1. How To Book The Same Match-ups And Still Have Unique Results
During Kobashis career in AJPW, he was part of a very small roster. All Japan did not have many heavyweight wrestlers, so Giant Baba booked his top four wrestlers, known as the Four Pillars of Heaven for their outstanding matches together, in many tag team and singles matches. Yet despite the same four wrestlers (with some odd additions here and there), every match felt different, and the subtle storytelling elements that were built on top of each other over the months and years led to many fantastic matches that all felt different from each other. WWE could learn a lot from this sort of booking. Kobashi faced the same opponents so many times and his matches never felt repetitive or boring. Each time he wrestled Misawa, Kawada, Taue or others, there was something new to be seen that helped push the storytelling narrative that was being told in his matches. WWE suffers from several problems when it comes to booking similar matches. Theyre often put together at the last minute and lack any continuity between them and subsequent rematches, giving off the impression that previous versions of the same matches no longer matter after a few weeks or months. This leads to fan apathy, as they see the same match and think great this match-up again, instead of thinking awesome, these two guys are fighting each other again!.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
