What Does Kayfabe Mean?

Wrestling at its finest makes a fan, no matter their age, suspend their disbelief to make them think, or at least feel, that what a performer doing in the ring, whether it be in a match or what they're saying on the microphone, is real. That's often difficult to achieve these days with various outlets reporting behind-the-scenes news and even spoiling results on social media, but this practice in professional wrestling still has a name – kayfabe.

Kayfabe is a term that means keeping the illusion that everything in wrestling is real, and the silent agreement between wrestlers and their fans that allows this to happen. It includes the portrayal of relationships between wrestlers, including rivalries and blood feuds in addition to friendships and romances. It's used to help create an entertaining performance and to help fans escape reality, like watching a film or any other TV show. 

Many fans who grew up watching professional wrestling had to experience the realization that wrestling isn't "real," akin to finding out Santa Claus isn't real, but kayfabe helps keep the entertainment value alive despite a fan knowing wrestling is scripted and pre-determined. It's a true suspension of disbelief and more often than not, promotions and wrestlers themselves work their hardest to keep kayfabe alive, blurring the lines between what's real and what's not.

One of the biggest and most recent names who was a staunch advocate for kayfabe before wrestling emerged into the digital age was WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker. He was known for never doing interviews out of The Undertaker character until he slowly began to pull back the curtain, beginning with his "1deadMAN SHOW," then venturing into the podcasting world with his "Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway" show, even using his real name.

There are two wrestlers who are very good at keeping kayfabe on social media in the era of more and more knowledge becoming available to wrestling fans. AEW's Maxwell Jacob Friedman and WWE's Drew McIntyre both keep their storylines going with their sassy posts on X (formerly Twitter), especially. McIntyre's feud with CM Punk throughout 2024 was kept alive when Punk was injured for a majority of the year, all through McIntyre's posts on social media. McIntyre explained back at the beginning of 2025 that he can only go so far on television, but his social media is his own and no one can tell him what to do. He said even if the company would have asked him to pull back, he would have said "no." McIntyre can often be described as an internet troll when it comes to his hatred of Punk, posting his feelings about the star and even memes.

MJF will go a step farther in addition to social media and do signings with fans completely in character. The loving tagline fans have for him, "He's out scumbag!" holds true for some events. Back in November, when he was presented with a replica WWE Championship by a fan, he threw it to the ground, which drew plenty of criticism from some, but other "old time" wrestlers who kept kayfabe back in the day applauded "The Salt of the Earth." 

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray spoke about MJF at Rhode Island Comic Con in 2023 and recalled how he was a "complete d***" to everyone at his signing. He said he saw MJF scribbled his name in autographs, through photos to the floor, and fling action figures across the room in addition to telling fans they sucked. He did, however, note that fans were entertained by it.

One of the most legendary examples of keeping kayfabe that fans may not even know about came in 1975. Five passengers were aboard a small plane for a short flight, including National Wrestling Alliance executive David Crockett and professional wrestlers Johnny Valentine, a young Ric Flair, Robert Bruggers, and George Burrell Woodin, also known as Tim Wood, and better known as masked wrestler Mr. Wrestling. The plane crashed that fateful evening on October 4, injuring all on board. However, back in the day, heels and babyfaces weren't "supposed to" travel with each other, as the good guys and bad guys didn't get along.

Mr. Wrestling was a face and Flair was a heel during a time where everyone went above and beyond to make sure fans thought the feuds were legitimate. While in the hospital, Mr. Wrestling gave his real name and lied about his profession to keep kayfabe to prevent fans from knowing they were all on the same plane. 

When rumors began swirling that Mr. Wrestling was indeed on the flight, he put on his mask, still in tremendous pain from the plane crash, and got back in the ring just two weeks after the crash, saving the livelihood of everyone involved. Flair called Woodin "the man who saved wrestling" in his autobiography "To Be The Man" for his commitment to kayfabe.