Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Steve Austin, Andy Kaufman, The Judgement Day & More
March 21, 2023
DougMaynard.com

A big shoutout and Happy Birthday to one-half of the Atlantic Coast Destruction Crew, Mr. Ethan Storm. One of the best performers of the past twenty-plus years on the NC Indy Scene & a truly great guy. Just don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. ‘Nuff said! And now, it’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

Stone Cold Steve Austin recently said that he hasn’t spoken to anyone in WWE about Wrestlemania 39 and appearing or having a match despite all the reports. Thoughts?

Do I think that Austin won’t be part of Wrestlemania 39? If he was scheduled to pull a surprise appearance and maybe give someone a stunner, Logan Paul perhaps, why should he tell anyone? I think we will see Austin as part of Wrestlemania he’ll do his thing and make a memorable moment. He’s just keeping it close to the vest as he should. And that’s the thing to do because Stone Cold said so.

Would you like to see Joey Styles back as an announcer for professional wrestling?

As a full-time announcer, not really. I like Joey and I think he was a huge part of the success that was ECW, but I also think his time is over and wrestling has moved on, just as also Styles has as well. It would be cool to see Joey pop up and do the announcing for a special event or maybe an ECW-themed match, but his legacy is strong and safe. Why come back and risk damaging it when he doesn’t need to? Joey has made his mark and has nothing left to prove to anyone so unless it’s just for the sake of having fun and doing a one-off spot, why bother?

Do you remember The Heart Throbs? Thoughts?

I remember them from the WWF days and getting fired after doing a spot on a WWF Interview show. Was it Livewire? I can’t remember. Antonio Thomas and Romeo Roselli were the two men who had this gimmick and if I remember correctly, they were two studs who had a “Kiss Cam” and made out with women in the audience at WWF events. They were a good team, but aside from the WWF from 2004-2006 and a very short run with TNA in 2007, they didn’t make much of an impact. According to Wikipedia, Thomas works as a Certified Trainer and lives in Massachusetts. Roselli still wrestles occasionally but seems to be more focused on a career as an actor and has quite an impressive listing of credits to his name.

If you were putting together a ten-man Masked Battle Royal, who would your ten wrestlers be, and who would win?

Ten masked men? In other words, a typical night at any Luchadore show in Mexico, right? My ten men would be La Parka, Mr. Wrestling II, The Masked Superstar, Mil Mascaras, The Assassin, Rey Mysterio, The Super Destroyer, Sweet Ebony Diamond, Psicosis, and The Midnight Rider. And the winner would be The Masked Superstar. And there you go.

With this current storyline, has The Bloodline become a greater faction than The Shield?

I would say so. Yes.

The Judgement Day faction will allegedly be getting a new member after Wrestlemania. Care to speculate on who it might be?

Karrion Kross would be a perfect fit, but I just don’t see him making the transition to being part of a faction. Right off the top of my head, I think Branson Reed would work well as part of The Judgement Day. It’d be a good role to give him some time on the main roster and to grow as a performer as people start to take notice. So that’s my choice. I could be wrong, but I think he’d do well in that role.

Andy Kaufman is going to the WWE Hall of Fame? Thoughts? And given his recent medical issues, do you think Jerry Lawler will be there?

So far as Andy Kaufman going into the WWE Hall of Fame, all I can say is, “Finally!”. It’s well deserved and I’m glad to see it happening. As for Lawler, I just saw a report on PWInsider that the WWE will be flying Lawler out to Los Angeles and he’ll be there. I doubt he’ll be able to do anything more than just sit in the audience and wave, but Lawler belongs there and I’m glad to see it will be happening.

Bill Goldberg is officially a free agent. Do you think he’ll go to AEW and become All Elite?

He shouldn’t even be a consideration for any current wrestling role, but considering who we’re talking about, with both Goldberg and Tony Khan, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. And now, it’s time to wrap things up and call it a day. Take care and be well, my friends and be sure to watch for foreign objects. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!