Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Announcers, Andrade, Arn Anderson & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

I still can’t sleep so it’s one more edition of the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. I’m going to need more questions. Help a brother out. I’m Doug and this is how we do it in the L-B-G. Let’s roll.

Rank the five greatest wrestling announcers of all time.

In my opinion and off the top of my head, I would say Jim Ross, Rich Landrum, Tony Schiavone, Bob Caudle, and Michael Cole.

Rank the five greatest color commentators of all time.

For this, I’d go with Corey Graves, Dutch Mantell, Bobby Heenan, Paul Heyman, and Terry Garvin.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter: “AEW went from the fun place to work with the great backstage camaraderie when WWE talent for the most part were walking on eggshells, to a place with a lot of frustration from wrestlers making a nice and even great living but not getting anywhere near the ring time nor upward mobility hoped for.” Thoughts?

AEW is a place with no structure and no true leader. It’s been known for a while and it’s all finally catching up with them, at least in my opinion. Playing with your friends and doing whatever you want sounds nice, but it’s not how to get better, advance a career, or run a business. Eventually, changes need to be made and someone has to take charge or it all will fail in the end.

Has WWE fumbled Andrade for the third time?

I’m doing the whole wait-and-see right now, but WWE has such a stacked roster, that it doesn’t look good. Maybe things will change and we’ll see a strongly booked Andrade at some point who can show us what he’s capable of, but they’re not there yet and it’s a shame.

First wrestler, do you think of when you see the AEW championship?

CM Punk. He won the title and never lost the belt so he’s still technically the true AEW Champion.

Who do you think had the worst run or was just used incorrectly: Bret “Hitman” Hart’s WCW run or Sting’s WWE run?

It was easily Sting in WWE. At least WCW tried to do something with Bret and he got some title runs and a good feud with Flair out of the deal before it all went to shit. Sting only worked 4 matches in WWE and the whole idea was to bury him at Mania. Except for the Hall of Fame induction, Sting’s entire WWE run should be stricken from the record and never spoken of again. Yes, it was that bad.

So how about this? Arn Anderson comes in as Cody’s manager, bringing son Brock Anderson with him. About six months in, Arn and Brock, joined by Lexi King, turn on Cody with Arn using the classic “Anderson versus Rhodes feud” as the reason for the turn. Brock & Lexi get pushed as part of the new Horsemen while Cody gets story, feud, and two new challengers. Thoughts?

Well, Cody was talking about wanting an old-school manager, and Arn, who was his manager and mentor in AEW, fits the bill. I like the idea of bringing in Brock along with Arn to help him gain experience and get better. And I do remember the Dusty Rhodes feud with Ole Anderson and Dusty’s comments that “This will never be over!”. Plus Arn turned on Dustin in WCW so there is precedent and WWE owns the video footage. An Anderson turning on a Rhodes to create a new faction of Horsemen, which by the way, Arn owns the rights to the name of everything Horseman-related. It’d help move Brock to the next level, and adding King, formerly known as Brian Pillman Jr., also a second-generation Horseman, to the mix would be even better. It’s a good story idea that could help a lot of people improve their standing in the sport, plus be very entertaining as well, with a history that goes back to the 70s with Dusty and The Andersons. I like it.

Bob Backlund versus CM Punk. Who wins?

I like CM Punk, but Bob Backlund in his prime would dominate and win. He might not have had much personality then, but Backlund was an amazing wrestler.

Who is the first wrestler you think of when you hear “WCW Saturday Night”?

The Horsemen are the first names that come to mind, but surprisingly, the first name after that was The Gambler. A jobber whose gimmick was playing with a deck of cards in the ring before fighting and losing to the big star babyface. He was a regular on Saturday Night for years and while he rarely won any matches, he was always entertaining to watch and had some good matches.

And there you go. Thanks for reading. And now, time to try to sleep one more time. The sun is starting to crack through the sky so maybe I’ll have better luck this time. Take care and be well, my friends. Have a great day and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!