Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Q&A
May 27, 2018
DougMaynard.com

Are you ready for some Q&A about the world’s greatest sport. The questions come from Jay, a resident of CT, who sent these originally to PWInsider and Mike Johnson. Mike answered them on his MJ Mailbag, exclusively for Elite Subscribers. And now, I’m going to take a run with them and see what I can do. It’s time to stop being nice and start getting real about the greatest unreal sport of all. Let’s do this…

1.) Titus new gimmick do you think could get over anywhere near where Rusev Day has?

While it was a obviously lucky mistake for Titus and will probably end up making him a great deal of money in merchandising and t-shirts, I think the rose is already off the stem and it’s starting to fade already. Rusev Day has far more legs in my opinion with with Lana and Adrian English also in the mix, is the far better schtick for the long term. It was generic and the fans got behind it even when no one expected them to and that’s the key point here. Titus slipped and I’m glad they’re having fun with it, but I think we’ll be marking our calendars for Rusev Day for many years to come.

2.) Sasha/Alexa: Who is the better wrestler? Who is better looking?

So far as the in-ring ability goes, I think that Sasha is a better wrestler. I think Alexa has really grown into her own as a character though and is probably one of the best promos on RAW right now, be it man or woman. So Sasha is the better wrestler and Alexa is the better character. And who’s better looking? Well, neither of them can compete wih Hall of Famer Lisa “Ivory” Moretti in my opinion, but I think Alexa is truly one hot mama. Sasha is great looking too, but that purplish / pink hair just doesn’t do it for me.

3.) Do you think it’s better they paired Matt with Bray than having Jeff redo his Brother Nero Gimmick?

Absolutely. The Jeff Hardy / Brother Nero character has a been there feeling to it and it didn’t seem like Jeff was all into it anymore. WWE sees him as a singles star and I think letting him be Jeff Hardy and moving him to Smackdown was a great move. As for Bray, his character needed to be revamped and teaming the “Eater of Worlds” with the “Woken Matt” character seems to have done just that. Matt and Bray are working well together and it looks as if they’re both having a lot of fun with this teaming. It seems to have been a win-win decision for all parties involved.

4.) Do you think there will be a lot of interest in a Miz/Bryan feud?

If WWE decides to go all out with this and allows the two to recreate the fire from their “Talking Smack” promos a few years ago, it could be one of the biggest and best feuds in WWE history. Both men are so damn good right now and I hope that they don’t rush into this and blow it too quickly, but instead create a long and simmering rivalry that can only benefit both men so when we finally do get this battle, it’ll be the climax and well worth the wait. Much interest? Absolutely!

5.) Could you see Owens & Zayn trying to get the tag titles for a while since the Raw tag team division is lacking a bit?

I could see it happening, but I’d rather see Owens and Zayn do their things among the top tier of the card in singles and tag matches while leaving the tag team title scene to others like Matt & Bray and hopefully the newly repackaged “B-Team” of Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel. There are a ton of tag teams on RAW right now that deserve their own spot in the light and having Owens and Zayn compete in that division as well wouldn’t be right or fair to them.

6.) Do you like Paige so far as SD GM?
So far, so good. I was wondering what the WWE would do with Paige since she’s not medically cleared to wrestle, but having her work as the GM was not among my ideas. It makes sense though because she’s young, but a veteran of over a decade, has had much success as a wrestler and is a good talker. I think she’s a good character and so far, her interactions with the rest of the roster as the GM have been really well done.

7.) When do you think Stephanie will return to t.v….in time for the Summerslam build?

Look at RAW this past week. Stephanie was already back to kick Kurt out of his office and try to make problems with Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey by stirring the pot during the contract signing. She’s back with a vengeance. Lord help us all.

8.) Who do you think will be the hottest prospects to come up from NXT by next Mania?

The ones that stand out the best for me right now are The Velveteen Dream, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. I could even see Gargano and Ciampa bringing their current battles from NXT to the main roster as a kind of Owens / Zayn type deal. Shayna Baszler and Nikki Cross are the two top women I think will soon be moving up to the main roster.

9.) Do you think No Way Jose will get over more than Adam Rose did?

Nope. I think that his gimmick, while fine in a smaller setting, was DOA on the first night he showed up on RAW and it hasn’t shown any signs of life since in my opinion. Rose was at least original and it took a while for the character to become stale and boring, but with No Way Jose, we look and it’s like “Adam Rose already did this with the Rosebuds and the Bunny”. It has a been there / done that feeling to it and will not work or last on the main roster.

10.) Do you think SD has a better roster overall than Raw does now?

I think that both brands have good and strong rosters, but I’ll give the edge to the RAW roster. They have Owens, Zayn, Bray, Matt Hardy, Slater and Rhyno, Seth, Rousey and most importantly, The B-Team of Bo and Axel. Smackdown has the better top guy with AJ Styles, not to mention Daniel Bryan and The Miz, but I think when they did the most recent brand split, RAW came out with the better end of the deal.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Thoughts and comments are welcome and appreciated and any questions for future editions of the Q&A are especially welcome. Until the next time, ave a great one and always stay a fan. Support your local Indy’s. I loves ya. Take care.

Ubuntu!