I think it's more than theatre. We know theatre is fiction, and we think of it as fiction as we consume it. Kayfabe is weirder, more nuanced. As we watch wrestling, we simultaneously hold two visions in our heads that are logically opposed: the spectacle is real and the spectacle is fake. We know the fakery makes it more compelling. But if we admit that it's fake, it loses its power.
Kinda how I see it, like a ballet for boys kinda thing