The Intricate Spectrum: Confused Reality
In a unique time when the line between reality and kayfabe has become blurred it has become harder and harder to distinguish between fact and fiction. Have we entered a time when there is no longer a man behind the gimmick rather are we just left with the man?
When did it all change? What caused the change? How can I tell the difference between the man and the gimmick? All valid questions. Wrestling fans now know everything about the favorite wrestler nowadays to a point where it seems the fans know even there favorite wrestlers best pair of underwear. Are we victims of our own need to know intuition or the product of a confused reality by the promoters and the wrestlers?
Wrestling fans have argued that kayfabe has become outdated and no longer relevant. At a recent event in Australia several fans waited after the event for autographs and a chance to catch a glimpse of the performers they admire. The car park of the Sydney Entertainment Center filled with thousands of adoring fans some wrestlers stopped and gave a greeting and signed autographs but many of the heels shunned the crowd. The Internet reported how Randy Orton and others had been assholes and not signed autographs or was this just a case of the wrestlers playing to the character? Because the Orton we see every week on television wouldn't stop to give autographs. I was recently talking to Sperious Aereon otherwise known as 'The Golden Greek' who happened to be friends with my Dad and was a stellar wrestler in his time. We started talking about the whole event and he said “Ah Randy was just being a good boy, he stuck to kayfabe”. In the coming days I would get to thinking about Wrestlers sticking to character and how easily it would become confused with the man behinds the gimmicks real persona.
If we look back to the 60's and 70's even as late as the 80's there are many and varied stories about wrestlers becoming the victims of attacks, stabbings and even shootings. In those days it was undoubtedly a different era, A time when wrestlers and the product was still real and protected so nobody would think any different. In the modern era of wrestling most people know the secrets about the business all the insider terms such as blading or juicing. But could it be we are still being played for fools by the promoters? We are lead to believe Triple H is an egomaniac who craves power and the top spot in real life ironically his on air character mirrors those sentiments. Maybe just maybe we are the victim of persuasion and lead into thinking a certain way in which all the gimmicks become real and we don't think any different to it. Vince McMahon is another perfect example his television persona is that of an evil boss who needs to have everything they way he wants in order fulfill his own ego. Could it be Vince hears about all the Internet rumors about him and thinks hey if the fans think that why not capitalize on it? Seems like a good idea too me so I can't see why bookers wouldn't think the same way.
I dare you to try to find a forum where there hasn't been post about Vince being a manipulative bastard. Then watch interviews with major superstars like Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho or even Ric Flair who will tell you the exact opposite. Many will claim they are just protecting there job but I disagree because them ridiculing him would only once again strengthen his character. Over the years the Internet has become a powerful tool and could easily capitalized on and used into making us think what the companies want us to think remember perception is reality. I think it could well be a major case of promoters capitalizing on every tool available and creating a whole new era of kayfabe in which their is nobody behind the gimmick just a perceived persona. If you continue to blur something long enough it becomes hard to decipher one from another. This simplistic ideology could easily created and put into practice and create the new kayfabe.
Maybe I'm giving bookers too much credit and maybe I'm not. Next time you sit and watch wrestling could it be we you are just ask yourself could maybe I'm the product manipulation and made into thinking what the promoter wants. It's rather simple psychology it could be fact or just a creation of fiction by my over thinking. But remember maybe just maybe!
Thank You
Matthew James
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