could Kayfabe make a comeback?

[The MAC]

The immediate answer is obviously "no" - the toothpaste is out of the tube. However I was wondering if it was even possible to get back to a stage of "is some of this real ?"

My plan would be a 10 yea strategy of slowly minimizing storylines and hokey gimmicks while making the in-ring work snug and less circus like. A little more blood would help, as would wrestlers going back to the old school kayfabing.

So heres the challenge : Vince and HHH call you in (because they read your opinions online (haha)) and want you to devise a plan to get back to the days of kayfabe. How would you attempt it if you had to ?

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I mean you could just always keep kayfabe but even when kayfabe was alive and well most fans were wise to it. With hte internet it's impossible.

[Destor]

no

[Gerard]

More chance of me pumping Torrie Wilson. :-\

[Mr. Nerfect]

I actually think it could. A few months ago my friend was telling me what a dick a certain UFC fighter was, and he dragged me out to the pub to watch him get his head kicked in. I can't remember the dude's name, but I didn't have the heart to break it to my friend that the guy was probably just working heel.

People are really naive. Some genuinely voted for Trump thinking he gives a fuck about them. Some people watch reality television and don't realize that it is edited and very little of the drama in it is real. How many of you have heard about the blood being fake?

The uphill work is in fixing the image of professional wrestling, and it's carny associations. It's one of the few forms of entertainment that cops to working people out of their money, and people are still bitter about that. It also has this association of being racist, sexist, homophobic and generally pretty "dumb." The stench of that stigma is hard to wash off.

To make wrestling "cool" and "progressive" without losing the testosterone-filled cathartic violence that actually draws money is the difficulty. I think the best philosophy to have would be to have a presentation that is ironically serious. We live in an age of irony now, and while goofy shit gets over with smarks and highlights a "doncha know we playin'?" aspect of wrestling for kids who are embarrassed to admit they want to make their living in it, a serious presentation of it would have serious charm. I mean, it's basically what the UFC does now.

Winking is the new "trying too hard." Guys who throw themselves into what they do are now becoming cool again. I hope so, anyway. To make the job easier, I'd try to work the internet fans, because we are surprisingly easy to work. Stories about dudes being difficult to work with, throwing their weight around backstage, refusing to put talent over -- even if none of that is true. No, not to get meta, but to create emotional investments in babyfaces and heels again. Next time Roman Reigns is World Champion and scheduled to go over Finn Balor or whatever, I hope the story gets leaked that he pulled Vince aside and tried to convince him that Balor isn't reliable as a top guy.

Have two circles of working going on. There are people on these boards who thought The Miz was shooting on Talking Smack.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

No, Total Divas is kayfabe being dug up and raped and then re-burried.

[Theo Dious]

It's still real to me dammit.

And Noid is an idiot.

[Gerard]

No, Total Divas is kayfabe being dug up and raped and then re-burried.

Tough enough done that long before total ho's.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Theo Dious touches people for cash at bus stops. Feud on, brother.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Ohh ohhh WrestleMania!

Fightin' to Survive!

PUMP IT UP!

[Sepholio]

You have to get rid of the reality shows. You have to get rid of PG. Edgier storylines more based in realistic situations. More blood. You need your good matches to be shorter to sell the toll the battle takes on these guys more. No more comedic marketing spots and promos. You need to make the titles meaningful again. You need strong champions with longer reigns on average. And by God you need less dirty finishes with the champions. Stop destroying their credibility. And stop calling it sports entertainment.

This isn't an overnight thing either. It's gonna take years.

[KIRA]

This is a small thing but having both genders put their hair up before a match. Like I said its small but it started to bug me when I thought about it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

This is a small thing but having both genders put their hair up before a match. Like I said its small but it started to bug me when I thought about it.

I don't know why, but I never thought about this, but then someone said it and now it really does bug me.

[Mr. Nerfect]

You have to get rid of the reality shows. You have to get rid of PG. Edgier storylines more based in realistic situations. More blood. You need your good matches to be shorter to sell the toll the battle takes on these guys more. No more comedic marketing spots and promos. You need to make the titles meaningful again. You need strong champions with longer reigns on average. And by God you need less dirty finishes with the champions. Stop destroying their credibility. And stop calling it sports entertainment.

This isn't an overnight thing either. It's gonna take years.

:y:

[Gerard]

You have to get rid of the reality shows. You have to get rid of PG. Edgier storylines more based in realistic situations. More blood. You need your good matches to be shorter to sell the toll the battle takes on these guys more. No more comedic marketing spots and promos. You need to make the titles meaningful again. You need strong champions with longer reigns on average. And by God you need less dirty finishes with the champions. Stop destroying their credibility. And stop calling it sports entertainment.

This isn't an overnight thing either. It's gonna take years.



Basically impossible. Vince once said in an interview about WWF initials "wouldn't it be great if we could get that Wrestling word out of there", or words to that effect. The words "Wrestling" and "Wrestler" seem to be virtually banned from WWE.


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And with the sheer amount of information available online it would take the internet to vanish for people not to be clued in, or the population of the planet that watch wrestling to get selective Amnesia.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I still maintain that people are really easy to work. Remember when people thought CM Punk was actually shooting during the pipe-bomb promo? People aren't used to stuff sounding or looking real, so when it does, they shit themselves.

The flip side is that Brock Lesnar actually beats people up and people probably think it's fake. So I dunno.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I'm all for the Internet going to Hell if it meant people would actually learn how to not be horrible people to each other again, but I think we all know the damage is done.

Besides, it isn't going away ever anyhow and if you wasn't to know why, I'VE GOT THREE WORDS FOR YA: Free Internet porn.

[Heyman]

The immediate answer is obviously "no" - the toothpaste is out of the tube. However I was wondering if it was even possible to get back to a stage of "is some of this real ?"

My plan would be a 10 yea strategy of slowly minimizing storylines and hokey gimmicks while making the in-ring work snug and less circus like. A little more blood would help, as would wrestlers going back to the old school kayfabing.

So heres the challenge : Vince and HHH call you in (because they read your opinions online (haha)) and want you to devise a plan to get back to the days of kayfabe. How would you attempt it if you had to ?


Unfortunately, I think Kayfabe is long gone.

Also - the word 'yea' does not exist to the best of my knowledge.

[XL]

I still maintain that people are really easy to work. Remember when people thought CM Punk was actually shooting during the pipe-bomb promo? People aren't used to stuff sounding or looking real, so when it does, they shit themselves.

The flip side is that Brock Lesnar actually beats people up and people probably think it's fake. So I dunno.

That's the biggest hurdle to get past to make people think it's real again. You can frame the matches in "real" stories, you can have the guys say "shoot" lines, you can layer on "real sports" presentation but ultimately when they get in the ring it won't look real. Every time someone does an Irish Whip the questions will begin.