Tag: kayfabe

Wrestling may not be real, but this Netflix reality show shows you that WWE is more authentic than you think

Many people criticize professional wrestling, even going so far as to mock it, claiming that it is not real. That it is childish and stupid entertainment because the violence is choreographed and treated as if it were real. Which is a rather strange criticism when you think about it carefully. No one claims that film or theater are not valid forms of art or entertainment because there are actors playing a role, that ballet or any kind of dance performance is less real because the dance is choreographed and not spontaneous. But that doesn’t happen with wrestling.

Many people criticize professional wrestling, even going so far as to mock it, claiming that it is not real. That it is childish and stupid entertainment because the violence is choreographed and treated as if it were real. This is quite a strange criticism when you think about it. No one claims that film or theater are not valid forms of art or entertainment because there are actors playing a role, or that ballet or any kind of dance performance is less real because the dance is choreographed and not spontaneous. But that doesn’t happen with wrestling.

Wrestling is held to a standard of reality that we do not demand from the rest of fiction. Even before we were sold things that are fiction as reality, like reality shows, which are just as scripted or more than professional wrestling. But behind every wrestling event, there is a lot of very hard work, and a Netflix documentary has wanted to show us that.

A world much tougher than it seems

WWE: Incredible is a documentary series that delves into the inner workings of the world’s largest professional wrestling company, WWE, to uncover all its intricacies. Without restrictions. And it does so in a way that feels new and refreshing to the audience, treating it as if it were any other business. Analyzing all the different aspects of it, dealing with everyone involved in making each event and each match a resounding success.

The first season, which premiered on July 29, 2025, was a great success for both WWE and Netflix. And consisting of five episodes, it did a good job of explaining the ins and outs of the company.

In the first episode, New Era, they unraveled how the preparations for WWE RAW were made to premiere on Netflix from a technical and operational standpoint. In the second, Push, they focused on how one of the biggest events of the year, Royal Rumble, is scripted from inside the writing room. In the third, Worth the Wait, three injured wrestlers discuss their experiences with injuries, recovery, and how they feel about returning to the ring. In the fourth, Heel Turn, it explains how the controversial and not very successful heel turn —in wrestling jargon, turning evil— of John Cena happened. And the fifth and final one is a behind-the-scenes look at the big event of the year, Wrestlemania 41, where John Cena snatched the company’s championship from Cody Rhodes.

All of this was met with tremendous success and curiosity from the public, eager to learn more about a show they enjoy and adore. It was also met with no small amount of criticism from within the wrestling world, as well as from certain particularly purist sectors within it, who claimed that this was the final nail in the coffin of kayfabe.

But what is kayfabe? Kayfabe is the concept of treating everything that happens inside and outside the ring as real. If two wrestlers hate each other, kayfabe dictates that fans should not see them having a beer together. And for the same reason, exposing that everything is scripted and decided in advance, at least in the vast majority of cases, goes against the classic idea of kayfabe. Maintaining that illusion, which everyone knows is not true, that what happens inside the ring is strictly and necessarily real.

Of course, many people believe that kayfabe, in modern times, should be strictly adhered to in the same way as in any other artistic or cultural field. Not breaking the fourth wall and maintaining consistency within the fictional events of the product. Something that, as WWE: Incredible shows, they agree on in WWE.

The second season, for its part, promises to give us an even deeper look behind the scenes. What happens when creatives want to deliver a big surprise, even within the company. How parenthood fits in with being one of the company’s big stars. In addition to some other stories like what happens when a career is cut short, or how a new one is managed, in a second season that promises to continue developing that hidden side of WWE.

Hidden not because no one knows it, but because it happens behind the scenes. And if you want to know more, the second season of WWE: Incredible is now available on Netflix.

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It is the second most valuable fight promotion company in the world and now it is going to reveal all its secrets on Netflix

Everyone knows that professional wrestling is not real fighting (not normally), but that doesn’t make it any less appealing, and in WWE Unreal they want to show its inner workings. Here they aim to reveal the behind-the-scenes of how both weekly events and major events are created. Big superstars make appearances and their most intimate moments are showcased. There is some controversy about what this means for kayfabe. At the end of the day, it demonstrates the situation WWE is in: the important thing is the spectacle and the sense of grandeur above the sport or tradition, […]

Everyone knows that professional wrestling isn’t real (not normally), but that doesn’t make it any less appealing, and in WWE Unreal they want to show its inner workings. Here they aim to reveal the behind-the-scenes of how both weekly events and major events are created. Big superstars make appearances and their most intimate moments are showcased. There is some controversy about what this means for kayfabe. At the end of the day, it demonstrates the situation WWE is in: the important thing is the spectacle and the sense of grandeur over the sport or tradition, and that fits perfectly with Netflix.

It is well known that in professional wrestling, they don’t actually hit each other. Not normally, because exceptions exist, and in Japan, just don’t ask too much about it. This doesn’t make the spectacle any less interesting. The matches are engaging due to the mix of athleticism and the ability to tell a story not only with a microphone in hand but with every movement and every small decision made in the ring. Great wrestling is that which tells something through the match itself. Something very difficult to achieve with real fights.

That’s why it has been seducing us for almost 150 years, and it doesn’t seem like the interest it generates will end anytime soon. This is something that Netflix knows well, the new home of the largest wrestling company in the world, WWE, which has decided to create a show revealing all its secrets: WWE Unreal.

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A reality show that seeks to unravel everything

From its name, they do not hide what its premise is. Also because many people within WWE itself, but without decision-making power, have had problems with the concept. WWE Unreal wants to show what the day-to-day life of WWE is like, breaking the mystery and not pretending that everything is, in reality, to a certain extent real. What in the industry jargon is known as kayfabe.

Following the wrestlers both in their weekly events and in the company’s major events, culminating in the biggest of all, WrestleMania, the series seeks to give us that perspective: the reality behind the scenes. Both the day-to-day of the writers and the training of the wrestlers or what happens in the locker rooms after a particularly intense event, or one that perhaps did not go as well as it should have.

A large part of the interest in WWE Unreal lies precisely in that idea. Showing what is not seen. How everything works behind the scenes. How a behemoth like WWE operates, but also wrestling itself, in general. But not only that.

It is also an opportunity to see WWE stars outside of their characters. In their most intimate and vulnerable moments. This is a perspective we have never seen, or have rarely seen, and it could well serve to reevaluate our relationship or sympathies with some of them. The premiere of this program could mean a significant change in the dynamics of interest with some of these professionals.

A program that is going to generate controversy from its very premise

Although, as we have said, WWE Unreal premieres not without some controversy. Even within WWE. Throughout the many decades of wrestling’s existence, kayfabe has been sacred. Not stating that it is fake and that those involved act in relation to a script and a character is essential, and although it has relaxed a lot in the last decade and a half, it is still seen as very bad taste and a bad practice to expose the inner workings of the business in that way.

That is why we should not be surprised if, from certain sectors of the wrestling industry, WWE Unreal is not viewed favorably. It directly attacks one of the foundational pacts of the discipline at a time when WWE is seen, especially, as a malevolent actor within the scene.

Although that precisely demonstrates WWE’s position regarding wrestling. Just one more leg of what they do. They are an entertainment company, and the entertainment is above the sport or tradition. Something that undoubtedly also fits perfectly with the kind of content that interests Netflix.

That’s why WWE Unreal is perfect for everyone involved. It’s the kind of content that WWE wants to create, the kind of content that Netflix wants to have on its platform, and the kind of content that WWE fans want. It’s likely that a good part of the wrestling community does not see this as positive, but for years, WWE has refused to even define itself as such. They have declared themselves as sports entertainment. So it shouldn’t surprise us that, for them, keeping up appearances isn’t that important either.

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