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Originally Posted by XL
This. x 1000.
They seem to have lost this ability. They knew how to do it. I know this because I'm watching 97-98 Raw. The best example of this is Kane, who debuted in October and didn't have the big payoff match with Taker until 6 months later. Imagine if they'd done a bunch of non-finishes or traded victories straight out of the gate?
The other thing that really stood out whilst watching the build to Mania 14 is just how little the top guys actually had matches. Austin had 3 TV matches between the start of 98 and winning the title in March. More often than not he'd have one, maybe 2 matches between PPVs. I suppose this made it a big(ger) deal when he did get in the ring. Now you have a guy like Orton who wrestles twice a week most weeks.
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Yeah, I've been high on the idea of less TV matches for the major players for a while. It makes PPVs AND certain wrestlers actually seem like a big deal by not having your main event guys wrestle each other, and more importantly lose constantly. They'd need two things though. They'd need to actually bring the IC Title up to where it is an actual attraction again and can draw and headline TV shows (maybe not the last segment but the feature match) and they'd need writers who can build compelling storylines that don't involve "throw them in a match, have a DQ, therefore heat". They could do it with Austin because they had both of those things working for them.