Welcome to Gaia! ::

It's been a long time since I've posted here, about over half a year at this point. However, there's something I wanted to mention; something that's kind of been eating away at me.

What ever happened to matches, for the sake of matches?

I know what you're thinking. "Matt, plenty of people just have matches and don't really do storylines." And you're right, a good bit do. However, I'm noticing a trend with people over the past couple of years, and it's one I'm guilty of at times. People only want to focus on their storylines.

And by that I mean, there's no matches other than the person they're working with. Then their character is shelved until a story comes their way.

Now, this has always been a thing. But as of late, it kind of irks me because I keep seeing "No match, only doing a promo" on roll calls. Now, I'm not saying you should do a match every card, but there are some that literally will only promo until their match with said person (again, I'm just as guilty as anyone).

What happened to utilizing your random matches as part of your stories?

For example, let's look at Bison and Lauri in WWF:G. While both were booked, both made it pretty clear afterwards that they had no intention of wanting a match. Both planned to just promo. Why? Why not have your matches, keep away the post-rust, and work them into your feud? Bison could screw Lauri out of a win. Lauri could screw Bison over. They could brawl before or after the match. There are tons of possibilities there, and people forget that because they think this kind of stuff is ONLY meant for promos.

I suppose what this little rant is supposed to say is... stop signing up if you're only going to promo. In fact, stop restricting yourself to only promos. This ESPECIALLY goes for champions. If you're a champion, you should be booked every show unless there's some IC reason or you have a reason you can't be around Gaia for a time period. That's just a given.

Sorry for the rant, and if I rustled any feathers. That is not my intention, and again, I KNOW I'M GUILTY TOO. But as a booker, this is something that grates at me. Let's try to start getting back to the root of this. Matches, AND storylines. Not either or.

To note, I didn't point you out as an attack or anything of the sort. I brought up your case because it's the most recent that comes to mind, as you both came to saying that you didn't actually want matches. I could say plenty of people's names, as everyone is guilty of it in one way or another.

And no, it didn't occur to me because that's not my thought process as a booker. My thought process is "This person signed up, they want a match." If people don't ask for a match, then they won't get one.

Do people often have their reasons for not wanting a match? Sure, and I understand when people don't. I don't get uppity, in most cases. But when people take the time to post on a roll call, they're saying that they want to be active, is it not?