9. Giant Baba
Biggest mistake: Wrestling protectionism Giant Baba was the booker for All Japan Pro Wrestling from its inception up until his death in 1999. During that period, Baba created his own style of wrestling, Kings Road, which combined the physicality of shoot wrestling with martial arts strikes and the storytelling and dramatic elements of American wrestling. Though All Japan might not have been the most financially successful Japanese promotion during the 1980s and 1990s, in terms of match quality, it was hands down the #1 promotion in the world. However, even a booker as smart as Shohei Baba has his flaws, and in Babas case, it was refusing to work with other companies. If there was ever a booker who would be described as a protectionist, it wouldve been Shohei Giant Baba. He firmly believed that All Japan talent should work exclusively for All Japan, and thus prevented any cross-promotional feuds. This was going on at a time when his biggest rival, New Japan, was doing multiple cross-promotional feuds with UWFi, and was exchanging talent with both WWF and WCW. This proved to be a major benefit for New Japan, as their top wrestlers were exposed to an international audience, while All Japans best stars only achieved fame in North America through the illegal tape trade. As a means of competing with New Japan, in the late 1990s, his top stars started taking riskier bumps and performing more dangerous moves. While this kept fan interest in All Japan, it proved incredibly costly for the wrestlers involved. And all of this couldve been avoided if Baba wouldve made more financially-beneficial decisions, such as allowing for cross-promotional feuds, which the All Japan fans were dying to see anyway.