Kayfabe

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Kayfabe is a term from acting wrestling and stands for a kind of agreement between the wrestlers and the promoters that all events that are shown in front of the camera are shown as not played. If an event in wrestling is called "kayfabe", this means that this event is only part of a storyline . “Breaking kayfabe” can be compared to the falling out of the role of actors.

Kayfabe was still strictly followed in wrestling until the mid-1990s to give the audience the illusion that everything in wrestling was real and not played. However, since the Internet became the main source of information, it has become increasingly difficult to keep the secrets behind wrestling safe. Breaking the kayfabe often serves today as a means to develop storylines further or to explain wrestlers' injuries.

However, there are examples in the recent past, albeit few, of wrestlers unexpectedly breaking Kayfabe. This includes u. a. the so-called MSG Incident of 1996: After a match between Shawn Michaels and Diesel , Razor Ramon and Triple H came to the ring. It was to be one of the last matches in the WWE for Ramon and Diesel , and the four wrestlers - bitter opponents in front of the camera, but very good friends in real life - hugged each other goodbye.

Word origin

It is assumed that the term "Kayfabe" comes from Pig Latin , a game language commonly used in English , whereby the terms fake (false, invented) or be fake served as the origin.

Even in the early days of wrestling, the term was used as a synonym for “protecting business secrets”.

The term may also originate from a trick common among showmen: If the showman troop had reached a new location, they called home via information and asked for a “Kay Fabian”. Of course he was never there, so you didn't have to pay anything for the call; the family at home, however, knew the trick and knew that their loved ones would have arrived safely at the next fair.

Types of Kayfabe

Relationships

Love relationships

Many storylines depict Kayfabe relationships between a wrestler and a valet . Often times they both have a different partner in real life and the relationship in front of the camera is just an act. Such a Kayfabe relationship sometimes resulted in a real relationship, as in the case of Triple H and his current wife, Stephanie McMahon ; A previous real relationship can also be the starting point for a Kayfabe relationship, as for example with Lita and Edge , who went their separate ways in real life but continued to appear as a couple in front of the camera for a long time.

Sizes and weights

Often, wrestlers are announced by the leagues as bigger or heavier than they really are. Examples are the Undertaker (announced: 2.10 m; real: 2.03 m) and The Great Khali (announced: 2.21 m; real: 2.16 m), their weights are also exaggerated. Often when these giants walk to the ring, the cameraman in front of the respective wrestler hunched over slightly, making him appear bigger on TV than he actually is.

Family relationships

Wrestlers are often portrayed in front of the camera as relatives even though they are not related. Examples would be:

Injuries

An injury is often taken as an explanation for a more or less long absence of a wrestler, usually due to an actual injury or a private matter. Examples of Kayfabe injuries are:

Injuries are also written into the storyline when, for example, a wrestler is shooting a movie, recovering from an illness, fulfilling family responsibilities or has to answer in court.

The vast majority of cases where a doctor or a team of paramedics comes to the ring after a match to attend to an apparently injured wrestler is also a Kayfabe injury. Real injuries, which of course can also occur, can be recognized by the fact that the referee forms an "X" with his arms; if he holds one hand straight up, he indicates that the wrestler intended to be the winner is injured and cannot bring the match to an end. However, both gestures have meanwhile also been used as a kayfabe to give an injured wrestler a break (for example in the Wrestlemania 22 Money in the bank ladder match , in which the ailing Ric Flair returned to the match after a short break, or No Mercy 2007 when Finlay was "seriously injured" and in a moment of inattention from his opponent Rey Mysterio jumped out of the stretcher and attacked him from behind).

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