Help understanding booking pattern and final grade

[Pampero Firpo]

I'm trying to get a better understanding of the best way to book my shows and think that understanding the following scenario may provide some insights. I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts. You often see people complaining that the overall grade their card received is lower than expected given the individual segments. Well, I recently had just the opposite -- [U]the final grade was higher than any of the matches[/U]. The matches (in order) got grades of: C-, E+, D, D, C-, C-. My final grade was a C. Now I did have a number of C+ angles which no doubt helped, particularly since I'm running a traditional/SE type fed. But I was still surprised that the final grade was higher than any of the matches. Here is the complete listing of segments on the card: Segment 1: 6 minute angle, Grade C+ Segment 2: 1 minute angle, Grade E+ Segment 3: 1 minute angle, Grade C+ Segment 4: 1 minute angle, Grade D- Segment 5: 15 minute match, Grade C- Segment 6: 10 minute match, Grade E+ Segment 7: 15 minute match, Grade D Segment 8: 5 minute angle, Grade D Segment 9: 15 minute match, Grade D Segment 10: 12 minute match, Grade C- Segment 11: 6 minute angle, Grade C Segment 12: 5 minute angle, Grade C+ Segment 13: 22 minute match, Grade C- Segment 14: 6 minute angle, Grade C+ Final Grade: C Does anybody have any thoughts why this happened? I'm certainly not complaining, but I'd love to understand the reasons so I can try to repeat it. I haven't really altered my booking methodology, but none of my other cards have shown this phenomenon. I generally book a strong opening angle followed by my third best match. After some filler in the middle I conclude with my best two matches and a strong closing angle. I've booked my other cards in pretty much the same manner, but I've never gotten a final grade bump like above. I've examined the other cards to try and isolate a reason, but nothing really stands out. The one thing I see that may have made the difference is the exceptionally strong (relative to my level) opening match. In my other cards the opening match wasn't quite that strong. I'm just curious if anyone has any thoughts or insights on how this happened, because I'd love to be able to repeat it on a regular basis.

[Comradebot]

Simple. Your Main Event was a C-, and the final two matches of the night are weighed the heaviest, with the Main Event being the most critical match. Also, only angles lasting ATLEAST SIX minutes will have any effect on the final rating. Personally, I think those C+ angles and no completely disastrous matches is the only thing that pulled you UP to a C. Still, not a bad show :) Overall, though, not a bad structure for booking. the typical belief is to sorta stagger your show a bit, like a rollercoaster. Don't just start off crappy and build to the best part, as the show won't turn out as well. Instead, start off with a relatively strong segment (Your C+ angle and C- match actually did that pretty well), then let the crowd back down easily with something you know isn't going to be as good, then build them back up, and slowly building the better parts of the night up until the final two matches which SHOULD be your absolute best matches of the night. And, if you think you're main event is going to be average, then its not a terrible idea to have a 6+ minute angle to end the show that you know is going to be golden. Angles don't get weighed any differently depending on where they are on the card like matches, but having a great angle at the end atleast has the bonus of not having to worry about the segment after it suffering from a crowd who got burned out with excitement from the pure awesomeness of that angle. But by no means does a show need one at the end, and I frequently don't put one their unless I have a legitimate storyline reason for it to be there.

[Phantom Stranger]

With ROF I've now had three A* shows which had no A* matches or segments.

[Derek B]

[quote=Phantom Stranger;519227]With ROF I've now had three A* shows which had no A* matches or segments.[/quote] That's because the threshold for an A* match is set higher than the threshold for an A* show. You just happened to get grades that lie between the two numbers (95.1 and 99.1, I think) so the show ended up looking like it was rated higher than the matches but really it wasn't. :) As for the initial show here, it looks like the angles kicked your show up a gear. Ending on a very highly rated angle will cap off a show nicely and can raise the grade. That's the thing about being rated on overness, you can have some great angles featuring popular people and they you don't NEED in ring skills. :D