>is the booking the "thing" now? like thats the story worth
>discussing?

>seems odd to me

That question seems odd to me. Pro wrestling is storytelling and psychology, and booking is essentially the script to said story.

Discussing booking= discussing the story=discussing pro wrestling.

Quality booking means letting guys ride on their strengths and not only listening to fan reactions but crafting a response to those reactions to maximize a return on that emotional investment.

It's pretty much the backbone of a successful promotion. Terrible booking contributed a great deal to the demise of WCW. Quality booking of characters in ways that accentuated their strengths instead of highlighting their weakness was a major factor in the rise of ECW.

None of the greats of yesteryear- yes, I said NONE- would be able to rise to their prior stature under this current culture without Vince making serious exceptions.

Modern WWE is quite literally the mostly tightly scripted and controlled product they've ever presented and it shows. 50/50 booking in WWE has lead to a general mediocre product that gets by in excellent ring work and brand loyalty. Everyone about even with everyone else and nobody is on any real journey. Yes, this stuff matters in creating an exciting and engaging product.

Booking isn't the thing "now", it is and always has been THE thing and is always worth discussing. Hulk Hogan very well might not happen if Vern Gagne stubbornly held fast to his initial booking of Hogan as a heel in the face of fans cheering him to the rafters.

Conversely, had Vince been savvy enough to listen and react to the incredibly negative fan reactions to the Roman Reigns project early on, Reigns would likely have come full circle by now as a considerably less polarizing baby face.

Vince today would have likely forced Steve Austin into his prefabricated Fang McFrost or Ice Dagger characters instead of letting him rock with the golden goose of a name Steve's wife picked out: Stone Cold, and booked him accordingly.

Asking if booking is worth discussing in a pro wrestling conversation is no different than Asking baseball fans What the point of discussing a manager's batter lineup and bullpen rotations. Even shoot combat sports like MMA and boxing rely heavily on Booking because that's how you sell a fight.

Booking is the creative direction that drives the story and the psychology behind it.