Since Franchize has not responded. I will now post my opinion on the matter
On May 23rd 1999, Owen Hart fell to his death whilst attempting to be lowered into the ring, using a quick release mechanism on a rappel line. As part of his character, he was supposed to be closer to the ground before the mechanism to release him was utilised. At some point during his descent from the rafters, something went wrong and Owen Hart fell over 20 metres to his death. At the time, the WWF did not know how serious the injury was and continued on with the event. Owen was transported to the nearest medical facility, where he pronounced dead on arrival. What I am going to try and do in this argument is explain to you why Owen Harts death did was and is not responsible for the death of kayfabe in wrestling.
The match in which Owen Hart died was a PPV match with the Godfather in which Owen was to portray a comedic character and fall on his face upon release from the harness. Of course, people did not expect him to fall from such a height but when it happened, there were some people in the crowd who believed that the fall was part of the kayfabe. Jim Ross solemnly told the fans who were watching on TV that Owen had fallen from the harness and it was not part of any angle or storyline. Many say this is the death of kayfabe in wrestling. By acknowledging that something had happened out of kayfabe and especially something of this magnitude, meant that kayfabe would forever be broken. This could not be further from the truth.
Kayfabe is keeping up the illusion that professional wrestling is not fake. If this had been forever broken with the death of Owen Hart, I would hazard a guess that professional wrestling would not exist anymore. I mean, look at all the younger fans who tune into the WWE at this time. How many of them know about the death of Owen Hart? Not many, I would assume. Sure, a lot of people on these boards know of the death of Owen Hart but how many commonly relate this to the death of kayfabe? I certainly dont and I believe it is naïve to do so. By doing this, it is like saying that the death of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit killed kayfabe because they died. No, Owen Harts death did not kill kayfabe in the slightest, especially when the WWE have almost completely moved on from the generation of fans who watched at that time. A lot of fans who saw the incident have moved on and have been replaced with the new target audience of WWE, kids. Kids did not see the death of Owen Hart and are probably none the wiser about the event. Still, they but merchandise and they buy PPVs all because of kayfabe. Without kayfabe, profession wrestling does not have a leg to stand on. Without Kayfabe, no one would be interested in the feud between Randy Orton and John Cena. No one would be interested in what was happening on Raw ad Smackdown every week but here we are.
No, kayfabe is still alive and kicking in the majority of wrestling fans today. Even in people who know that the product on show is entirely fake, would like to believe that there is something that is above and beyond two men grappling inside the ring. Kayfabe gives that to us. It gives us history, emotion and most of all believability to the product. Without it, would we still be watching? I dont know. The point is: Kayfabe is still as strong as it ever was, it has just moved on to a different audience. Im sure that people who witnessed the incident involving Owen Hart and kayfabe may be lost on them. However, a new generation of fans are watching the product and they still believe that wrestling is completely real. Owen Harts death never killed kayfabe, kayfabe is still as prevalent as ever.
