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With everything that has been discussed so far, we have to question whether kayfabe still exists today. The answer to that is yes, but possibly in a different form than before.
The Influence of Kayfabe today
With social media and the presence that wrestlers have on TV shows and movies, the maintenance of kayfabe would seem to be more difficult. But, wrestlers today don’t have to maintain a persona or keep up with certain appearances. The emergence of this new-kayfabe means today provides wrestlers with a new opportunity.
Social Media Influences
Now, wrestlers can use social media to work as a way to continue kayfabe or to promote popularity. For example, when Kevin Owens was storyline fired from Raw, he changed his social media from his wrestler persona to his real name and removed all mentions of WWE. This change has effectively grayed the line between reality and story. Kayfabe can be maintained with fans questioning whether a storyline is “real or not?”
So what is “real”?
When Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan’s story-line came out about Kurt being Jason’s father, there were questions as to whether this was real. Are Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss really not best friends anymore? Even with the inclusion of real-life relationships in story-lines, the lines blur more and more.
So, yes, kayfabe still exists. The face of it may have changed, and it may get broken more often than in the past, but it is still here. And the presence of it keeps us guessing. It keeps us tuning in. It keeps us googling. It keeps us questioning where reality ends and kayfabe begins.
