Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Arn Anderson, Alex Riley, Eddy Mansfield & More
December 3, 2022
DougMaynard.com

I’m such a goober sometimes. I woke up early this morning to go to work. Guess what? I’m not scheduled to work until this afternoon. I got up, showered, shaved, etc., for no reason when I could have been sleeping and enjoying the cool darkness that is my room. sighs Well, I’m up so I may as well be productive. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s do this.

WarGames match. Five women of AEW versus five women of WWE. Who would be on each team and who would win?

Does AEW even have five competent women wrestlers who could compete in a War Games match? Let’s go with Dr. Britt Baker, Jade Cargill, Ruby Soho, Jamie Hayter, and Nyla Rose versus Ronda Rousey, Asuka, Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, and Bianca Belair.

What classic old-school style matches would you like to see brought back?

I’d love to see a Russian Chain Match or maybe a Street Fight done properly. The Bunkhouse Stampede Battle Royal was always fun, and what the hell. How about a Bra & Panties match for old-time’s sake?

If you could erase one moment in pro wrestling history, what would it be?

Very easy answer for me. Chris Benoit and the murder/suicide of him, Nancy(Woman), and their son Daniel. Three lives and two great legacies were lost due to a tragic situation. I’d erase that weekend.

Arn Anderson did his best work after the Horsemen broke up in 1991. True or false?

Arn won tag team titles with both Bobby Eaton and Larry Zbyszko, did a great angle where he turned on Dustin Rhodes, was part of the Dangerous Alliance, and even did a couple of matches in ECW and Smokey Mountain Wrestling. Arn really bloomed once the restraints of being a Horsemen were removed, so yes, I would agree with that statement. True!

What happened to Hook? He had so much hype.

As is usual with AEW, he got lost in the shuffle and forgotten about as Tony Khan moved on to the next sparkly toy to play with. Maybe Tony will remember him one day and we’ll get to see him in that ring and on our television again, but who knows for sure? Send Hook!

Alex Riley is returning to the ring after nearly six years away from wrestling. Would you like to see him return to the WWE?

I liked Alex and he was a good worker, a good talker, and even had a good run as an announcer for NXT. The only thing he had working against him was that for some reason, John Cena didn’t like him and complained to the management, aka Vince, and got him buried and then released. I’d love to see him come back and maybe work an angle with The Miz. They had great chemistry together and it could be fun.

Do you remember a wrestler named Eddy Mansfield? Didn’t he expose the business or something like that?

Eddy was a mid-card wrestler in Florida who appeared on the show 20/20 and pretty much spilled his guts about professional wrestling, breaking kayfabe and exposing all the secrets of the business to John Stossel for all the world to see and know. This was in the early 80s, long before Vince McMahon confessed that wrestling was actually sports-entertainment and on the same episode where David Shultz slapped the hell out of Stossel for calling him “fake”. Mansfield showed Stossel how to blade and just told all with no regard for the consequences. After this, he was pretty much blackballed from pro wrestling, and from what I understand, although I’m not sure how true this is, had quite a few people out to either hurt him or worse. To be honest, I don’t blame them. Kayfabe and the business were a sacred trust back then and he went on TV and essentially spit on every single man and woman who ever laced up a pair of wrestling boots. He was absolute shit. He retired from the business in the late 80s, not that he really had any choice. And now, he’s just a footnote in pro wrestling as the man who tried to kill the business.

WarGames match: The Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko) w/Madusa versus The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, The Usos, Sami Zayn, Solo Sikoa). Who wins?

This match would be awesome. Paul Heyman would be at ringside unable to do anything because of the history with both teams, but I do expect that Madusa would get involved at some point. As for who wins, look at the Dangerous Alliance. Only one person is not in the Hall of Fame. It’s the best of the best, no doubt. The Dangerous Alliance wins.

If Roman Reigns doesn’t defend against The Rock of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, who gets the title shot? And are there any other matches you feel are locked for Mania?

I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing Owens & Zayn versus The Usos, Bianca versus Rhea Ripley, and probably Asuka versus Iyo Sky at some point over the Wrestlemania weekend. As for Roman, if he’s not fighting The Rock or Cody, I would either bring back Brock or go with GUNTHER. Either would be epic and make for one hell of an awesome match.

With WWE doing away with gimmick PLEs, could we see a return to brand-specific PLEs, save for the Big Four? I believe this could open the roster giving more talent time to shine, as well as having more time for long-term storytelling.

Normally, I would say no because WWE tried that and the buy rates for those shows were not nearly as good as full roster events seemed to be. Also, the rosters are so mixed up now, it’s just a technicality that a WWE wrestler belongs on a certain roster. It rarely matters anymore. But now that WWE uses the Network to show their events and is not as dependent on PPV sales, I actually think it would be a good time to go back to the brand-specific shows. As you said, it would give more wrestlers a chance to work the big shows and have more time to build stories as well. It’s definitely something that Triple H should consider. It would probably be best for business.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, or any questions you might have are very welcome and appreciated. And now, since I don’t have to work until this afternoon, I’m going back to bed. Take care and be well, my friends. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!