Professional wrestling companies like WWE may clearly be scripted entertainment now, but it was only a few decades ago that kayfabe was adhered to at all costs. While dedicated wrestling devotees are very familiar with the concept of kayfabe, it basically boils down to the idea that everyone involved in the wrestling business, from wrestlers to announcers to managers to promoters, should never publicly acknowledge that what happens as part of their TV programming is anything less than a legitimate, unscripted, real sport.
That may sound a bit ridiculous in today's age, where many wrestlers share photos and videos interacting with people they hate onscreen. Wrestlers also often give "shoot" interviews, meaning that they're speaking entirely out of character, while offering their real opinions and inside knowledge of the business. Still, this is a relatively recent development, as back when WrestleMania - now expanded to two nights - first launched in 1985, WWE performers largely wouldn't dare break kayfabe.
Kayfabe isn't 100 percent gone in today's world, as wrestlers do still occasionally speak and post publicly in character, but it's usually fairly clear where their character ends and they begin. As for when exactly kayfabe died, as in stopped being the norm in wrestling, there's a few good candidates for the position, all of which will be discussed below. The earliest of these dates happened on February 10th, 1989, when WWE owner Vince McMahon was summoned before the New Jersey State Legislature to testify that pro wrestling was strictly entertainment.
McMahon, like many business titans, may be very rich, but he doesn't stay that way by being quick to throw around money. WWE likes to save wherever they can, and in 1989, McMahon - who later feared a mysterious lockbox - addressed the New Jersey State Legislature in an attempt to get professional wrestling removed from the list of sports that the state athletic commission oversaw. Having to comply with the regulations of the commission was costing WWE money that they would rather keep, so McMahon straight up itted that WWE was not a legitimate athletic contest, but rather a predetermined form of entertainment.
The other two major candidates for the date kayfabe died in WWE came considerably later than 1989, but they were different in that they actually happened on-air, with one actually directly leading into the other. By November 1997, the early seeds for what WWE would come to call the Attitude Era were sown. Then on November 9, 1997, the infamous "Montreal Screwjob" - later profiled on Dark Side of the Ring - occurred, in which then WWE world champion Bret Hart refused to drop the title to real-life enemy Shawn Michaels on the Survivor Series pay-per-view. This led McMahon to order the referee to end the match despite Hart not having actually been pinned or submitted, changing the planned finish. McMahon was worried Hart would leave WWE with his title, and take it to rival WCW.
Following McMahon's betrayal, the most widely seen instance of kayfabe being thrown out the window in WWE history, the WWE owner began to play into public perceptions, transitioning from humble WWE commentator to tyrannical onscreen boss Mr. McMahon. By December 15, 1997, McMahon delivered a pre-taped speech to the audience during an episode of Monday Night Raw in which he announced WWE's new creative direction away from the classic setup of "good guys vs. bad guys," and his plans to stop insulting the intelligence of WWE viewers. If kayfabe wasn't dead at that point, that was the final stake in its heart.