The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with Lance Storm:
Storm on the booking of Brock Lesnar since his WWE return: I certainly would have had Brock win, as most people seem to think was the better idea. I just took exception to the people that thought that one loss killed Brock, and they’ve completely destroyed his heat, and what’s the point? There was a lot of people wanting to think that they had just completely ruined the whole potential of Brock Lesnar. So, I pitched an alternative booking strategy with, “Okay, he lost, it’s not the end of the world.” Comparing it to his UFC run, in that he was a big draw for UFC and he tapped out in 90 seconds in his first match, I’m a firm believer that one loss or one match doesn’t make or break anyone. It certainly can help, but it’s not the be-all and end-all. So I pitched an alternative booking strategy for Brock, which they’re obviously going a different way after watching Monday, but it’s an interesting read. I’ll be curious to see where they do go, because I really liked the approach that I had, although I’m curious that they seem to be sitting him for several months. I’m curious how many dates they have on Brock. Maybe there is something to fewer and far-between being good, but I would think if say you only had him for 15 dates, that you’d want 12 of those to be pay-per-view matches that could draw you money. It seems odd to have him on four or five TVs in a row and then skip several PPVs, but that’s just me I guess.
I think it comes down to whether they have a good booking plan or not. Steve Austin and The Rock in the heyday were week-to-week characters, and it certainly didn’t hurt their drawing power. I think it comes down to if you know what you’re doing and have a really good plan, you can keep a guy important and special and have him on every show. I’m not even necessarily pitching that, but to me, with the price tag that’s with him, you would think you would want him drawing money on as many PPVs as possible. Having him do a TV appearance where he just signs a contract, as opposed to wrestling on a PPV, it’s an interesting decision as far as how you maximize his profits. If they don’t have a lot of great ideas to keep him fresh on TV, then perhaps sending him away for a month or so, and then bringing him back for SummerSlam, and then bringing him back for (Royal) Rumble, maybe that is the best approach. He’s really only drawing you money when he’s on PPV, so you would think you’d want him on a few of those to make up for that paycheck.
Check out Storm’s full interview from The LAW radio show online at TheFightNetwork.com.
