5. Motoko 'Dragon Lady' Baba
Biggest mistake: Not changing when it was necessary The moniker Dragon Lady isnt meant to be some cool nickname for an intimidating womens wrestler; Motoko Baba earned that nickname because she was the antithesis to her husband Shohei Baba. While everyone loved and respected the Giant man, his wife was despised, and no one disliked her more than Misawa. So when Giant Baba died in 1999, an internal power struggle ensued between majority owner Motoko, and AJPW president Misawa. She vetoed all of his decisions, especially because Misawa wanted to make significant changes, including Giant Babas protectionist policy and not doing cross-promotional feuds, which had brought in tons of money for their competition in New Japan. But the Dragon Lady wouldnt have it; being independently wealthy from her own business outside of wrestling, she felt like All Japan didnt need to change in any way. Furthermore, there were rumors at the time that her sole plan was to keep All Japan afloat until 2002, the 30th anniversary of All Japans formation, before closing the doors. Naturally, this ticked off Misawa, whom the Dragon Lady removed from presidency of the company, which in turn led to Misawa forming Pro Wrestling NOAH, leaving All Japan with only three wrestlers and one referee. As a result, she was left with a virtually empty company, almost completely void of talent. Though All Japan did change its policy towards inter-promotional rivalries, these only occurred after an influx of New Japan wrestlers, particularly Keiji Mutoh, came in and changed the companys direction in the right way.