobs made his film debut as "Jacob Goodnight" in the first production of WWE Studios, See No Evil, which was released on May 19, 2006. Jacobs has also made an appearance in the film, MacGruber, alongside fellow WWE Wrestlers Montel Vontavious Porter, Chris Jericho, The Great Khali, Mark Henry, and Big Show. See No Evil 2, also starring Jacobs, was announced in August 2013 and was released on October 21, 2014.

Jacobs hosted a podcast titled The Tiny Political Show under the pseudonym Citizen X from March 16, 2007 to March 13, 2008. Jacobs also ran a blog called The Adventures of Citizen X at AdventuresOfCitizenX.com from 2007 until July 17, 2011, though its last update was made on May 28 earlier that same year. However, the website has since been relaunched with its first update appearing on July 1, 2012. Jacobs is a contributor to LewRockwell.com.

The Kane character was featured in the fourteen-issue Undertaker comic book produced by Chaos! Comics in 1999. The character only spoke once, in the Undertaker Halloween Special, which tied into the single issue Mankind comic book produced by the same company. A book written by Michael Chiappetta detailing the origins of Kane titled Journey into Darkness: An Unauthorized History of Kane was released in 2005. WWE released a three-disc anthology titled, The Twisted, Disturbed Life of Kane on December 9, 2008. The DVD consists of Kane's greatest feuds and rivalries during his first ten years.

On the July 26 episode of Raw, Kane was denied a World Heavyweight Championship match at The Great American Bash leading him to attack commentators Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler turning heel in the process. At The Great American Bash, Kane interfered and attacked both the champion CM Punk and the challenger Batista. In September, Kane began a feud with Rey Mysterio that lasted through Survivor Series. On the March 2 episode of Raw, Kane pinned Mike Knox in a triple threat match, also involving Rey Mysterio, to earn a spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXV, a match ultimately won by CM Punk. During the 2009 draft Kane beat The Brian Kendrick for a draft pick and, later in the night, was drafted back to SmackDown. There, Kane feuded with CM Punk and defeated him to cap it off at Backlash. He then took a break to tour India and also heal injuries, returning at The Bash to assist Dolph Ziggler in his match with The Great Khali by hitting Khali with a steel chair, allowing Ziggler to win. This started a feud with Khali, whom he defeated at SummerSlam and in a Singapore Cane match at Breaking Point. Alongside Chris Jericho, Kane was co-captain for the victorious Team SmackDown at Bragging Rights. Kane then unsuccessfully challenged Jericho in a number one contender's match for an opportunity to face World Heavyweight Champion The Undertaker and Big Show in a triple threat match at Survivor Series. In November, Kane reunited with The Undertaker to feud with Big Show and Jericho, thus becoming a face. At WrestleMania XXVI, during the Money in the Bank ladder match, Kane was unsuccessful in claiming the briefcase as Jack Swagger won the match. Over the next few months, Kane was involved in sporadic singles matches on episodes of SmackDown, including a loss to CM Punk in May in a qualifying match for the World Heavyweight Championship match for the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view event.

Kane is a three-time world champion (having held the WWF Championship, ECW Championship and WWE's World Heavyweight Championship once each) and a 12-time world tag team champion, having held the WWF/WWE World Tag Team Championship, WCW Tag Team Championship and WWE Tag Team Championships with various partners. He is also a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a 2010 Money in the Bank winner as well as the third man to win WWE's Grand Slam. Kane also holds the record for cumulative Royal Rumble eliminations at 44.

Beginning in November 2011, WWE began airing vignettes featuring Kane and a burning red mask, and ending with the words Kane Resurrected appearing on screen. Kane returned on the December 12 episode of Raw wearing a metallic mask and new ring attire inspired by the incisions of a postmortem human body after an autopsy. He interrupted the main event between Mark Henry and John Cena, attacking Cena before removing the metallic mask to reveal a new red mask and turning heel once again. Kane continued to attack Cena in the following weeks, claiming he wanted Cena to "embrace the hate" from Cena's detractors, rather than try to "Rise Above Hate", as Cena's T-shirt proclaimed. Kane also attacked and injured Cena's ally Zack Ryder. Kane and John Cena fought to a double countout at the Royal Rumble. After the match, Kane attacked Ryder with a Tombstone Piledriver and then he chokeslammed Cena. On February 19 at Elimination Chamber, Cena defeated Kane in an Ambulance match to end the feud. In March, Kane initiated a feud with Randy Orton by attacking him. Kane later explained that he needed to feel like a Monster again, and believed that defeating Orton would allow him to do that. Orton retaliated in the following weeks, leading to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII, which Kane won. In a rematch on the following SmackDown, Orton defeated Kane in a No Disqualification match. After Kane attacked Orton and his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, the pair faced off at Extreme Rules, in a Falls Count Anywhere match, which Orton won by utilizing a steel chair. At Over the Limit, Kane defeated Zack Ryder.

As a result of Bryan and Kane's issues, AJ enrolled them in anger management classes hosted by Dr. Shelby and they were later forced to compete in a "Hug it Out" match. At the arrangement of Dr. Shelby and AJ, the two adversaries formed a team whose constant infighting during matches inadvertently resulted in them defeating The Prime Time Players (Titus O'Neil and Darren Young) to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship, and defeating champions Kofi Kingston and R-Truth to win the title at Night of Champions. Kane and Bryan made their first successful title defense the following night on Raw, defeating the former champions in a rematch. The following week on Raw, "Team Hell No" was chosen as the official team name via a Twitter poll. Team Hell No entered a feud with Team Rhodes Scholars (Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow), and successfully defended the championship against them on multiple occasions. On the November 26 episode of Raw, both Kane and Bryan were assaulted by The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns). Team Hell No allied with Ryback to face The Shield, but lost a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. Further successful title defenses against Team Rhodes Scholars and 3MB (Drew McIntyre and Heath Slater) followed throughout December 2012 and January 2013. On the February 11 episode of Raw, Kane defeated Dolph Ziggler to earn the final spot in the number one contender Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was the second man eliminated from the match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. On April 7 at WrestleMania 29, Team Hell No defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston in another successful title defense. Following WrestleMania, Team Hell No rekindled their rivalry with The Shield after they saved The Undertaker from The Shield. On the April 22 episode of Raw, Team Hell No and The Undertaker were defeated by the Shield in a six-man tag team match. Kane and Bryan then faced members of the stable in both tag team and singles competition, but were mainly unsuccessful. On May 19 at Extreme Rules, Kane and Bryan lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to Shield members Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, ending their reign at 245 days. Team Hell No lost their rematch against Reigns and Rollins on May 27. On the June 14 episode of SmackDown, Kane, Bryan and Randy Orton ended the Shield's unpinned/unsubmitted streak in televised six-man tag matches. Kane unsuccessfully challenged Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship three days later at Payback and the following night on Raw.

In an interview with The Tom Woods Show libertarian podcast, Jacobs mentioned Woods, Harry Browne, Ron Paul, John Stossel, Peter Schiff and Murray Rothbard as his political influences and stated he is "theoretically a Rothbardian", but does not believe that a stateless society would be achieved in his lifetime. Some Tea Party affiliated groups attempted to recruit Jacobs to run in the 2014 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Tennessee against Sen. Lamar Alexander.

Outside of wrestling, Jacobs also works as an insurer and he and his wife own an Allstate agency in Knoxville, Tennessee. In a July 2015 interview for Realtor.com, the website of the National Association of Realtors, Jacobs indicated that the couple's obligations to their insurance Business led them to place their Jefferson City home up for sale. The home, built in 2005, was an hour's drive from the agency and both Jacobs and his wife eventually became tired of the commute.

In May 2016, Jacobs said he was "seriously considering" a run as a Republican for the Knox County mayoral seat in 2018, but would make a final decision after the 2016 presidential election. In March 2017, Jacobs announced that he was officially running for the mayoral seat of Knox County as a Republican.

On the October 16, 2017 episode of Raw, after almost a year of inactivity, Kane made a surprise return when he came from under the ring to attack Roman Reigns, costing him a Steel Cage match against Braun Strowman and joining The Miz's team at TLC, thus moving to Raw and turning heel in the process. At the event, Kane, Strowman, Miz, Cesaro, and Sheamus lost a 5-on-3 handicap Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match against Kurt Angle, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins, when Angle pinned Miz. During the match, Kane betrayed Strowman by chokeslamming him through the stage, crushing him with steel chairs, and then trapping him inside of a garbage truck. The following night on Raw, Kane defeated Finn Bálor. On the October 30 episode of Raw, Kane chokeslammed Daniel Bryan and attacked Bálor with a Tombstone Piledriver on the entrance stage. Kane then defeated Seth Rollins and after the match he attacked both Ambrose and Rollins with Tombstone Piledrivers. On the November 20 episode of Raw, Kane attacked Braun Strowman with a steel chair during his match against Jason Jordan. The following week on Raw, Kane defeated Jason Jordan by countout, and then he got himself disqualified in a match against Finn Bálor. After the match, Kane was attacked by Strowman.

On the December 11 episode of Raw, Kane and Strowman fought to a double countout in a match to determine the number one contender to Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship at Royal Rumble. The following week on Raw, Kurt Angle announced that Lesnar would defend his championship at the event in a triple threat match against both Kane and Strowman. On the special Christmas edition of Raw, Kane defeated Heath Slater. On the January 1, 2018 episode of Raw, Kane chokeslammed Brock Lesnar before Lesnar sat up and the locker room separated them. At Royal Rumble, Kane was unsuccessful in winning the Universal Championship, as Lesnar retained the title. The following night on Raw, Kane lost to Strowman in a Last Man Standing Elimination Chamber qualifying match after Strowman dropped the entire staging area on top of him. After the match, Kane was taken to a local medical facility, but it was later reported by Michael Cole that Kane sat up on the examining table and crawled his way out.