Welcome to your Thursday morning guilty pleasure, the one and only “Tossing Salt Presents:  Wrestling Fact or Fiction!”.  I’m Doug and I’m your host with the most – welcome to the show.  

 

Before I get into the column, I just want to express my shock and send out my condolences to the friends and family and fans of Jim Hellwig, aka “Warrior”, aka “The Ultimate Warrior”.  I woke up this morning (Wednesday) and that was the first thing I found in my mailbox, a notice from a friend about Warrior’s passing. It’s so sad and crazy.  From The WWE Hall of Fame on Saturday to Wrestlemania XXX on Sunday to Monday Night RAW on Monday and he passes away on Tuesday.  It’s like the Warrior came full circle in his life and ended things on his terms and now, with absolute certainty, his legacy and memory will live forever.  Rest In Peace, Warrior!  And God bless!

 

Let’s do the column…

 

I didn’t do this on Monday when I wrote the “Tossing Salt” column, so I’ll do it here and now…

 

 

The “YES! Movement” lives as Daniel Bryan celebrates his WWE World Championship and two shiny belts.  HHH and Steph are NOT happy.  Mockery from the American Dragon. HHH will wrestle Bryan for the gold tonight!  Batista and Orton complain about HHH fighting Bryan instead of them.  HHH gives them a tag title shot against the Usos and teases an Evolution reunion.  The Wyatt Family defeated Sheamus, Big E and John Cena in a six-man tag.  This is definitely Wyatt country.  Bo Dallas will make a boleiver out of us all… coming soon.  Santino and Emma beat Fandango & Summer Rae.  Emma makes Summer tap and they celebrate in bad dance.  Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman are hre.  The ended the streak. Brock is “the one”.  It’s not bragging if you can back it up and they back it up.  Adam Rose and the “Exotic Express” is coming soon.  Batista and Randy Orton destroy the Usos.  Total slaughter!  RVD is back and takes down Damien Sandow.  You’re welcome… dude!  Wade Barrett squashes Rey Mysterio like a little jumping bug.  Alexander Rusev and Lana are here.  Zack Ryder’s last rezort gets squashed by the big man making his RAW wrestling debut.  The Ultimate Warrior plays dress up and has a flashback to many years ago as he comes to the ring and thanks the fans, Warrior Style.  AJ Lee and Tamina come out to gloat and brag and she channels some CM Punk with her promo. We get Paige from NXT.  She compliments AJ, but AJ is a crazy little lady dripped in psycho and challenges Paige to fight right there and AJ puts up the title.  Paige wins. New champion!  Hulk Hogan presents Cesaro the trophy for winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal.  Zeb Colter takes the mic from Cesaro and calls the Swiss Superman a “Zeb Colter Guy”.  Cesaro corrects him and says that he’s a “Paul Heyman Guy”. Zeb is shocked. Paul Heyman is out and gloats.  Jack Swagger attacks from behind and destroys the trophy.  Cesaro sends Swagger and Zeb fleeing.  Match time and Cesaro beats Swagger by count-out when Swagger flees to avoid becoming a swinger. Stephanie tries to recruit The Shield to have HHH’s back in the title match, but Kane talks too much.  Daniel Bryan is waiting for his match with HHH when Orton and Batista make their presence felt.  Bryan eats an RKO, followed by a “Batista-Bomb!”. Kane is out and gives Bryan a choke-slam.  HHH is ready to wrestle, but the referee won’t start the match.  Here comes The Shield.  A face-off with HHH, Batista, Orton and Kane versus The Shield.  Oingo-Boingo time as Reigns spears HHH and levels Kane with the “Shades of Superman” punch.  Ambrose and Rollins take care of Ortona and Batista.  Bryan nails HHH with the running knee and Kane pulls HHH from the ring as the show ends.  The Shield and Daniel Bryan stand tall.  YES! YES! YES!  And that’s how to recap a show.

 

Moving on…

 

 

I just realized something. There was no “Mr. Wrestlemania” Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania XXX. Does he still get to keep the name?

 

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Paige.  Her first match on RAW wasn’t all that, but I’m expecting we’ll be seeing a whole lot more.

 

Christy Hemme is now part of the TNA Creative Team.  For some reason, when I think of Hemme, visions of great matches and future superstars are NOT the first things that pop into my head.  I still think of her eating a pie with her butt.  Gives a whole new meaning to the term “ass-munch”.

 

AJ was really channeling CM Punk in her promo on Monday night. The only thing missing was calling herself “the best in the world”.

 

Cesaro is a “Paul Heyman Guy”.  That’s pretty cool!  But why do I see an eventual “Paul Heyman versus Zeb Colter” match in our future.  Time to book that infamous “Tuxedo Match” between the managers.  And by the way, wouldn’t Christian make a good manager / mentor for someone?  How about The Edgeheads?  After all, what else do Zack and Curt have to do?

 

The Shield, Daniel Bryan, The Wyatt Family, all of the NXT folks – it’s the beginning of a new era for the WWE… and I’m glad to see it happen.

 

I’m still in shock over the end of “The Streak”. But I think that’s what they had in mind.

 

Jeff and Karen Jarrett have a new company.  I think Dixie should be very nervous right about now.

 

On a match for match basis, I think Wrestlemania XXX is one of the strongest and best ever.  

 

No Sting… yet!  But we did get RVD and a CM Punk chant.  So there you go.

 

The folks in New Orleans love them some Wyatt Family, don’t they?

 

Fandango broke up with Summer Rae via tweet.  Gotta love social media.

 

Vince McMahon leaving Wrestlemania XXX to go to the hospital with The Undertaker.  That is called respect!

 

 

Who would make a great team to help boost the tag team division in the WWE?  How about reforming Miz and R-Truth together?  That would be a great team.  Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder were a great team and could be so again.  It’s not like the WWE is doing anything with them anyhow.  Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd is another potential team that could work.  How about Mark Henry and Christian as two veterans out to prove a point?  There are so many talents in the WWE rarely being used that could be put together to create a strong tag team division.  WWE and their “creative writers and agents” need to look into this and tap into this wasted potential.  

 

 

Ivan was the mentor and leader and one of the best wrestlers of ever of his era.  Nikita was the green power-house who just had the right look and presence about him and was able to turn that potential through hard work and effort into a great character and top wrestler.  I’ve always been a fan of Ivan and why he’s not yet in the WWE Hall of Fame is a mystery that needs to be rectified.  It’s a travesty and he deserves it far more than 99% of the persons already inducted.  As for Nikita, I appreciated his character, but was never really a big fan once he broke out into singles matches.  He looked good and did good work, especially when you consider his experience level at the time.  Still, he earned his success and paid his dues and I give him major kudos for that.

 

 

I liked the One Man Gang character and was able to watch him wrestle many times in his epic battles with Jimmy Valiant, as part of the House of Humperdink.  He moved well for a big man and could be quite a bit scary as he and Sir Oliver Humperdink did their thing in their attempts to put Valiant out and rule the Mid-Atlantic region. I did NOT like the Akeem character in the WWF.  That was stupid bordering on total dumb-ass and George Gray deserved far better. He got the gimmick over and that’s a testiment to the man himself and his abilities, but still… what the hell was WWF and Vince thinking?  Anyhow, a good character, a good in-ring talent, and from everything I’ve ever heard, a good guy in general.

 

 

Well, there’s a little tag team that used to be pretty prominent here on the NC Indy scene called “The Main Attraction”.  It was Chris Steele and Scott Powers and that team, along with their manager Jaysn Kross, were and are, among some of the best talents I’ve ever seen live. They belonged in the WWE or one of the major promotions and that would be my pick.  But since I’m guessing you’re asking about a talent that might have a little more name recognition, I’ll go with a guy that has long been one of my favorite “guilty pleasures” and belongs on the WWE stage as well in some capacity.  I’m talking about The Disco Inferno.  Remember, it’s your duty to shake your booty.

 

 

When the WWE did the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view in 2005, they set the bar and standards for wrestling reunion shows.  It was the best then and the best since.  TNA’s effort was okay, but wasn’t really any comparison to the WWE’s product. WWE all the way.

 

 

If you put both Shawn and Bret together at that time and looked at the potential upside to their characters and who was best able to carry the company, I think it’s prety obvious that in long range planning, Shawn was the best option and choice for the company. Vince was wrong in the way he handled it, but he made the right choice for his company and if I was in his place, I’d have made the same choice as well and gone with Shawn.

 

 

I’m not sure if you’d consider it a gimmick or not, but when Vince McMahon mocked God and had God listed as HBK’s tag team partner against him and Shane, that was just totally wrong in my eyes and extremely disrespectful.  

 

And finally…

 

 

As usual, the questions come from my friends at 411mania.com/wrestling.  The answers come from me.  And away we go.

 

FICTION:  It’s hard to disagree with this since it was obviously Undertaker’s call and he made the choice, but breaking “the streak” is a career defining moment and I would have rather seen it going to to up-and-coming talent who could use it to build a career and legacy and lead the WWE for the next ten-plus years rather than a part-timer. Brock is a legit monster and it’s believable, but I’m just under the mindset that the streak should never have been broken.  That’s just me, I guess.

 

FACT:  Say all you want about HHH “squashing talent”, but he and Bryan put on a helluva match to start the show and while there wasn’t a bad match at the show this year, save perhaps the Outlaws & Kane getting buried by The Shield, the match with HHH and Bryan definitely set the bar for the rest of the night and everyone else had to step up and did a great job keeping up.

FACT:  Cena doesn’t need to win and it would have been a great moment for Bray Wyatt.  But it didn’t appear to hurt Wyatt at all so things are all still sunny in the land of milk and honey. Looking forward to this feud going on a while and seeing where it all leads.

 

FACT:  It was the perfect way to start the show.  We expected Hogan, but The Rock and Stone Cold were great surprises and it made a magical Wrestlemania moment for us all to enjoy.

 

FACT:  Brock and Taker did their parts to be sure, but the build was lacking for the most part with the exception of the great promo work by Paul Heyman.  He built the anticipation, created the magic that made people say, “I have to see this!”.  Heyman is the best talker in WWE today and with his promos building this match, not to mention his promos on Monday with Brock bragging about the end of the streak and then less than an hour later, welcoming Cesaro as a “Paul Heyman guy”, he had proven it again and again.

 

FICTION:  No doubt that this would be an awesome feud, but the time of Evolution has passed. HHH should not be wrestling on a regular basis and Batista and Orton should be working their own agendas of going after Daniel Bryan and the WWE World Championship rather than being boggled down in some gang-warfare.  However, if this potential feud with The Shield and Evolution leads to the return of “War Games: The Match Beyond”, I could easily change my mind.

 

FICTION:  When you take into consideration that The Network is only available in the United States, that’s a great number and well on the way, once it goes international, to breaking a million subscribers.  No worries here – things are right on track.

FACT:  The matches are great, the stories are making sense and we’re getting a lot of hot new talent from NXT to shore things up.  Things in the WWE are looking good and I’m happy and excited to see where it all goes from here.  

 

And there you go.  Thanks for reading.  Questions, comments and dirty jokes can be sent to Doug28352@yahoo.com or visit me at my Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/saltpalace. Follow me on Twitter at @doug28352.  And with that, I’m putting baby to bed.  Have a great weekend and take it sleazy!

 

Ubuntu!