Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
The Young Bucks, Riddle, The 24/7 Championship & More
February 14, 2022
DougMaynard.com

Let’s talk wrestling. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A and it all starts now.

Do you think AEW needs any more “forbidden door” wrestlers? Do you think WWE needs to bring up (or in) anyone specific to help the brands?

I think AEW has a bloated roster as it is and with the limited amount of television time they have to offer, doesn’t need any more big names to try and fit into the show. That being said, if a wrestler becomes available that is too good to ignore and can help the product, they should still make the move to sign that performer. Just don’t debut them until it makes sense and a program is in place to use them correctly rather than just throwing them into the mix, only to be lost in the crowd. As for WWE, using the people already there, but being forgotten, such as Finn Balor, Cesaro, etc. would help far more than adding anyone new to the roster or bringing back any older names.

Do you believe the Shield would’ve been better if they had Drew McIntyre as a 4th man?

Nope. I think three guys were just enough and worked well. Less is more sometimes and three men, if they’re the right men and they were, worked perfectly for The Shield.

Do you think the Young Bucks have lost a bit of that star power since they have been more mainstream?

Absolutely. The Young Bucks are suffering from overexposure. When they primarily worked in Japan and ROH, they were different and exciting, but seeing them often has revealed them to be one-trick ponies and exposed their lack of depth or character. In the previous answer, I said “less is more” and where the Young Bucks are concerned, this is definitely the case. They’re not consistent and the act has gotten stale. They were far better as rare treats rather than the main meal every day.

Do you think that Riddle has a chance to win the belt at the Elimination Chamber?

Of course, he has a chance. I don’t really think it will happen though. Riddle, as good as he is, isn’t viewed as a top singles guy by WWE management yet. Maybe one day, but at the Chamber? It’s not very likely.

How do you think WWE can rehab the 24/7 Championship?

Scrap it and throw the belt away. That would be the best thing they could do, but since we know that’s not going to happen, how about less comedy and non-wrestlers “winning” the title and just tighten up with some serious interaction over the title instead of the shenanigans we’ve been seeing thus far.

Who are some of your favorite commentators? And how important is the commentator for selling wrestling?

Some of my personal favorites back in the day were Bob Caudle, Rich Landrum (World Wide Wrestling), and Dutch Mantell. In more recent times, Corey Graves, Joey Styles, and Tony Schiavone. And they are extremely important in keeping the story going and explaining the narrative. They explain what is happening and why to keep the fans interested and looking for more.

Picking from the current roster and you had to make another stable like Evolution, who would be your 4?

From the current WWE roster, I’d go with Cesaro in the Ric Flair role as the veteran of the group. For my power role, aka Batista, I’d go with Baron Corbin. For the HHH role of the leader, how about AJ Styles. And for my young up-and-comers, aka Randy Orton, let’s go with Austin Theory.

I would love your opinion on Kevin Nash? He’s one of my favorites and I feel some wrestling fans are very harsh and unfair towards him.

Kevin Nash is an enigma in the world of pro wrestling. I’m not a big fan of Nash due to his WCW days where he was a lazy worker, capable of having good matches, but more often than not, just seemed to phone it in. Nash is a good talker and promo guy. I’ll give him credit there and when he wants to, against a strong opponent, like Shawn Michaels perhaps, he can have some good matches. I think his biggest skill was being in the right place at the right time and playing that political game more than anything he did in the ring. He deserves a lot of credit for his work as Deisel and with the nWo, but he’ll never be a big favorite of mine. He had the tools to be one of the best big men in the business but didn’t have the work ethic, at least not how I saw it.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, or any questions you may have are welcome and appreciated. Until the next time, take care and be good. Watch out for the loaded boots. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!