Kayfabe In professional wrestling , kayfabe ( pronounced " KEI - feib " ; IPA : ) refers to the portrayal of events within the industry as real , that is the portrayal of professional wrestling as not staged or work . Referring to events as kayfabe means that they are worked events , and / or part of a wrestling storyline . In relative terms , a wrestler breaking kayfabe during a show would be likened to an actor breaking character on camera . Kayfabe is often seen as the suspension of disbelief that is used to create the non - wrestling aspects of promotions , such as feud s , storylines , and gimmick s in a similar manner with other forms of entertainment such as soap opera or movie . In the past , kayfabe was strongly adhered to in order to preserve the illusion that pro wrestling was not staged . With the advent of the Internet wrestling community and the sports entertainment movement in pro wrestling , the maintenance of pro wrestling ' s backstage secrets are more difficult to keep than they were in earlier decades . Today , kayfabe is sometimes broken to advance storylines , to explain prolonged absences due to legitimate injury , as a tribute to a wrestler , or even for comedic effect . Origins of the term . Pro wrestling can trace some of its stylistic origins back to carnivals and Catch Wrestling , where the term " kayfabe " is thought to have originated as carny slang for " protecting the secrets of the business . " The term " kayfabe " itself may ultimately originate from the Pig Latin form of " fake " ( " ake - fay " ) or the phrase " be fake . " Kayfabe may also derive from another trick used by traveling carnival workers . With money tight , a carny would call home collect and ask for " Kay Fabian " . This was code letting the people at home know they had made it safely to the next town without paying for the cost of a phone call . The term " kayfabe " has been adopted ( and arguably misused ) by those outside the industry ( i . e . fans and some members of the press ) with the popularization of , first , insider newsletters , and later , insider information available via the internet . In modern , popular usage " kayfabe " can refer rather broadly to narrative conventions — like not " breaking character " — which are common in theater . Originally , however , within the wrestling business , maintaining " kayfabe " referred rather narrowly to the socially - enforced demand not to reveal the predetermined nature of wrestling matches and the cooperative aspects of the performances . In practice , this imperative meant that wrestlers , promoters , their families and others close to the business , were socially forbidden from talking frankly about the nature of their work to fans or the press . Uses . Relationships . Romantic relationships . Many storylines make use of kayfabe romantic relationships between two performers . Very often , both participants have other real - life relationships , and the " relationship " between the two is simply a storyline . However , more than once , kayfabe romantic relationships have resulted either from a real - life relationship , such as between Edge and Lita , or ultimately developed into a real - life marriage ( e . g . , Triple H and Stephanie McMahon , who got married in 2003 , more than a year after their kayfabe marriage ended ) . For years , the World Wrestling Federation presented real - life spouses " Macho Man " Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth as a wrestler - valet relationship , with no mention that they were actually married . In 1991 , the two began a kayfabe romantic relationship , which culminated in a wedding ceremony at that August ' s " SummerSlam 1991 " . The storyline ended a year later with the couple ' s real - life divorce ( and Miss Elizabeth ' s departure from the WWF ) . Families . Tag team s of wrestlers , who may or may not look alike , are often presented as relatives , though they are not actually related . Examples : The Von Erichs , despite being a real life family , had a number of peripheral kayfabe relatives , most notably Waldo and his " son " , Lance . Additionally , the " Von Erich " name itself was kayfabed ; their real family name was Adkisson . " You ' re fired ! " and " I quit ! " . Through kayfabe , wrestlers also quit or get fired , or are said to have been booked to lose a match where their jobs are on the line ( e . g . , a " loser leaves town match " ) , only to return at a future time . However , such " departures " may also be used to advance a feud between two wrestlers . A classic example is the " masked man " , where the wrestler ( usually a face ) who has supposedly lost his job makes appearances at subsequent events while wearing a mask , and then interfering in his heel opponent ' s matches ; eventually , the masked wrestler ' s identity is exposed by his foe and the feud intensifies . This storyline was used for the Dusty Rhodes / Kevin Sullivan feud during the 1980s and also for the feud between Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan in 2003 . The " you ' re fired " gimmick has also been used to re - package a wrestler with a new gimmick . On the August 22 , 2005 edition of " Raw " , WWE Champion John Cena successfully defended his title by defeating Chris Jericho in a " You ' re Fired ! " match . Though the match had been conceived to cover for Jericho ' s departure from the company , Jericho was not truly " fired , " as his release was a mutual arrangement , and he continues to have a civil relationship with the company . Another recent example is the May 2006 match between Rey Mysterio and John " Bradshaw " Layfield in which JBL said if he didn ' t win the match for the World Heavyweight Championship he would quit the " SmackDown " brand . When he lost the match , he said he quit . However , he returned to Smackdown as its color commentator , replacing Tazz after he went to the ECW Brand . In actuality , JBL was forced to retire from active competition due to a serious back injury . Real life issues . The most popular example is the Montreal Screwjob ( also called the Montreal Incident ) in which Bret Hart ( WWF Champion at the time ) was going to wrestle Shawn Michaels for the championship . The agreed finish was to have Hart walk away with the title that night and come on Raw the next night to give up the championship . Hart had already signed a deal with WCW ( World Championship Wrestling ) and was rumored to leave Survivor Series and go directly to Nitro . Vince McMahon , fearing that his championship would appear on his rival ' s TV show , felt that he needed to change the agreed finish without telling Hart . Vince went out and told the ring crew to ring the bell and say Michaels won the championship . Hart , very upset , spat on Vince ( later punching him in the dressing room ) and wreaked havoc on equipment around the ring . It was long thought that Michaels had nothing to do with the change but it was later found out he was in on it as well ; the incident was recreated as a storyline to " screw " Mankind . The same finish was also recreated on the March 18 , 2006 edition of Saturday Night ' s Main Event , where McMahon screwed Shawn Michaels in a match with his son Shane in order to build up the feud between the two leading up to their match at WrestleMania 22 . Another example involving Michaels was the Madison Square Garden Incident , in which real - life friends Shawn Michaels , Triple H , Kevin " Diesel " Nash and Scott " Razor Ramon " Hall broke kayfabe by embracing in the ring at the end of a match between Michaels and Nash . Nash and Hall were on their way to rival promotion WCW , and the incident was a farewell from Michaels and Triple H . As punishment for breaking kayfabe , Triple H was relegated to working lower card matches and was booked to lose to Jake " The Snake " Roberts in the King of the Ring tournament having previously been booked to win it . Sometimes a real life issue that a wrestler is involved in outside of kayfabe will be used as a storyline . An example of this is the storyline that involved Ric Flair and Mick Foley , which used real criticisms that each wrestler had labeled against the other in their respective books as fuel for the storyline . Matt Hardy and Edge feuded after Hardy ' s real life girlfriend Lita cheated on him with Edge . Though Edge and Lita were not an item on - screen , fans who knew about the real - life events reacted by booing both at WWE events . The two were eventually paired up on - screen and made references to Hardy . Hardy was eventually rehired and returned to feud with Edge . Also , during Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar ' s feud over the WWE Championship in 2004 , Lesnar brought up Eddie ' s real - life past drug addictions , and were used as part of their feud with Lesnar claiming he was better than Eddie because Eddie had been an " addict " . In October 1990 , WWF president Jack Tunney placed " Ravishing " Rick Rude on " indefinite suspension " following crude remarks Rude made about the Big Boss Man ' s mother . The real life reason for this was because Rude ' s contract with the WWF was about to expire and they couldn ' t come to terms on a new contract . Rude eventually signed with World Championship Wrestling in late 1991 . In the buildup to Hulk Hogan ' s match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XIX , real life tension between the two men following McMahon ' s steroid trial was added to the storyline to generate interest in their match . Shoot comments were a popular tactic of Vince Russo , who would often blur the line between kayfabe and reality . WCW , in its declining years of the Monday Night Wars , would use real life incidents the wrestlers had as material for storylines , even though they could be seen as tasteless at times . A prime example of this is when Sid Vicious suffered a severe leg injury in a match against Scott Steiner , when he literally broke his leg in half after botching a moonsault . In subsequent weeks , Steiner claimed responsibility for the injury and went around " breaking " the legs of backstage crew members saying , " Say hi to Sid for me ! " . Bill Goldberg broke kayfabe during his match at New Blood Rising , walking out midmatch and swearing at Vince Russo on his way back to the dressing room . Rey Mysterio , Jr . broke kayfabe during a tag team match with Xtreme Tiger against Manik and Perro Aguayo , Jr . for The Crash March 20 , 2015 , when Aguayo went limp after falling to the ring ropes following a dropkick from Mysterio . Mysterio broke character when it became apparent that something was seriously wrong with Aguayo ( as did the other wrestlers in the match ; it was later revealed that Aguayo had died from severe whiplash trauma suffered when he hit the ropes . )