#9 When kayfabe meets reality
Kayfabe may have been a tradition within professional wrestling that has been lost, but many years ago, it was a sacred part of the business.
In 1996 Kevin Sullivan entered into a feud with Chris Benoit. Sullivan thought of a way to heat up the feud: he’d introduce his real life wife (his valet in the show) into the equation and booked Benoit to gradually steal his woman away from him.
And Sullivan demanded that kayfabe be kept up at all times, meaning that Benoit and Sullivan’s “Valet” had to travel together, share hotel rooms and be seen together in public at all times.
Sullivan, on the other hand, couldn’t be seen in public with his own real life wife.
Forced together on the road, forced to act as if they were together even when not on television, Benoit and Nancy ended up actually getting married and The Sullivans separated for real.
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