10 Best Booking Decisions In Wrestling History
3. Giant Baba Calls An Audible
Is Giant Baba the best booker ever?
Think of the long game that the All Japan Pro Wrestling matchmaker played with Kenta Kobashi (an honourable mention in this list).
Kobashi lost his first 63 singles matches to establish him as an underdog who fought with more spirit and displayed more in-ring prowess as those losses became more and more narrow. He then evolved into a Pillar of the organisation, an indefatigable in-ring warrior with whom the fans shared an incredible bond. By the time he had dethroned Ace Mitsuharu Misawa for the top prize in the company, it wasn't even the same company, and Baba had sadly passed away. That is how patient Baba was.
So many other bookers, even those who were great at their peak - Vince McMahon, Bill Watts - favoured a certain story or certain attribute in a wrestler.
Baba, adding to his case as the GOAT, took the exact opposite route with Misawa; on the day of his June 8, 1990 match with top star Jumbo Tsuruta, fans chanted his name outside of the building, hours before showtime, and stampeded the merch table.
In a business and era-defining audible, Baba, usually conservative with his booking, changed the original plan and had Misawa win, effectively creating a boom period overnight.