Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Steve Austin, CM Punk In ROH, Ric Flair & More
November 5, 2022
DougMaynard.com

Are you ready to do this whole Q&A thing about the world’s greatest form of entertainment? It’s 4:00 am and I’m wide awake so what better time, right? It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s do this.

What are the chances of TK offering CM Punk a creative role in ROH to heal wounds and keep him in the family?

I wouldn’t say that the chances are too good right now. It would be a very wise move on Tony’s part to keep Punk as part of the AEW/ROH Family and also acquire the services of a man who knows professional wrestling, loves professional wrestling, and has a great mind for professional wrestling to book Tony’s company that actually has a wrestling history. In a perfect world, that’s exactly what would be happening, with Tony stepping back to pay the bills while actual wrestlers like Punk, Regal, Dustin, Arn, and Jericho are writing/booking the shows, along with some assistance from Jim Ross & Tony Schiavone. But Tony has The Elite up his butt and whispering in his ear and we’re getting what we’re getting instead. Tony gets to play booker-man while Punk gets a big payday to sit on the sidelines and take Larry for walks. If Punk comes back to wrestling after healing up from his injuries, I expect more that we’ll see New Japan or WWE be the ones bringing him in. I think the Punk/AEW relationship is over and over for good.

Who is on the Mount Everest of pro wrestling announcers?

Gordon Solie is a must, as is Jim Ross. Bob Caudle is a definite go for me since I grew up watching Crockett and he’s the voice of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (and an awesome guy). And let’s round it out with Joey Styles. I was thinking about Tony Schiavone, but those last few years of Nitro, which were pretty bad, take him out of the picture. Styles though did the solo announcing thing in ECW and did it very well. So Gordon, Ross, Caudle, and Styles. There you go.

Who should Steve Austin wrestle if he comes back?

My first inclination was to say Roman, but while the promos would be good, I don’t think the matches would be believable or go over very well. Kevin Owens was the perfect person to wrestle Austin at Mania so I wouldn’t mind seeing them go another round or two. I think right now if Austin was to come back for a program, my top picks for his opponent would be either Austin Theory or the new Baron Corbin and his manager, JBL. Just to watch JBL and Corbin eat some stunners would be extremely fun to see.

If Bray has a faction, would you rather Liv or Alexa be in it?

This is a tough call because Alexa has a history now with Bray and did an amazing job in her prior relationship with him, I’d love to see more. But Liv has a lot of potentials and would benefit more from being part of such a faction as the Wyatt 6. Add that Liv is in a real-life relationship with Bray’s brother, Bo Dallas, and he’s allegedly already penciled in as part of the Wyatt faction, let’s go with her. Liv Morgan it is.

With MJF likely walking out of Full Gear with the AEW Championship, who do you think will be the one to take the belt from him?

A returning CM Punk. Just kidding, but it would be good to see those two have another feud and go around. I would even watch AEW TV to see that happen. But more realistically, it will be of the top guys behind the scenes who can’t stand to see MJF actually get over, have good matches, draw fans, and make money so they’ll have to step in and try to bury him. Yeah, let’s go with Kenny Omega.

With the overwhelming popularity of Sami and The Bloodline, how do you think it will affect Cody’s story when he returns?

It shouldn’t affect Cody and his return at all. If I’m reading things correctly, when the eventual turn on Sami happens, it’ll climax with Sami and Kevin Owens taking the tag team belts off of The Usos. Meanwhile, when Cody returns, he’ll be focused on Roman and the WWE/Universal Championships. There might be some crossover and maybe some six-man tag matches along the way, but for the most part, the stories can be kept apart and separate.

Do you think we will see Ric Flair in AEW? Maybe at Full Gear?

Would it surprise me? Nope because Flair is a money whore and will appear anywhere and do anything to get attention and get paid, while Tony Khan is throwing anything and everything he can against the wall to try to pretend he’s a good wrestling booker and that AEW is in the same league as the WWE. He’s not and his company isn’t either. It could be, but a lot of changes would need to be made and they all begin with Tony. I haven’t seen or heard anything about Flair and AEW talking recently or of there being any plans to bring him in, but would it surprise me? Not a damn bit.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, or any questions you might have are welcome and appreciated. Until the next time, take care and be safe, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!