Pre-booking-Good or Bad?

[cult_of_icecream_bar]

Recently with the Rock's matches,most have been booked way before The Event.For Rock vs Cena,it was great booking because the feud was a massive one and needed long booking.On the other hand when Rock announced that he would go for the WWE title at RR and Punk turned heel,it was pretty much ensured Punk won't lose the title to anyone except the Rock.Which created booking problems and has affected Ryback's character.So when such prebooking occurs,there may or may not be future booking troubles.So i was thinking,is it wise to book matches months before the event?

 

[Brewski]

I wouldn't exactly call this booking way in advance because while im certain they knew Punk or Cena would have been the one in a match with Rock, they weren't sure with exactly who or how at that point. By the time Ryback had come into the mix though those plans were likely set and it just turned into the clusterfuck that has been the situation as of late.

Last year though it really was booking way to far ahead when Cena was set to face the Rock a year away from the day of the match. In that case though, really everyone wins. A dream match brought in huge hype for 'mania with a year of build, CM Punk got a long title reign that made him a staple of the company, Rock won a huge match and got himself publicity, and Cena, while losing, still looked strong. It was a win for everybody.

So we have an example where everything worked out, and one where it got weird. So my opinion on the matter? It general the intangibles make it a stupid practice but it can pay off if it's the right match. The risk can be worth the reward.

 

[P. Nut Butters]

I would hedge a strong bet that in most casts "pre-booking" happens anyway, except it's not usually used in storyline. Everyone has heard about how McMahon starts at next year's Mania and works backwards, so to me, while I understand your point in this thread, it's kind of irrelevant because it happens anyway.

Purely in terms of using "pre-booking" as part of the storyline, I still don't see this as a bad thing. There are largely unexplored elements of booking that you can venture in by using the pre-booking in an angle. For example, it's announced that the Rock will face the Champion at Royal Rumble. Imagine for a second, a twist where the belt is vacant come Royal Rumble time or that by the time the Royal Rumble comes around, the title is in dispute and there are two champions and therefore we could get a triple-threat.

I know these scenarios aren't going to take place for the Rock at Royal Rumble next year, but it's a demonstration of places you can go with introducing 'pre-booking' to an angle. I think the idea of pre-booking is great, but should be reserved for "big-time" feuds only.

 

[Brewski]

I agree with you that booking happens months in advance but I think the OP was talking about having it within a storyline. Behind the scenes the story ideas come up way in advanced with the directions they want characters to go but things change often and can go unnoticed on screen. With the rock coming out and saying he's facing a the champ at rumble or that he has a "dream of coming into wrestlemania with the WWE title" that kinda puts you in a tough space if some emergency planning has to come into effect. What if at survivor series cena and punk both somehow seriously injured themselves? You think anybody else is going to draw at the rumble? What if Cena got hurt before mania last year? Same problem. Behind the scenes it can be fixed, put it up front and you get problems.

 

[P. Nut Butters]

I agree with you that booking happens months in advance but I think the OP was talking about having it within a storyline. Behind the scenes the story ideas come up way in advanced with the directions they want characters to go but things change often and can go unnoticed on screen. With the rock coming out and saying he's facing a the champ at rumble or that he has a "dream of coming into wrestlemania with the WWE title" that kinda puts you in a tough space if some emergency planning has to come into effect. What if at survivor series cena and punk both somehow seriously injured themselves? You think anybody else is going to draw at the rumble? What if Cena got hurt before mania last year? Same problem. Behind the scenes it can be fixed, put it up front and you get problems.

I dont exactly agree, as I mentioned in my earlier post that if it is used in a storyline context it can actually work out to be more flexible than your typical "realizing my dream" storyline.

You could do an angle entirely on the fact that the Rock is "stealing" a young guy's opportunity. A disgruntled rising star could come out and verbally attack the Rock's notion of challenging at the Rumble, and this young guy could feud with CM Punk and vicariously, the Rock as well. Now, you've essentially given a young star a rub off the backs of the champ and an established veterain. You could have CM Punk or the Rock beat this guy before the Rumble, or have the Rumble be a triple-threat. Or even, have the young star end up in the title match against Punk with the Rock screwing him out of the match and therefore, the angle progresses to 'Mania.

To me, pre-booking screams much more potential for compelling angles. The traditional one is great and all, but we've seen it for the better part of two decades.

 

[mojmass]

Well if you think like vince does where every match MUST be booked then your question is so foolish but thinking as myself it is so awful that no one can think of the result and the only result that is for sure is the possible future stars being ruined and that's it i totally disagree

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Like most other things in life, it depends on the circumstances. With Cena vs. Rock, the idea of booking their match a full year in advance and building it up over that time was a novelty that nobody'd ever seen before. Fortunately for WWE, the match was great and, in my eyes, exceeded the hype. If WWE or any other wrestling company could guarantee that kind of payoff, then booking huge matches in this way could be something we see more of.

Nobody can guarantee that things will work out in that way, however. What if WWE had gone through all that build up and Cena got injured in another match? What if The Rock was hurt on the set of one of his movies? Also, the fact that it was The Rock helped to sell the year long build to the match. The Rock has a level of star power and relevance that the VAST majority of wrestlers from the Attitude Era have. He was gone for a very long time and he came back and, if anything, he showed that he was as good as he ever was despite the passage of time.

In the case of Punk vs. Rock, the WWE had some of the same issues to worry about. When CM Punk had to undergo surgery, I'd be willing to bet that Vince gave birth to his own kidneys because he's counting on a big money match between the two to help jack up the Royal Rumble buyrate. It's fortunate that Punk's recovery time is expected to be very short, Punk says that he's ready to go even now.

The biggest risk for booking a match a long time in advance, especially if you put a lot of hype into it, is that one or both of the wrestlers is unable to compete. It's a big gamble but, sometimes, there's no reward without risk. Vince didn't make WWE the biggest wrestling company in the world by being afraid to take risks.

 

[ccotreau1]

I actually don't mind the pre-booking being used in storylines, simply because it is refreshing, like Cena vs Rock at WM, we knew it was going to be a good match the day it was announced, and allowed Rock to do his movies stuff while allowing him dates to do promos, which we haven't seen this time around for the Rumble, partly because it was not concrete to the fans who the champ was going to be, but after tonight, I am sure we will see The Rock do promos leading up to the Rumble.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Recently with the Rock's matches,most have been booked way before The Event.

All two of them with a third on the way and most likely a 4th at WM.

For Rock vs Cena,it was great booking because the feud was a massive one and needed long booking.

Why? What did the announcement add to 2011? From a business perspective it gave WWE time to promote to their sponsors and sell more WM seats but from a fan's perspective how did announcing it a year in advance add to anything when The Rock was never there to add to it. All it did was give Cena a reason not to go ape shit on The Rock for screwing him over at WM 27. Other than that The Rock's mini-apperances and SS were lackluster from a fan and business perspective (although that was Miz's fault ).

The The Rock/Cena feud was only as good as when The Rock was around and that was just the last couple of months. We live in the information age, announcing it a couple months beforehand would have gotten around and they could have still done the same promos and sold pretty much the same number of buys.

On the other hand when Rock announced that he would go for the WWE title at RR and Punk turned heel,it was pretty much ensured Punk won't lose the title to anyone except the Rock.

Captain Hindsight has nothing on you. However, if he lost the title Punk could win it back at any time and you would still have the same main event. It's not difficult, Punk and The Rock could have basically the same feud without constant reminders of "3XX days as your WWE champion".

Which created booking problems and has affected Ryback's character.

It took him from getting the same push as Brodus Clay without the comedy aspect to "Over". He went from getting an awful Goldberg reaction to getting booming chants of his catch phrase. It made him a guy who can compete with the main eventers for years to come. It built a marketable star, a great "problem" to have.

However, this had more to do with Cena's injury than Punk/The Rock.

So when such prebooking occurs,there may or may not be future booking troubles.So i was thinking,is it wise to book matches months before the event?

From a business perspective, you want to get your big marketable events out in the public as soon as possible. From a fan's perspective it's all in the execution. Like most things in life, the more time you plan ahead and work on things will likely lead to a better product.

"Slow builds" and "on-the-fly booking" are just IWC code word excuses to make people feel smart and explain why they did or didn't like something.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Pre-Booking is great when it is not exposed to the audience.

In cases like you stated above when a pre-booked match was announced ahead of time, it forces WWE to either follow through with it in a good way or to 'logically' (WWE's definition of logically) change there plans. & that way people can expect too much, get there hopes up, be disappointed if or how they change something, etc. There are just too many ways to let people down that way.

That's what I think was a big key to the attitude era being so succesful. They had long, drawn-out storylines, that had several possibilities but combined that extensive pre-booking with performers improvising more & created a combition of the natural flow of things or off the cuff responses & reactions with the carefully devised plot points.

So while pre-booking is a very useful tool for WWE, pre-booking too much can cause problems. & WWE announcing their pre-booked matches too early can cause alot more.

 

[thekooljt]

You guys already answered your own question but with a twist. When the Rock announced a year before WM28 was to take place that he would wrestle John Cena, there was so much buzz and so much anticipation, the WWE had no choice but to capitalize on that (and capitalize they did). Will pre-booking happen for every WWE superstar or their match? Probably not. Due to the fact that the Rock Vs Cena was a definite dream match, pre booking worked.