Few concepts in professional wrestling carry as much historical weight as kayfabe, and few former stars are as blunt about its demise as MVP. The former WWE standout, now with AEW, recently traced the unraveling of wrestling’s long-standing illusion directly back to one decision made at the very top of the industry.
During an episode of Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze, MVP didn’t hedge his position. From his perspective, kayfabe didn’t slowly fade, it was effectively put down when Vince McMahon publicly reframed wrestling as “sports entertainment” and openly acknowledged that outcomes were predetermined.
“So, kayfabe was protecting the reality of the business. Kayfabe is dead. She’s been dead a long time,” MVP said, before laying out the moment he believes changed everything. “A lot of people say that Vince murdered kayfabe when he came out and said, ‘Hey, this is sports entertainment. It’s a predetermined decision, predetermined outcome.’”
That admission, MVP explained, sent shockwaves well beyond WWE. At the time, territory promoters feared the entire industry would pay the price. “A lot of the territory promoters said, ‘His sht is fake. Our sht is real. You’re going to kill off the business for everybody,’” MVP recalled. McMahon’s motivation, however, wasn’t creative, it was practical. “And Vince said, ‘No, we are sports entertainment,’” MVP continued, explaining that the move was designed to avoid athletic commission fees. When commissions responded by regulating wrestling anyway, the damage to kayfabe was already done.
From MVP’s standpoint, the ripple effects were unavoidable. Once the curtain was pulled back, wrestlers lost an essential layer of mystique. He contrasted today’s environment with the era he grew up watching, when performers rarely broke character in public. “I think one of the sad things about kayfabe being dead is that you’ve lost the mystique of wrestlers,” he said, before offering a vivid example. “When I was a little kid, I was deathly afraid of Abdullah the Butcher. I really thought he was a madman from Sudan with all that blood.”
That sense of fear and fascination, MVP argued, is nearly impossible to recreate in the modern landscape. Beyond McMahon’s declaration, the rise of social media has further eroded the separation between performer and persona. Fans now have constant, direct access to wrestlers as people, something that would have been unthinkable during the height of kayfabe.
That framing adds context to the ongoing tension between authenticity and illusion in today’s wrestling industry. Promotions continue to search for ways to create emotional investment while operating in a world where audiences are fully aware of the mechanics behind the scenes.
Looking ahead, MVP’s comments highlight a challenge wrestling may never fully solve. While kayfabe as it once existed is unlikely to return, the way companies balance transparency with character-driven storytelling will continue to shape how future generations connect with the product.
