FIXING TNA: Chapter Three

Article also available at http://v2journal.com/17/post/2013/08/fixing-tna-how-a-few-small-changes-can-make-all-the-difference-chapter-3.html

CHAPTER 3: ECONOMICAL BOOKING AND MAXIMISING THE IMPORTANCE OF EVENTS

If the previous step is followed, this should be a by-product, but it is worth stressing.

There are some major storyline tools that should be used sparingly to maximise their impact within a wrestling promotion. Amongst these are title changes, big bumps, blood, turns and special match stipulations such as steel cage matches and Ultimate X.

Much like a murder in a soap opera, these should not be things that we see every week. When they happen, they should be treated as a huge deal, with lasting ramifications.

If every single match in TNA involved a bump through a table, or a chair shot, or a referee bump, or outside interference, or both wrestlers bleeding, what value would any of those things have as means of furthering storylines and feuds? None. What about if there was one match over the course of the entire year that involved outside interference? That would be a major event, because of its rarity. Of course, these are extreme examples, but it proves the point that, the more sparingly such tools are used, the more valuable they are.

Similarly, wrestling matches between big-name competitors on free TV should only happen with a fitting build-up, with suitable reaction to the match result and with an eye on the future of those competitors. If the company has plans to put a wrestler in a featured position three or six or nine months down the line (which the previous point addresses), they should be used very wisely and economically in the present.

Legendary wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, The Rock, The Undertaker and Sting may very well have become enormous stars regardless, but they were certainly helped by not being regularly portrayed as losers on TV prior to making it to the top.
Those wrestlers were protected by bookers very early in their careers, because their potential was obvious.

If a promoter believes that a wrestler might possibly make their company serious money at some point in the future, that wrestler should be protected, because every defeat that is treated flippantly damages a wrestler, and indeed a victory that is treated flippantly does not benefit the winner. Matches and results should be treated as something that is worthy of the audience’s attention. Similarly, wrestlers should only turn face or heel if there is a strong justification they can provide for their actions which is consistent with their character, and stipulations should only be added to matches if they fit the story being told; if two wrestlers are fighting in a steel cage, there needs to be a reason for this; their feud needs to have escalated to a point where a steel cage match is the only solution, and the hype for that match should befit such extraordinary circumstances.

Furthermore, a crucial element of the relationship between a wrestling promotion and its audience is the need to make the fans wait. The better paced the writing, and the better a match is built up, the more desperate the fans will be to see it and the more willing they will be to spend money on the product, and to tell their friends to watch the show. In general, the earlier a match is announced, the more anticipation there will be when it comes around.

A viewer who tunes into Impact to discover that there will be a Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries main event is going to spend the whole episode looking forward to that match. A viewer who is told that Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries will happen in a month’s time, and who can be taken on a journey as the two personalities interact, and who over that next month is shown video packages on the importance of the match and what the two men mean to TNA’s history, and hears the announcers and maybe even some of the other wrestlers discuss the upcoming match, is going to be desperate to see Samoa Joe vs Austin Aries by the time it comes around. And what’s more, they’ll have a whole month to tell their friends about it!

If these rules are followed, the company can build to matches where Protagonist A, who has been on an upward trajectory, faces Antagonist B, who has been on an upward trajectory. This is the basic rule of matchmaking. How long those upward trajectories have lasted, and who wins the match, and the nature of the feud, will depend on the story that is being told and the future plans the company has for the two competitors. The biggest matches, with the biggest build-ups, and the longest-lasting ramifications, should usually be those between wrestlers who have been on long winning streaks. There are multiple different ways to present this match; it could be a contest between two popular babyfaces, or a dominant babyface and an unstoppable heel, or a fluky heel and an earnest babyface. But this basic formula, in an ever-repeating cycle up and down a wrestling card, is what makes or breaks a wrestling promotion. It always has and it always will. If TNA has an eye on the future at all times, this will all come together much easier and it will prove to be much more lucrative.

Really enjoying these gav- fantastic work. How many chapters are there in total?

Just want to say, I'm enjoying them as well, would comment more but they're all so freaking obvious I don't have much else to add