When has patience paid off?

[theironyuppie]

The recent discussion about the rise of Becky Lynch made me think of what I hope is an interesting question about when wrestling bookers/promoters being patient has been the right decision. While fans have loved her rise as 'The Man', several months ago there was a large contingent of fans who not only thought that Becky could never change her pun-loving 'Straight Fire' character, but were furious at Charlotte Flair being added to the Summerslam match as they had hoped for Carmella/Becky II, with Becky winning the title in Brooklyn as a face to have a moment similar to her Backlash 2016 win. In practice though, WWE went with Charlotte winning her record-tying 7th title, had Becky turn and change character, and then waited a full month before giving her the title win so many fans wanted, at Hell In A Cell. In all ways this proved to be an excellent decision. Becky's crowd reactions went from good-but-inconsistent to consistently great, fans got behind Becky as Charlotte winning increased their anger towards her, fans thrilled to see her dominating the alleged 'Female Roman' rather than beating Carmella again, and with the title she ran with the ball, in a feud which included two of the matches of the year in the Evolution LWS match and the TLC main-event. At this point, Becky main-eventing Mania is not only a realistic prospect, it seems unthinkable that she wouldn't, and its fair to say that while there are other crucial factors (including Nia Jax's errant fist) a lot of this is because WWE didn't have her winning the title at Summerslam.

Which made me wonder: are there other good examples of when WWE waited on something that could have easily happened sooner, and it worked out better?

[Deleted]

Top of my head, as godawful as the build was on paper the end result was I got exactly what I wanted out of Taker / Cena.

[Mid-Carder]

Arguably Rob Van Dam finally becoming WWE champion at One Night Stand 2006? The fact it was a mess afterwards for once actually wasn't WWE's fault.

[Deleted]

Daniel Bryan's ascent in 2013/2014? Granted, WWE fell ass-backwards into that story, but the payoff at Mania 30 ended up having far more impact than if Bryan had vanquished Orton that prior Fall.

[RI Richmark]

Jan 29, 2019 7:36:28 GMT -5 @tacticalsneakman said:

Daniel Bryan's ascent in 2013/2014? Granted, WWE fell ass-backwards into that story, but the payoff at Mania 30 ended up having far more impact than if Bryan had vanquished Orton that prior Fall.

Agreed. The fans forcing the Authority to put Bryan into the match was a better story than having Bryan simply win the Royal Rumble.

[Deleted]

Yeah Bryan in 2014.

[Mozenrath]

Batista versus Triple H was a slow burn and a fantastic one when it finished, even if that is also going to depend on when you count it starting. I'd argue the build up began when Evolution turned on Orton, if not even before that, but obviously, it was a slow boil until Batista won the Rumble.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Jan 29, 2019 7:36:28 GMT -5 @tacticalsneakman said:

Daniel Bryan's ascent in 2013/2014? Granted, WWE fell ass-backwards into that story, but the payoff at Mania 30 ended up having far more impact than if Bryan had vanquished Orton that prior Fall.

I'd say this is a case of the fans not having ENOUGH patience. The Wyatt storyline could have gone on way longer and been way more interesting.

I don't necessarily BLAME the fans for not trusting the WWE here, though.

[The Heartbreak TWERK]

Jan 29, 2019 13:18:59 GMT -5 carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) said:

Jan 29, 2019 7:36:28 GMT -5 @tacticalsneakman said:

Daniel Bryan's ascent in 2013/2014? Granted, WWE fell ass-backwards into that story, but the payoff at Mania 30 ended up having far more impact than if Bryan had vanquished Orton that prior Fall.

I'd say this is a case of the fans not having ENOUGH patience. The Wyatt storyline could have gone on way longer and been way more interesting.

I don't necessarily BLAME the fans for not trusting the WWE here, though.

Gotta disagree. If they waited, then WWE would've let the iron get cold like they always do.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Jan 29, 2019 7:36:28 GMT -5 @tacticalsneakman said:

Daniel Bryan's ascent in 2013/2014? Granted, WWE fell ass-backwards into that story, but the payoff at Mania 30 ended up having far more impact than if Bryan had vanquished Orton that prior Fall.

Yeah but this is only an example in hindsight. Experiencing it at the time was maddening.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2019 14:08:28 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

Yeah but this is only an example in hindsight. Experiencing it at the time was maddening.

Oh yeah, the constant bullshit PPV finishes and Authority beatdowns were infuriating at the time; I ranted about them on here back when they were happening. But by that same token, Charlotte getting inserted into the Becky/Carmella Summerslam match (and Becky's subsequent "you people" promo) was infuriating at the time too, but ultimately has paid off pretty well. I think a thread like this only works with the benefit of hindsight to be honest.

[DiBiase is Good]

WCW holding off on Hogan/Sting for over a year. The match may not have been that good and the ending was a wet fart but the fans were so hot for it and it drew a gigantic number on PPV.
If only WCW had shown such patience with their booking a few years later.

(Yeah I know it’s not WWE but it’s still worthy of mentioning)

[Perd]

Never! I want everything and I want it now. This post better have 50 likes within the next 4 hours or I’ll burn down all your houses.

[Magnus the Magnificent]

SID returning and powerbombing that fool Heath into oblivion was well worth the wait.