Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Keith Lee, Mustafa Ali, Celebrity Hosts & More
November 2, 2021
DougMaynard.com

Are you ready to talk some wrestling? It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s do this.

Thoughts on Keith Lee’s new character as “Bearcat Lee”?

I’m honestly not sure on this one, but at least the assignment of a nickname means that someone in the WWE has taken notice of Lee and has decided to give him some attention. From what I understand, Vince McMahon has taken a personal interest in Lee’s character now, but if that’s a good thing or not, it remains to be seen. For the time being, I’ll look at this, along with Lee’s heel turn, as positive steps in securing Lee a strong spot on the RAW roster, and from here on, we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes.

It looks as if Mustafa Ali turned has turned heel and will be doing a Muhammad Hassan character and gimmick. Thoughts?

I’m kind of hesitant about this character change since the world is so politically correct and playing the discriminated against Arab-American might hit a bit too close to home with the powers-that-be outside of WWE and generate some bad press. But if done correctly, using the days of Muhammad Hassan as a prototype, this new role for Ali could have some legs and be very interesting to see. Hell, from what I understand, the original Muhammad Hassan, Mark Copani, is still in great shape and wrestles occasionally, when not working as an administrator for a public school, and bringing in Hassan or even Shawn Daivari, who I believe is currently working for WWE as an agent, would be a great way to put more eyes on Ali’s character and add some interest and intensity to his pleas of tolerance and cries of discrimination. Ali is a good wrestler with a hell of a lot of potentials and if WWE allows him some freedom with this character and doesn’t overly script and tweak it to death, there are possibilities here. It’ll be interesting to see how things go.

Who would you have liked to see the Ultimate Warrior feud with during the Attitude Era?

I was not a big Warrior fan during any time in his career, but if he had been part of the WWE during the attitude era, I think Ultimate Warrior versus The Rock may have been interesting. Or even Warrior versus Stone Cold Steve Austin. Just so long as Warrior got his butt handed to him and did the JOB, I’d be happy and content.

What is your favorite version of Kevin Nash? (Master Blaster, Oz, Vinnie Vegas, Diesel, Kevin Nash, etc).

I think Nash’s best time was when the nWo first started and he was more of a heel prick before he started playing too much into trying to be a tweener and being cool. As the nWo got more popular, Nash started blurring the lines and wanting to be a cool heel, and his work declined rapidly in my opinion. I liked the Oz character too, but that’s just because I have a thing for green.

Who was the Undertaker’s greatest rival?

Hands down, it has to be Kane. Be it as foe or ally, the history and characters of Kane and The Undertaker are so intertwined, that you can’t mention one without mentioning the other. And the chemistry they had together in that ring was amazing. For me, there is really no other option than the Big Red Machine.

Would you like to see Charlotte leave WWE for AEW?

I’d like to see Charlotte do whatever makes her happy, but to be honest, I don’t think that career-wise, it’d be the best move. Charlotte is among the best women performers currently in the business and in WWE, she has women of a similar level and skill set to work with, but in AEW, she’d be lacking sufficient opponents of the same level and I think that would hurt her in the big picture of things. Also, the roster of AEW is so bloated right now, she’d be just another face in the crowd, while in WWE, she’s considered special and one of the top guys, period. I may be wrong about all of this, but I just feel that for Charlotte, WWE is the place that she’s best off at and where she needs to be.

Should WWE bring back the Celebrity hosts?

I’m actually not too bad with this idea, but the idea of these people who don’t know about wrestling being “in charge” just rubs me wrong. I like seeing the crossovers and air of uncertainty that it adds to the programs, but I’d prefer to see these guests as “guests” and keep their spots limited to backstage segments or cameos than any kind of authority role.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Thoughts, comments, or any questions you may have, feel free and drop me a line. Until the next time, stay safe and be good. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!