Best/Worst examples of booking

[The Great ML]

Those That didn't hurt either.

[Newb82]

Then once he actually became World Champion, he promptly forgot everything he learned and went back to his default sleazy douche bag setting.

[SirSmUgly]

Then once he actually became World Champion, he promptly forgot everything he learned and went back to his default sleazy douche bag setting.

 

Yeah, that's the best part! He hit the top and immediately went back to his comfort zone as a sleazy, shortcut-taking douche, like that episode of "The Simpsons" where Mr. Burns loses all his cash and seems to turn a corner as a human being after becoming poor again, but ends up showing that he's still the same terrible person when he makes it back to the top. 

 

What a great character. 

[Petey]

 

The handling of DDP and more importantly the Diamond Cutter are probably top 5 examples of long term booking in my memory.  DDP went from sleazy chickenshit heel to the most beloved babyface in the company.  The Diamond Cutter was probably the most over move in the industry and he was the only person in WCW who ever seemed to be a step ahead of the NWO.  The La Parka angle was probably the best part of that particular run.

 

He did it really slowly, too. I love that if you look at his character arc, his immaturity led to all those losses to Johnny B. Badd, the loss of Kimberly, and the loss of his personal fortune. Once he hit the very bottom, he had to assess where he went wrong, which led to him slowly correcting his behavior and overcoming those immaturity issues. DDP went from being totally destroyed personally and professionally to World Champion in three years...just by becoming a better person. No wonder fans were so invested in him.

 

Well,  all that and also the Diamond Cutter was cool.

 

I also think DDP had a great look for late 90's US wrestling. Wasn't a bodybuilder or fitness model. Looked just like a regular tough guy you'd see in a local bar. The taped ribs just added to the lure.

[LP Steve]

 

People talk about history's worst booking to a somewhat exhausted degree. The truly bad ones have been discussed at length, whereas the best stuff probably doesn't get enough credit. Some bright spots that immediately came to mind:

•  

• Lawler gets a title shot at Nick Bockwinkel, but has to pay $500 for every punch he throws in the match.

 

 

This angle had maybe my favorite promo ever, by Bockwinkel. Starts at 2:42

 

 

[The Nature Boy]

 

Then once he actually became World Champion, he promptly forgot everything he learned and went back to his default sleazy douche bag setting.

 

Yeah, that's the best part! He hit the top and immediately went back to his comfort zone as a sleazy, shortcut-taking douche, like that episode of "The Simpsons" where Mr. Burns loses all his cash and seems to turn a corner as a human being after becoming poor again, but ends up showing that he's still the same terrible person when he makes it back to the top. 

 

What a great character. 

 

 

Could you argue that it extended into the WWF? After WCW was bought out, he thought he had to make a big impact so he decided to stalk Sarah so he'd instantly get put into a feud with The Undertaker. When The Undertaker squashed him, he finally snapped and became a Yoga instructor. 

 

.........Okay fine. 

 

----

 

As well booked as Sting's Crow run was, it was followed by the absolute worst booking you could've done with the character. He spent a year plus trying to convince people that he WASN'T in cahoots with the nWo only to turn around and join the nWo just a few months later. It does seem to tie into Sting's seeming undying loyalty to Lex Luger so there's that.

[Petey]

Yeah but he didn't join the bad nWo though. He joined the nicer nWo.

[Niners Fan in CT]

 

or the fact that heels never got ANY heat because of the angle or Mickie looking like how most men want women to look. So many bullshit factors.

 

 

That was always my problem with it. Not that Michelle wasn't attractive also.. all the divas are attractive but Mickie was ridiculously good looking. Why were we ever supposed to believe that she was not desirable? So stupid.

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

Watching the build up to WM 2 between Mr. T and Piper. Mr. T is just completely unlikeable. Weird heel promos on SNME.

 

Would have been cool if they did the Austin/Hart double turn 11 years earlier.

[odessasteps]

Windham's heel turn to join the Horsemen

[The Nature Boy]

 

 

or the fact that heels never got ANY heat because of the angle or Mickie looking like how most men want women to look. So many bullshit factors.

 

 

That was always my problem with it. Not that Michelle wasn't attractive also.. all the divas are attractive but Mickie was ridiculously good looking. Why were we ever supposed to believe that she was not desirable? So stupid.

 

 

Had Mickie won cleanly and decisively, it still could've worked. People are catty and will find the smallest things to use to tear each other down. Michelle and Layla were supposed to be the "mean girls" style group of popular girls so they would attack someone like Mickie who didn't look like them. 

[nofuture]

Always love the Main Event Hogan/Andre fake Hebner title change.  Clever booking that you just don't see anymore.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Yeah but it's hard to show that Mickie is not like them when in fact they are all gorgeous. If you replace Layla with Mickie and nothing else is changed..  I mean who would notice? They would still be the "Mean Girls" etc.

 

I'm spending too much time dissecting this crap.

[supremebve]

Watching the build up to WM 2 between Mr. T and Piper. Mr. T is just completely unlikeable. Weird heel promos on SNME.

 

Would have been cool if they did the Austin/Hart double turn 11 years earlier.

The network has proved to me that Hogan was the biggest asshole in the entire company for a lot of his run at the top. I just watched Royal Rumble '92 and as soon as he gets in the ring he rakes eyes, chokes people with his shirt, and breaks every fucking rule possible.  He gets eliminated by Sid and instead of being a good sport and walking to the back he grabs Sid's arm from the floor making it easy for Flair to toss him out.  Sid eliminated him fair and square and Hogan basically threw a temper tantrum and made sure he lost.  So I guess my point is getting people to root for someone who behaved as despicably as Hogan for most of his face run is pretty damn good booking.

[The Nature Boy]

Yeah but it's hard to show that Mickie is not like them when in fact they are all gorgeous. If you replace Layla with Mickie and nothing else is changed..  I mean who would notice? They would still be the "Mean Girls" etc.

 

I'm spending too much time dissecting this crap.

 

You could've played up the personality difference more. Michelle and Layla were the "Mean Girl" personality type whereas Mickie was more humble and seemingly well-liked. Mean Girl types tend to get jealous when other women get more attention than them. 

[Niners Fan in CT]

I think next Monday night I'm just going to pop in Mean Girls. Why not. I guess we can't have this thread without the Mega Powers and them EXPLODING which also ties into Hogan being a huge prick and the worst best friend in the business. Anyway, I always forget that Macho just fucking waffles Beefcake in the back so when I see it I laugh uncontrollably every time. It also helps if you hate Beefcake which I didn't as a kid.. but now revisiting him..  eh, fuck Beefcake.

[Brian Fowler]

Okay, here's mine, and I confess WWE almost certainly fell ass-backwards into at least some of it.

 

Ric Flair vs. HBK, Wrestlemania 24:  Flair retired by Shawn.  They build off that for half a year, getting into the Jericho feud.  Then we get the (stupid) "Shawn is broke" distraction but finally we build to

 

HBK vs. Undertaker, Wrestlemania 25:  Shawn is coming off ending the "greatest career of all-time" while Undertaker is...  The Undertaker.  All-time classic match.  We then get several months where this is all nothing (see the ass-backwards part above) before suddenly Shawn wants a rematch, and is going nuts over it, eventually goading Taker into but only at the risk of putting his career on the line, giving us...

 

HBK vs. Undertaker, Wrestlemania 26:  Wherein we take Shawn full circle, and he is put out for good.  After the emotional "Flair demands Shawn kicks him -> I love you, I'm sorry -> Superkick -> Pin -> hug", we get Shawn kicking out of the tombstone, Taker seeing that Shawn is completely beat, and just screaming at him to stay down because he doesn't want to hurt him anymore.  Shawn slaps the taste out of Taker's mouth, gets the leaping Tombstone, Taker breaks character a little bit for the big hug.

 

That right there is a pretty damn great complete story, but....

 

Shawn's best friend (who, btw, has spent a lot of his career, kayfabe, trying to top HBK) challenges Taker, going to do the job Shawn couldn't, giving us...

 

The Undertaker vs. Triple H, Wrestlemania 27:  It's well known I love this match more than everybody else in the world (maybe combined), but holy fuck I love this match.  But more important to the broader story, we get the beginning of a change in emphasis, with the "Taker can't stand, but gets the Hell's Gate for the win anyway" finish, followed by the stretcher job.  We then get the story where needing help to leave is eating at Taker, and for the first time in years he is the one making the challenge to a non-champion for Mania.  Triple H initially refuses, because he knows that A.) ending the streak will hurt business, and we are now acknowledging onscreen that Hunter is an executive and B.) he knows the only way to the end the streak is to utterly destroy The Undertaker.  Thus, we have shifted the narrative from "can Wrestler X break The Streak" to "Can The Undertaker keep The Streak going?" But wait...  There's more!  Here's HBK getting thrown back in as guest referee, giving us

 

The Undertaker vs. Triple H, Hell in a Cell, Wrestlemania 28:  I'm not a huge fan of this actual match, but the longterm storytelling is spectacular.  And we end with Triple H being the one that needs help, The Undertaker triumphant, and all three legends leaving together, in a nice emotional cap.

 

(Part of me wants to include Brock ending the streak here, because by itself it fits the Flair-HBK thing, adding Taker to that chain...  But the excellent Punk match doesn't fit at all...)

[sydneybrown]

Windham's heel turn to join the Horsemen

 

I'll respectfully disagree, because while as awesome Barry Windham was as a Horseman, and how shocking the turn was at the time, it required an awful lot of suspension of disbelief to get there.  Luger gets dominated, tags Barry, then gets massacred and bloodied on the floor by Tully and Arn.  Barry goes for a tag, but there's a bloody Lex on the floor.  And somehow that's Lex's fault that he got attacked? Just seemed awfully convenient.  I knew he had turned, but having never seen it until recently, I always thought Luger wrestled the whole match solo, and then Barry attacked him.  Would have made much more sense.

 

And don't even get me started on Midnight Rider Dusty Rhodes charging into the heel locker room to confront Barry only to get destroyed by everybody in a move so incredibly stupid even Sting would ask "What the FUCK were you thinking?"

[ebbie]

You know you got it bad when Sting is calling you a dumb shit.

[Dre013]

Okay, here's mine, and I confess WWE almost certainly fell ass-backwards into at least some of it.

Ric Flair vs. HBK, Wrestlemania 24: Flair retired by Shawn. They build off that for half a year, getting into the Jericho feud. Then we get the (stupid) "Shawn is broke" distraction but finally we build to

HBK vs. Undertaker, Wrestlemania 25: Shawn is coming off ending the "greatest career of all-time" while Undertaker is... The Undertaker. All-time classic match. We then get several months where this is all nothing (see the ass-backwards part above) before suddenly Shawn wants a rematch, and is going nuts over it, eventually goading Taker into but only at the risk of putting his career on the line, giving us...

HBK vs. Undertaker, Wrestlemania 26: Wherein we take Shawn full circle, and he is put out for good. After the emotional "Flair demands Shawn kicks him -> I love you, I'm sorry -> Superkick -> Pin -> hug", we get Shawn kicking out of the tombstone, Taker seeing that Shawn is completely beat, and just screaming at him to stay down because he doesn't want to hurt him anymore. Shawn slaps the taste out of Taker's mouth, gets the leaping Tombstone, Taker breaks character a little bit for the big hug.

That right there is a pretty damn great complete story, but....

Shawn's best friend (who, btw, has spent a lot of his career, kayfabe, trying to top HBK) challenges Taker, going to do the job Shawn couldn't, giving us...

The Undertaker vs. Triple H, Wrestlemania 27: It's well known I love this match more than everybody else in the world (maybe combined), but holy fuck I love this match. But more important to the broader story, we get the beginning of a change in emphasis, with the "Taker can't stand, but gets the Hell's Gate for the win anyway" finish, followed by the stretcher job. We then get the story where needing help to leave is eating at Taker, and for the first time in years he is the one making the challenge to a non-champion for Mania. Triple H initially refuses, because he knows that A.) ending the streak will hurt business, and we are now acknowledging onscreen that Hunter is an executive and B.) he knows the only way to the end the streak is to utterly destroy The Undertaker. Thus, we have shifted the narrative from "can Wrestler X break The Streak" to "Can The Undertaker keep The Streak going?" But wait... There's more! Here's HBK getting thrown back in as guest referee, giving us

The Undertaker vs. Triple H, Hell in a Cell, Wrestlemania 28: I'm not a huge fan of this actual match, but the longterm storytelling is spectacular. And we end with Triple H being the one that needs help, The Undertaker triumphant, and all three legends leaving together, in a nice emotional cap.

(Part of me wants to include Brock ending the streak here, because by itself it fits the Flair-HBK thing, adding Taker to that chain... But the excellent Punk match doesn't fit at all...)

Is it really "well known" that you like the Triple H/Taker match?

[odessasteps]

If i recall coreectly, JJ had been teasing Windham with the idea he coukd not trust Luger. Planting seeds Iago style.

And then JJ "was proven right" when Luger was not there in the tag match.

[Ace]

I don't think Magnum being pushed to the top hurts Flair anywhere near as much as it hurts Sting.

[peterien]

I dont know if it falls under bad booking, or they weren't expecting the reaction they got or the fact that it messed up long term plans but Jericho beating HHH for the WWF title in 2000 and then having to hand the belt back later on was always bullshit to me.

They couldve at least called an audible during the show to keep the belt on Jericho for a few weeks.

[supremebve]

I dont know if it falls under bad booking, or they weren't expecting the reaction they got or the fact that it messed up long term plans but Jericho beating HHH for the WWF title in 2000 and then having to hand the belt back later on was always bullshit to me.

They couldve at least called an audible during the show to keep the belt on Jericho for a few weeks.

Has anyone's career been undercut by bad booking worse than Jericho? 

[The Nature Boy]

I think I've posted this before but they had already booked the Rock/HHH Iron Man at that point so Jericho couldn't hold onto the belt unless they inserted him and made it a triple threat Iron Man.