Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Promos, Tommy Rich, Bugsy McGraw & More
November 5, 2021
DougMaynard.com

We have a lot to get to today so no time for chatter. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A and it all starts right now. Let’s do this.

Who are the five best promos of all time?

Off the top of my head, I’d say Ole Anderson, Jim Cornette, The Rock, William Regal & Dusty Rhodes.

Once and for all, The Legion of Doom versus Demolition. Who wins?

It’s not a popular opinion, but as great and powerful and strong as the Road Warriors were, Demolition, consisting of Bill Eadie, who also wrestled as the Masked Superstar for many years, and Barry Darsow, formerly known as Krusher Kruschev, were just better wrestlers and in-ring performers and in my opinion, should and would win.

Thoughts on Bugsy McGraw?

A true character in every sense of the word, I remember first hearing about Bugsy in the Apter Mags and how crazy and eccentric he supposedly was, and then when he came for a run in the Mid-Atlantic region, I was able to see him for myself and the hype was true. I even had the chance to see Bugsy live once, in a six-man tag with Jimmy Valiant and Rufus R. Jones against Paul Jones and a couple of his guys and it was chaotic, entertaining, and action from bell to bell. I became a true fan that day and he never failed to disappoint. He absolutely was one of the most unique characters of the early eighties and a true icon for our sport in every sense of the word.

If you had to pinpoint when tag team wrestling lost its appeal, when would it be?

Probably when Eric Bischoff took over WCW and Vince was working on the pre-attitude stuff in WWE. Neither man was known to be a big fan of tag team wrestling and didn’t give that part of the business much attention or love, treating it as an afterthought. The quality of the matches started to decline and for most fans, the aspect of watching teams compete declined as well. I say for most fans because, for myself, I’ve always been a big fan of tag team action and remain one to this day. It’s still not what it once was and still gets treated as the red-headed stepchild, but when given the chance with the right teams like The Usos, FTR, Dolph & Robert Roode, etc, they can still steal the show and entertain.

What was the appeal of Tommy “Wildfire” Rich? I don’t get it.

Once wrestling started becoming more of a national product rather than a territory, I can see where you’re coming from, but for the territories and Georgia, Rich was a big name who drew lots of money. I think it was the fact that the fans related to Rich in that he was one of them. A country boy fighting the good fight against the bad guys. The fact that he was booked as an underdog who didn’t back down just allowed the people to get behind him.

Name one WWE star that could make AEW better. Name one AEW star that could make WWE better.

A WWE star that could make AEW better? How about Charlotte Flair. And an AEW star that could make WWE better? What about CM Punk?

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 safe. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!