Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Tessa Blanchard, Chris Nowinski, The Benoit Family & More
April 12, 2020
DougMaynard.com

Welcome to a special Easter edition of the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. I’ve been laying low for a couple of days, but now it’s time to catch up so today’s edition will be a slight bit longer than usual with a ton of questions from all sorts of awesome Peeps. Thanks for everyone for the questions. Now, let’s remember the reason and get busy. Let’s do this…

Avery:
Which do you prefer to watch – the men or women wrestling?

I’m at the point now that the gender of the person doesn’t matter. I just want good characters, good wrestling, and good matches. And lots of Asuka.

Patrick:
Should AEW do a “Brawl For All” match?

No way. It was a dumb idea and unless they did a “worked” version, it’s an idea that should never be mentioned again, not by AEW, WWE or the local Indy fed down the street. It was an interesting concept, but the cons far exceed the pros. Just let it go.

Your “Top 5” WWE wrestlers ever?

This is something that changes frequently, but for here and now, I’ll go with Asuka, Heath Slater, Ivory, R-Truth, and Curtis Axel.

Should Tessa Blanchard stay in the Men’s Division when she loses the Impact Championship or will she return to the Women’s Division?

Now that wrestling (and defeating) men are part of her story and legacy, my thought is that she’ll alternate and go back and forth with both the men and women as opponents. It isn’t like Impact Wrestling has a large roster to choose from anyways, so I expect that she’ll continue wrestling everyone.

Josh:
What name comes to mind when you hear the name OVW? How about Smokey Mountain Wrestling? Ring 0f Honor?

For OVW, my first thought is Mr. James E. Cornette who was the booker for OVW for a long time and helped make it what it was. For Smokey Mountain Wrestling, I think of The Thrillseekers (Chris Jericho & Lance Storm) and that cheezy video when they made their debut. Also, The Heavenly Bodies, consisting of Dr. Tom Pritchard and Jimmy Del Ray, figure strongly in my SMW memories. And Ring of Honor makes me think of CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and Jamie Gibson, better known as Jamie Noble, and that classic match where Noble defeated the three other men to win the ROH Championship.

Steve:
Thoughts on Dusty Rhodes’ heel turn when he joined the nWo and helped Scott Hall fight Larry Zbyszko?

It was a shocking moment that quickly fizzled out and no one cared ten minutes later. WCW Souled Out 1998 is where this dastardly act took place and Rhodes helped Scott Hall fight the “Living Legend” and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a nWo t-shirt, becoming the 862nd member of the WCW roster to turn heel and join the opposition. It was a dumb idea and waste of time that eventually went nowhere. I don’t know what WCW was thinking, but it sucked ass-water as an idea.

Andy:
What is your Mt. Rushmore of Promos?

The men who always deliver on promos for me are The Rock, Steve Austin, Ric Flair and The Andersons (either Ole or Arn). When either man spoke, you knew it was the gospel.

Mike Z.:
The Four Horsemen (Flair, Arn, Tully & Ole) versus The Von Erichs (David, Kevin, Kerry & Fritz). Who wins?

It would be a no-contest or non-finish with a DQ or count-out most likely so that neither team would look weak. But if there had to be a winner, it would be the Von Erichs. A loss wouldn’t hurt the Horsemen and Fritz and his ego would never allow his boys to lose cleanly.

What are your feelings about “Dirty” Doug Gilbert?

An amazing talent, very under-rated and would have been a huge star in WCW or the WWF if he had gone that route rather than choosing to remain mainly in Memphis with the occasional trip to Japan. His brother Eddie may be the one who got the publicity and notoriety, but Doug was just as good and deserved far better in his career than he got.

Andy:
Did Ronnie Garvin deserve to be World Champion?

Not in my opinion, but WCW wanted to give him a run with the belt to give Flair someone to build to wrestling at the Starcade in Chicago later that year and Ronnie was the right person at the right time for them. He’s probably not who I would have gone with, but WCW did and there you go.

Mihai:
Thoughts on Orange Cassidy? Good, OK or bad?

I’m a big fan of the Freshly Squeezed one on a limited basis. He’s comedy relief and used sparingly, adds a lot to the AEW roster. I wasn’t sure how he’d work with a national promotion, but so far, AEW has used him well.

Leslie:
Does Chris Nowinski belong in the WWE Hall of Fame?

For his time in the ring as a WWE superstar, I would say no. But when you figure in the work he’s done since leaving WWE as the face of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, that’s a whole different story. His work and research has changed the world of professional wrestling forever in so many ways and has helped to extend lives and careers. A spot in the WWE Hall of Fame would be a nice way for WWE and professional wrestling to say thanks. This man deserves it.

Jerry:
If there were no ex WWE guys, who would be the face of AEW right now?

Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, MJF and Sammy Guevera.

David:
The Sheik versus Thunderbolt Patterson. Who wins?

Thunderbolt sucked as a wrestler and the Sheik would slice and dice him in pretty short order to take the win.

Bryan:
After watching the Dark Side Of The Ring, does Chris Benoit belong in the WWE Hall of Fame? Does Nancy Benoit (Woman) belong in the WWE Hall of Fame?

For his in-ring work and career as a wrestler, Chris Benoit definitely has earned a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame. But given his actions on that final weekend of his life, he’ll never be inducted nor should he be. It would be a major distraction and take away from everyone else in the HOF and thus, it’s a non-issue for me. No Chris Benoit, period. As for Nancy, that’s a different story. For her work in Florida with Kevin Sullivan and then her career in WCW and ECW as Woman, Nancy would be a first-round choice and definitely deserves to be inducted. The only problem is that bringing up Nancy brings up Chris as well and that would be a major problem for WWE. Maybe they can slide her in as a Legacy Inductee, but her career was a great one and she left behind quite a few highlights and moments as her legacy. WWE needs to find a way to put Nancy in if at all possible.

And there you go. My thanks to everyone for the questions. And thanks to everyone for reading. Any comments, thoughts or questions, just drop me a line and we’ll chat. Until the next time, take care and stay safe. Happy Easter.

Ubuntu!