Kayfabe

In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced KAY-faybe) refers to the portrayal that events within the industry are real, that is, that professional wrestling is not staged or worked. Referring to events as kayfabe means that they are worked events, part of a wrestling storyline. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to an actor breaking character on camera.

Related Topics:
Professional wrestling - Worked - Storyline - Actor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A wrestler who breaks kayfabe often sees his career suffer for it—one of the most notable cases being that of Paul Levesque, whose rise to professional wrestling stardom in the WWF (now the WWE) was stunted for some time after he embraced his soon-to-be departing on-screen rivals at the end of a show in Madison Square Garden. For more information on this incident, see The Clique.

Related Topics:
Paul Levesque - WWF - Madison Square Garden - The Clique

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In recent years kayfabe has referred more to the suspension of disbelief used to create interesting stories, in a similar manner with other forms of entertainment, such as soap operas and movies. With the advent of the Internet, professional wrestling's backstage secrets have become more difficult to keep than they were in earlier decades, making kayfabe seem much less sacred in terms of its importance to the industry.

Related Topics:
Suspension of disbelief - Entertainment - Soap opera - Movies - Internet

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~