Have you ever been sitting at the keyboard typing away and when you look up you've typed a bunch nonsensical gibberish? Not because your Maxx Corbin, but because your fingers weren't on the home keys. So instead of "hi, how are you" you've typed "jo jpe str upiz". It was just a slight mistake but the end result is so much different. Pro wrestling has its own home keys. Places you need to start before you start typing/telling your stories.
I try to pay attention close attention to booking philosophies. Lets face it pretty much every story that can be told in wrestling, has been. Teacher vs Student, Family vs Family, the underdog champion, the veterans last shot at a winner, the women coming between two friends. You hurt my wife, my girlfriend, my mother, my brother, my son, my dad, my dog! I'm the new kid on the block, the future, the upstart. You're a genetic jackhammer? Its not my baby, its Tommy's? It was me who ran you over with the car and/or hummer.
Anyone worth their salt in pro wrestling knows that in our sport/entertainment it is all about the story. Athletic as this is, was and forever will be its always about the story. It would be easy to go out every night and do all the cool stuff you know how to. People would leave the show satisfied maybe even respectful. But when you go out their and give them a story that they emotional invest in, then you can make them leave with any emotion you want. So if your story is lacking then what do you really have?
I've seen companies in this area and others they don't seem to have their hands on the home keys. They want to have an invasion angle with a company that just started. Do the people love the company enough to care that someone is trying to destroy it? Taking a young talent and pushing him too much, too soon means that you've cut his worth to you in a long run.
Whatever you are trying to accomplish, there is a blueprint out there. You don't have to rip off an angle week for week but at least see how the story was laid out. See what avenues were used to accomplish their goals. Tweak and twist were needed to make a story that fits your unique situation. Because the stories may be alike but they are never identical, I promise and when "The Golden Boy" Greg Anthony makes a promise, its as good as gold.
----Greg Anthony is a regular on the local area circuit. He won RRO Booker of the Year 2008 and is listed in the top 5 of the RRO Top 10 2008. Greg currently can be seen tagging with legend Bobby Eaton and Brian Thompson as “Midnight Gold” and is the EWE Champion.
