The Need for Kayfabe in the 21st Century

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I must say that I am not really a big fan of Twitter but my curiosity was piqued when I read that Randy Orton had opened an account. His very first tweet was all the inspiration I needed for this post:

Is it appropriate for the man who is billed as the WWE's Apex Predator to be lol'ing on Twitter? No way. The WWE has been pushing for its wrestlers to join the microblogging service so long as they stay in-character when it comes to wrestling topics. While it is a good practice in theory it is tough to have to filter out what is "real" and what is not. All or nothing is the only way to go. I am glad that Randy's wife is a tremendous cook and that Inception was a really good film but that is not why most people are following him. After the jump I will lay out my argument for why a 21st century version of kayfabe needs to be put into place using an IWC favorite as a guide.

The business is better off post kayfabe argument is an easy one. If you use Montreal as the water shed moment when kayfabe died you need only look at the business boom that followed. The Attitude era in the WWF and the Monday Night Wars can be directly attributed to the breaking of kayfabe. The business came clean and admitted to its fan base what it really was. There was no more shame in admitting you were a wrestling fan, because wrestling openly admitted it was entertainment so fans no longer had to worry about others looking down on them for being wrestling fans. I honestly believe coming clean was the key to our industry gaining main stream acceptance. No one felt like anyone was trying to pull the wool over their eyes so they were willing to accept and even embrace the Sports Entertainment industry for what it was, great entertainment. TV ratings went through the roof, PPV buy rates were huge, live event were selling out, pro-wrestling became a legitimate form of main stream entertainment, and wrestlers were making more money than anyone in the history of this business ever had. How could anyone think the death of Kayfabe could be anything but a good thing?

Lance was kind enough to sum up the merits of the flip side of the argument:

One could argue that the post Montreal "Wrestling Boom" is over and business has been deteriorating ever since. Fans don't care about the product like they used to. During the territory days (you know back during the kayfabe era) there were far more wrestling fans following the sport on TV and attending live events. When fans truly believed in their wrestling angles/storylines, programs legitimately drew money ... Fans don't care enough to attend more than that and when you compare crowd reaction between then and now the comparison gets even worse ... There is nothing like that today, and without kayfabe most would argue there never will be. There were more fans, they were more passionate, they attended more shows, and spent more money, therefore the business was healthier during kayfabe.

First off, let me make it clear that I do not want to return to the "glory days" of kayfabe when performers had to live their character 24/7/365. Just because Ted DiBiase, Sr. was given a stipend by the then-WWF to live his Million Dollar Man character I do not expect to start reading stories about Ted Jr. throwing his "trust fund" around. Thanks to the rise of the internet the full-blown kayfabe aspect of professional wrestling has died many deaths. (It should be noted that the mystique of wrestling died for me when I heard on the news that Jim Duggan and the Iron Sheik, two "archenemies," were arrested in New Jersey after a little too much partying.)

I am not this guy so I understand that professional wrestling is an athletic exhibition that follows predetermined results and storylines. I also understand that these men and women are not on the job all the time and, as such, are entitled to live their personal lives how they see fit. That being said, most, if not all, of the professional wrestlers on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace are where they are thanks to their occupation. People choose to follow and interact with them due to the character that is beamed into their homes every week. Following that line of thinking Randy Orton most certainly should not be lol'ing and discussing his ideal movie theater snack (Diet Coke with a small popcorn and M&M's FYI).

I do not think that professional wrestling will ever be looked at as real again but I do think that, with some work, it can be "real." A perfect example of that notion is the Nexus angle. When the Nexus first invaded RAW and destroyed everyone and everything in their way there was a legitimate buzz surrounding the event. That excitement and buzz has carried over and in a very short amount of time the Nexus have become top-level heels. The WWE has capitalized on the renegade nature of the group by not allowing them to sign autographs or take pictures with fans (even though the word is that the Nexus members are very courteous when informing people that they can not sign anything).

The business is cyclical but no one can forecast exactly when the next big boom will occur. Today's wrestling companies would be smart to try and reincorporate the aspect that made many of us fans so long ago: the perceived sense of reality.