Kayfabe, Then and Now

Kayfabe, Then and Now . . . .  

When I was a kid growing up in the 1960's and  1970's, I remember loving to watch Professional Wrestling on television.  Each and every Saturday I was able to see my favorite heroes.  Men such as Dick the Bruiser, the "World's Toughest Wrestler!," . . . . The Crusher . .  .  Bobo Brazil  . . .  Pepper Gomez . . .  Wilbur Snyder . . .  Cowboy Bob Ellis . . . . etc.   Now, of course these were just the "good guys."  There were ring villains as well, men you just loved to hate:  Baron Von Rashke . . . .  "Big Cat" Ernie Ladd . . .  The Sheik . . .  The Valliant Brothers . . . . etc.   And your heroes would face off against their foes each and every week providing no end of excitement.  As I got older I remember going to the Convention Center once a month to actually see the matches in person.  How exciting to not only see your heroes in person but to cheer them on as they battled their hated foes!  Now, back in the good old days, keep in mind, people took their wrestling very seriously.  You loved and supported the "good guys" and hated and despised the "bad guys."  And the wrestlers . . .  good or bad . . .  played their role to perfection.  In other words, whether you saw the televised interviews of the various wrestlers or would see their actual matches at the local arena, you would believe that they hated each other with a passion.  You believed that they were truly trying to pound each other into submission.  This "keeping in character," if you will, is known as "kayfabe:"  

"In professional wrestling, kayfabe 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"  (Definition from Wikipedia)

In other words, "Good guys" would still appear to be good and wonderful while in the public and "Bad guys" would do their best to appear at mean and hateful when they were in public.  And while they were at the arena, the general public would never see the two groups mingling one with the other.  But in reality it turned out that the matches were staged . . .  the rivalries were rigged . . .  and the outcomes were already planned.  

Now why am I going on and on and on about this, you might be asking yourself . . . .  if you have kept reading this far, that is.  Well, it boils down to this.  A lot of people might look back at those fans and look down their noses at the fans for believing in such nonsense.  "Why would you believe that?" they would say.  "You knew it was fake."  "They would believe anything!"  Perhaps but what I want to point out is that we still have "kayfabe" today.  Oh, not in professional wrestling.  Today wrestling is simply acknowledged as "entertainment sports."   

Today, in my humble opinion, "kayfabe" exists more in the world of  politics.  In politics people pick out a side they prefer.  Their party, in their eyes, are the "good guys."  And the other party are the "bad guys."  People today believe all the hype of the media . . .  or "social media"  . . .  or what they hear or read.  They believe that the political opponents really hate each other . .  . distrust each other . . . . They believe that there are clear differences between the political parties.  They believe that the political parties and the politicians really have it out for each other.  They get on TV and give interviews criticizing the "other side."  They get their base all worked up into a frenzy and hurl insults at whoever disagrees with them.  And in turn their supporters do the same thing to anyone who disagrees with them.  

The sad thing is that these politicians really end up working for themselves.  They work for their benefit.  They work to promote their political party instead of what is good for their country.   Sadly,  the end result is that these politicians do not work for the American people.  They pretend that they do.  They say that they do.  But actions speak louder than words.  They work for themselves and not for the people.  But they do put on a good show for the cameras.  They give good speeches and make great promises when speaking in front of the cameras.  They are "kayfabe" to the end when the cameras are on . . . when they are giving speeches . . . when they are in front of their constituents.   But in the end they work out deals and make compromises over drinks and dinner with their political "rivals."  

You wonder how people could be so naive concerning professional wrestling in days gone by?  Ask yourself how people could be so naive concerning modern day politics today.  In my opinion there are many similarities when you think about.