In this Day in age.. Does Kayfabe need to be broken?

[911 JP]

Kayfabe: The showbiz and stagecraft of professional wrestling, including the ring personas of professional wrestlers, especially when maintained in public; insider knowledge of professional wrestling.

When a wrestler breaks kayfabe, it is thought to be them breaking character, similar to an actor braking character on camera.

But in todays age, especially in the wrestling world, everytime wrestling is mentioned in a public place you get the words FAKE! And it cheeses most of us wrestling fans off, these people that know nothing about wrestling belittling our interests and passions!

Back in the 80's and early 90's (These two eras especially), there were alot wrestling fans, especially adult fans, and they didn't percieve the sport as 'fake', and they were the perfect fans booing the bad guys and cheering the good guys. But these are not the days of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage and King Kong Bundy anymore.

Now Wrestling fans (of all ages) cheer for who ever they want (usually who appeal to them). And the only fans that still watch wrestling as if it was real are the young fans, and even they know that it is again 'fake' at earlier ages. Funny enough these are the audiences that WWE are trying to appeal to in the PG ERA.

But back to the topic, almost from the Attitude Era onwards, Kayfabe has been broken, especially in storylines such as Matt Hardy vs. Lita and Edge. Even in TNA (Impact Wrestling.. just for the marks) Kurt Angle vs. The Jarrets. And bak in 2008 with the Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho storyline, Shawn morphed from a "Sexy Boy Toy" to a "Obsessed Husband".

But My question is.. and you have read this far to get it.. Do you believe it is NOW necessary to break Kayfabe to make the sport look real, and to get characters over and get the right people booed and cheered?

 

[Dagger Dias]

No, kayfabe should not be broken due to it having been a part of pro wrestling for ages and is very much a necessary tradition. If kayfabe is broken, you run the risk of the product becoming too stale or too cheesy. With kayfabe in place, you get a balance in between both of those extremes. It is meant to be a show. If the fans want to watch a "real" fight they can watch MMA. That's what I do. I never watched wrestling for realistic matches or realistic feuds, I always enjoyed the show that kayfabe brings.

 

[nikvoodoo]

Kayfabe is toast. it has been for years, and once it's been broken as badly as WWE(F)/WCW/ECW broke it, you can't fix it.

The lead in to Monday Night Raw is a reality show that proves to anyone that watches it how fake wrestling is. Look at it this way, as long as WWE remains an entertainment company who happens to present a wrestling show, Kayfabe as we grew up with it is dead. As long as WWE is the industry standard and what people most closely associate with professional wrestling, kayfabe is dead because the 'E doesn't seem to care about it, unless your name is Serena....suddenly they care. The Superstars have twitter accounts. Lots of them don't stick to their characters on twitter which is yet another example of broken kayfabe that would have gotten you WRECKED back in the 80s.

Remember the reaction to David Schultz's attack on John Stossel in 1984? That's the level they held kayfabe to. Name one person in any company that would assault a reporter on camera to maintain kayfabe. Let the concept die and let professional wrestling be what it is: A bunch of well trained and talented athletes who entertain you with in ring work, and storylines.