MVP Blames WWE's Vince McMahon For Death Of Kayfabe

Former WWE star MVP has discussed the end of kayfabe, claiming that Vince McMahon was responsible for its decline in professional wrestling.

Kayfabe, the term used for the suspension of disbelief in WWE, met its end when McMahon — the then head of WWE — stated that pro wrestling was pre-determined. MVP, in his "Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze" podcast, laid the blame squarely on McMahon for its demise and explained why the disgraced former WWE owner did it. 

"So, kayfabe was protecting the reality of the business. Kayfabe is dead. She's been dead a long time. A lot of people say that Vince murdered kayfabe when he came out and said, 'Hey, this is sports entertainment. It's a predetermined decision, predetermined outcome.' And even then, at that time, a lot of the territory promoters said, 'His sh*t is fake. Our sh*t is real. You're going to kill off the business for everybody.' And Vince said, 'No, we are sports entertainment.' And he did that in an attempt to not have to pay the athletic commissions — because we've already discussed athletic commissions — but the athletic commissions just came back and said, "Okay, we include pro wrestling in the athletic commission, too,'" MVP said.

The end of kayfabe, MVP believes, caused wrestling — and wrestlers — to lose their mystique, as performers used to stay in character for long periods, which is no longer the case.

"I think one of the sad things about kayfabe being dead is that you've lost the mystique of wrestlers, because when I was a little kid, I was deathly afraid of Abdullah the Butcher. I really thought he was a madman from Sudan with all that blood."

The AEW star also feels that fans having direct access to wrestlers through social media has, in a way, removed the aura that wrestling once had.