Smackdown, the pile driver, rumbles, and the main event are all part of the world of professional wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Fans can rattle off the names of larger-than-life characters, including Hulk Hogan, The Rock, and current WWE women's champion Tiffany Stratton.
The WWE has a long and complex history dating back to the early 1950s. These days, there's a new contender, of sorts. The PWE or Puppet Wrestling Entertainment is making the rounds with the same energy but on a much smaller scale. The "puppet wrestling entertainment spectacular," or Kayfabe as it's called, sprang from long-time wrestling fan Josh Rice's imagination in 2020.
Rice, a professional puppeteer, says that during the country's COVID-19 pandemic, he was thinking about how to create a new puppet show.
"One of the things I was trying to lean into was, what do I really like? And I thought, "I really like wrestling," he said.
Rice says he first watched a wrestling match on TV with his dad when he was three years old and was mesmerized.
" I remembered Hulk Hogan being like a superhero. His colors were red and yellow and bright and powerful, and he seemingly had these moments where he would be getting hurt, and then all of a sudden, Hulk'd go into this trance state, and then nothing could hurt him, and then of course, he would win the match."
Rice liked the 'faces' (good guys) like Hogan, while his dad cheered for the 'heels' (the bad guys), including wrestlers like "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Those wrestlers could not only take heat from the audience but thrived on it.
Even as a kid though, Rice was slightly skeptical of the wrestling world. If Hulk Hogan performed some of his patented moves - a body slam from the top rope, the big boot or the finger poke of doom on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, there's no way he'd walk again, right?
Although Rice always suspected that what was happening in the wrestling ring wasn't entirely believable, he didn't learn about Kayfabe until much later.
Kayfabe is the worst-kept secret in wrestling
Rice says Kayfabe is the suspension of disbelief just like in theater. So, wrestlers and fans reached an agreement of sorts. Fans set aside the fact that they know the wrestling moves and storylines are pure fiction while the WWE builds a world around these myths to show that what is happening in the ring isn't staged.
"They are telling a story through the physicality of a match," Rice explains. "We know that Hulk Hogan isn't actually Hulk Hogan. He's a guy named Terry Bollea, and he's quite bald and has very strange-looking hair and mustache. But when he is Hulk Hogan, he's this incredible larger-than-life superhero."
So, Rice merged the elements of a traditional WWE showdown with his passion for puppeteering to create his miniature world of Puppet Wrestling Entertainment.
The Art of Puppets Fighting
The Kayfabe show combines music, sounds and lights like a professional wrestling match and the hero is Dr. Kiss, a traditional Japanese Bunraku-style puppet. That means Dr. Kiss has no strings, like a marionette, and is not fuzzy like a Muppet. He has a wooden frame that is traditionally one-third life-size. Dr. Kiss's head and hands are 3D printed to resemble Rice's real-life head, complete with wavy hair. Three puppeteers operate Dr. Kiss, each responsible for moving a different body part.
A Puppet Mania sign is attached to the front of the ring. Dr. Kiss enters to his own theme song, carried by the three puppeteers wearing Lucha Libre wrestling masks. He's decked out in a sparkling cape and a matching headband that flows down his hollow back.
The puppeteers manipulate Dr. Kiss's limbs as he wrestles an imaginary opponent, "The Moment." Each puppeteer may need to control more than one part of Dr. Kiss's body at any given time.
Emma Wiseman, the head puppeteer, says it takes a lot of practice to pull off realistic wrestling moves like a piledriver or to get the puppet to pump the air to work the crowd into a frenzy.
"There's also a lot of negotiating with other people's bodies. You're so close to your two other sort of puppeteer colleagues. There's a big learning curve. It doesn't start super smooth and perfect, so there tends to be a lot of bumping and physical negotiation in all ways."
The puppeteers seem to disappear as Dr. Kiss gracefully moves around the tiny wrestling ring. Rice, performing as his alter ego announcer Mikey Michaels, is dressed in black and a red and white striped blazer. His face lights up when he sees Dr. Kiss preparing for his signature move and Rice launches into a loud, rapid description of the puppet's moves.
" Dr. Kiss on the top rope, getting ready to deliver his patented finishing maneuver, the Kiss of Death, the K.O.D.," Rice shouts into the microphone.
Rice realizes that wrestling isn't to everyone's taste, but he says creating this show—where a puppet faces an imaginary opponent— has deepened his lifelong appreciation for the art of professional wrestling.
"Now that I understand what kayfabe is, there's this agreement that we all have to suspend our disbelief so we can enjoy it. I approach it more theatrically and see what wrestlers are doing to entertain, keep each other safe, and create art and storytelling through physicality."
It's this kayfabe, this wrestling magic that Rice works to recreate with Dr. Kiss in the ring.
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