The Art of Crypto Kayfabe - by Brett Scott
A warm memory from my young childhood was watching World Wide Wrestling Federation battles with my grandmother on her TV in the dusty town of Masvingo in Zimbabwe. One of the stars of the Federation (which is now called WWE) was The Undertaker. He scared the crap out of me, but I was dazzled by him. He’d stare down his challenger with demonic eyes. He’d even be carried onto stage in a coffin, and by the end of the fight he’d try to lock his opponent into it.
I was vaguely aware that this team was engaged in a gimmick of some sort, especially because all the other wrestlers also had their own hype-men, unique character and costume. They weren’t just fighters. They were stories.
As a kid, I was partially aware that the characters were acting a bit, but I did actually think the fights were real. In wrestling jargon, they’d call my young self a ‘mark’, someone who doesn’t see through the ‘ Kayfabe’ - the fact that it’s all staged.
For a long time there was a big taboo in wrestling against breaking kayfabe. An old-school guy like The Undertaker would never break character, but last year I was delighted to see him finally do it. He removed his Gimmick, and appeared as his true self on the YouTube hit show Hot Ones. The terrifying Undertaker is actually a guy called Mark Calaway, and he seems very sweet and thoughtful.
