Bryan Danielson and Tony Khan notes
– Bryan Alvarez claims that Tony Khan has started telling people: “There’s no such thing as long-term booking anymore, it’s week to week”
– AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson Says He Doesn’t Sleep With His Championship Belt
Seeing new champions pose with their newly won belts has always been a trend. However, Danielson prefers to not bring his championship to the bed due to fear of sleeping in the couch.
Speaking to Justin Barraso, Danielson humorously said the following, “I don’t need to sleep with it, I’d much rather be sleeping with my wife. Can you imagine if this big, heavy championship was between us? She’d make me go sleep on the couch.”
Source: Undisputed
That totally tracks for Tony. I really hope it isn’t because he thinks there isn’t an appetite for long-term booking anymore. Shows are much more interesting when there’s a mix of short stories (one-offs or short feuds that are quickly replaced by fresh material) and novels (long-term stories that evolve to keep them fresh). Just look at what WWE did with Sami Zayn and the Bloodline. Would it have been as impactful if he weaseled his way in, started doubting, split with them and had a match with Roman in the span of a month? Playing the long game made it a more satisfying payoff, especially combined with the split and reunion with Kevin Owens, and Zayn is still genuinely over to this day. Maybe Tony doesn’t have the patience for long-term booking, but lots of fans do.