Booking Glory-Chapter 65: Post

"Well the reports are in, and..." Mr. Gibson glanced at the papers in front of him in a happy mood and hummed thoughtfully. "I gotta say, this is not much of a surprise. Still, I am glad to see the women’s division doing this well. The best match of the night is obviously Dacey vs Diana. Even the main event seems to be getting less attention than it."

"Not that Mark’s match wasn’t good. But, it was still at the same level as Mark usually performs and the ladies have bashed the ball out of the park, so to speak. Congratulations Rob, your program is a huge hit with the crowd."

"Thank you, Mr. Gibson," Rob smiled happily in return.

He could see that Robin’s smile was stiff across the table, but he didn’t mind it much. Mr. Wolfe was also giving him a proud smile across the table. So, instead, he chose to focus on that.

"The last two months have been really good for LWC, as a company, so to speak. Our merchandise sales have doubled and we have sold out two PPVs, while we have been struggling to keep this company going in the past. I am happy to announce that we are finally in the green, way past above the red line that we have been hovering at," Mr. Gibson revealed causing a satisfactory smile to emerge on all faces.

"Most of the credit for this goes to Mark and the women’s division as a whole. They both have injected new enthusiasm into our product amidst the crowds. And I think it is safe to say that we are officially on the mid-tier when it comes to promotion sizes," Mr. Gibson said proudly.

"That is why I have decided to host our next PPV in a bigger arena and test the waters. If we are able to sell it out as well, I know it is a hard task, but we gotta aim high here. If we are able to sell it out, then we will reach the top echelon of the mid-tier promotions easily."

"As for AWF, I don’t think we need to worry about them much. The turmoil in the company is at an all-time high and Steven is not going out quietly it seems. He has used his influence to stir up a lot of trouble for Greg in the locker room. It will take some time for AWF to sort themselves out."

"Meanwhile, we can use this opportunity to grow rapidly. The timing is just right for us. And with our next PPV being an extreme PPV, I think we will be able to attract more crowds as well. So, I am opening the floor now to discuss anything and everything related to it," Mr. Gibson finished his speech and looked at each of them eagerly.

And as usual, Robin was the first to go.

"Steven may have induced some troubles for Greg in the short term, but his exit from the company is confirmed. We can be assured that Greg will make it his priority to establish his control over the company," Robin said shifting in his chair. "That means, there will be some wrestlers who will be let go."

"Not just wrestlers, backstage personnel as well. Whoever Greg considers to be very close to Steven will be kicked out as well," Mr. Wolfe said humming.

"So, I wonder, if it will be possible for us to poach some of them to our promotion. Like I have been telling for a long time, we need stars if we are to grow bigger. And someone who comes from AWF will be a great asset to our company’s popularity, at least in the short term."

"Hmm," Mr. Gibson hummed thoughtfully. "I will see if anything could be done about it. We do not want to stick our noses in there and let Greg turn his attention toward us as well. So, we will wait and see who is let go and then approach them."

"Solid plan, I entirely agree with that approach," Robin nodded.

"If we are putting our next PPV in a bigger arena, are we going to increase the time as well?" Mr. Wolfe asked pondering a bit.

"At least that is the plan," Mr. Gibson grunted. "This way we will have a valid excuse to increase the price of the tickets as well."

"Noted," Mr. Wolfe said succinctly. "I will make the necessary preparations for it."

"If we are increasing the time, I assume that the women’s division will be granted more time as well," Rob spoke hoping that it will be true.

"That is the plan, we will allocate, how about forty minutes Robin?" Mr. Gibson asked looking at Robin.

Robin grimaced.

"I don’t think they will be able to fill in that much time. Despite Dacey and Diana tearing down the house last night, there isn’t anyone else in that locker room who can keep the crowd interested for a long time," Robin said softly not looking at Rob at all.

"I don’t agree with that Mr. Gibson. I think the women in that locker room are eager for more opportunities. And this is the right time to showcase them as well. We can’t let Dacey and Diana fight each other for too long as well. We need to build the next stories now," Rob retorted.

"You both make good points," Mr. Gibson massaged his brows. "While what you tell is making sense, Rob, what Robin says is also true. We do not have anyone else there who can keep the interest of the crowd for a long time. Even Evelyn and Selena aren’t at that level of popularity."

"Say you book Dacey and Diana II for twenty to twenty-five mins, the rest of the time will be incredibly hard for those women to keep the attention of the audience. I am not telling that they aren’t good wrestlers, but being a good wrestler is different from being able to wrestle on the PPV card," Mr. Gibson shook his head.

"You don’t need to worry about it, Mr. Gibson. Wrestling is their responsibility, making things interesting is my responsibility. I can guarantee that I will be able to make a match that truly hooks the crowd for the remaining time," Rob said confidently.

"I am not doubting your ability to do that Rob, however, I don’t think this PPV is the right place to try that," Robin said shaking his head. "This will be an extreme special. It is not some ordinary PPV. So, I am not sure that the women will be able to handle it."

Robin said as if he was truly concerned about the welfare of the women in the locker room. However, everyone in the room knew that Robin was just reluctant to give away forty minutes of PPV time to the women’s division.

To Robin, the more time he had, the more he could showcase the wrestlers under his booking. This can also imperceptibly earn the goodwill of the wrestlers in the locker room.

Everyone, whether it was a male or female wrestler, wanted to be on the stage during a PPV. So, PPV cards are always heavily contested when it came to booking which wrestler got how many minutes. Even five minutes of time can be split between multiple matches, thus benefitting more than two wrestlers.

"They are ready, Robin. You don’t need to worry about it. Even if forty minutes is allocated to the women’s division, you will be still left with more than an hour and a half. These forty minutes won’t affect your booking much," Rob ruthlessly hinted at Robin’s true motive.

Robin’s eyes hardened as he looked at Rob coldly, but Rob didn’t pay him any attention. This was every man for himself. And he wasn’t going to sit still when Robin haggled for extra five or ten minutes. He focused his gaze on Mr. Gibson. He knew Mr. Gibson was the final authority in the room.

Mr. Gibson didn’t reply immediately. He fell into thought for a bit as he seemed to mull over the arguments of two sides. He looked at both Rob and Robin for a few seconds before turning his gaze towards Mr. Wolfe.

"Desmond, what do you think about this? Do you think we should give the women more time or should we limit them?" Mr. Gibson asked.

"It really doesn’t matter much, does it? We are obviously not going to sell tickets based on that extra match. We are going to sell tickets with the main event and the other two title matches as the attraction. So, one extra match is not much of an issue," Mr. Wolfe shrugged his shoulders.

Before Rob could rejoice, Robin cut in ruthlessly.

"But, the quality of the PPV will fall. Our past two PPVs have been really good. If we continue this trend, then we will attract more viewers and fans to the arena. But, if we put out mediocre matches to fill up time, then all our efforts until now will be in the drain," Robin said.

Rob could only grit his teeth at that statement. While what he said was indeed logical, Rob couldn’t just accept that only the women’s match would be mediocre. Most of the matches in the men’s division weren’t any better either.

However, with the way Robin had phrased it, he would come off as defensive if he pushed the issue further. So, there wasn’t much he could do at this moment. The only way to prove Robin wrong was to deliver quality PPV matches with the women’s division.

But, to do that, a proper timeslot and length are also needed. However, without a prior example, attaining that timeslot or length is not possible either. It was a very confusing conundrum that existed in show business for a long time.

"I don’t think their match quality will be any worse than the usual stuff we put out. Even if it is so, we need to give them more opportunities to get used to that stage," Mr. Wolfe said disagreeing with Robin. "Moreover, Rob is confident that he could hook the audience’s interest to that match as well. The way I see it, giving that extra five to ten minutes is not a big loss."

"It seems like you have a plan, Rob. Why don’t you explain it to us and we can decide how much time can be allocated based on the merit of the said plan," Mr. Gibson asked looking at Rob.

Rob took in a deep breath and started speaking. He slowly explained his plan week by week leading to the PPV to the trio. By the time he was done, there were stars shining in the eyes of Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Gibson. Robin looked uneasy, but Rob didn’t pay him much attention.

Rob had been unable to sleep last night. The interaction with Dacey and their plans for today has kept him awake through the night. In order to distract himself a bit, Rob had initially attempted to think about something else.

Being so obsessed with booking in general, Rob’s mind had naturally turned towards the booking for the upcoming weeks for the women’s division. As he had said earlier in the women’s locker room, he had alternative plans to feature a lot of female wrestlers in the upcoming weeks.

The payoff for those introductions was placed on the PPV, making that very important. He had already decided to not go with Evelyn and Selena for the PPV match.

The best way to book that rematch between Evelyn and Selena is to give them enough time on TV and let them go at it. This way, they will be exposed more before even being on the PPV.

It was a win-win situation for everyone. Evelyn and Selena will get their deserved match and the entire women’s division will have more opportunities as a whole for that PPV.

And the audience will also love it as there was an interlining story connecting all of this. It would also boost both the ratings and the ticket sales for the company as well. And most importantly, there will be constant interest in the women’s division as a whole in the upcoming weeks.

"This is brilliant Rob," Mr. Gibson said excitedly. "You are truly a genius. If we book in this manner, I am sure both the ratings and ticket sales will see a constant rise."

"Thank you, Mr. Gibson," Rob said humbly.

He knew that he had already won the argument from Mr. Gibson’s reaction. The plan he had outlined, not only served the company as a whole and also made sure that the upcoming PPV would be a must-watch for a lot of fans.

"Indeed, it has a great story as well. With this, you have enough material to build upon not just for this month, but in the future as well," Mr. Wolfe sounded impressed with Rob’s plans.

"I hope you can implement this without any issues," Robin said with a fake smile that didn’t reach his eyes at all.

"I am confident of executing this, Robin," Rob said not looking at Robin.

"Good, in that case, you can have forty mins of the time in PPV. I hope to see yet another exciting performance from the women’s division in general," Mr. Gibson said smiling broadly.

Rob nodded his head in thanks.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

Make sure to add this book to your collection and vote with your power stones to show your appreciation for this work.

You can also check out my other book [Demon Immortal] and see if it is to your liking.

Reviews and comments are truly appreciated.