Tossing Salt – Worldwide News presents:
Wrestling Fact Or Fiction
February 14, 2014
Doug Maynard

Let’s chit-chat for a few minutes with a few thoughts and then a few questions and then I’ll get to the meat of the column, the “Fact Or Fiction” stuff.

Lita as the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014? I’d rather see Ivory or Victoria, but I think they’ll be getting their just due in the next few years so no arguments. Lita is a good talent and she’ll attract a few “Attitude Era” fans to the show. Good for her.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, I saw a report that Mr. T has agreed and will be a part of this year’s HOF Class and that Cyndi Lauper’s name has also been mentioned repeatedly. Both deserve a place in the HOF and if they put both in this year, I won’t say a word. Both are long overdue.

Betty White was on RAW this past week. Why?

Still no word if they’re going to have Disco Inferno and Alex Wright crash Wrestlemania XXX, but I’m still hoping.

Another strong rumor now is that Sting is wanting to come in this year and work Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXX and has even agreed to meet regularly with Undertaker at his home to work the match out a few times to assure us a high-quality match. If he’s wanting to do it and willing to go that far to pull his weight and part of the deal, then WWE should go ahead and lock him in.

I am so damn sick of ice and snow right now.

Still no word about CM Punk and it looks like talks with the WWE are still at a standstill, meaning Punk is still in the “leave me alone” mood. Don’t blame him at all, but time is running out if he’s going to be a part of Wrestlemania XXX. If something doesn’t happen and develop within the next few days, I think it’s safe to say that the “Best In The World” won’t be at the WWE’s “Biggest Show of the Year”.

If you get a chance to watch the G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) documentary, do so. The folks did a great job with this film and it’s available on Netflix.

Happy Valentine’s Day…

Let’s answer a few questions…

Question Time…

All questions come from the Facebook group “Jim Crockett Promotions…A great era in pro wresting” except where noted.

Billy Morris: Who liked seeing Hiro Matsuda replace JJ Dillon as the manager of Ric Flair,Barry Windham and Butch Reed in 1989? I thought Hiro Matsuda was a major step backward.

It was a decision that probably looked good on paper, but wasn’t thought through correctly and didn’t work at all in reality. Matsuda was a wrestling legend with a strong reputation and generally, that would have been enough, but no one took into account that he spoke poor english and couldn’t cut proper promos in English for the NWA / WCW fans. And after a top-notch act like James J. Dillon, anyone who followed was going to be second-guessed and have a hard time. If they had used Matsuda as a mid-card manager for new stars, it could have worked, but with Flair and Windham, who were part of the Horsemen and top stars, it was a bad call.

Curtis Chordologist Tompkins: If there was a Jobber HOF who would you induct for 2014?

A jobber Hall of Fame would include, in my eyes, The Mulkey Brothers (Bill and Randy), The Gambler (from WCW), Mark Starr, Ron Ritchie, Gene Ligon, Rocky King, Chick Donovan and Rip Rogers.

Adrian Wilkins: Here’s a question that may have been asked before: If the Midnight Express DIDN’T have Jimmy Cornette as their manager, would they have been a relevant team during the 80’s?

Honestly, I don’t think so. Part of what made (or makes) a wrestler or team stand out from the pack is a combination of in-ring skills and promo ability and while The Midnight Express was better than most in the ring, they were not great talkers by any means. They needed that extra kick that came from the Jim Cornette presence to add fuel to the fire and set them apart from the rest of the pack. Cornette would instigate and Bobby / Dennis would back it up in the ring. It was a combination that worked and worked well, but if they had not united and been part of a package, I think the success of both The Midnight Express and Jim Cornette as a manager would have been much more limited in scope.

Vince Phillips via e-mail: If you were told to create a “Mount Rushmore” of professional wrestling, who’s faces would you use?

Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Bruno Sammartino, John Cena and Vince McMahon. Bruno for being the “face” of the sixties and seventies. Flair and Hogan for being the two biggest names of the eighties. Cena for being the face of the WWE for the past twelve years. And Vince because he’s Vince McMahon. What more reason would we need?

And now, it’s Friday so the reason we’re here today is that I meant to do this yesterday, but got slack. It’s “Wrestling Fact Or Fiction”. As per the usual, the questions come from 411mania.com/wrestling. The answers are from me. I really do hate this snow and ice right now. Let’s do this…

Wrestling Fact Or Fiction…

1. WWE is damaging Randy Orton’s WWE title run by having him lose clean on consecutive editions of Monday Night Raw.

FICTION: WWE damaged Randy’s run by having him win the title the way that he originally did and by having him be a whining, inconsistent brat every week on Raw and Smackdown. Losing the non-title matches is not a big deal in today’s wrestling world, but not seeming worthy of the title, that’s definitely not a good thing.

2. Vince Russo possibly returning to TNA creative is not a good idea.

FICTION: If Vince Russo was in charge, that would not be a good idea. But despite all of his flaws, Russo is a creative guy. He’s worked in WWE, WCW and TNA and knows what has to be done. He’s one of those guys who watches out for the little guys and tries to keep everyone on the roster in some kind of storyline. When Russo is kept in reign, with others there to pull him in when things get crazy or quit making sense, he can be a very valuable asset for the company. He’s like Paul Heyman, except in reverse. Heyman has a great mind for wrestling, but you don’t let him near the books. Russo has a good mind for wrestling and a great mind for TV, but you just don’t let him be in charge. If used properly, Russo can be good for TNA and they need all the help they can get.

3. You expect CM Punk to be back with the WWE for WrestleMania 30.

FICTION: I’m still hoping, but as each day passes, it becomes less and less likely. If he’s not back within the next week or so, I think that the WWE’s biggest show is going to be minus one “Best In The World” performer… and that sucks!

4. Cody Rhodes and Kurt Angle doing top of the cage moonsaults should be saved for big time PPV events, and not done on regular TV.

FACT: Moves like that should be saved for big events and big moments. Just the regular TV tapings do not, in my mind, qualify.

5. Pairing up the Miz and Dolph Ziggler into an “angry guys” tag team is an idea you can get behind.

FACT: It’s not the best idea, but if it gets Miz back on TV on a regular basis and back in the main event mix of things, what the hell. Go for it!

6. You would be happy if wrestling got away from the overuse of the Authority Figure.

FACT: I don’t mind having one “General Manager” or “Authority Figure” around, but at least in the WWE, they’ve gone crazy. HHH and Stephanie are “The Authority”, plus Maddox is the General Manager of RAW, Vickie is the General Manager of Smackdown, and Kane is the Director Of Operations. And I’m sure that Teddy Long and Booker T, being former GM’s, have authority too. It’s just too many people in charge and it gets confusing to the fans as to who the “real boss” is supposed to be. If HHH and Stephanie run the show and Maddox is the General Manager, so be it.Get rid of Vickie, Kane, and the rest. Keep it simple.

7. If what he says is true, TNA is making a huge mistake by allowing MVP to be part of a major angle on a “handshake” deal.

FICTION: At this point, I have absolutely no faith in TNA about anything so let them do what they will. If MVP was planning on heading back to the WWE, he would already be there. TNA is just throwing things up against the wall trying to make an impact of some sort and when they screw this up (and they will), not having a contract in place and working on a handshake deal with MVP will just make the mess easier to clear up when it’s all over.

8. Lita is deserving of a WWE Hall of Fame induction.

FACT: She’s not Ivory or Victoria (who both also deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame), but she’s a big part of the “Attitude Era” and she belongs and has earned that spot. No complaints here and more power to her. Happy for her.

And I guess that will do it for today. I’ll be back on Monday with a new edtion of “Tossing Salt – Worldwide News” and will return on Thursday with another edition of “Wrestling Fact Or Fiction”. Thanks for reading. I really do appreciate it. Catch you on the flip side. I really do hate this snow and ice.

Ubuntu!