Is “Kayfabe” Dead?
Kayfabe is or was a very important aspect in Professional Wrestling.
For those who don’t know what Kayfabe is, I will give a short explanation.
Kayfabe is basically when a wrestler remains as their character in and out of the ring.
So, if the person’s a bad guy in the ring, he must be a bad guy outside the ring, whether it’d be a grocery store or gas station. If the person’s a good guy or Babyface, they must be the nice guy outside the ring in the same scenario.
Back in the day, Kayfabe was the main thing. If you broke Kayfabe…your wrestling career was over. You basically exposed yourself to thousands of people and now they won’t take you serious. It was taken that serious.
Now…the question is lingering on my mind.
Is Kayfabe dead?
Yes and no.
I think it depends on the person now.
Breaking Kayfabe nowadays isn’t the end of the world. It’s like a actor playing a hitman and once you hear “cut” you go back to being yourself.
We’ve seen wrestlers meet fans at random places and sign autographs. They’re down to earth and easy going. I think that kills the illusion of whatever character they’re playing, but it is what it is.
MJF is one of the only wrestlers REALLY sticking to Kayfabe.
The guy loves to bring heat on himself whether it’d be inside the ring or outside the ring. He does things that actually makes us think he is a bad guy.
Who can forget the video of him flipping the bird on a bird during a photo op?
That’s a true heel move.
AEW seems to be the one really pushing for Kayfabe. It kinda feels like their wrestlers are trying really hard to keep alive. They post videos of them being good or bad. Their words just feel organic.
While in WWE…well…PG Era.
I’m probably in the minority that wishes for Kayfabe to return in full form. I think it would be cool. I want the mystery to be back.
I wanna sit back and think about if these people are what they say they are.
The mystery is astounding.
