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WWE's Rendezvous with the Real Deal: What does Kayfabe mean to the IWC?
May 18, 2011
Kayfabe. The single most important word which explains just about everything about the business we have all grown up watching.
While many pro wrestling purists and web sites have their own definitions, it can be best described as, “The portrayal of SCRIPTED events as REAL." But then (and to quote Alberto Del Rio), you already know that.
Today, I will try to focus on what Kayfabe really means to the Internet Wrestling Community.
Let us see where we stand as fans:
1) We are some of the most experienced fans of pro wrestling
2) We, courtesy the various Dirt Sheets, know almost about everything the WWE knows
3) And last—but certainly not least—WE ALWAYS BREAK KAYFABE.
Now, the highlighted text above might just have summed up our relation with the term Kayfabe. To many, it would seem the obvious and only conclusion. However, this is exactly where I digress.
Before I progress, I would just like to make one thing clear—we always do break Kayfabe. The major reason being that we always know that the events, antics and angles are not real but scripted. However, this does give rise to one question: do we really like to break Kayfabe? Is it possible that, of all the fans, we actually want to believe it is true? Sounds crazy, right? Well read on.
Most of the people who are members of this site have enough knowledge and experience about the workings of the business and know its ins and outs. With that being said, here is a question—How many of you enjoyed wrestling more when you were just kids who did not know that the wrestling on the internet existed?
Go back in time; each and every one of us had the very first moment when we saw this grand stage and were immediately intrigued by this eccentric setting. Now, I know that they were will be many who started watching at an age when they were mature enough to know that all this can’t be real, but you can’t deny the fact that you grasped just about everything a bit later—all of this could not have happened over night.
With that said—and going back to our very first meeting with pro wrestling—how many of us considered it to be perfect when we first started watching? How many of us would like the product to be just like it was when we first started watching?
The answer to my question is obvious. We all would love to see what we want to see. And the only time that can happen is when we get to go back in time where everything was perfect in the world of professional wrestling.
With that being said, how is it possible to have a Perfect Environment every time a new fan starts watching? How can a product which has been casted off by one person be considered Gold by another? How can the kids absolutely love the current era, even though it does not amuse is?
There are many answers to my question, and one such factor is the Lack of Broken Kayfabe.
I remember watching many angles in the past where a wrestler would be (kayfabe) fired by the Vince or take a beating so bad that we would have to wait for months and years to see him make his return.
But now I realize that all it did was increase my enthusiasm and make me watch with more interest to see a certain superstar return.
Imagine an angle taking place where Kane (kayfabe) kidnaps some wrestler as part of a storyline. If you are part of the IWC, thus meaning that you are aware of when the wrestler is going to be back, the angle is pretty much over for you.
However, if you are a fan who does not follow wrestling on the Internet, you are bound to be intrigued by the story line.
As far as the IWC goes, we are exactly the kind of people who, while break kayfabe all the time, clamor for an environment where, the lesser we know, the better it is for us.
To conclude, as much as we like to be smart fans over the Internet, we can’t deny the fact that in our heart of hearts, we would love to be in a place where we could just be made to believe that all of this is real. We Want Kayfabe.
And those, are my two cents. I realize that this topic will involve a lot of discussions, which will be very much welcomed. Thank you for being my audience.
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