The UWA World Trios Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship created by the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association and defended there until the UWA closed in 1995. Since then, the championship has been defended in various promotions in Japan .
121-421: As it is a professional wrestling championship, the championship is not won not by actual competition, but by a scripted ending to a match determined by the bookers and match makers . On occasion the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no champion at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline, or real life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend
242-563: A Loser Leaves Town match to wrap up a storyline in the specific territory. At times a wrestler will make a surprise debut for a company, with the storyline presenting that the wrestler in question does not actually work for the company. In NXT , kayfabe is often broken post-match when a wrestler is promoted to the main roster, with the rest of the roster applauding them, regardless of storyline relationships. Before then, these breaks are apparent when they are promoted from OVW , or when they retired. Most notably, The Undertaker broke kayfabe as
363-507: A dentist . Heels can also be other characters held in low esteem by the public such as a repossession agent (a role played by Barry Darsow as Repo Man). Heels typically inspire boos from the audience and often employ underhanded tactics, such as cheating and exploiting technicalities in their fighting strategies, or using overly aggressive styles to cause (the perception of) excess pain or injury to their opponents. A wrestler may change from face to heel (or vice versa) in an event known as
484-486: A turn , or gradually transition from one to the other over the course of a long storyline. Wrestlers like André the Giant , Roddy Piper , Hulk Hogan , and "Macho Man" Randy Savage could work across the entire spectrum and often gain new fans as a result of each "turn". Matches are usually organized between a heel and a face, but the distinction between the two types may be blurred as a given character's storyline reaches
605-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
726-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
847-535: A book from Vince McMahon argue that strategies of components of the Republican party closest to Donald Trump can be explained by kayfabe. An example of kayfabe being broken outside of professional wrestling was in 2004, during the I Love Bees alternative reality game used to promote Halo 2 , when one of the calltakers who voiced the AI that had hacked the website in the game's storyline broke character to tell
968-460: A caller to run to safety, since he was in the middle of Hurricane Ivan . Professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
1089-479: A car drinking and using cocaine . The first public acknowledgment by a major insider of the staged nature of professional wrestling came in 1989 when World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey State Senate that wrestling was not a competitive sport. The admission on McMahon's part was to avoid interference from state athletic commissions and to avoid paying
1210-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1331-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
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#17327806341341452-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1573-607: A character with an audience, as occurred when the audience widely rejected a traditional "face" character, Rocky Maivia, who transitioned the character with huge success to a "heel" as The Rock. The divide can also be separated by fan demographics: where older male fans may tend to cheer for heels and boo the faces, kids and female fans may cheer for faces and boo the heels, as it happened with wrestlers like John Cena and Roman Reigns . Many storylines make use of kayfabe romantic relationships between two performers. Very often, both participants have other real-life relationships, and
1694-406: A fake injury as part of a storyline or creating a story line reason to explain the absence of someone due to a legitimate injury. Sometimes a wrestler will be kept off shows to demonstrate the severity of what happened to them previously as part of a story line. Prior to the spread of the internet, this was a common tactic used to explain the absence of a wrestler when said wrestler would tour Japan or
1815-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
1936-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
2057-464: A heel because he was still not being recognized by his peers or the crowd. He also revealed his legitimate injury history and his separation from his first wife , and they divorced in 2008. Edge , Lita , and Matt Hardy engaged in a feud in mid-2005, after Lita had cheated on Hardy with Edge (who was friends with Hardy), which resulted in Matt being legitimately fired due to social media misconduct. He
2178-542: A heel, as the storyline was changed on short notice. This is also true for the members of the Raw roster that were faces at the time, when they also congratulated her on the news. Rollins was not included as he was a heel at the time of the announcement. On May 12, 2020, Sami Zayn 's WWE Intercontinental Championship was stripped due to him refraining from competing during the COVID-19 pandemic . On June 11, 2024, Ricochet
2299-431: A kayfabe on-screen authority figure), and escalated to a point where Daniel Bryan legitimately left Talking Smack because The Miz gave a shoot interview that got personal. There have been several examples of breaking kayfabe throughout wrestling history, although exactly what constitutes "breaking" is not clearly defined. It is rare for kayfabe to be dispensed with totally and the events acknowledged as scripted. Often
2420-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2541-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
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#17327806341342662-414: A mysterious Deadman, as he hugged and kneeled down to offer his respects to Ric Flair on his retirement ceremony. Since then, Daniel Bryan's rivals (notably The Miz and Brock Lesnar ) broke kayfabe in interviews and on Twitter applauding his decisions to retire, although their rivalry resumed after Daniel Bryan returned as Smackdown General Manager (the position of "General Manager" itself being
2783-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2904-407: A peak or becomes more complicated. In recent years, several wrestlers became characters that were neither faces nor heels, but somewhere in between—or alternating between both—earning them the term " tweener ", reflecting the rise in popular culture of the concept of the antihero ; such characters often display the underhand tactics and aggression of a traditional heel, but do so in ways sympathetic to
3025-501: A storyline or kayfabe. The term kayfabe itself can be used in a variety of contexts, as an adjective, for instance, when referring to a "kayfabe interview", where the person being interviewed remains "in character", or when describing someone as a "kayfabe girlfriend", implying that she is playing a role, but is not actually romantically involved with that particular person. A person can also be said to be "kayfabing" someone, by presenting storylines and rivalries as real. According to
3146-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3267-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3388-405: 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. Because of this lack of conventional fourth wall, wrestlers were once expected to maintain their characters even out of the ring, and in other aspects of their lives that could be made public. In general, everything in a modern professional wrestling show
3509-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
3630-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
3751-686: Is supported by Chael Sonnen , or the phrase could be the Latin cavēre for "to keep cave" which is slang for "to keep care" or "beware" and also the origin for the French term qui vive to be vigilant before battle. The phrase "keep cavey" was also used by Jews in East London between World War I and World War II which could have been corrupted to the current form by US promoters and wrestlers at that time which where from Eastern Europe . While professional wrestling has been staged, or planned, from
UWA World Trios Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3872-412: 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. 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. Kayfabe, in the United States, is often seen as
3993-573: Is to some extent scripted, or "kayfabe", even though at times it is portrayed as real-life, where it was once portrayed as real rivalries being conveniently settled by unscripted wrestling matches. Kayfabe was fiercely maintained for decades with the intent to deceive fans, 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
4114-649: The Oxford English Dictionary , the earliest known written evidence of the word "kayfabe" is from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Yearbook for 1988, although the term is believed to be much older. Though the origin is not known with certainty, varied sources offer some possibilities. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary kayfabe could also be carny -speak for "be fake" which
4235-659: The Axis powers of World War II and Communist countries during the Cold War era, were commonly used in North American wrestling as heel-defining traits. Another angle of a heel could be approached from a position of authority; examples include Big Boss Man , a corrections officer; Mike Rotunda as Irwin R. Schyster, a federal tax collector; Jacques Rougeau wearing RCMP -inspired dress as The Mountie; and Glenn Jacobs (who would later become famous as Kane ) as Isaac Yankem,
4356-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
4477-776: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
4598-404: 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. In relative terms, a wrestler breaking kayfabe would be likened to an actor breaking character on-camera. Since wrestling is performed in front of a live audience, whose interaction with the show
4719-523: The "break" may be implied or through an allusion (for example calling a wrestler by their real name) and standards tend to vary as to what actually constitutes a break. In the WWF during and after the Attitude Era , the line between kayfabe and reality was often blurred. With the growth of the industry and its exposure on the Internet and DVD and videos , kayfabe may be broken more regularly. Whereas in
4840-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
4961-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
UWA World Trios Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
5082-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
5203-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
5324-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
5445-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
5566-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
5687-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
5808-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
5929-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
6050-410: The audience, or within the confines of some internal code e.g. only fighting obvious heel characters, criticizing authority figures. Particularly successful tweeners can find over time that they are enthusiastically adopted as "faces" by the audience without changing their tweener or antihero characterization e.g. Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels . Despite the wrestlers' character settings,
6171-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
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#17327806341346292-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
6413-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
6534-585: The championship, or leaving the company. The current champions are Aagan Iisou ( Shuji Kondo , Takuya Sugawara and Toru Owashi ). After the UWA's closing, the title was inactive for many years before being recycled as trios belts for the Toryumon Japan promotion. The titles fell back into disrepair due to Último Dragón leaving Toryumon and taking the name with him, causing the then-Toryumon workers to create Dragon Gate , where they created new belts for
6655-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
6776-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
6897-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
7018-476: The crowd and commentators know if the wrestlers are legitimately injured in serious or dangerous spots. The injured wrestler can squeeze the opponent or referee within a short time frame before giving thumbs up or wave to the crowd, if possible. If they cannot do so in a timely manner, the referee will cross their arms above their head to signal for medical help, often ending the match. The signal has been used as part of kayfabe in order to create drama partway through
7139-399: The crowd may not react accordingly. This may be due to booking issues or a particular crowd's tendency to react positively to heels, and negatively (or at least in an indifferent manner) to faces. A strong audience reaction against the original push of a character can occasionally lead to booking a "turn" where the character begins to act in line with the audience's reaction; this can help reset
7260-521: The crowd. Faces usually win their matches on the basis of their technical skills and are sometimes portrayed as underdogs to enhance the story. Heels are villainous or antagonistic characters, whose personalities are crafted to elicit a negative response from the audience. They often embrace traditionally negative traits such as narcissism , egomania , unprompted rage, sadism , and general bitterness. Though not as prevalent today, xenophobic ethnic and racial stereotypes, in particular, those inspired by
7381-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
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#17327806341347502-443: The distinction between fact and fiction and giving the audience complicity in creating the spectacle. The characters assumed by wrestlers can be distinguished into two alignments: faces and heels . Faces, short for "babyfaces", are hero -type characters whose personalities are crafted to elicit the support of the audience through traits such as humility , patriotism , a hard-working nature, determination, and reciprocal love of
7623-718: The early 1990s, Vince McMahon responded via a series of videotaped comments defending his company and employees, and several full-page advertisements rebutting the allegations appeared in WWF Magazine and the New York Times . In the Reality Era (2014 and onwards, specifically after WrestleMania XXX ) and the era of social media, kayfabe is often broken when wrestlers go on tour. Feuding stars in storylines can be seen being civil to each other when they are not wrestling. Off-ring persona can be strikingly different from
7744-919: The early 21st century, this kayfabe practice has given way to reality in the WWE , largely due to the creation of the reality television program Total Divas where four " legit " (legally binding) weddings have occurred: Natalya and Tyson Kidd , Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan , Naomi and Jimmy Uso , and Eva Marie and her fiancé Jonathan. In TNA , after American Wolves disbanded, Eddie Edwards and Davey Richards and their "legit" wives, Alisha Edwards and Angelina Love-Richards wrestled against each other. Tag teams of wrestlers, who may or may not look alike, are often presented as relatives, though they are not actually related. Examples include The Brothers of Destruction ( The Undertaker and Kane ), The Holly Cousins ( Hardcore Holly , Crash Holly , and Molly Holly ) and The Dudley Brothers . The "Brother" tag team concept
7865-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
7986-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
8107-650: The feud when they are normally heels in other feuds and storylines. On May 10, 2020, Asuka won the Money In The Bank briefcase , which normally would allow her to compete against WWE Raw Women's Champion up to a calendar year from the day she won the briefcase. This would have continued a feud with Becky Lynch , who held the title for 399 days, but surrendered the title to Asuka after Lynch became pregnant with her first child with Seth Rollins , her then-fiancé and later husband. Asuka broke kayfabe by hugging and congratulating Lynch when Asuka found out that she
8228-417: The feuds between comedians Jack Benny and Fred Allen , and comedian/actor Bob Hope and singer/actor Bing Crosby were totally fake; in real life, Benny and Allen were best friends while Hope and Crosby were also close friends. A more recent example is the satirical feud between talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and actor Matt Damon which has been a running joke on Jimmy Kimmel Live! for many years and
8349-430: The filming of shows. It is occasionally broken during shows, usually when dealing with genuine injuries that occur during a match or paying tribute to wrestlers. 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. Initially, people "in the business" (either wrestlers or those working behind
8470-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
8591-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
8712-592: The general public. This resulted in Sullivan's wife actually leaving him for Chris Benoit when the two developed a real-life romantic relationship during their time together. Nancy ultimately married Chris in 2000. Chris Benoit killed Nancy and their 7-year-old son Daniel in a murder-suicide in 2007. Brian Pillman developed a "Loose Cannon" persona for himself while in WCW in 1996, conspiring with Vice President Eric Bischoff and booker Kevin Sullivan. Pillman's character
8833-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
8954-456: The in-ring character with less disapproval. In some instances, the use of kayfabe to protect a storyline or a wrestler led to real life events mirroring the storylines. While working as a booker for WCW, Kevin Sullivan conceived an angle where Woman ( Nancy Daus Sullivan , Sullivan's wife both on-screen and off), would leave his character for Chris Benoit . Sullivan insisted that Nancy and Chris should travel together to preserve kayfabe for
9075-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
9196-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
9317-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
9438-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
9559-442: The injury was due to the attack. This normally would lead to the injured wrestler returning, later on, to "settle the score". Promoters have used in-ring accidents that led to injuries, or in extreme cases death, as a way to make a heel even more hated and unpopular. In 1971, Alberto Torres died three days after wrestling Ox Baker . Evidence indicated that Torres died of a ruptured appendix , but Baker's heart punch finishing move
9680-399: The match, such as the main event of TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2017) . Wrestlers being publicly "fired" is a popular storytelling device, often for the fired wrestler to return under a mask or "earn their job" back through a match. In the days where the National Wrestling Alliance territories were at their height some wrestlers would travel from territory to territory, often using
9801-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
9922-458: The new company. After leaving Toryumon Japan, the titles ended up in the hands of its descendant promotion El Dorado and the Mexico based Toryumon Gym. Neither group promoted shows on a regular basis, which produced two unsuccessful attempts to relaunch the championship. In 2007, El Dorado revived the title again. In 2008 El Dorado Wrestling folded and the title moved to DDT Pro-Wrestling , where it
10043-404: The past it was extremely rare for a wrestler or other involved person to recognize the scripted nature of events even in outside press or media, WWE DVDs and WWE.com routinely give news and acknowledge real life. In the case of the former, vignettes may feature ostensible adversaries and allies talking about each other, and the angles and storylines they worked and their opinions on them. On WWE.com,
10164-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
10285-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
10406-425: The real-life marriage became an open secret on television before being acknowledged by Triple H in 2009. The opposite also holds true, where the kayfabe story is based on, or as a result of, real-life events, from disclosing relationship status to starting family feuds. CM Punk's 2011 pipe bomb has claimed that Vince McMahon has the potential to be a billionaire, when in fact, Vince was at one point, before it
10527-785: The real-life news is often given which may contradict storylines. Before the Attitude Era and the advent of the Internet, publications such as WWF Magazine , and television programs broke kayfabe only to acknowledge major real-life events involving current, or retired wrestlers, such as a death (for instance, the death of Ernie Roth , who was billed as "The Grand Wizard of Wrestling"), divorce (e.g., Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth ) or life-threatening accident (such as Brutus Beefcake's 1990 parasailing accident ), especially if said event received mass mainstream coverage. In addition, when WWF top officials and employees were facing allegations of anabolic steroid abuse and sexual harassment during
10648-399: The relationship between the two is simply a storyline. More than once, kayfabe romantic relationships have occurred alongside real-life relationships, such as between Matt Hardy and Lita ; these real-life relationships may occasionally develop into a real-life marriage (e.g., Triple H and Stephanie McMahon , who married in 2003, more than a year after their kayfabe marriage ended). During
10769-464: The same day, Enzo Amore had been criticized by The Miz about him being thrown off the tour bus and banned from the locker room as he was a negative influence, while Amore answered back by saying The Miz's initial heel run in the WWE was because he wasn't a great in-ring performer despite having great mic skills. Under this feud, The Miz and Maryse also blurred the face/heel divide as they are built as faces in
10890-411: The scenes) used the term kayfabe as a code among those in the wrestling profession, discussing matters in public without revealing the scripted nature. As a concept, kayfabe involves both the fact that matches are scripted and that wrestlers portray characters for their shows. Unlike actors who portray their characters only when on set or on stage, professional wrestlers often stay "in character" outside
11011-399: The scripted nature of professional wrestling. 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 (equivalent to $ 28,000 in 2023) as he won a battle royal , not realizing that the prize money was simply
11132-499: The scripted nature of professional wrestling. The amendments to the Communications Act of 1934 , passed following the quiz show scandals in 1960, prohibited the televising of scripted contests but specifically only prohibited the rigging of games of chance or intellectual skill or knowledge, and thus rigged athletic competitions were still arguably legal to televise. While the scripted nature of professional wrestling
11253-408: The shows, especially when interacting with fans, trying to preserve the illusion of professional wrestling. In contrast, something that is not kayfabe, be it a fight or a statement, is referred to as a " shoot ". I remember the guy who would bring our jackets back to the dressing room. Every time he did, someone would yell "Kayfabe." ... Then one night, the guy decided to stand up for himself and told
11374-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
11495-482: The taxation some states placed on income from athletic events held in that state, as well as to avoid the need to meet the requirement of having to employ medical professionals standing by, as was generally mandatory for legitimate contact sports involving substantial possibility of injury. The era of professional wrestling since then has been described by Abraham Josephine Riesman as "neokayfabe", in which storylines can become real life and vice versa, thus blurring
11616-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
11737-481: The time it was a sideshow attraction, the scripted nature of the performances has been hinted at over time. In 1934 a show held at Wrigley Field in Chicago billed one of the matches as "the last great shooting match", subtly disclosing that the other matches were kayfabe (in reality, even the "shooting" match was scripted). In 1957, comedian Groucho Marx described watching wrestlers "practice their match", hinting at
11858-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
11979-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
12100-418: The two eventually married in real life in 2003. The Catholic priest at the wedding, not aware of the workings of the wrestling business, initially refused to marry the two when he found out about the kayfabe "wedding" from a choir boy who was also a wrestling fan. Linda McMahon later had to explain to the priest the difference between WWE programming and real life, allowing the marriage to go through. Afterward,
12221-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
12342-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
12463-462: The whole dressing room: "I don't mind the yelling, but I want to let you know that my name is not Kayfabe. It's Mark." ... 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. The term kayfabe was often used as a warning to other wrestlers that someone who was not "in the know" was in the vicinity. This could include wrestlers' family members who had not been clued into
12584-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
12705-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
12826-577: Was active until 2012, the final champions were Harashima , Toru Owashi and Yukihiro Abe. On August 30, 2015, it was announced that the title would be revived by the Wrestle-1 promotion on October 9. The title has since moved to Big Japan Pro Wrestling and DDT's Pro-Wrestling Basara sub-group. As of November 28, 2024. Kayfabe Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling , kayfabe ( / ˈ k eɪ f eɪ b / )
12947-453: Was an open secret , it was not generally acknowledged by people in the business. Often wrestlers and promoters would make sure that on-screen rivals were not seen eating or traveling together between shows and so on. There were a few occasional mistakes at the time, such as an incident in 1987 in which police arrested The Iron Sheik and Hacksaw Jim Duggan , supposed rivals in an upcoming match at Madison Square Garden , as they sat together in
13068-515: Was based entirely on straddling the fine line of kayfabe, presenting it as if he had legitimate problems with WCW management. He would engage in on-camera actions that seemed to be unscripted, even to the other performers, and even breached kayfabe protocol when he addressed Sullivan on air as "bookerman". When Triple H and Stephanie McMahon entered into a kayfabe marriage in late 1999, Triple H and McMahon started dating in real life, and continued to do so after their onscreen marriage ended in 2002;
13189-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
13310-536: Was commonly used during the "territory years" (1950s–1980s) as a means to develop young talent, by pairing them with a veteran wrestler and giving the younger wrestler a "rub" by virtue of the association, such as the Valliant Brothers or the Fargo Brothers where none of the "brothers" were actually related. A wrestler or a promotion uses kayfabe in regard to injuries in one of two ways: "selling"
13431-757: Was even referenced when Kimmel hosted the 89th Academy Awards . Other examples of kayfabe rivalries include that between Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart , and that of Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds . It has long been claimed that kayfabe has been used in American politics, especially in election campaigns, Congress, and the White House. In interviews as Governor of Minnesota , former wrestler Jesse Ventura often likened Washington to wrestling when he said that politicians "pretend to hate each other in public, then go out to dinner together". In 2023 News opinions and
13552-616: Was going "to become a mother". With the title, Asuka also became only the second Women's Grand Slam Champion , which required her to win the NXT Women's title, the Smackdown and Raw Women's titles and the Women's Tag Team Championship. Unlike Bayley, Asuka had also won a Women's Royal Rumble match before. Lynch was written out of storylines as she went on hiatus. It was later revealed that Asuka's reactions were legit and genuine despite being
13673-650: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
13794-428: Was rehired after fan backlash and the love triangle became a highlight in their storyline rivalry. In June 2017, Big Cass broke away from Enzo Amore and cited that Enzo's off-ring antics made him a distraction in the locker room. On September 11, 2017, The Miz and Maryse revealed they were expecting their first child, having previously been mocked by John Cena for not having children after being married. neo On
13915-641: Was revealed he lost $ 750 million of his $ 1.6 billion net worth, losing 350 million in a day due to WWE's over-valued stock price and lower-than-expected WWE Network subscribers (his net worth currently stands at a reported $ 2 billion). He also referred to John Cena and Cena's beloved Boston-based sports teams as heels because they were all no longer underdogs, and they have all forged dynasties and championship teams in their respective sports ( Boston Celtics , Boston Red Sox , Boston Bruins , New England Patriots ). Kurt Angle had legitimately won an Olympic Gold Medal for Freestyle Wrestling, and built heat as
14036-550: Was scrapped, while she has moved to have the storyline with Drew Gulak . The segments for Raw 25 has also changed on hours' notice due to Jimmy Fallon unable to arrive in New York in time for pre-taped segments for Raw 25 where he was supposed to interview the current and former GM's in Raw and SmackDown, but instead, they only waved in a Hall-of-Fame-like lineup. Kayfabe, while not referred to as such, has existed in other areas of show business, especially in feuds. For instance,
14157-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
14278-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
14399-446: Was the kayfabe reason; the death was worked into Baker's wrestling persona by the promoters making Baker the most hated heel in the territory at the time. Acts exploiting personal tragedy or death became less and less prevalent by the turn of the century with fans being more aware of the worked nature of professional wrestling. On the other hand, due to the risks involved in professional wrestling, some measures are still in place to let
14520-399: Was unable to appear on specific shows. If a wrestler appears on a show after a "brutal" attack they would "sell" the injury by limping or having their arm heavily bandaged and so on. In other instances, when a wrestler was legitimately injured either during a match or during training, a story line would play out where a heel would attack the wrestler and "injure" them to give the impression that
14641-480: Was written out of WWE after his contract nears expiration. He was assaulted and left in an ambulance, with Samantha Irvin , his real-life fiancé, leaving the arena in tears. WWE later issued an apology to her. Last-minute injuries, contracts, and marital statuses can also change the storyline or how a segment is presented. When Enzo Amore's contract was terminated due to withholding information about his sexual assault investigation, his romantic storyline with Nia Jax
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