The Verdict- Kayfabe: A Necessary Death? Or Magic Killer?

Question

Scanning over the boards tonight/this morning, I came across a lot of questions about groundbreaking moments in wrestling. Now, these questions, comments, and theories are nothing new. We've all talked about the MSG Incident, we all know about Montreal, and the unlucky few know about the Mass Transit Incident. All of these repetitive topics either contributed, or were a result of, the death of kayfabe. For those of you unaware of what kayfabe is, or what extreme lengths wrestling promotions went to keep it...the best way of describing it is being in character all the time. Back in the early 80's, and further back, heels and faces weren't allowed to be seen socializing. Promoters went as far as booking heels and faces in different hotels, and chastising if they were caught mingling. If you were injured, you sold it on and off TV. If you were supposed to be injured beyond walking, you weren't supposed to leave your house. Some of this actually led into the '90's, most notably in ECW, but events like the Madison Square Garden Clique Hug and snoopy internet reports, along with the discovery that wrestling as a whole wasn't real led to one brick after the other falling out of the fourth wall until wrestling became the open fictional book it is today.

In some ways, it killed the magic, but in others, it liberated wrestlers to be friends publicly, they don't have to act like jerks fulltime, and they don't have to keep up a facade. But it also led to a less believable, and less entertaining show. Things like the internet and Pro Wrestling Illustrated and other prying dirt sheets no longer address things in the pulpy, almost cartoony way of addressing all interviews and angles as truth. We now know when someone is going to debut. We now know when someone's faking an injury, and when they're going back to development, doing a movie, or going on a vacation. Heck, we even know who's going to win most wrestling shows ahead of time. Has the lack of illusion made professional wrestling a predictable and transparent product? Or has it added a new dimension of fandom?

Was the death of kayfabe a mistake? Or the inevitable?

Discuss. Rule is, you can only take one side on the issue. Best argument wins "The Definitive Braden Walker, A 3 Disc DVD Set"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwyFABQX62A

Answer 1

Now THIS is a wrestling question!

Superstar Billy Graham discusses the destruction of kayfabe in his autobiography "Tangled Ropes".  The main reason Vince McMahon destroyed kayfabe was to protect the wrestlers' safety.  I have no doubt you're well aware of some of the serious injuries wrestlers have sustained in the past due to over-zealous fans: several have been stabbed and beaten, and had objects thrown at them (batteries and things of this nature).  Freddie Blassie lost the sight in his left eye because a fan threw a hard-boiled egg that hit his eye.  Many have had their cars vandalized by fans (I saw this in person.  Fans shattered the windshield and put dents in a car belonging to The Million Dollar Man).

I can understand why Vince destroyed kayfabe.  I won't go so far as to say that he actually cares about each of them, but he's paying them a lot of money he can't afford to throw away because his top heel is in the hospital with multiple stab wounds due to an over-zealous fan taking the shows too seriously.

That being said, two things that go hand-in-hand changed pro wrestling for the worse.  The internet (and the birth of those d**n "smarks") and the destruction of kayfabe.

Because we all know wrestling is "fake", few see it as more than a silly little soap opera where the guys pretend to fight once in a while.  The years of sacrifice and dedication a guy or girl puts in to become a competent pro wrestler are lost on today's average "WWE fan" (a "WWE fan" is different from a "wrestling fan").  The Wrestling Section is a painful example of that.  Few seem to appreciate the skill and athleticism it takes to get in front of thousands and "pretend to fight" and make it look believable.  Most fans seem to be more concerned about entrance music and "hot-ness" than they are about seeing Chavo Guerrero and Jamie Noble engage in a boring old mat wrestling match.  "Who cares if Noble and Chavo are good wrestlers, it's all fake anyway, I want to see Edge cheat on Vickie and then watch her get revenge, ha ha.  Edge is SO cool!".

Because Vince told the world that wrestling is "fake", most fans don't really care about the actual wrestling matches anymore.  So Vince and Creative have to find some other way to entertain the paying customers.  Storylines and skits that have nothing to do with wrestling, promos that have nothing to do with wrestling, outside interference in every d**n match, few wrestlers being clear-cut faces or heels (most are "tweeners", another plague on pro wrestling), 400 promo videos on a soon-to-arrive new wrestler, everybody playing an exaggerated "character" (the one who doesn't, Kozlov, gets little reaction)...basically trying everything from a Vaudeville show to try to entertain people who really know little about pro wrestling.

The internet makes it possible for the "smarks" and their spoilers to compound the problem.  "See? It's all fake, it's all an act," they remind us incessantly, "it's just a bunch of muscled-up pretty boys and siliconed dancers pretending to fight, with clueless suits in the back making all this stuff up."

There are few people left who even know how to be wrestling fans.  Most are so afraid of appearing "gullible", "stupid", "foolish", that they just laugh at that silly rasslin stuff rather than admit they enjoy the show.  "Smarks" have twisted the term "mark" into something derogatory and now everybody is afraid of being labeled the "smark" (very wrong) definition of "mark".

I could go on and on, but this answer is getting quite long.

The death of kayfabe was inevitable but Vince himself, killing it, ruined the wrestling business.  This "sports entertainment" that Vince created is not pro wrestling.  Pro wrestling is all about two well-trained and highly-skilled athletes engaged in a believable battle to find out which is the better man.  Sometimes a championship is at stake.  In the past, a championship was important to the fans.  Now, a championship is just a prop in the story.  The fans don't boo a champion because he cheated to win it, they boo because he "sux", he "only no 5 mooves", he takes "roids", "the riters r idoits", etc.  We all know that Vince has the final word on who holds which championship, and the skills of the wrestlers are completely irrelevant.

The death of kayfabe was a huge mistake.

Answer 2

Inevitable,

How could you stay friends with someone, but never speak to them out of work? MSG was something that happened, they are all friends.

Montreal was stupid, Bret should have given up the belt without complaining.

Mass Transit, that is as unfortunate as it comes. a 17 kid, lieing then getting into a wrestling ring and getting beaten up.

In the long run, it was always going to happen. The fact that it happened so soon was pretty sad.

Lets hope the kids enjoy the realty of it while it lasts.

Answer 3

I prefer for the guys to stay in character even when on the outside.  A major blow for me when I was a child was when reading about the Iron Shiek and Hacksaw Duggan getting busted together.  They were fueding at the time and I was like, "What the h**l, why were they driving in the same car, if they hated each other?".

Answer 4

It was the outcome of corporatizing the WWE, and the advent of the internet. When the WWE went public, it showed that, at least for the WWE, it is pure product.

And, the internet has enabled all kinds of communications between fans and insiders. It would be nice if the insiders were quiet, but that is just the way it is. You have after-market products being sold, so somehow they need to get their people inside. It would be to the WWE's advantage to broadcast SmackDown or ECW live or on a delay. In this way it would cut the spoilers down. But, who knows? Maybe this is what the WWE actually wants? (I don't follow TNA as much, or the indies at all.)

Either way, there is still some element of surprise. So, I figure the magic is still there. But, it isn't as captivating as it once was.

Answer 5

Well it did killed the magic with the people knowing it fake because the things we want to see would happen like right now people keep saying that HHH will always win his matches because he's Vince's son.

People always had been surprised what would happen next.

Vince killed it all because his vision of WWE is not realism it's about the segments and the merchandising.

MSG Incident really opened a lot of people's eyes about the wrestling business.

The Montreal Screwjob went on to be the Most Controversial And Talked About Match ever.

The Mass Transit Incident shocked me how a teenager who had a future ahead of him lied and bled himself to death.

People had doubt about the wrestling business since a pro wrestler was about to be in Team USA in the Olympics decades ago.

Few people back then knew that the wrestlers were actors.

Making it more predictable just ruins it all.