Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Mercedes Mone, Tessa Blanchard, Jeff Hardy & More
April 23, 2023
DougMaynard.com

On a scale of one to ten, my stress level is about fifteen. I love my family! Let’s see if talking and speculating about the world’s greatest sport will help bring things down. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s get busy and do this.

So there is speculation about AEW All Out and if it will even happen this year since AEW is doing All In at Wembley Stadium. According to Meltzer, the plans are for All Out to happen the week after All In in the UK. Two PPVs in a week? Thoughts?

It’s a wild idea and doesn’t make sense to me unless Tony and AEW are planning on running a big angle at the Wembley show and then following up immediately at All Out a week later, much like WWE did way back at the Tuesday In Texas PPV, following up on an angle with Hogan, Flair, and The Undertaker way back in 1991. But then again, it’s AEW and who knows why they do any of the things they do. Hopefully, it will work out for them, but I don’t get it.

Would you be interested in seeing John Morrison return to WWE?

I like Morrison, but given how his last couple of stints with WWE has gone, unless it’s just for the paycheck, I can’t see how a return to WWE, only to be buried as Miz’s partner again, can work to his benefit. I would think that maybe a run with AEW might work more in his favor. True, he’d get lost in the shuffle and buried after a few months, but he’d get a strong push for a little while and it would be an opportunity to reinvent himself (again) and get a little time at the top of the roster before the inevitable happens and he goes to chill with Miro in catering.

Seth Rollins versus Omos at WWE Backlash? Really?

It might end up being an interesting match, but it was shocking to hear it announced with absolutely no build or reason for being. The expression on Seth’s face seemed to indicate that it was a surprise to him as well. I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best and maybe WWE can backpedal and create a purpose tomorrow night on RAW. This one came out of the left field for sure though.

Does Tatanka belong in the WWE Hall of Fame?

Chris Chavis, aka Tatanka, was a WWE-made star who had a good run way back in the day and has always been a loyal WWE talent, doing anything they ask and making random appearances as asked over the years. Hell, he’s more qualified than a lot of people already in the Hall of Fame, plus he’s a local guy who I’ve met a couple of times and he lives about twenty miles down the road from me. I’d say yes.

Shawn Spears recently said that he doesn’t think he’ll be wrestling much longer. Thoughts?

Given the way his career since jumping to AEW has gone, I can’t say that I really blame him for considering other options and possibly moving on from professional wrestling. He’s a talented dude, but I think he’s burned bridges with WWE and AEW has been a letdown so he needs to consider what’s best for his future and his family. Maybe he’ll retire or maybe he’ll figure out an alternative. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens, but best of luck to him in whatever he decides to do.

Tessa Blanchard has started taking bookings again and recently attempted to settle some old grudges and put past allegations to rest. Do you think she’ll eventually end up back on AEW or WWE’s radar?

I hope that she’s able to put any past transgressions behind her and get her career back on track. Tessa is a very talented woman who belongs at the top of the Women’s roster in AEW or WWE, having great wrestlers and making history. She’s like Charlotte Flair in that she’s a prodigy in that squared circle and, as a third-generation talent, with the legacy of The Blanchard Family, plus Magnum TA as her stepdad. That’s a huge burden to carry, but she’s got the ability and talent to pull it off. Hopefully, now that she’s finally getting rid of some of the baggage she’s been hauling around, she’ll have the chance to show it to the world.

Magnum TA versus Seth Rollins. Who wins?

Magnum has the size edge, while Seth is a better in-ring performer and has that whole sneaky-heel thing going for him. I think this would actually be a fantastic match and an interesting clash of styles to witness. And I think that when the smoke settles and the final bell rings, it would be Magnum as the man getting his arm raised in victory.

Mayu Iwatani defeated Mercedes Mone, the former Sasha Banks, to capture the IWGP Women’s Championship this morning at the STARDOM All-Star Grand Queendom event in Yokohama, Japan. So Mercedes immediately wins the title and drops it in her second defense. Is this a pattern with Banks or what?

It’s a pattern that Banks repeated many times in WWE, winning a championship and then immediately losing it in the first or second defense. It’s just proof to me that while Banks is an attraction and has her fans, she’s not the person that a wrestling company wants to have as the face of their company or build a division around. She’s a talented woman in the ring, but without having someone there to guide her, script her, and keep her from believing her own hype, she’s not all that. Some wrestlers leave the structure of the big company and flourish and thrive. See Matt Cardona for an example. Others think they’re going to take over the world and end up bombing and becoming just a footnote or joke. Look at Miro. So is Sasha a Matt or a Miro? Based on her post-WWE career thus far, she’s going to be a Miro with a capital M. I hope I’m wrong, but so far, I don’t see any signs to suggest otherwise.

Jeff Hardy recently cut a promo where he’s “retiring from screwing up”. Thoughts?

And I hope he means it and can do just that. Jeff is a cool dude and a very talented performer, but his history of making a bad decisions is of epic proportion. I’d love to see him do well, have great matches, prove the doubters wrong, and cement his legacy in a positive way. Will it happen though? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Asuka versus Awesome Kong. Who wins?

Kong, in her prime when she was regularly battling Gail Kim, was an amazing talent and far better than she had any right to be. And Asuka, well, she’s Asuka, and what more needs to be said? So would Awesome Kong be ready for Asuka? I think she would. I love some Asuka as everyone well knows, but Kong was truly, awesome. I think Kong would probably find a way to pick up the win if these two forces of nature ever collided.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. And with that, let’s close up shop for the day. Take care and be well, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!