Booking, talent or both?

**LuckIsForLosers** · 07-03-2012, 05:55 PM

I was reading a story about Angelina Love and WWE interest on Ryan Clark's news site when I saw this rather interesting comment:

In case you silly twats haven't realized, ANYBODY can draw in this business. It's all about how the creative team builds them up and puts them out there. For example, AJ has become the top diva within a few months because of time an dedication. Hopefully WWE will sign Angelina in hopes the Divas division can be build up, along with Kharma, AJ, and the number of great women in...

I cut it short as most is irrelevant. What is interesting is the idea here - can anybody be booked to draw? Could you take someone of limited or little talent and have them draw just by building them up? John Cena will be what most will yell. I don't like John Cena as a fan of the product or as a fan of wrestling. However, he is talented e.g. With regards to his mic delivery. I'm talking somebody who can neither wrestle nor deliver on the mic (eg Ryback). Or someone who is completely not over with the crowd (if WWE brought in Samoa Joe for example). Can one be booked to draw or is, say, Tensai, proof that they can't? I.e. can Joe Bloggs, below average wrestler, below average mic skills, but Chris Masters body, draw through booking ?

**scribbler_jones** · 07-03-2012, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by LuckIsForLosers

I was reading a story about Angelina Love and WWE interest on Ryan Clark's news site when I saw this rather interesting comment:

In case you silly twats haven't realized, ANYBODY can draw in this business. It's all about how the creative team builds them up and puts them out there. For example, AJ has become the top diva within a few months because of time an dedication. Hopefully WWE will sign Angelina in hopes the Divas division can be build up, along with Kharma, AJ, and the number of great women in...

I cut it short as most is irrelevant. What is interesting is the idea here - can anybody be booked to draw? Could you take someone of limited or little talent and have them draw just by building them up? John Cena will be what most will yell. I don't like John Cena as a fan of the product or as a fan of wrestling. However, he is talented e.g. With regards to his mic delivery. I'm talking somebody who can neither wrestle nor deliver on the mic (eg Ryback). Or someone who is completely not over with the crowd (if WWE brought in Samoa Joe for example). Can one be booked to draw or is, say, Tensai, proof that they can't? I.e. can Joe Bloggs, below average wrestler, below average mic skills, but Chris Masters body, draw through booking ?

I think it's possible. Not easy, but possible. For some people out there, if you tell them something over and over, eventually they will buy into it.

**YOUcanCALLmeCRACK** · 07-03-2012, 07:22 PM

In case you silly twats haven't realized, ANYBODY can draw in this business. It's all about how the creative team builds them up and puts them out there. For example, AJ has become the top diva within a few months because of time an dedication. Hopefully WWE will sign Angelina in hopes the Divas division can be build up, along with Kharma, AJ, and the number of great women in...

Totally disagree.

Creative and backstage politics (unfortunately) play a huge role in who gets a chance to put themselves over with the fans. To get over there has to be a certain level of talent there. Look at Santino. The guy probably had multiple six-month stretchs where we didn't win a match but his charisma in the ring and on mic got the love of many fans. Creative did pretty much the opposite of what they were supposed to do to get him over. Jack Swagger also got a push by creative and because of his lack of personality (for the sake of argument) he is now jobbing on Smackdown. Creative had no effect on these two in terms of getting over or not.

To draw money is a whole different thing. Look at the all the champions (WHC and WWE) in the last five years, even ten years. To be a champion, creative obviously has to build up the wrestler. Out of these dozens of men, how many has the WWE relied on, multiple times, to draw PPV and merch buys? Again, Swagger had a rocket up his ass and he could bare draw a stick figure those days let alone a dime. Creative can do only so much.

To draw money long-term take a whole different animal and there are only a handful who we can say did/do that.

He simplified it way to much. If he would have said creative has control to get a wrestler over as opposed to draw money I would had agree to an extent. Zack Rider got himself over and look at all the merch buys he had at his peak. They pushed Kofi v Orton and Kofi has since been teaming with everyone who violated the wellness policy.