8 Times Disrespected Wrestlers Went Nuts On Reporters
If you value your life, DON'T say it's fake.
Kayfabe is dead, and has been for a long time after Vince McMahon officially plunged a stake through its heart in 1989.
He was appearing in front of the State of New Jersey Senate in a bid to have professional wrestling removed from their various obligations to US Athletic state commissions (tax, licensing etc etc) and stated that pro wrestling was "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest."
This seems obvious, and is something that everybody knows nowadays; 'pro wrestling is predetermined' is right up there with 'santa claus doesn't exist' as one of those everyday facts that every child eventually comes to accept in the fullness of time. But back then, this was a shocking exposure of the business and confirmed what so many people had suspected about wrestling, but never been able to prove.
Wrestlers safeguarded kayfabe as if their lives depended on it. Training in the territories instilled the preservation of the storylineas a deeply-ingrained matter of honour amongst wrestlers, bookers and agents alike. There were no twitter accounts for heels of that era to post pictures of them granting Make-A-Wish requests. Their character was their life. Heels and babyface didn't share the same car or even the same hotels.
And if a reporter ever dared to question the validity of their sport, or a wrestler's legit toughness, they paid for it.