![]() ![]() An example of kayfabe being kept even from 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. This could include wrestlers' family members who had not been clued into the scripted nature of professional wrestling. The term kayfabe was often used as a warning to other wrestlers that someone who was not "in the know" was in the vicinity. ![]() Pat Patterson, describing his interaction with a ring attendant in the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory during the early 1960s. 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. 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. Every time he did, someone would yell "Kayfabe.". I remember the guy who would bring our jackets back to the dressing room. In contrast, something that is not kayfabe, be it a fight or a statement, is referred to as a " shoot". Unlike actors who portray their characters only when on set or on stage, professional wrestlers often stay "in character" outside the shows, especially when interacting with fans, trying to preserve the illusion of professional wrestling. As a concept, kayfabe involves both the fact that matches are scripted and that wrestlers portray characters for their shows. Initially, people "in the business" (either wrestlers or those working behind the scenes) used the term kayfabe as a code among those in the wrestling profession, discussing matters in public without revealing the scripted nature. Kayfabe is a shorthand term that involves acknowledging the staged, scripted nature of professional wrestling, as opposed to a competitive sport, despite being presented as authentic. ![]() It is occasionally broken during shows, usually when dealing with genuine injuries during a match or paying tribute to wrestlers. ![]() Kayfabe was fiercely maintained for decades, but with the advent of the Internet wrestling community, and 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. In general, everything in a professional wrestling show is to some extent scripted, or "kayfabe", even though at times it is portrayed as real-life. 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 hardly any conventional fourth wall exists to begin with. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to an actor breaking character on-camera. Kayfabe, in the United States, 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. The term kayfabe has evolved to also become a code word of sorts for maintaining this "reality" within the direct or indirect presence of the general public. In professional wrestling, kayfabe ( / ˈ k eɪ f eɪ b/) 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 staged. ![]()
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