7 Completely Unnecessary Times WWE Keeps Kayfabe
4. On Total Divas
The many issues with Total Divas have been chronicled here, but the one big problem with the show that's inexcusable is that they call it a reality show but they still manage to keep kayfabe on it. The first season did a pretty good job about introducing the real names behind the Divas, where Cameron was introduced as Ariane, Naomi was introduced as Trinity, and Daniel Bryan was introduced as Bryan Danielson.
In the second season, when Summer Rae joined the show, she was called Summer Rae, not Danielle. Subsequent additions of Rosa Mendes, Alicia Fox and Paige have them going by their gimmick names (although Paige sometimes calls Rosa Roucka, which is her legit last name).
Now, it's possible that the gimmick names have become nicknames both in and out of the arena, and maybe Paige's coworkers know her mostly as Paige and not as Saraya, so it would be off-putting for them to call her Saraya, even though that's her real name.
A couple weeks ago, on the Season Finale, the main storyline explored a legitimate past relationship between Dolph Ziggler and Nikki Bella, and they mostly referred to Dolph as Nick, his real name. Every now and then, however, Brie would also call him Dolph.
It's interesting to see how even the wrestlers themselves have a hard time distinguishing between their birth names and their ring names. The storyline of Nick making attempts to get Nikki back was scripted for the show, but it was drawn out of a real-life relationship, not unlike WWE borrowing from reality to enhance their stories.