Booking A Championship Match; Who's Entitled To The Momentum?

[Ferbian]

I'm sure we've all often questioned who should be looking the best going into a championship match. From one aspect we got the champion, who obviously needs to look strong, and needs to look like he could really kick the contenders ass and retain his championship cleanly.

On the other side, we got the contender, who also needs to look strong going into a championship match. He needs to look like he can actually win the championship, without it coming off as a fluke, or a stolen victory.

However, the momentum can't possibly be balanced cleanly. One person will obviously come out on top of the other, and sometimes it's not always the best choice. There's been bookings of title matches where the contender looked to be the strongest, where the champion needed to look the strongest, and vice versa.

However, that would leave the question - Who is entitled to the momentum when it comes to booking a championship match?

Do you feel that the champion needs to look strong, no matter the situation, no matter the opponent and no matter the storyline? Or do you believe that the number one contender needs to come off looking like the future champion? Like the person who's next in line for the belt?

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

I don't think the momentum of a championship match should be set in stone. If the champion was made to look strong month after month without shades of weakness it would get monotonous and boring. They'd to change it up a bit to keep interest.

You just have to keep a balance in terms of feud to feud. Its ok to book the champion to dominate for a few months but eventually you'll need someone to step up and show this man can be defeated and he has weakness. And then you can only have the champion lose so much momentum month after month to the #1 contenders, eventually he's going to lose his credibility as champion.

It all depends on the situation and the angle the feud is going in.

 

[#hamler]

I believe the momentum rests more within the challenger. The champion's momentum is already at its highest. His momentum is already strong. However, the challenger needs to look as if he's going to win the title. Otherwise the challenger won't look like a main eventer. The champion's momentum needs to be strong but less than the challenger's. The challenger needs to go into the match looking stronger than the champion because if the champ's momentum is too high, what will his title defense mean? Nothing. Just another match.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

You just have to keep a balance in terms of feud to feud. Its ok to book the champion to dominate for a few months but eventually you'll need someone to step up and show this man can be defeated and he has weakness. And then you can only have the champion lose so much momentum month after month to the #1 contenders, eventually he's going to lose his credibility as champion.

It all depends on the situation and the angle the feud is going in.

Very well put


It is hard to find a balance between making the champion look a powerful, dominant force, who people can respect as the top guy in the company and credible champion, and focusing on ensuring that the challenger as seen as a worthy contender to the gold, and someone who can threaten the title reign of the current champion.

Making a mistake and focusing too much on the challenger can lead to the current champion looking weak and unworthy (see Jack Swagger, CM Punks 1st reign etc), and the challenger too powerful, meaning the outcome seems too predictable and will not encourage the customer to purchase the show.

Also, failing to build the challenger as a threat to the champion will cause the feud to fail also, as noone will believe that their will be a title change and interest in the match will be alot lower than it would be had the champion and challenger been put forward as worthy adversaries who will go at it, and viewers will believe that both men have a good shot of walking away with the gold.

The balance is key

 

[Viola Moonlight]

It depends on a number of factors such as the feud, the wrestlers and how long the champion/challenger has been involved in the title picture (or how they got there). You have to adjust how the match is going to play out by how these factors are influencing the possible outcomes. Surely it'd be stupid for someone like Zack Ryder going over Sheamus a couple of weeks back in a clean sweep... wouldn't work at all. Probably a better example would be the current Dolph Ziggler/Kofi Kingston feud for the Intercontinental Championships. For weeks, Kofi has been trying to take Ziggler's title that he essentially won off of him via under-handed tactics. Every time he has defended the title, something happened that caused Ziggler to retain by a technicality of the rules. In this feud, not only does Kingston come off as a person who will take the title off Ziggler in the future, but it keeps Ziggler on an undefeated streak. At Night of Champions, when it came down to basics, Ziggler got the fall on Kofi cleanly and retained the title. It didn't make Kofi look bad at all, considering every other match he has had with Ziggler made him look strong, and it makes Ziggler a viable champion because he defeated the best contender to his championship.

On point, it's best to keep the momentum on some sort of balance, generally. For the latter example, you are forced to make both people come off as strong characters whilst making a decision on how to book a title match. It'd be silly to completely destroy the champion/contender as it would take them down a couple of notches on the pecking order (unless it's a complete squash or if a future/current storyline can progress ala Taker/Kane). It all depends on the situation.

 

[Rayne]

Way too many variables. Face champion? Heel champion? Who's the contender? What's the angle you're setting up; do you want a longshot number one contender to shock the audience? Do you want a heavily favored number one contender to come up short 'this time'?

You use both approaches depending on the scenario.

 

[Frank Gotch]

Way too many variables. Face champion? Heel champion? Who's the contender? What's the angle you're setting up; do you want a longshot number one contender to shock the audience? Do you want a heavily favored number one contender to come up short 'this time'?

You use both approaches depending on the scenario.

Very well put. Once you factor in all the variables then you should decide who is going to be made to look dominant or have the momentum. The champion doesnt always have to look strong. You can have a cowardly heel champ who runs from the face every week before the ppv and then have the heel champ go over at the ppv.

 

[JasonSensation]

It is the duty of the challenger to build momentum going into a title match. Why? Because every man that steps into the ring to challenge the champ should be sold to the audience as a threat. If the champion has more momentum going into a title match than his challenger, then that is poor booking. Who wants to buy a PPV to see a match that is clearly booked to make the challenger look weaker? There have been several cases throughout history where the underdog was thrown a bone and people tuned in to see it because they wanted to blndly suspend their disbelief for just a second... but most of those cases were on free TV, not on PPV where buyrates depended on the interest generated around the main event.

On the flip-side, it is the duty of the champion to do 2 things:
1. Look strong at the end of every title defense to build prestige for the title and...
2. Make every contender look strong during every title defense to-once again-build prestige for the title.

You cannot have a prestigious championship without a prestigious champion, and prestigious champions aren't born, they are created. It takes the formula of a booker with good sense, a champion that knows how to work out of both corners, and a challenger that is willing to put everything he has into his match for the belt to make the audience believe he might win it.

 

[MOExecution]

I look at it this way.
The World Champion is already basically at the top as he is the face of the company so he is consistently made to look strong and over with the fans.
The challenger on the other hand usually goes into the match with a small amount of momentum, but not a HUGE amount of momentum like the champion should already.
So to answer your question I believe that the Challenger should go into the match looking the strongest. Because then the match isn't as predictable. The Champion wins and he looks stronger when it is all said and done, but the challenger whether he wins or loses continues with the momentum he has received and carries that with him.
So to answer your question the Challenger. The challenger is suppose to look to be a threat to the World Title not some other guy the Champion will just plow through.

 

[JasonSensation]

It is the duty of the challenger to build momentum going into a title match. Why? Because every man that steps into the ring to challenge the champ should be sold to the audience as a threat. If the champion has more momentum going into a title match than his challenger, then that is poor booking. Who wants to buy a PPV to see a match that is clearly booked to make the challenger look weaker? There have been several cases throughout history where the underdog was thrown a bone and people tuned in to see it because they wanted to blndly suspend their disbelief for just a second... but most of those cases were on free TV, not on PPV where buyrates depended on the interest generated around the main event.

On the flip-side, it is the duty of the champion to do 2 things:
1. Look strong at the end of every title defense to build prestige for the title and...
2. Make every contender look strong during every title defense to-once again-build prestige for the title.

You cannot have a prestigious championship without a prestigious champion, and prestigious champions are born, they are created. It takes the formula of a booker with good sense, a champion that knows how to work out of both corners, and a challenger that is willing to put everything he has into his match for the belt to make the audience believe he might win it.

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

I think it should balance out between both the champion and the challenger. If the challenger looks too strong then the outcome of the match will be too predictable but that's the same for the champion, but the champion doesn't need to look to strong because he is already champion but he still has to look strong or he'll be looked at as a weak champion which will be bad for the championship. So it's hard to say so the best thing would be to make both men equally strong.