#blacklivesmatter in the WWE: professional wrestlers negotiating kayfabe and authentic rhetoric through online political engagement

ABSTRACT

In traditional professional wrestling, kayfabe involves the performance of fictional characters and matches as authentic. Such performances may involve a presentation of self that does not reflect a wrestler’s beliefs and identity, but circumstances may compel such celebrities to act in accordance with their authentic self. This article explores the circumstances involving the Black Lives Matter (#BLM) protests after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This context is used to consider how professional wrestlers negotiate their presentation of self on social media. Various World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Superstars’ Twitter accounts during this period contained tweets in support of #BLM, along with content promoting their upcoming shows. This article’s analysis attempts to understand the wrestlers’ rhetoric of authenticity versus their rhetoric of kayfabe as they, like other United States citizens, wrestled with the social, cultural, political and personal ramifications of this event. While various aspects of the tweets suggest an authentic presentation in response to the circumstances, the extent to which these Superstars are just performing in accordance with the WWE’s brand remains a possibility, suggesting an extension of the kayfabe concept.

KEYWORDS:

• Kayfabe
• Black lives matter
• rhetoric
• authenticity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. While we employed this specific analytical framework, we must acknowledge its relationship with similar perspectives, such as Richard Dyer’s ‘rhetoric of authenticity’ (Meyers and Leppert 2018). Dunn’s approach was utilised in this study to provide specific rhetorical tools for critiquing the gathered tweets.

2. Black wrestlers used kairos, pathos, and ethos at a ratio of 2.5:1.1:1; for White wrestlers, the ratio was 2.4:1.6:1.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

CarrieLynn D. Reinhard

CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, (Ph.D., Ohio State University) is a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Dominican University. She is co-founder of the Professional Wrestling Studies Association.

Christopher J. Olson

Christopher J. Olson, PhD, received his doctorate from the Media, Cinema, and Digital studies program at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee English Department in December 2023.