Kayfabe

In professional wrestling, kayfabe /ˈkeɪfeɪb/ is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true," specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not of a staged or predetermined nature of any kind. Kayfabe has also evolved to become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the direct or indirect presence of the general public.

Kayfabe is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non-wrestling aspects of promotions, such as feuds, angles, and gimmicks, in a manner similar to other forms of fictional entertainment. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to breaking character by an actor on-camera. Also, since wrestling is performed in front of a live audience, whose interaction with the show is crucial to its success, kayfabe can be compared to the fourth wall in acting, since there is hardly any conventional fourth wall to begin with. In general anything shown on a professional wrestling show is to some extent scripted, or "Kayfabe", even though at times they try to present it as legitimate.

Kayfabe was fiercely maintained for decades, but with the advent of the Internet wrestling community, as well as the sports entertainment movement, the pro wrestling industry has become less concerned with protecting so-called backstage secrets and typically maintains kayfabe only during the shows. However, kayfabe is occasionally broken during shows, usually when dealing with real life injuries suffered during a match or paying tribute to wrestlers.

Definition and use

Kayfabe (/ˈkeɪfeɪb/) is a shorthand or slang term used to describe the fact that professional wrestling is a staged, scripted event and not a competitive sport but presented as legitimate. Initially "Kayfabe" was a term used by people "in the business" (either wrestlers or working behind the scenes) as a code between those in the wrestling profession, discussing matters in public without revealing the scripted nature. Kayfabe covers both the fact that matches are scripted and that wrestlers portray characters for their shows. Unlike actors who only portray their characters when on set or on stage professional wrestlers often stay "in character" outside of the shows, especially when interacting with fans, trying to preserve the illusion of professional wrestling. Another term for "Kayfabe" is the word "work", or "worked", which also refers to the staged nature of professional wrestling. In contrast, something that's not "Kayfabe" but legitimate, be it a fight or a statement, is referred to as a "shoot".

I remember the guy who would bring our jackets back to the dressing room. Every time he did, someone would yell "Kayfabe."...Then one night, the guy decided to stand up for himself and told the whole dressing room: "I don't mind the yelling, but I want to let you know that my name is not Kayfabe. It's Mark."...What he didn't know is that wrestlers called people outside of the business "marks" — that's why we were yelling kayfabe in the first place.

— Pat Patterson, describing his interaction with a ring attendant in the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory during the early 1960s

The term Kayfabe was often used as a warning to other wrestlers that someone who was not "in the know" was in the vicinity. Something that could include wrestlers family members who had not been clued in to the scripted nature of professional wrestling. Examples of "Kayfabe" being kept even to family members was illustrated in an article describing how in the 1970s, the wife of James Harris (known under the ring name Kamala) was celebrating that her husband had just won a $5,000 prize as he won a battle royal; not realizing that the prize money was simply a storyline, or kayfabe.

The term itself can be used in a variety of contexts, as a verb for instance when referring to a "Kayfabe interview", where the person being interviewed remains "in character". A person can also be said to be "Kayfabing" someone, by presenting storylines and rivalries as real. The term can also be used as an adjective, describing someone as the "kayfabe girlfriend" implies she plays the role, but is not actually romantically involved with that particular person.

History

Various sources have suggested different backgrounds for the term Kayfabe, including it being pig latin for the term "be fake", or that there actually was a wrestler called "Kay Fabian" who was mute, but neither claim has ever been substantiated. The term was first documented in a 1937 book, by New York sport writer Marcus Griffin that documented some of the "behind the scenes" aspects of professional wrestling, suggesting that it was commonly used in professional wrestling prior to 1937. One theory suggests that the origin of the term was "keep cavey", from the Latin verb caveo, which means "look out for"; this phrase was used by Jews living in East London between the two wars. Many US promoters and wrestlers at that time were of Eastern European origin and many had heavy accents, leading to the term being transformed into Kayfabe.

While professional wrestling has been staged, or preplanned, from the time it was a sideshow attraction, the scripted nature of the performances has been hinted over time. In 1934 a show held at Wrigley Field in Chicago billed one of the matches as "the last great shooting match", implying that the other matches were not "shoot matches", the irony being that even that match was "worked". In 1957 comedian Groucho Marx described watching wrestlers "practice their match", hinting at the scripted nature of professional wrestling.

While the scripted nature of professional wrestling was an open secret it was not generally acknowledged by people in the business. Often wrestlers and promoters would make sure that on-screen rivals were not seen eating or traveling together between shows and so on. There were a few occasional 'hiccups' at the time, such as an infamous incident in 1985 where The Iron Sheik and Hacksaw Jim Duggan, supposed rivals in an upcoming match at Madison Square Garden, were busted by police in New Jersey in the same car drinking and doing cocaine. The first public acknowledgment by a major insider of the staged nature of professional wrestling came in 1989 when World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey state senate that wrestling was not a competitive sport. The admission on McMahon's part was to avoid interference from the state athletic commissions and to avoid paying the taxation some states placed on income from athletic events held in that state and also to avoid the need to meet the requirement of having to employee medical professionals standing by as was generally mandatory for legitimate contact sports involving substancial possibility of injury.

Faces and heels

The characters assumed by wrestlers can be distinguished into two alignments: faces and heels.

Faces, short for babyfaces, are hero-type characters whose personalities are crafted to elicit the support of the audience through traits such as humility, patriotism, a hard working nature, determination and reciprocal love of the crowd. Faces usually win their matches on the basis of their technical skills and are sometimes portrayed as underdogs to enhance the story.

Heels are villainous or antagonistic characters, whose personalities are crafted to elicit a negative response from the audience. They often embrace traditionally negative traits such as narcissism, egomania, unprompted rage, sadism and general bitterness. Though not as prevalent today, xenophobic ethnic and racial stereotypes, in particular those inspired by the Axis powers of World War II, were commonly utilized in North American wrestling as heel-defining traits. Another angle of a heel could be approached from a position of authority (Big Boss Man), a corrections officer, (Mike Rotunda as Irwin R Shyster), a federal tax collector, (Yank'em), a dentist or other characters held in low esteem by the public such as a repossession agent. Heels typically inspire boos from the audience and often employ underhanded tactics, such as cheating and exploiting technicalities, in their fighting strategies, or use overly aggressive styles to cause excess pain or injury to their opponents.

A wrestler may change from face to heel (or vice versa) in an event known as a turn, or gradually transition from one to the other over the course of a long storyline. Wrestlers like Andre the Giant, Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan, and Randy Savage could work across the entire spectrum and often gain new fans as a result of each "turn".

Matches are usually organized between a heel and a face, but the distinction between the two types may be blurred as a given character's storyline reaches a peak or becomes more complicated. Indeed, in recent years, several wrestlers became characters that were neither faces nor heels, but somewhere in between—or alternating between both—earning them the term "'tweener."

Uses

Relationships

Many storylines make use of kayfabe romantic relationships between two performers. Very often, both participants have other real-life relationships, and the "relationship" between the two is simply a storyline. However, more than once, kayfabe romantic relationships have resulted either from a real-life relationship, such as between Matt Hardy and Lita, or ultimately developed into a real-life marriage (e.g., Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who married in 2003, more than a year after their kayfabe marriage ended). During the early 21st century, this "kayfabe" practice has given way to reality in the WWE, largely due to the creation of the reality television program Total Divas where four "legit" (legally binding) weddings have occurred: Natalya and Tyson Kidd, Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan, Naomi and Jimmy Uso, and Eva Marie and her fiancé Jonathan.

Tag teams of wrestlers, who may or may not look alike, are often presented as relatives, though they are not actually related. Examples include The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane), The Holly Cousins (Hardcore Holly, Crash Holly, and Molly Holly) and The Dudley Brothers. "Brother" tag teams were commonly utilized in years past as a means to develop young talent, by pairing them with a veteran wrestler and giving the younger wrestler a "rub" by virtue of the association.

Injuries

A wrestler or a promotion uses Kayfabe in regards to injuries in one of two ways; "selling" a fake injury as part of a storyline, or they come up with a storyline reason to explain the absence of someone due to a legitimate injury. Sometimes a wrestler will be kept off shows to demonstrate the severity of what happened to them previously as part of a storyline. Prior to the spread of the internet, this was a common tactic used to explain the absence of a wrestler when said wrestler would tour Japan or was unable to appear on specific shows. If a wrestler appears on a show after a "brutal" attack they would "sell" the injury by limping or having their arm heavily bandaged and so on. In other instances, when a wrestler was legitimately injured either during a match or during training, a storyline would play out where a heel would attack the wrestler and "injure" them to give the impression that the injury was due to the attack. This normally would lead to the injured wrestler returning, later on, to "settle the score".

Promoters have used in ring accidents that led to injuries, or in extreme cases death, as a way to make a heel even more hated and unpopular. In 1971 Alberto Torres died three days after wrestling Ox Baker. Evidence indicated that Torres died of a ruptured appendix, Baker's Heart punch finishing move was the kayfabe reason; the death was worked into Baker's wrestling persona by the promoters making Baker the most hated heel in the territory at the time. Acts exploiting personal tragedy or death became less and less prevalent by the turn of the century with fans being more aware of the worked nature of professional wrestling.

Contracts, employment status and suspensions

Wrestlers who are publically "fired" is a popular storytelling device, often for the fired wrestler to return under a mask or "earn their job" back through a match. In the days where the National Wrestling Alliance territories were at their height some wrestlers would travel from territory to territory, often using a "loser leaves town" match to wrap up a storyline in the specific territory. At times a wrestler will make a surprise debut for a company, with the storyline presenting that the wrestler in question does not actually work for the company.

Breaking kayfabe

There have been several examples of breaking kayfabe throughout wrestling history, although exactly what constitutes "breaking" is not clearly defined. It is rare for kayfabe to be dispensed with totally and the events acknowledged as scripted. Often the "break" may be implied or through an allusion (for example calling a wrestler by his/her real name) and standards tend to vary as to what is a break. In the WWF during and after the Attitude Era, the line between kayfabe and reality was often blurred. With the growth of the industry and its exposure on the Internet and DVD and videos, kayfabe may be broken more regularly. Whereas in the past it was extremely rare for a wrestler or other involved person to recognize the scripted nature of events even in outside press or media, WWE DVDs and WWE.com routinely give news and acknowledge real life. In the case of the former, it has ostensible adversaries and allies talking about each other, and the angles and storylines they worked and their opinions on them. On WWE.com, real life news is often given which may contradict storylines.

Prior to the Attitude Era and the advent of the Internet, publications such as WWF Magazine, and television programs broke kayfabe only to acknowledge major real-life events involving current or retired wrestlers, such as a death (for instance, the death of Ernie Roth, who was billed as "The Grand Wizard of Wrestling"), divorce (e.g., Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth) or life-threatening accident (such as the 1990 parasailing accident that seriously injured Brutus Beefcake), especially if said event received mass mainstream coverage. In addition, when WWF top officials and employees were facing allegations of anabolic steroid abuse and sexual harassment during the early 1990s, Vince McMahon responded via a series of videotaped comments defending his company and employees, and several full-page advertisements rebutting the allegations appeared in WWF Magazine.

Kayfabe has been broken many times, though it may not always be apparent to fans as seen below. The following is a list of some of the more notable examples.

1996 MSG Incident: "The Curtain Call"

In the 1996 MSG Incident, real-life friends Shawn Michaels, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Diesel, and Razor Ramon broke kayfabe by embracing in the ring at the end of a match between Michaels and Nash. On television, the two had been portrayed as rivals, but the group broke with the storylines as both Nash and Hall were on their way to rival promotion World Championship Wrestling. The embrace was a farewell gesture from Michaels and Triple H which had not been approved by anyone back stage. Because of Nash and Hall's departure, and the fact that Michaels was the world champion at the time, Triple H was the only one reprimanded for the incident. He was relegated to working lower card matches and was booked to lose to Jake Roberts in the King of the Ring 1996 tournament, having previously been booked to win it.

Montreal Screwjob

Main article: Montreal Screwjob

The most widely discussed example of Kayfabe breaking is the Montreal Screwjob, centered around a match in which then-WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart wrestled challenger Shawn Michaels for the championship at the Survivor Series in Montreal on November 9, 1997. Hart had previously signed a contract with rival World Championship Wrestling and still had three weeks left on his contract with the WWF. The agreed-upon finish was to have Hart retain the title that night and appear on Raw the following night to give up the championship. WWF head Vince McMahon had, months before, informed Hart that he could not financially guarantee the terms of his contract with Hart, encouraging him to make another deal if he was able to. As events transpired leading up to Survivor Series with Hart still champion and booked to remain champion following the event, McMahon feared that his championship would appear on his rival's television program. During the match, Michaels put Hart in the sharpshooter, Hart's finisher. Referee Earl Hebner signaled that Hart submitted, even though he had not. At the same time, McMahon came to the ringside area and directed the ring crew to ring the bell and announce that Michaels had won the match. Hart, very upset, spat on McMahon and began trashing equipment around the ring, later punching McMahon in the dressing room. While everyone involved in the incident maintain that it was legitimate some fans claim that it was a very elaborate storyline and only pretended to "break kayfabe". and several within the business, Legitimate or not the "Montreal Screwjob" as it was referred to later on, has been recreated over the years by various companies as part of their own internal storylines.

Owen Hart's death

The accident that killed Owen Hart occurred on May 23, 1999 during the Over the Edge pay per view broadcast, but was not shown on screen (a prerecorded video featuring Hart in character as the "Blue Blazer" was playing at the time of the accident) and, after Jim Ross indicated that something was amiss in the ring, the broadcast immediately cut to a prerecorded interview with Hart. Afterward, Ross acknowledged to viewers that an accident had occurred and that Hart was being attended to, at one point assuring viewers "this was not a wrestling angle". The following day WWF held a tribute to Owen Hart where several wrestlers spoke "out of character" about Owen.

Special and tribute shows

See also: Ten-bell salute

In specials and tribute shows, kayfabe is often broken. In the tribute shows for Brian Pillman, Owen Hart, Eddie Guerrero, and Chris Benoit, many wrestlers and officials, including those who had kayfabe feuds with the deceased wrestler, spoke in their honor. Kayfabe and real life came into serious conflict on June 25, 2007, when the actual death of Chris Benoit necessitated an appearance by WWE chairman Vince McMahon on his Raw program which aired that same day, even though the character of Mr. McMahon had been "killed" in an automobile explosion on a previous episode. The death angle was scrapped, as was the regularly scheduled Raw program. Instead, a tribute to Benoit was broadcast. However, the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Benoit and his family was not known at the time the June 25 Raw tribute was broadcast. When the circumstances emerged McMahon appeared in person on the ECW broadcast the following night as well, acknowledging the change in Benoit's "status" and making the last mention of Benoit's name on WWE television. In his remarks on Raw, McMahon directly refers to "Mr. McMahon" as "my character" and refers in both Raw and ECW to the WWE wrestlers as "performers".

Jerry Lawler's heart attack

On the September 10, 2012, edition of Raw, after competing in a tag team match with Randy Orton against CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler, Jerry Lawler collapsed (legitimately) at the announce table while Kane and Daniel Bryan competed against The Prime Time Players. Updates were provided during the live broadcast by commentator Michael Cole, who broke kayfabe to make clear to viewers that Lawler's collapse and hospitalization was not a planned part of the show. As of the end of the broadcast at 23:15 EDT, it was announced that he had received CPR, but was breathing independently and reacting to stimulus. It was later confirmed on Dutch Mantell's Facebook page that Lawler had suffered a heart attack.

Storylines becoming real life

In some instances, the use of Kayfabe to protect a storyline or a wrestler led to real life events mirroring the storylines.

While working as a booker for WCW, Kevin Sullivan conceived an angle where Woman (Nancy Daus Sullivan, Sullivan's wife both on-screen and off), would leave his character for Chris Benoit. Sullivan insisted that the two should travel together to preserve kayfabe for the general public. This resulted in Sullivan's wife legitimately leaving him for Benoit when the two developed a real-life romantic relationship during their time together. Nancy ultimately married Benoit in 2000.

Brian Pillman developed a "Loose Cannon" persona for himself while in WCW in 1996, conspiring with Vice President Eric Bischoff and booker Kevin Sullivan. Pillman's character was based entirely on straddling the fine line of kayfabe, presenting it as if he had legitimate problems with WCW management. He would engage in on-camera actions that seemed to be unscripted, even to the other performers, and even breached kayfabe protocol when he addressed Sullivan on air as "bookerman". In the ultimate act of turning fiction into fact, Pillman convinced Sullivan and Bischoff that their storyline "firing" of him would seem more legitimate with the physical evidence of a release form. They faxed an actual WCW contract termination notice to him, complete with his name and the proper signatures, in order to preserve kayfabe. This allowed Pillman to actually leave WCW to work for Extreme Championship Wrestling and later the WWF.

When Triple H and Stephanie McMahon entered into a kayfabe marriage in late 1999, Triple H and McMahon started dating in real life, and continued to do so after their onscreen marriage ended in 2002; the two eventually married in real life in 2003. The Catholic priest at the wedding, not aware of the workings of the wrestling business, initially refused to marry the two when he found out about the kayfabe wedding from a choir boy who was also a wrestling fan. Linda McMahon later had to explain to the priest the difference between WWE programming and real life, allowing the marriage to go through. Afterwards, the real-life marriage became an open secret on television before being acknowledged by Triple H in 2009.

See also

• Glossary of professional wrestling terms
• Shoot (professional wrestling)
• Trade secret
• Truthiness

Further reading

• Barrett, Grant (April 21, 2005). "Kayfabe". A Way with Words. Retrieved August 16, 2012. (Information about the origin of the word.)