Oh man. This is so great.
In WWWRPG terms, something like NXT would probably have a different +Real move to replace “Breaking Kayfabe” as a basic move. They let the fans “backstage” a lot, especially with the indie stars moving in – it’s all putting more eyes on the product, and there’s no real negative consequences (that I can imagine).
Maybe it’s more about staying in character in the moment or something like that.
https://twitter.com/FightSteenFight/status/512558486010753024
Or, Zayn nails it in the linked interview:
“ZAYN: There are times when you stop and you think to yourself, “Why do people like me?” And Kevin offered the theory to me years ago that fans can sense passion. They really can. I remember I saw Metallica once and I felt like they were just phoning it in. There was just no connections at all and they were playing these great songs and I was like, “I don’t care, because I don’t feel like you care.” It’s an innate human quality to be able to sniff out phoniness. And everyone at this table has been nothing but honest and true in their journey to get here. That’s kind of what got us here, to be honest. That’s the commonality here. And that’s why we have these 14-year journeys. It’s a really long time and you’re not going to make it through that journey if you don’t have that passion to drive you.”
I also loved Steen talking about how he learned to speak English from WWE commentary.