Another Example Of AEW's Long-Term Booking Philosophy

Backstage notes on Santana & Oritz vs. FTR, which has been in the works for months.

Santana & Oritz
AEW

As if further proof was needed that long-term booking is alive and well in All Elite Wrestling, here it is: Fightful Select reports that internally, the promotion has been working on this week's Santana & Ortiz vs. FTR match for months.

The write-up states that the match has been listed for this week's Fight for the Fallen special episode of Dynamite in Charlotte, North Carolina since at least mid-May. Thus, AEW has had it pencilled in for over two months.

Ostensibly an extension of the wider Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle feud, Santana & Ortiz vs. FTR has. been heating up since Double Or Nothing 2021, where the two teams brawled in a nightclub setting as part of the Stadium Stampede main event. Last week's go-home angle saw the tandems engage in a curtailed press conference, the full version of which has since been uploaded to YouTube.

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The report continues, stating that the COVID-19 pandemic's onset in early 2020 was a barrier to AEW pulling off several planned storylines, matches, and feuds, many of which had been planned several months prior. Despite this, the company was still able to execute a lot of what they had planned.

As far as 2021 goes, AEW already has at least one singles program pencilled in for autumn.

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.