10 Secrets Behind AEW's Booking Magic
6. Tease, Tease, Tease
Teasing in pro wrestling accomplishes two things: it creates a conversation in the short-term, playing on irresistible mystery, while also convincing fans that a long-term goal is in sight and worth the payoff. It's perfect for the episodic model, and in AEW, it isn't limited to the vignettes that proved so powerful in the WWF's Golden Era.
AEW is building an ardent base of fans under a strategic bid to cultivate its future from a position of stability. They are aware of the crazed extent to which the show is analysed, and recognise the value of very, very steadily rewarding those that pay the strictest attention.
If something feels like it's yours, you are going to protect it as you would your physical property. AEW is conditioning this sense of devotion through booking that feels bespoke to your thoughts.
Immediately following Double Or Nothing, Cody flashed the famous Horseman pose, when he revealed that he was only the "fourth" man Tony Khan called to set the AEW venture up. He used this slight as inspiration to become the best "bell-to-bell," but he knew what he was doing - as did several attentive, rapt fans. FTR followed, teasing a "Revelation". MJF spoke warmly of alumni Tully Blanchard, while also heavily referencing the biblical allusions surrounding the lore.
Is Cody a Horseman? But he's a Rhodes. What of Hangman Page? Can he be strayed? Do they even want him? MJF and FTR do share the exact same values, don't they?
These are the questions asked every Thursday. These are the questions that make Wednesdays feel so distant.