With the coverage AEW has received for \u201cF### ICE\u201d chants or comments on WWE\u2019s perceived close affiliation with Donald Trump\u2019s administration, some want wrestling to be separate from politics. It echoes a larger cultural sentiment that stretches beyond wrestling and sport. In the arts, the repeated suggestion that artists should ignore politics overlooks a fundamental reality.<\/p>\n
The arts, sports, and even pro wrestling cannot and have never ignored politics. Politics is woven into every facet of life. Politics is all-encompassing. It impacts every person. So even to take a stance to be apolitical is itself political. Neutrality is a political choice.<\/p>\n
Compared to other performative arts and sports, professional wrestling cannot separate itself from politics. Wrestling is pageantry, a morality play, a mirror to society as shown through the mirror of kayfabe. The art of making something not real appear real has transcended wrestling.<\/p>\n
Multiple academic essays have argued that modern politics has adopted kayfabe as a political tool. It\u2019s not just the WWE Hall of Famer, Donald Trump, who utilizes kayfabe.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s without even considering the deeply political nature of what happens behind the scenes. The hierarchical structure, \u201ccreative control\u201d, backstage manoeuvring, blackballing\/cancelling,<\/a> inter-promotional relationships, etc.<\/p>\n American wrestling\u2019s success is built on politics. Fundamentally, the politics of American idealism and identity. It has always reflected the national mood, hopes, fears, and double standards.<\/p>\n