10 Reasons Classic Wrestling Is Superior To Sports Entertainment

This is the big one. This is the one that impacts all the other entries on this list. Kayfabe is an old carny/wrestling term that means "protecting the secrets of the business". As long as there has been professional wrestling, there have been those who questioned the legitimacy of its contests. Since wrestling's early carny days, those in the industry passionately protected its secrets. Promoters in the territory days would even fine or fire wrestlers who publicly broke Kayfabe.

One of the best examples from recent history was when 20/20 reporter David Stossel told "Dr. D" David Schultz that he believed wrestling was fake, Schultz cracked Stossel twice in the head, flooring him both times.

Now, wrestlers speak openly about portraying a "character" and "building their storylines". Promotions like WWE and AEW now even show fans how the sausage is made with exclusive behind-the-scenes programming.

AEW superstar Maxwell Jacob Friedman (a.k.a. MJF) is the best current example of how maintaining kayfabe is superior to just playing a character. MJF is never seen breaking kayfabe. This takes us back to "I know it's not real, but I believe THAT guy". If they don't believe, they won't be invested. If they aren't invested, they aren't tuning in.

For everyone's sake, it's not too late to put that genie back in the bottle - or at least attempt to. MJF has proven that it can be done.