So You Want To/Be a Booker: Difference between revisions

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** As a side note, it may seem strange, but good taste should generally prevail when it comes to most storylines. The more [[Hilarity Ensues|"out-there"]] a storyline becomes, generally the less interest the fanbase has [[Captain Obvious|(because they're interested in wrestling)]], [[Values Dissonance|the more you make yourself look unpalatable to the mainstream]], and the less business in the long run. There are [[Wrestlecrap|too many cases demonstrating this principle to go into detail]]. As a general rule, [[Squick|necrophilia, incest]] and similar themes are the purview of 18 certificate [[Euroshlock]], not a fight between two big angry men. There is a reason that even mentioning the [[Old Shame|Katie Vick]] saga will make those fans who remember it feel a little ashamed of their love for the "sport."

# Clearly observe your wrestlers, and make a note of their strengths and weaknesses. Play to your wrestlers’ strengths, and hide their [[Five Moves of Doom|weaknesses]]. Learn who you've got working for you and don't just throw opponents together. This was something that was done particularly well in ECW. Playing to your wrestlers' strengths can be the difference between Malenko vs. Guerrero and Big Show vs. Batista.

# Let the fans' reaction be your guide. The crowd decides who is a face or heel better than any booker. If they cheer a wrestler, he’s a face. If they boo him, he’s a heel. It is almost impossible to make a crowd like a heel (''not'' [[Love to Hate]], there is a difference) or boo a face ([[X Pac Heat]] nonwithstanding). Bookings should be made according to crowd reactions.

# Let the fans' reaction be your guide. The crowd decides who is a face or heel better than any booker. If they cheer a wrestler, he’s a face. If they boo him, he’s a heel. It is almost impossible to make a crowd like a heel (''not'' [[Love to Hate]], there is a difference) or boo a face ([[X-Pac Heat]] nonwithstanding). Bookings should be made according to crowd reactions.

** A notable example of this being done right is the Honky Tonk Man. He had an [[Elvis Impersonator]] gimmick that was originally supposed to get him over as a face. But the fans hated it and booed him. Rather than keep booking him as a face and trying to force the fans to accept him as such, the [[WWE|WWF]] turned Honky heel. And the Honky Tonk Man went on to become one of the greatest heels in the history of the promotion.

# All belts are equally valid. All belts are important. They are your main [[MacGuffin]] for angles and plots. As a result, a belt is as important as the champ who carries it says it is. Never forget this. Therefore, no wrestler should ever insult a belt; a belt brings characters prestige and respect. Insulting a belt insults your organization. Remember this if you choose to pursue stories where a heel insults a belt; that heel must be publicly destroyed — booked into oblivion — or else you have admitted that the belt (and by extension your company) is worthless.

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** If two wrestlers do not have a logical reason to fight, it is the bookers’ duty to create one.

** Where possible, storylines and angles should be respectful and tasteful. Shock storylines lose their power if they happen every week. Say the word [[Precision F-Strike|“fuck”]] once, and it’s a powerful phrase. [[Cluster F-Bomb|Say it 1,000 times, and it’s just a meaningless sound.]] Teach your audience to expect a largely similar product each week; make them feel safe, secure, comfortable... then blow them out of the water with a logically-plotted event (''extra emphasis'' on "logically-plotted" -- poorly-thought-out [[Shocking Swerve|shocking swerves]] are what torpedoed [[WCW]]) that they'll never see coming.

# All inter-character relationships must be logical, and established inter-character relationships must be maintained. If characters are friends, they must stay friends, unless a story event witnessed by fans clearly denotes that the nature of the relationship has changed. Likewise for enemies. Unless there is a plot event that makes wrestlers friends, or turns them enemies, they remain simply indifferent rivals. The [[Heel Face Revolving Door]], in this business, is a disaster. It confuses casual fans and irritates long-time fans.

# Match stipulations should always be honored. If a wrestler or the company can’t keep the stipulation, then it simply shouldn’t be made in the first place. Every match stipulation you ignore insults your audience on a very personal level, and proves your company to be untrustworthy -- as well as to prove those employees involved are liars. People (and therefore fans) resent being lied to. As a result, stipulations should only be broken [[Real Life Writes the Plot|due to exceptional outside circumstances (that is, something happens in the Real World that means the stipulation cannot be honored)]]. There should NEVER, EVER be a broken stipulation otherwise. Clearly demarcated boundaries help sustain your integrity without letting the stipulation ruin the possibility of future business.

** Certain stipulations may be worded in such a way that things can be re-set later (e.g: a hair vs. hair match in which the loser stays bald for a year) and fan resentment can be avoided.

** If [[Real Life Writes the Plot|the worst]] happens and a stipulation must be broken, this counts as a [[Shocking Swerve|swerve]], and should be the main plot event of a given card. If you're going to include them, give them the respect they deserve. Remember, every stipulation you break loses you credibility and thus, in the long run, fans. Every lost fan is lost income. Therefore, every broken stipulation is lost income.

** Of special consideration are Retirement Matches. Retirement stipulations have been broken so often that fans have now been conditioned to regard it as a [[Discredited Trope]]. [[Running Gag|Terry Funk's "retirement"]] is a joke that was old in 1999, and Ric Flair's recent return after his "retirement" clearly demonstrated that [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|no matter how perfect the send-off]], no matter how appropriate, [[Tear Jerker|no matter how emotional]], it won't stick. [[Wrestling Doesn't Pay|Why not?]] [[Money, Dear Boy|Unless you're prepared to support them afterwards, wrestlers have to earn money somehow]]. We'll say it again: no wrestling promoter has yet invested in a sound retirement plan for their workers. Unless you're 100% certain that your wrestler isn't going to be performing ''anywhere'' afterward, don't use the retirement angle; it's always a lie.

# Character relationships exist to further angles. Angles exist to give the fans emotional investment in matches. Matches exist to make the promotion money. Therefore, character relationships should never be ignored, and should always be logical. Illogical relationships and foolish stories drive fans and therefore business, away.

# Heels vs. Faces.

** Faces should win the majority of the time. If you decide to have the heel win his feud for whatever reason, there are two important things you should do.

*** First, do not have the face dominated by the heel in their final match. Your face will look weak when he finally loses, and it makes the heel come off as more of a bully and less of an actual threat. Don't have the heel dominated by the face either; if the face is just going to be pinned after the heel hits his finisher out of nowhere, then your face will have his credibility damaged as well. Make the wrestlers appear evenly matched, so that the fans will walk away with the impression that it honestly could have gone either way and that if the heel had been a second slower or the face a second quicker, the result would have been different.

*** Second, if your fans truly hate the heel, seeing him victorious and celebrating will make them unhappy. Don't let them stay unhappy for long; as soon as the heel gets his hard-fought victory, have another face show up and let everybody know his intentions to take down the heel. Preferably a face who is perceived to be tougher than the one the heel has been feuding with all this time. This will give your fans something to look forward to. Just make sure that their patience is eventually rewarded.

** Monster pushes (of either heels or faces) are perfectly acceptable. The monster character should be fed a steady diet of jobbers to destroy; avoid having the monster fight main-eventers anywhere except PPV main events. A monster should be fed mid-carders at PPV before main-eventers. Failure to do so will result in the angle hot-shotting. Mid-carders due to lose to the monster character should be pushed hard for a while before their loss to the monster, which will help the monster establish credibility. The monster’s loss must be used to elevate a character - it is a serious thing to take down a monster.

# [[Squash Match|Squash matches]] are perfectly acceptable. Someone has to look at the lights. Be wary of using squash matches too often, though; they're predictable. Use them as the tool they are -– they elevate those wrestlers you want to be main-eventers or mid-carders.

# [[Garbage Wrestler|Hardcore matches]] should be used sparingly. Beyond overplaying a gimmick, hardcore matches can destroy the bodies of those involved; just ask [[Mick Foley]], or look at the gravestones of [[Chris Benoit]] and his wife and son. Another danger is the [[Lensman Arms Race|increasingly dangerous stunts]] people will pull to get reactions out of a desensitized crowd. Use them as a blow-off to a bloody feud and promote the hell out of them so your wrestlers won't feel like they're sacrificing a lot for nothing. More harmless stunts like table bumps or blading can be used more frequently. But unprotected hits to the head and New Jack-esque falls should never, ever be used, fans care about the wrestlers, and watching them get crippled will shock and scare away all but the most <s> bloodthirsty</s> extreme fans.

# When ordering the card, the opening match and main event are always the two most important segments. The opener gets your crowd pumped and sets the bar for the quality of matches they can expect to see. If your opening match is weak, the expectation is that the rest of the card will be too. The main event is what closes out the night and showcases your best performers; you want to finish on a high note. In between, you can utilize other highs and lows (squash matches, promos, mid-card matches, grudge matches, comedy), but the overall feel of the show should be consistent.

# If you're gonna book yourself as an evil owner, at least try to look like you have money. Unless you're booking the [[Fun with Acronyms|Welfare Wrestling Federation]], waddling into the ring in Crocs shoes and sweatpants makes you look like a hobo. This goes a long way toward helping your company's image and maintaining [[Kayfabe]].

== Employee Relations ==

# Wrestling and circuses have a lot in common. Some people go to the circus to see the acrobats; some go to see the animal acts; some to see the freakshows; and some for the clowns. Similarly, some people watch wrestling for the high-flyers; some for the technical wrestlers; some for the giants and bodybuilders; some for the talkers; some for the comedy acts; and some for the storylines. Every single wrestler is somebody's favorite. Make sure that somebody gets their money's worth by making them seem as important as possible. Give them ample mic time to get their characters over, and storylines to rope people in. Stories outside the main event may need to be kept simple in the name of efficiency, but never let this be an excuse to neglect them completely.

# In regards to wrestler input into the booking process:

** Wrestlers should have broad creative control of their character’s look, moveset and performance, but note, this is ''not'' the same as letting them book their own matches. ''You'' are the one who should ultimately be deciding who goes over, not them. Take advantage of their knowledge and save yourself the work.

*** Never give your wrestlers too much control over their own matches, but always, always, ''always'' be willing to listen if they come to you with ideas on how to put someone else over. Despite the views of old school wrestlers and promoters, superstardom is not a zero-sum game. The happiest problem a promoter could have is having too many talented, charismatic athletes in his employ. Just because fans cheer loudly for one guy does not mean they won't cheer just as loudly for someone else. Encourage this type of thinking and go out of your way to reward selflessness. Get your wrestlers out of the mindset of asking, "What can I do to help myself?" but "What can I do to help the company?". If the company does well, then everyone wins.

** Wrestlers who have charisma and other talents, but only [[Five Moves of Doom]] should be booked in matches where this lack of working ability should be obfuscated. For example, [[John Cena]] should not be booked to throw punches. The Big Show should not be booked against a high-flyer, unless the point of the match is for Big Show to throw the high-flyer around and nothing else.

** Wrestlers who routinely stink up the ring and draw [[X Pac Heat]] without making any effort to improve should be dropped without consideration. No matter ''who'' they are, or who they are friends with. Your business will be better for it.

** Wrestlers who routinely stink up the ring and draw [[X-Pac Heat]] without making any effort to improve should be dropped without consideration. No matter ''who'' they are, or who they are friends with. Your business will be better for it.

# Related to the above topic, [[Small Name, Big Ego|backstage politickers]] [[wikipedia:Fingerpoke of Doom|are the death of your business]]. Nothing will destroy morale and work ethic like politics backstage. Find out who the politickers are, and then find reasons to fire them. If you cannot fire them for legal reasons, then book them into oblivion; if they have no marquee value, then they have no power over you at all. If the wrestler is a drawing name and they leave you for the competition, fair enough: let them eat your ''opponent'' up from the inside. As the booker, you have personal responsibility for defining how much politics exists. Make it as low as possible, preferably zero. Good locker room morale means wrestlers who are happy to work for you, which lead to better performances, pleased fans, and more money.

** As is true in any organization, wrestling or otherwise, politics in the workplace come into play when some workers believe (or want others to believe) that they know more than everyone else and want to spread that around. Open and honest communication is the key to curbing these tendencies. Many of [[WCW|WCW's]] backstage problems were caused by secretive angles between a handful of people meant to fool other wrestlers backstage just as much as the fans, which caused trust in management to plummet. A tight lid should be kept on some angles if surprise value is a key component, but otherwise everyone should have an idea what's going on with the company.