Tossing Salt Presents:
Wrestling Fact or Fiction
The Rock, Trios Tag Teams & More
February 2, 2023
DougMaynard.com

Welcome to another edition of Wrestling Fact or Fiction, where I, your esteemed host with the most, take a look at five statements, provided by Jake Chambers of 411mania.com/wrestling and decide if I agree or not. My thanks to Jake for the statements. Now, let’s see what is Fact and what is Fiction. Let’s do this.

Statement #1: The Rock will have a 10+ minute match at Wrestlemania this year.

FICTION: I’m torn on this because the excuse that The Rock’s people keep giving, that he’s not in wrestling shape, rings hollow in my ears. It’s The Rock. When is he not in shape? But with that being said, The Rock always has so many things going on, would he have the time? I think we’ll get the answers we seek at the Elimination Chamber event and play them out on our television every week as we get closer to Mania. Right now, we still have a couple of months to go so there is plenty of time for Roman and Sami to have their issues and take care of their business before The Rock comes in and steals the spotlight from everyone. I hope it does happen and we see The Great One and The Head of the Table go one on one at Night One of Mania, but who knows for sure? Probably only The Rock, Roman, and HHH and they’re not telling.

Statement #2: Batista is the best wrestler turned actor.

FICTION: Batista has surprised me and has done an excellent job transitioning to Hollywood from the WWE, but the best? What about Roddy Piper? What about Steve Austin? What about Kevin Nash? How about The Miz? How about Captain Lou Albano? How about John Cena? And of course, the best of all time, Hulk Hogan? Just kidding about Hogan, but how about The Rock? Batista is a good actor and has had some great roles. I enjoy his movies and like him far more on the big screen than in any wrestling match I’ve ever seen him compete in, but the best? Nah, I don’t think so.

Statement #3: Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks are the best 6-Man Tag Team of all time.

FICTION: I’ll give them credit that they’re three talented performers, but the best? I remember The Russians with Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, and Krusher Kruschev. I remember The New Day. I remember The Fabulous Freebirds. I remember The Shield! I remember the nWo. I remember Arn, Ole, and Flair working as a unit against Dusty and his friends. I remember the Dancing Fools, Alex Wright, Tokyo Magnum, and Disco Inferno in WCW. And let’s don’t even get started with the Luchadores. Hell, I remember The Valiant Brothers. Maybe they weren’t necessarily called “Trios Teams”, but they were all three-man units that, if matched against The Elite in a match, would come out with the big win at the end. Omega and The Young Bucks are the flavors of the moment and they’re good performers, but the best? Not even close.

Statement #4: Rhea Ripley will win a traditional “men’s” championship in the WWE this year.

FICTION: I just can’t see it. I think Rhea is awesome and will continue to be a threat to every man that crosses paths with The Judgement Day or her Papi, the hardened criminal Dom, but one on one against the men, unless booked correctly, would expose her and in the long run, discredit her character. She’ll keep blurring the lines and being a threat from outside the ring. That is believable. She’ll win gold in the Women’s Division. That’s believable. But going one on one against people like Lashley, Brock, GUNTHER, etc? That’s not going to work. She’s awesome and has a great future and career ahead of her, but winning a man’s title? That just doesn’t work for me.

Statement #5: You love battle royales.

FACT: Watching a Battle Royal is always a thrill for me in that it gives us a chance to see the talents we may not normally get to see in the ring, wrestling, and doing their thing. I hated covering them when I was doing the recapping thing for RAW and The Wrestling Informer and Lords of Pain because there was always too much going on and it was hard to keep track of the action. Usually, back then, I would just call it the OINGO BOINGO moment of the match and move on when things slowed down a bit. But a well-paced Battle Royal, with all the confrontations, the high spots, and the memorable moments by the talents who don’t often get a chance to shine, is a thing of beauty and I’ll always be a fan.

And there you go. My thanks for reading and, once again, to Jake Chambers and 411mania.com/wrestling for the statements and format. And with that, I’m out of here. Take care and be well, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!