“Stone Cold” Steve Austin shared his perspective on the modern wrestling trend of “breaking kayfabe,” indicating his preference for maintaining the mystique of the business during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show today, April 30th. When asked if WWE might be going too far in revealing the inner workings or scripted nature of storylines, Austin aligned himself with a more traditional viewpoint.
“Man, I’m still a little old school on that,” Austin admitted. He then used a compelling analogy involving the legendary magician Harry Houdini to illustrate his point about preserving the magic of performance: “I’m a big magic fan, but if Harry Houdini is still around, I don’t want him to tell me how he does it. I want to figure out how he does it. And if I can’t, then I’m gonna keep wondering and I’m gonna keep watching.”
Austin acknowledged the nature of professional wrestling while emphasizing his desire for the presentation to remain somewhat enigmatic for the audience. He concluded the analogy by stating: “I know it’s not magic, it’s an illusion, but let me keep wondering about that illusion.”
His comments arrive at a time when discussions about kayfabe are frequent, fueled by instances like The Rock recently calling the business a “complete work” on social media and WWE itself producing more behind-the-scenes content that pulls back the curtain. Austin’s “old school” take, articulated through the Houdini comparison, highlights a preference for the era where the lines between reality and performance were more heavily guarded, allowing fans to remain immersed in the “illusion.”
Austin shared these comments on The Ariel Helwani Show, which streams live weekdays on YouTube.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit The Ariel Helwani Show with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
