Modern Rhetoric for the Classical Student: The WWE Stance

Dec 27, 2024

In the early hours of May 31, 2017, as Washington slept and Twitter scrollers fought insomnia, President Donald Trump fired off what would become one of his most enigmatic messages. "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," he tweeted at 12:06 AM EDT, leaving his 31 million followers hanging mid-thought.

The unfinished tweet stayed live for nearly six hours—an eternity in social media time. By dawn, "covfefe" had spawned thousands of memes and late-night comedy bits. While most assumed it was simply a sleep-deprived misspelling of "coverage," wrestling fans noticed something intriguing: could "covfefe" have been an attempted reference to "kayfabe," wrestling's term for maintaining an artificial reality?

The connection wasn't far-fetched. Trump's ties to professional wrestling run deep, including his 2013 WWE Hall of Fame induction and legendary appearances at WrestleMania. He would have heard the term "kayfabe" countless times in those circles.

"Kayfabe," a term born in carnival and wrestling traditions, refers to the practice of maintaining wrestling's fictional universe. Within this framework, every storyline, rivalry, and in-ring action is treated as genuine. Historically, wrestlers maintained kayfabe even outside the ring, living their characters' lives in public to preserve the illusion.

The term shows remarkable versatility in wrestling vernacular. As a verb, "to kayfabe" means actively maintaining the dramatic illusion. As an adjective, it describes the staged elements: kayfabe rivalries, kayfabe injuries, kayfabe relationships. "Breaking kayfabe" marks those rare moments when performers shatter the illusion by stepping out of character.

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In professional wrestling's theater, performers are master craftsmen. They work their matches with precise choreography while selling every punch as authentic. The classic heel (villain) draws visceral boos, while the beloved face (hero) basks in adoration. The audience plays their part too: marks invest fully in the story, while smarks (smart marks) appreciate both the illusion and the artistry behind it.

Trump's political communication often mirrors these wrestling dynamics. Like a wrestler cutting a promo (delivering a speech), he frequently blurs the line between performance and reality. His rhetoric follows familiar patterns:

- The Heat/Pop Cycle: Generating outrage (heat) followed by crowd-pleasing promises (pop)

- Working vs. Shooting: Distinguishing between performance and genuine statements

- Building Angles: Creating ongoing narratives and storylines

- Selling: Making threats and promises seem real, whether they're genuine or not

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When Press Secretary Sean Spicer later declared that "the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant," he was executing perfect kayfabe—maintaining the illusion while simultaneously winking at those who understood the game. The White House briefing room had transformed into something like a wrestling ring, where reality and performance intertwined.

The "covfefe" incident, whether an attempted "kayfabe" reference or simply a typo, highlighted how Trump's wrestling background influenced his political style. Like the best wrestling performers, he understood that sometimes the line between reality and performance is most effective when it's deliberately blurred.

The key difference, of course, is that while wrestling runs on planned moments that appear unscripted, geopolitics can have real consequences even from performed threats. When other nations can't distinguish between performance and genuine diplomatic positioning, political kayfabe can create actual international tension.

In this way, "covfefe" became more than a memorable Twitter typo—it offered a glimpse into how the worlds of professional wrestling and presidential politics had collided in unprecedented ways.

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When analyzing Trump's rhetoric, the frameworks of professional wrestling provide a unique decoder ring. Here's how to read the signs:

The Heat/Pop Cycle

Like any skilled wrestler, Trump understands the rhythm of audience manipulation:

Heat: When he generates outrage with provocative statements (like threatening to seize the Panama Canal), he's playing heel.

Pop: He follows with crowd-pleasing promises, working face to his base.

Key Tell: If he's just working for heat, the threats usually lack follow-through, like most heel promos.

Working vs. Shooting

In wrestling parlance:

Working: Performing to advance a storyline (like the Greenland purchase saga)

Shooting: Breaking character to speak genuinely (rare but notable in policy speeches)

Watch especially closely when Trump goes off-script—is he building an angle or addressing real policy?

Reading the Booking

Look for these storytelling elements:

Is he building toward a specific event or deadline?

Does the threat fit into a larger program (ongoing narrative)?

Watch for jobbing (deliberately losing) to make others look strong in negotiations

Studying the Sell

The reaction tells the story:

Does his team sell (act like it's real) the threat?

Are there actual policy movements or just mic work (talk)?

Look for no-selling (ignoring) from targeted parties, suggesting they read it as kayfabe

The key insight: Even when everyone knows wrestling is scripted, a great worker can make you believe in the moment. Trump operates in this same territory between performance and reality, making it crucial to recognize the difference between building an angle and legitimate diplomatic positioning. When other nations can't tell if they're being worked, diplomatic kayfabe can create actual international tension.

Like the original "covfefe" moment demonstrated, sometimes the most revealing aspects of political communication aren't in what's explicitly said, but in understanding the performance traditions that shape how it's said. For those fluent in both political and wrestling discourse, Trump's presidential campaign in 2024 gave us a masterclass in kayfabe.

Learning to Read, Reading to Learn

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