Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Disco Inferno, Vince Russo, The Horsemen & More
August 30, 2022
DougMaynard.com

A witty opening? I have nothing today. Let’s do the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s do this.

A tweet from Disco Inferno. Is he right or wrong? “The metrics that define this generation are davemeltzerWON’s star ratings. The metrics that define my generation are attendance figures and tv ratings. The wrestlers of this generation need to stop arguing that they are better than we were. It’s not true.”

Disco is 100% correct here. Too many wrestlers today are more concerned about hitting all their spots and impressing Uncle Dave than actually having a memorable match that entertains the fans and actually makes fans want to come back for more. Getting a pat on the back by Meltzer is all well and good, but if the ratings aren’t getting better and if you’re not putting butts in the seats, you’re not going to have a job or career for long and will be back at the Waffle House cooking scrambled eggs and cheap steak sooner rather than later. As for who the better generation of wrestlers is, for me, it’s like this. Wrestlers in the past called the match in the ring. Wrestlers today memorize spots and script their matches and if things get confusing, they’re lost as hell and don’t know what to do next. Not all, but enough.

Another Disco Inferno tweet. Right or wrong? “Wrestlers and fans need to pull a full stop on this “fat shaming” bullshit. The wrestlers being fat-shamed need to put the effort into the gym and diet instead of playing victim. Do the fucking work and stop embarrassing this industry.”

He’s right again. It’s not about being fat so much as it’s being in shape enough to go more than five minutes without blowing up and quit complaining because someone’s feelings are hurt. Dusty Rhodes, Bam Bam Bigelow, One Man Gang, Yokozuna, etc., were all big guys, but they could go an hour, had stamina and didn’t cry or whine when called “fat”. But Eddie Kingston is a big boy, not nearly as big as Dusty or Yoko, but he gets called “fat” and everyone freaks. Kingston is a good talker, but anything longer than 4 minutes and he’s exhausted and gasping for air. It is embarrassing to see and Disco is right on the money. Don’t cry and do the big boo-hoo to make yourself the victim. Go to the gym, work on that cardio and tighten up. Don’t make excuses – just fix the problem instead. Be a professional and not a damn pussy!

Kurt Angle: Is he in your best Top 10 of all time?

For me personally, not really. Angle is a tremendous wrestler and he even won an Olympic Gold Medal with a freakin’ broken neck. But that being said, I’ve been a fan and loved pro wrestling for close to fifty years and I’ve seen thousands of wrestling doing their thing. My “Top Ten” or even “Top 20” is going to be more varied and diverse than the list by someone who only started watching ten or twenty years ago. Angle is damn good and a wrestling icon to be sure, but he’s just not necessarily my cup of milk.

Who Wins: Kenny Omega Vs The Miz?

The Miz. And why? Because he’s AWESOME! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Vince Russo claims that he secretly consulted USA Network in regards to WWE RAW. Thoughts?

Maybe he did and maybe he didn’t, but anything Vince Russo says or claims, I’d take it with a shaker of salt. He tends to twist reality and truth sometimes.

Matt Hardy says “you are a fu*king idiot” if you dislike Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. Thoughts?

Well, I don’t like either so I guess I’m a fu*king idiot. Oh well, whatever. That’s why I always liked Jeff better anyhow.

Should the Varsity Blondes (Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.) become part of the J.A.S.?

Yes and no. Garrison would, I believe, fits in well with the Jericho Appreciation Society. Griff is strongly underrated and being a part of the J.A.S. would be a nice way to give him a stronger push. As for Pillman, if I was to put him with anyone, I’d stick him with Arn Anderson and Brock Anderson. There is that whole “Horseman connection”, plus Pillman is a good guy who would really fit in well with the tweener characters of Arn and Brock, plus I think Pillman/Anderson would make a good team. So Griff yes, while Pillman, I’d take in another direction.

If you could trade Sammy Guevera for any unsigned indie wrestler, who’d it be?

I like Sammy and would keep him around for as long as I can, but if I had to make the deal for the unsigned wrestler of my choice to replace Sammy in AEW, I’d go with Windham Rotundo as my pick.

Once and for all, are Sid Vicious, Paul Roma, Jeff Jarrett, and Curt Henning official members of The Horsemen?

In my opinion, Sid Vicious and Paul Roma were official members of the Horsemen. They got the big intros and had long runs with the group. So far as Jeff Jarrett goes, I’ve heard Arn say several times that Jarrett was not a Horseman. And who would know better, right? As for Curt, he was brought in and given a spot, and it wasn’t just any spot, but Arn’s spot, but turned on the group and joined the nWo a week later. So is he an official Horseman? In every job, I feel that you have a training period where you’re on probation to see if you’re going to work out. In my opinion, Curt didn’t make it through the probation period to be given full status. He lasted a week. He’s not a Horseman.

Who was George Gray’s best character? The One Man Gang or Akeem? I liked them both.

While it was entertaining at the time, the Akeem character was racist, offensive, and kind of stupid. The One Man Gang though was a good kick-ass character and had some impressive runs all across the United States. OMG was definitely the better of the two characters and the one that I’m sure George Grat is most proud of. He should be anyhow.

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

Ubuntu!