Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
CM Punk, Heath Slater, Abdullah the Butcher & More
August 28, 2021
DougMaynard.com

The weekend is here and there is a lot of great activities taking place with the NWA in St. Louis with their NWA EmPowerrr PPV tonight and the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show taking place tomorrow night, live from The Chase. Check them out if you can. But that’s tonight and tomorrow night. I already have predictions for the EmPowerrr event up on the site and I’ll do predictions for the other show tonight sometime after work. For now, it’s lots of questions. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s do this.

What are the chances of A.J. Lee showing up now with CM Punk in AEW as his valet and or wrestling again? It would be a huge get for the women’s division.

Punk has already sent a shout-out to his lovely wife live on AEW Dynamite and I think that it’s just a matter of time that the former NXT/WWE Women’s Champion, AJ Lee, joins her husband as part of the AEW roster. It’s best to wait for an appropriate moment and event to bring her in though to make it as big as possible instead of rushing things and just throwing her out there for the sake of being there. I’m pretty sure it’s going to happen sooner rather than later. It’s just a matter of when.

So, after a month of Labors of Jericho buildup, he loses to MJF in the end? No comeuppance? What was the point? Where can they possibly go from here?

They go to a match where Jericho’s career is on the line and we get to see Jericho wondering if he’s still able to do it and MJF can play against those anxieties and doubts. It’s a continuing story that still has plenty of legs left so quit with the doubting and just enjoy the ride. We still have a long ways to go.

Who would you consider Ric Flair’s biggest rival?

So many names can be considered such as Blackjack Mulligan and the legendary “Hat versus The Robe” feud, the rivalry with Dusty Rhodes, the battles with Roddy Piper, the great matches against Rick Steamboat, or event the many battles against Harley Race. All were instant classics and great moments for the Nature Boy and his legacy. But Flair said himself on the last episode of WCW Nitro many years ago that Sting was his greatest rival and if anyone is qualified to make that call, Ric would be the one. So we’ll go with Sting.

Jim Cornette as the “Advocate” for CM Punk in AEW. Thoughts?

That would be awesome, but Punk doesn’t need an advocate and Cornette would give himself a heart attack trying to work with AEW and the Indy-Amateur Hour environment that it seems to project so often. I also don’t think that Corny and Punk have a personal relationship to play off of as Punk and Heyman did in ECW/WWE so we don’t know how the chemistry would be. I’d love to see it and honestly, would love to see Corny as part of AEW management, to help tighten things up and make the booking more consistent, but as novel as the idea of having Corny with Punk and as awesome as that would be, I don’t think it would work in the big picture of things.

So who do you think will eventually break Ric Flair’s championship record?

John Cena is already tied with the official number of recognized title reigns, but we all know his runs with the WWE belts can’t compare to the legacy that Flair left during his times with the NWA, WCW, and WWF. It’s not even close. As to who will be the first 17-time Champion, I would put my money on the person carrying on the legacy of the Nature Boy and that’s his daughter Charlotte. She’s at 13 already and still has a long career ahead of her. She’s styling and profiling and definitely doing it with flare, as she should.

Let’s have a little bit of fun… Let’s say that Heath Slater is rehired by the WWE and then he becomes WWE champion. Drew and Jinder did the same thing. Why not Heath?

I would love to see this happen. It would take a total repackaging of the character since Heath spent the majority of his career in a comedic role and not being taken very seriously, but it could be done and would make a great Cinderella story for the WWE and their fans. It sounds like a plan to me.

Stan Hansen & Bruiser Brody versus Brock Lesnar & Roman Reigns (all in their primes). Who wins?

There is no way there would be a clean finish in this match. It would end with a disqualification or no-contest decision. But let’s put that aside and say that it’s no DQ and there has to be a winner. We’d see blood, guts, all sorts of plunder, and so much brutality, even Abdullah the Butcher would be turning his head away in shock. And the winners? Hansen and Brody with a pin over Roman, but just barely.

Why didn’t Abdullah The Butcher ever go to WWE?

Abdullah was a special attraction and his style and character didn’t stay long in any territory and wouldn’t have, in my opinion, get over that well with the New York crowd. And to be honest, I can’t picture either Vince McMahon Sr. or Vince Jr. really enjoying that kind of match and character.
The WWWF had their own maniacs with Bulldog Brower, George Steele, and The Moondogs and didn’t need Abby so why go outside for something that they already had and couldn’t be sure of? It just wouldn’t have been a good mix.

Impact Wrestling is making noise about wanting Bray Wyatt as part of their roster in a big way. Thoughts?

This may be even better for Bray than going to AEW if it does happen. Impact Wrestling has some good wrestling and good matches, but they’re also more into the weird stuff and a character like Bray’s “Fiend” or even the cult leader would be able to slide right into the picture without seeming out of place. Bray will do well wherever he ends up, but in the big picture of things, as he reestablishes himself after leaving WWE, Impact may end u working out the best.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. Until the next time, take care of yourself and stay good. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!