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Breaking kayfabe:‘The history of a history’ of World Wrestling Entertainment

University College of the Fraser Valley

Company history has been criticized for many methodological failings, including empiricism, excessive simplification, and the implicit or explicit assumption of a shared history understood and accepted by all members of the organization. This article attempts to illuminate some of the problems identified by these criticisms through telling both a history of an organization and ‘the history of a history’. Using World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as an example, the article outlines the organization’s history, and then describes the process of creating that history and the problems encountered, including author biases, reliability of sources, and constraints of the narrative form. It is suggested that while a complete exposition of every company history may not be feasible, including some elements of ‘the history of a history’ format would enable readers to more accurately assess the reliability and veracity of an organizational history.

Key Words: historical methodology • organizational history • professional wrestling

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