Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Heroes of Wrestling, Jeff Hardy, The XFL & More
February 18, 2023
DougMaynard.com

Are you ready to talk about some wrestling? It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s do this.

I recently watched the PPV, Heroes of Wrestling. Damn, it was bad! Have you ever seen it? Thoughts? If you were able to make your own PPV, Heroes For Wrestling II, what would your matches be? 8 matches.

Yes, I have seen it and yes, it is pretty damn bad, well deserving of the title of the worst wrestling pay-per-view ever. Only Tully Blanchard versus Stan Lane and El Fantastico versus 2 Cold Scorpio saved it from being unwatchable. Every so often, it’ll pop up on my YouTube feed and I’ll rewatch bits and pieces. Yeah, I’m a glutton for punishment.

Now as for Heroes of Wrestling II, that’s a scary thought that probably should best be as left alone as possible. But if I had the resource to do a Heroes of Wrestling II event, with eight matches as you suggest, with wrestlers who still compete, but are somewhat past their primes, here’s how I’d go. Can I make one worse than the original? You betcha!

WeeLC II – Swoggle versus El Torito
Greg Valentine versus The Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant
Tim Zbyszko (with Larry Zbyszko) versus Garrett Bischoff (with Eric Bischoff)
Eva Marie versus Big Swole
Marty Janetty versus Tatanka
Gillberg versus James Ellsworth
The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer versus Meng & Barbarian
Shane Douglas versus Raven

Who was the better Valet? Miss Elizabeth or Baby Doll?

I know that this one will ruffle a few feathers, but aside from being good-looking, what did Miss Elizabeth do for Randy Savage? Baby Doll got involved, wrestled, caused distractions, and even took slaps from Dusty Rhodes and Tully Blanchard. Baby Doll wins this one in my opinion.

Thoughts on Sgt. Craig “Pitbull” Pittman?

A solid wrestler who always showed great intensity every time he came to the ring. I could believe that he might have been a former Marine. He had a short push in the pre-Bischoff days of WCW before becoming essentially a jobber who was managed by Teddy Long. A decent talent who was capable of much more than WCW ever used him for.

Who do you think was the better technical wrestler, Bob Backlund or The Iron Sheik?

The Iron Sheik was a former Olympian for Iraq if I recall correctly, while Backlund was a multiple-time NCAA Wrestling Champion. So who’s better? It’s like comparing apples to bananas. Both were legit shooters who could outperform anyone and make it real if necessary. I’ll give Backlund the edge just because he’s the American dude and I’m feeling patriotic this morning, but neither was a man to mess with unless you wanted to get hurt.

Eric Bischoff recently said that AEW’s growth is “flatlining”. Is Bischoff right?

The ratings have stalled out and are not getting any better. They don’t have any big stars that draw fans and bring in new eyes or fans. It’s just the same old/same old and being unable to draw over a million fans consistently. Bischoff is 100% correct on this one.

Awesome Kong versus Bull Nakano versus Nia Jax versus Tamina Snuka. Who wins?

It sure as hell wouldn’t be Nia “My hole” Jax or Tamina. Nakano was a fantastic performer in her day and as tough as they come. But all that being said, my money would be on Awesome Kong to win here. She’s exactly as her name implies. Awesome!

Are you going to watch the XFl this weekend?

No, I wasn’t planning on it. It’s Elimination Chamber weekend and like most wrestling fans, I’d prefer to watch wrestling instead of half-ass football. I will be keeping an eye on the scores and the news to see how their debut weekend goes, but I quit watching pro football when it started getting so blatantly political and woke, and I don’t have any intentions to start back now.

What do you do with Roman after he loses the titles?

I would suggest that he takes a few months off to let others have their time in the spotlight and then, around the time that the build for SummerSlam begins, he’s back and determined to get revenge on whoever beat him for his title and anyone else who gets into the way. Just settle him into a nice top spot with Cody, Brock, Lashley, Seth, GUNTHER, and whoever else, and let the craziness begin.

I’ve been wondering about this for a bit and wanted to get your take on it. It’s been a long time since Jeff Hardy has wrestled and there’s no sign he’s returning to AEW. Do you think in the wake of the DUI stuff that his career is over?

I don’t think we’ve seen Jeff Hardy’s last match as of yet, but to be honest, I don’t think he’ll ever be a top guy wrestling regularly for a major company again. We might see a match here and there as well as a future Hall of Fame induction from the WWE, but a serious run with a strong push and championships, that’s over. I might be wrong and honestly, I hope that I am and he has one of the best comeback stories of all time, but I doubt it. I really do.

What should be the first X-Men team lineup in the MCU?

When the X-Men finally come to the MCU, sooner rather than later I hope, I’d have the first team lineup be Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Beast, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Rogue, and Wolverine. Have Moria MacTaggert and Forge as supporting characters and use this story to introduce Gambit as the cliffhanger at the end.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions, wrestling-related or otherwise, are welcome and very appreciated. And with that, I’m out of here, my friends. Take care and be well. Watch out for foreign objects and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!