Long Term Versus Short Term Booking

[toodarkmark]

First of all, get off my lawn you whippersnappers. Second of all, when I was a kid we had long term storytelling in our wrestling. The stars beat up jobbers, and we got to know them as stars. We only had three hours a week, and we liked it! We sometimes didn't see who we liked for weeks. And we had grudges, that went on for four months, six months, can you imagine? We got 4 big shows a year, and we waited for the rivalry to build until them.

Now I know you kids with your monthly shows, and star versus star matches every week, where they lose, then win, then lose at the PPV, and just rinse repeat with some other person. Everyone is kind of star, but also not. But I like to watch stories unfold for many months, and see a blood feud blown off in a main event. Tommy Rich-Buzz Sawyer, Ric Flair-Terry Funk, Thunder Rosa-Britt Baker. The classics. You can have your stories told in a month or two, I'll take mine with a slow burn.

[Dub H]

I actually thought of making this thread a few times but didn't know where to place it.

I actually think there is a place for short-term storytelling and I feel like AEW sometimes could strike a little sooner with some storylines but I much prefer slow storylines to the hotshot start and drop storylines of the past decade

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Sometimes AEW feels like they spin their wheels but it's very rare and the conclusion is well worth it. I do think they're good at certain short term stories but some of their long term storytelling and the little breadcrumbs they've laid along the way is a treat to behold.

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2021 0:53:11 GMT -5 Dub H said:

I actually thought of making this thread a few times but didn't know where to place it.

I actually think there is a place for short-term storytelling and I feel like AEW sometimes could strike a little sooner with some storylines but I much prefer slow storylines to the hotshot start and drop storylines of the past decade

I feel like Mox and Kingston as a thing went pretty quick, as did Cody and MJF.

If you're going to do slow burn and long term, though, you can't have them clash every week. That's what caused fatigue with Darby/Team Taz. It led where it did to give Sting a proper intro match, but it really should have ended with Darby beating Cage.

[Dub H]

Mar 18, 2021 2:59:44 GMT -5 @hedm2005 said:

Mar 18, 2021 0:53:11 GMT -5 Dub H said:

I actually thought of making this thread a few times but didn't know where to place it.

I actually think there is a place for short-term storytelling and I feel like AEW sometimes could strike a little sooner with some storylines but I much prefer slow storylines to the hotshot start and drop storylines of the past decade

I feel like Mox and Kingston as a thing went pretty quick, as did Cody and MJF.

If you're going to do slow burn and long term, though, you can't have them clash every week. That's what caused fatigue with Darby/Team Taz. It led where it did to give Sting a proper intro match, but it really should have ended with Darby beating Cage.

which is crazy before sting it was actually very well paced since the feud actually started the week before Cage debuted( where darby blew of Taz)

[3cheers4ramirez]

This might be a boring answer for the longevity of this thread, but I don't think either long term or short term are any better than the other. Long films aren't inherently better than short ones - it's all about the (game) story, and how you (play) tell it.

[Sephiroth]

At the time Cody returned to challenge Brodie Lee for the TNT belt, it felt like an example of rushed booking. That was the kind of story where Cody should have been off tv for two or three months while Brodie had some title defenses to solidify his dominance as champion-and THEN Cody makes his dramatic return to overcome the adversity and avenge his prior defeat. Given, we now know that Brody's health forced them to cut his title run short and take him off the road.

[toodarkmark]

Mar 18, 2021 2:59:44 GMT -5 @hedm2005 said:

Mar 18, 2021 0:53:11 GMT -5 Dub H said:

I actually thought of making this thread a few times but didn't know where to place it.

I actually think there is a place for short-term storytelling and I feel like AEW sometimes could strike a little sooner with some storylines but I much prefer slow storylines to the hotshot start and drop storylines of the past decade

I feel like Mox and Kingston as a thing went pretty quick, as did Cody and MJF.

If you're going to do slow burn and long term, though, you can't have them clash every week. That's what caused fatigue with Darby/Team Taz. It led where it did to give Sting a proper intro match, but it really should have ended with Darby beating Cage.

I feel like Mox-Kingston was because Archer was out for Covid, lost that spot, and it changed the writing. Still one of my favorites. A short term done right. Cody I feel lost something when he jumped off the cage. I feel that match just sort of happened, and they decided to move on.

Sting was an interesting one because they had to push the feud an extra week with moving the PPV, and his entrance was popular so they overplayed it. The cinematic match was still a great payoff, even if people got tired of it. I didn't get fatigue from Taz and Sting confronting each other, and I feel that Cody was supposed to be a part of it, with Taz choking him out, him and Sting talking, but wasn't for whatever reason. There were even 3 members of Team Taz. I think plans changed in that one for whatever reason, but I still liked the last match, I liked Darby versus Starks and then Cage, and I liked Sting being laid out then kicking Cage's ass. That's the stuff I remember.

[kingoftheindies]

AEW tends to set up feuds 3 ways.

1.Short ones for TV
2. Longer ones for special Dynamites
3. PPV feuds

I know I'm a broken record but with how feuds are set up you can see the New Japan influence. Sometimes feels like somethings are stretched out a bit but it keeps things fresh. It's how you can have a main event of The Best Friends vs PNP one week then something like Archer vs Fenix down the road

[evilone]

All smart fans (us here) salivate over long term booking being executed properly. In theory long term always trumps short term crash tv booking but in practice long term has way too many variable to play out as planned. I'm pretty sure serious story planners have at least three scenarios for something long term and an exit plan if things start to fall apart rapidly (like injuries of all nWo 2000 members). I think most of what we perceive as long term booking are feuds that have history that just piles up. Hogan - Macho was definitely one of such things as well as Flair - Funk or Bret - Shawn.

[Fade is a CodyCryBaby]

I enjoy either/or, tbh. Just entertain me. It does seem long term booking is more appropriate and logical in every way. I think AEW does it well.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

A variety is a good balance but the key piece is coherency and having a plan regardless of how long the story is.