Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Mohammad Hassan, Jeff Jarrett, BOLD Predictions & More
January 4, 2022
DougMaynard.com

As I wait until time for yet another fun day seeing the doctor, why not answer a few questions from my Inbox about the world’s greatest form of entertainment. That sounds like a plan to me so let’s do the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A thing. Are you ready? Let’s go.

Thoughts on Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Championship at WWE Day One?

It was a surprise and a good one at that. The match was short but stiff and hard-hitting and everyone got in their spots and looked great. And the right person won. Now there are so many ways that WWE can go, including a match of Brock versus Lashley, now scheduled for the Royal Rumble, and maybe even a title unification between Brock and Roman at Mania, plus we now have Heyman back with Brock, but what about his relationship with Roman? So many possibilities and putting the strap on Brock at Day One was the right way to get things moving.

Where is Marko Stunt?

I remember seeing something about Stunt being injured so I’m assuming that he’s at home, recovering from an injury and getting ready to make his return. Or maybe he’s in intense training for a feud against Tay Conti over who gets to be Sammy Guevera’s butt-buddy in the VLOG. Who knows, but he’s still under contract to AEW so I expect he’ll be back sooner rather than later.

Would you be interested in seeing Jeff Jarrett start a new wrestling promotion?

Well, we already have WWE, AEW, NXT, Impact Wrestling, NWA, MLW, OVW, the upcoming return of ROH, and about a thousand other wrestling companies out there so what’s one more? Honestly though, if anyone was to be qualified to start a new company and help build new stars and have a crack at making it work, Jarrett would be the one. He was on track with Global Force Wrestling, but the folks at Impact ruined that by deleting tapes he had filmed. That was settled in a lawsuit, but I’m sure the desire is still there. It’d be a tough fight to promote a new company on a national basis, but in a limited partnership with AEW, the NWA, maybe even ROH, it could happen. The talent is out there and available so if Jarrett is thinking about giving it a shot, more power to him. Go for it!

Okay, so who is really THE DEVIL in pro wrestling? Jim Mitchell or Kevin Sullivan?

Both play the wicked characters, but the real devil of pro wrestling wouldn’t be so blatant or obvious. My money is on Tammy Sytch. Nah, I’m just kidding. It’s Paul Heyman. Again, just kidding. Paul is nothing more than an advocate. Everyone knows who the real “Higher Power” of pro wrestling actually is. He even admitted it once on TV. “It was me, Austin. It was me all along!”. Yes, I’m saying it now. The real devil of pro wrestling? Vince McMahon.

Is Tony Khan the 2021 version of Hulk Hogan, in that he should have to have someone read his tweets before he sends them out?

Given that Khan seems to tweet before he thinks and is so reactionary, a person to supervise and edit the tweets before he’s allowed to hit the send button would probably be a good thing. Hey Tony, I’m available. Just give me a shout. I got your back. Call me.

With 16 years of hindsight, how long could the Mohammad Hassan gimmick have lasted if WWE didn’t do the angle with Undertaker during the London Bombing? Hassan himself said something else would have killed the gimmick and it would have lasted only another year but what say you?

As the intense evil character, a year or so is about right. It’s a touchy role to play and as good as Hassan did it, along with Daivari to push the buttons at his side, it would have been hard to keep up that intensity and heat for any longer than that. I think with some tweaking from Vince, a few minor aspects of the character evolved, etc, Hassan could still have had a long and fruitful career in the WWE. He was a good talent and had a good presence, definitely someone who had that “it factor” going on. That WWE dropped the ball and bailed on him way too quickly in my opinion. I understand the political and public relations pressure, but they threw away a lot of money as a result of giving in so easily. 

What are your Top 5 “Bold Predictions” for 2022?

A “bold prediction” is one that could happen, but probably isn’t very likely to actually take place or come to fruition. But it could happen. And now, what are my Top 5 for pro wrestling for 2022? Here you go.

1. Drake Maverick will show back up in WWE and score an upset pin over Brock Lesnar to win the WWE Championship.
2. Ric Flair will get signed to AEW and convince his former Horsemen teammates to join him as part of a six-man tag team feud, wrestling against The Young Bucks and the returning Kenny Omega.
3. Jim Cornette will be hired as a political commentator by CNN and ratings will spike by almost two-hundred percent.
4. New podcasts by Conrad Thompson who in addition to the many podcasts he already cohosts, will add to his podcast empire by doing shows with Buff Bagwell, Billy Jack Haynes, Meng, Juventud Guerrera, Larry Zbyszko, and The Boogey Man.
5. Joe Henning (Curtis Axel) will join the NWA and will defeat Trevor Murdoch after a series of great matches to win the NWA World Championship.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. What are your “bold predictions”? Share them in the comment box or give me a shout, along with any comments, thoughts, or questions you may have. I want to talk to you. It’s true. It’s damn true.

Until the next time, stay safe and be good. If you’re in the Laurinburg/Scotland County area of North Carolina, there is a great show by ACW and C.A.G.E. coming up at the National Guard Armory on January 15, 2022. Message me for details. And with that, I’m out of here. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!