Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
WWE Title Belts, Nostalgia, MJF & More
June 15, 2023
DougMaynard.com

It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s go.

If you could make a dream 5 on 5 match with the rosters Dynamite and Collision what would it be?

So it’s basically an all-AEW match that I’d like to see happen? How about The Elite (The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega), Adam Page, and Chris Jericho versus CM Punk, FTR, Ace Steele, and Will Ospreay?

Thoughts on Rhea getting a copy of Seth’s belt and not an original one for her to call her own?

WWE just wants more belts to sell on WWE.Shop.com so they decided to change the majority of the titles recently. They also want a sort of uniformity so now Rhea and Seth have matching titles. It’s all about merchandise sales.

If you could start your wrestling promotion, who would be your top five picks? From any active companies. You have to choose a tag team, two females and two males.

I’d get CM Punk from AEW and Seth Rollins from WWE. My tag team would be FTR. And my women would be Asuka & Rhea Ripley.

Do you think wrestling could ever get back to the popularity that it had in the 90s?

I don’t think so. Wrestling is a niche product and those glory days of ten-plus Million viewers on a Monday night spread between two shows in direct competition, I think they’ve passed us by. But with the right stories, the right characters, etc., wrestling can and does remain strong. I’d love to see that lightning in a bottle happens once more, but I doubt it ever will.

If AEW continues to lose viewers, and not sell tickets to Dynamite, Collision, and House shows, should Tony hire people with experience to book?

If things continue as they have, he needs to hire some experienced bookers, agents, management, etc. The majority of the major problems with AEW are a direct result of Tony Khan and his inexperienced booking, as well as his poor management style. He needs to step back and let people with the proper knowledge, skills, and experience take over.

What about wrestling gives you the most nostalgia? What’s your biggest Dream match? Who is a wrestler, other than CM Punk, that had a bad rep that doesn’t deserve it?

For nostalgia, when I see a modern-day wrestler with the mannerisms and moves of an old-school match or legend, such as The Mob Boss, Phil DeCarlo with the foreign object, or Sammy Love using a bionic elbow. It brings back great memories and makes me smile. My biggest dream match? How about Taz Jackson & Ethan Storm, the Atlantic Coast Destruction Crew, versus Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane, The Midnight Express? And for the wrestler with a bad reputation that doesn’t deserve it, in my opinion. Disco Inferno.

Do you think MJF is regressing?

Not so much regressing as just getting stale. He needs either fresh competition to compete against with better booking and opportunities or an opportunity to tweak his character a bit and spice things up. MJF is great, but the same thing, the same promos, every week gets old after a while. His last good feud was with CM Punk and the rest since then, just kind of going through the motions. MJF deserves and should be better than that.

Greatest match you’ve seen?

In-person, two matches come to mind. One was nearly forty years ago in Lumberton, NC. Gene Anderson and Jay Youngblood. I guess they had an itch and decided to steal the show because that’s exactly what they did with a great back-and-forth contest. And then, almost thirty years ago, in Durham, NC, Mike Youngblood and Ethan Storm. Two rookies, both of who I’m friends with, went in there and tore the house down. They threw caution to the wind and these two green punk kids stole the show. And I, who had driven with them to the event, was treated to a match that would put 97% of the stuff on television now to shame.

Hulk Hogan on modern wrestlers: “You got guys that look like they should be bagging my groceries”. Agree or disagree?

Well, wrestling is a business that depends a great deal on suspension of belief and larger-than-life characters so with that in mind, he’s not wrong. Yes, I said it. On this, Hogan is right. So many of the newer generation of wrestlers weigh 150lbs, soaking wet, and do look like they should be working at McDonalds’ or the Food Lion. They can do some amazing stuff in that ring, but they don’t fit the look one would expect of a professional athlete. Sad, but true.

The Shield (Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns) versus The Wyatt Family (Bray, Harper, Rowan). Who wins?

I remember when this match was teased, but I can’t recall if they ever actually had a feud or did a six-man tag match with these two factions. But it would have been great for a long feud and I think, in the end, the Wyatt Family should win.

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

Ubuntu!