10 Wrestlers Who Still Believe In Kayfabe

6. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho’s is an old school lover of kayfabe and investing heavily in your character outside of the ring. Jericho’s had many characters over his 30-year lifespan in wrestling, from ‘Lionheart’ to ‘Y2J’ to ‘The Painmaker’ to ‘Le Champion’. Currently signed to AEW, he’s eased off kayfabe away from the ring for his current ‘Demo God’/Inner Circle leader role as it’s not fundamental to the gimmick.

But for his masterful ultra-heel run in WWE from 2008-2010 as his ‘The Best In The World At What I Do’ persona he took kayfabe seriously. Inspired by No Country For Old Men in evolving his character, he refused to let WWE make any merch for him at the time, even though he was the hottest commodity in the business, as he wanted audiences to despise and loathe him. He was the suit-wearing mega antagonist who once knocked out Shawn Michaels’ wife. He refused to sign autographs, even getting into an altercation with a father in an elevator who was angry at him for not signing one for his kid.

He was so hated fans went as far as attacking his rental car after a house show in 2009, where he was heckled with "You’re a disgrace to Canadians!" and Jericho having to throw punches in self-defence, with the police having to be called to settle and calm the situation. It’s a persona Jericho may one day return to and if so, kayfabe will play an important part in it again.