Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Lars Sullivan, Daniel Puder, MJF & More
November 2, 2022
DougMaynard.com

Are you ready for some wrestling? It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Yes, my friends, we’re back. I haven’t been feeling it in a while, but I woke up this morning and the fire is burning once more. Let’s run with it while it lasts. Are you ready? I said, ARE YOU READY? Let’s do this.

Who would be on your Mt. Rushmore of Japanese wrestling?

Would the Japanese even have Mt. Rushmore? I think it would probably be Mt. Fuji more likely, given that it is Japan after all. But the Mt. Rushmore concept? Yeah, let’s go with that. And it’s pretty simple in my opinion. So simple, I’ll do two lists. For the native Japanese talents, I’d go with Giant Baba, Antonio Inoki, Rikidozan, and Keiji Mutoh, aka The Great Muta. And as for Gajins who regularly worked in Japan and had larger-than-life careers there, let’s go with Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Abdullah the Butcher, and Harley Race. 

Did WWE drop the ball with Lars Sullivan? Would you like to see HHH bring him back?

Lars had potential, but his prior life making porn videos, as well as his creepy behavior as a stalker both came back to haunt him when he tried to be a wrestler for the WWE. And even that could have been worked out and glossed over in time, but the man was having anxiety attacks backstage and couldn’t wrestle or perform as was necessary. He had the right look and from what I understand, with the proper work and booking, could have had a solid career, but there was too much working against him. In this case, WWE didn’t drop the ball so much as Sullivan had too much baggage and too many issues. Letting him go was the right call for WWE to make.

Who wins? Thunder Rosa versus Victoria?

I like Thunder Rosa and she’s a very talented and capable worker, but Lisa Marie Varon, aka Victoria, would take this one and do it convincingly and with a clean win after hitting her Widow’s Peak.

Would you like to see Daniel Puder get back involved in professional wrestling?

I’ve always felt that Puder rubbed a few people wrong and got a raw deal from the WWE as a result. The WWE locker room didn’t like this brash, young kid who fought back against the bullying and after that incident with Kurt Angle, where he showed Angle up and humiliated him on national live TV, Puder was a marked man. That being said, if Puder is still in the great shape he was and was interested, I’d love to see him come back for a short run or maybe an appearance in the Royal Rumble. The man had potential and some major skills and WWE threw away a lot of money by letting things play out as they did. Puder went on after WWE to wrestle for New Japan and ROH but hasn’t worked in wrestling for nearly ten years now. It would make for a great moment to maybe have Puder and Kurt Angle have a moment together in the Royal Rumble to mend fences and close out their rivalry properly. I haven’t really thought about Puder in a long time, but one more moment in the sun or one more run? I’d like to see it. 

Do you think Sami Zayn (Uso) will get a run with the WWE or Universal Championship over Roman Reigns?

I think we might eventually get a match or two with Sami against The Tribal Chief, but Sami as the WWE or Universal Champion? I just can’t really see it. When Sami does get his eventual revenge and payback against The Bloodline, most likely it will be he and Kevin Owens taking home that tag team gold from Jimmy & Jey instead.

Braun Strowman recently stated on Instagram that only Andre The Giant versus Hulk Hogan could compare to his upcoming match against Omos. Thoughts?

I think that Braun is believing his own hype and might be a bit delusional here. While I’m actually looking forward to seeing what Braun and Omos can do together in that ring, and while I expect it to be a fun match, I just can’t see anything at all in common with the Andre/Hogan matches except for everyone involved being big. Maybe they’ll surprise us and Braun/Omos will put on a wrestling clinic of big-man brawling. If so, it will be a pleasant surprise, but I won’t be holding my breath. 

If you could bring any 2 deceased legends to a wrestling convention Q&A session who would it be? For me Brody and Gino Hernandez.

This is a tough call because there are so many great wrestlers from the past that I’d love to hear speak and tell stories, that never really had the chance or opportunity. The first two that come to mind, that I’d love to see sit down in front of a live audience and tell stories, take questions, and all of that fun stuff, would be Swede Hanson. One of the top tag team wrestlers of the 60s and 70s, along with partner Rip Hawk, Swede was a great heel but was an interesting character in that he was a bad guy, but didn’t cheat and had a code of honor. He also did a run in the WWF towards the end of his career, well past his prime, and I’d love to hear the stories and details about that.

And the other, a fantastic lady by the name of Ann Casey. Ann wrestled in the 60s & 70s and was the Women’s United States Champion. During the time that I worked for the website, WrestlingInformer.net, I got to know Ann through MySpace and we exchanged letters and conversations back and forth many times over the years. Ann had a great career in wrestling, but to hear her stories and learn about her life, wrestling was just a small part of things. Ann was a great storyteller and just so full of energy and life. She would have done very well in working for the live crowds and making appearances. I’m so glad that I got to hear many of her stories and have these letters and pictures to remember Ann with. Just an incredible woman. So there are my picks. Swede Hanson & Ann Casey. They would both be awesome. 

Should MJF become a face or stay heel?

MJF should remain a heel. He’ll eventually end up being a face at some point in the future as his character evolves and grows and the fans force the change, but for the time being, there is still quite a bit left to do with the wicked and nasty MJF and AEW/Tony Khan is making a mistake to force the change of character rather than just letting it evolve naturally. I know AEW needs some top faces with the loss of CM Punk and the revelations that The Elite is pretty much a rating killer, but don’t screw up what’s going on with MJF. Let the heel role run its course first. It is definitely what would be best for business.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions you may have be it about wrestling or anything at all drop me a line and we’ll give it a shot. And with that, I’m out of here. Until the next time, take care and be good. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!