Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
The Wyatt Family, Jim Duggan, Mickie James & More
January 28, 2022
DougMaynard.com

It’s the start of a busy Royal Rumble weekend and the questions are pouring in. Let’s get Ultimate with it. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A and we’re doing this now.

Bryan Danielson and CM Punk? Opponents or as a tag team? Which would you prefer?

I think seeing these two as a tag team would be amazing and make for a very special moment in AEW history, but having them work a program against each other would be awesome too. That being said, if these two men work together, be it as opponents or a team, that should be somewhere down the road once their stars begin to fade and the excitement of having Punk and Danielson on the roster isn’t quite as big a deal. When that happens, throw them together in a program and watch them steal the show, but until then, keep them apart and separate.

Based only on pure wrestling ability. Who was the more overrated wrestler between Hulk Hogan & André the Giant?

Andre has a few good moves when he was younger and mobile, but given his size, he never really had any reason to become a hold-for-hold style wrestler. Hogan didn’t use much wrestling holds in WWE or WCW, but let’s be honest, he didn’t need to. If you watch some of his matches from Japan, Hogan was much more wrestling oriented and while he was not as polished as Dean Malenko or Lou Thesz, he could actually hold his own and wrestle. So between these two, Andre was more over-rated as a wrestler. Like I said, with his size, he didn’t need to use arm drags or pedigrees, and thus he didn’t.

The Road Warriors and Rick Rude versus Ric Flair, Nick Bockwinkle, and Hulk Hogan. Who wins?

There would never be a clean finish to this match. The egos involved would never allow a pin or submission. But that being said, I’d either have a double-disqualification or some other form of no-contest. If there has to be a winner though, Rude and the Warriors would win and Bockwinkle would take the pin for his team.

If the whole Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman release was worked and they both return at the Royal Rumble, would you consider it WWE’s greatest work ever?

That would be so cool to see and actually having Bray back makes sense to me. But I’d have Braun and Erick Rowan both join their former mentor in the pre-fiend gimmick. Let Bray have his family back and only pull out the Fiend in special occasions, much like they do with Finn Balor and the Demon. As for would it be WWE’s greatest work, I would say no. I think the Montreal Screwjob holds that spot.

Jim Duggan says today’s wrestlers are athletically gifted but his generation was more creative. Is he right or wrong?

He’s very right. Today’s wrestlers are more physical and athletic to be sure, but the wrestlers of the past eras were so more well-rounded as professional wrestlers. They cut their own promos, coming up with their own materials. More often than not, they called matches in the ring with only the finish being predetermined. And they had the freedom to develop their own characters and expand and build rather than depending upon a role given to them by the office. So more creative? They had to be and yes, they were.

Marko Stunt is accepting Indy bookings so apparently, he won’t be back in AEW. Thoughts?

I actually like Marko and I’ll miss his presence on the Sammy Guevera VLOG, but so far as AEW goes, I’m surprised that it took this long for him to be cut loose. Marko is a special attraction and entertaining, but the size thing just destroys any credibility that he has. I could see Marko in a managerial role, but so far as an in-ring talent, not really. Maybe for a feud with someone like Hornswoggle, but against bigger or even normal-sized wrestlers, it just doesn’t work. So unless he’s there to be a manager or something of that nature, AEW made the right call. Sorry Marko, but see ya!

Mickie James said on Impact Wrestling that if she wins the Women’s Royal Rumble match on Saturday, she will defend the Knockouts Championship at Wrestlemania. Thoughts?

I would love to see Mickie defending the Knockout’s Championship at Wrestlemania, but I don’t see her as winning the Women’s Rumble and, to be honest, that wouldn’t work storyline-wise anyhow. The winner of the Women’s Rumble match gets to wrestle the champion of their choice, but unless we’re talking a Champion versus Champion match which I don’t see WWE doing, how would Mickie be defending her title if wrestling the WWE titleholders? I think a more viable option would be to have Mickie look great in the match, but get eliminated by one of the other WWE women. Then a challenge can be issued by the woman who eliminates Mickie to wrestle for the Knockout’s Championship at Mania. So we get an Impact Wrestling Knockout’s title defense at Wrestlemania, some cross-promotion to build the match, and one more main event level match that will have the fan talking for the biggest event of the year. That makes more sense than Mickie winning and she still gets that Wrestlemania moment for herself and Impact Wrestling.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions you may have, then give me a shout and we’ll talk. And with that, I’m out of here. Take care, stay safe, and be good. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!