Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Writers, Orton, Jericho Future & More
September 4, 2021
DougMaynard.com

More questions from Brother Marshall from Johnson City, TN, and a few others as well, plus I address what I started in my AEW All Out prediction column earlier today. It’s a packed edition of the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. So are you ready? And away we go. Let’s do this.

You can sign one tag team from any era for AEW, who would it be?

This one would be a hard call since I’m a big fan of tag team wrestling and there are so many great and legendary teams that I’ve enjoyed watching over the years and I can only pick one? My first thought was obviously the Midnight Express with Jim Cornette, but given that I don’t want Corny to have a stroke trying to make sense of AEW booking, I’d pass on them here. The Anderson Brothers, Tully & Arn, The Enforcers (Anderson & Zbyszko), and Steamboat & Youngblood all come to mind as well, but I think, as FTR has shown, that maybe they’re all too old-school for the AEW audience. So let’s think a little more modern and the perfect grouping comes to mind. It’s the “Dancing Fools” from WCW, Disco Inferno, Alex Wright, and Tokyo Magnum. They were entertaining, they could wrestle, and they can talk. And most importantly, they can dance. So there you go.

Who do you feel is the most exciting new wrestler on the scene right now, and why is it Danhausen?

Who? No offense to Dawson’s Creek or whatever his name is, but who? I’ll go with Sammy Guevera for this one. Or maybe the Master of the Tornado DDT, Fuego Del Sol. But Dachshund has yet to impress me or show me anything special in the few matches I’ve seen thus far. Cool t-shirts though.

How long until we see Cm Punk involved in a championship feud and who should he be up against, if not Kenny?

I don’t think it will be long before Punk starts looking at maybe wearing a title belt in AEW, but I think it will probably be a tag team title before he goes after a singles belt. A run or two as the World Champion is most likely in his future at some point, but I think CM Punk & Bryan Danielson, or maybe even Punk and Darby as the tag champions via a victory over the Young Bucks seems more likely in the near future.

AEW does not have writers (Jericho famously said this), but WWE has a team of writers. Yet AEW’s promos and booking have looked consistently better and told better stories for a while. Does WWE need to trust the talent more and let them build the stories?

Absolutely. If the wrestlers are reading a script, it sounds generic like they’re reading a script and it’s not as easy for the talent to invest in the story. Let the talents do it their own way and invest time and thought into the story, with bullet points from the management, of course, to make sure that they hit all the important details, and it just makes for a better product and makes everything come across as more believable and real. If WWE doesn’t trust the talent to do their job correctly, why do they even have them there in the first place?

Could a rumored Becky Lynch heel turn set the stage down the road for a future all-heel four horsewomen?

It could happen and it would be cool to see Becky, Bayley, Charlotte, and Sasha all together as a faction. Hell, just to make it even better, bring in a classic heel from the past to act as the James J. Dillon of the group and be their manager. Madusa would be great for this role given her history as a manager in the AWA and as part of the Dangerous Alliance in WCW, or even better given her history with the original Horsemen, how about Nikla Roberts, aka Baby Doll. I can’t really see WWE going in this direction though since it would be out of character for the egos of these four women to co-exist as a unit, plus someone would need to be elevated on the face side of things to give them a reason to be together and a common foe and I don’t see anyone at the moment in WWE that could really take that role. Bianca maybe, but she’s not ready yet. It’s a good idea though and could work if booked correctly. I can’t see it lasting for a long period, but I’d like to see WWE give it a shot.

Would any of the pre-Vince WWF/E wrestling legends like Rikidozan, Bruno Sammartino, or Lou Thesz get over in the modern era?

Honestly, I don’t think so. These talents are not sports entertainers but are instead wrestlers and that’s not what WWE wants or promotes these days. They would be moderately successful, but used as top guys by the company? I just can’t see it happening.

Would you like to see Randy Orton break Flair’s record? I think he deserves to.

Randy is certainly capable and of all the people currently in WWE, he’d be my preference to be the man to break Flair’s 16-title record, but I think at the rate things are going now, the person to watch is Charlotte. Neither wrestler can really compare to the schedule and legacy that the Nature Boy holds in wrestling and while they may end up with more title reigns being recognized, they’re not Ric Flair so it’s a moot point. What was I saying? Oh yeah, Orton as a 17-time champ would be cool, but I think Charlotte will be there first.

Which released WWE superstar would you bring back for one last push?

How about Heath Miller, aka Heath Slater, and a run with the WWE Championship. Both of his partners in the 3MB, Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal, were released from WWE and then came back to the company and some time as the top guy. Let’s keep the tradition going with the leader of the 3MB, Heath Slater. His kids would be so happy.

You speculated what the future might hold for Chris Jericho in AEW if he loses the retirement match to MJF at All Out. Care to elaborate?

Okay, so here it goes. Jericho loses to MJF at All Out and can no longer wrestle for AEW, but he can and does remain with the company, after a break to go tour with Fozzy, working as an announcer and the manager/spokesman for the rest of the Inner Circle, especially Sammy Guevera and Jake Hager as they continue their feuds with MJF, Wardlow, and the rest of the Pinnacle faction. And after some discreet interference from manager Jericho costs MJF and his Pinnacle associates some important matches, MJF demands that Jericho get into the ring and fight him so that MJF can get rid of Jericho once and for all. Jericho is reinstated for one more match and finally gets the win and revenge against MJF. This could draw out for months, give Sammy & Hager a big push against MJF to build their characters and status, allow MJF to really expand upon his heel character, make for some good TV matches and promos, and finally end with a happy ending, the return of Chris Jericho to the ring after a well-deserved hiatus and break. It’s good wrestling booking and storytelling, an updated variation of the Flair retirement angle with Hogan and Randy Savage back in the early ’90s, but this one could work and be done well. If I was the booker for AEW, I think that’s how I would do it anyway.

And there you go, My thanks for reading. Any comments, thoughts, or questions to ask, feel free and drop me a line. Until the next time, take care of yourself and say safe. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!