MANCHESTER — Matt and Kane are waiting to see who fathered Lita’s baby on their television drama.

An afternoon soap opera?

No, a story thread in World Wrestling Entertainment’s “Raw” shown live Monday nights at 9 p.m. on Spike TV. This Monday’s episode originates from Manchester’s Verizon Wireless Arena.

“I think it’s mine, but we don’t know,” wrestler Kane said in an interview at the arena yesterday.

Then, he added, “She’s going with Matt, but it’s my baby. The funny thing about our deal is even if they (the writers and producers) think they know, it’ll change.”

The soap opera plots are what hook many of the wrestling viewers. “That’s when you become real successful is when people don’t think they can miss a show,” the 7-foot, 326-pound wrestler said. “If you don’t know what’s going to happen in a story line, you’re going to have to watch it to keep up.”

Kane, who defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin to win the WWE championship less than a year after entering pro wrestling in 1997, calls his character “a psychological monster” bent on creating a heir.

In real life, he says he’s quite a private person and hopes “there aren’t too many similarities because Kane on the show is a despicable human being. He’s everything you wouldn’t want to be.”

Kane, who kills time on the road reading and playing video games, is part of a legion of 30 wrestlers expected Monday, including Bedford’s Triple H.

“He’s a different person than his character would represent,” Kane said. “He’s had a huge impact on our business.”

Like other sports entertainment enterprises, wrestling is a cyclical business, he said. Wrestling is down from its peak of years ago. “That doesn’t mean that it’s not going to come back,” Kane said.

“I think if you look, how many times has Cher been huge then she was down? Madonna was huge, then she was down, then she came back. Kiss is huge, then they’re down, then they came back,” he said, citing other performers and groups with single-word names.

People will look around for new things. “I don’t think there is actually ever going to be one peak,” he said. “I think you’re going to have a lot of peaks and a lot of valleys.”

Kane said the wrestlers don’t rehearse beforehand. “It’s hard enough to do what we do when we do in front of the cameras or in front of a live crowd.”

And don’t dismiss the crowd — and the energy it creates for wrestlers to feed off of during events.

“The crowd is hugely important,” he said. “It’s a lot easier when there’s a lot of people.”

Tickets remain for Monday’s Manchester show with prices ranging from $20 to $40. This will mark the sixth WWE event at the arena and the second appearance of “Raw” since the building opened in November 2001.

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