Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Top Dolla vs Cornette, MJF, EC3 & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

You have questions and I have the answers. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Let’s roll.

The Doctor of Style, Slick, or Teddy Long?

Of the two, I’ve always been more of a Teddy Long fan. From his early days in WCW as a referee, and then a manager, Teddy was a familiar face and strong character. Slick was okay, but he was just too WWF/Cartoony for my tastes.

First The Bunny, and now The Butcher & The Blade are allegedly gone from AEW as well. Thoughts?

Yes, the Bunny is gone, but The Butcher and The Blade are both still with AEW as I write this and worked this past weekend at the AEW Collision/Rampage/ROH tapings.

Bruiser Brody & Stan Hansen versus Dick Murdoch & Dusty Rhodes. Who wins?

If they were in the United States, Rhodes & Murdoch would win. In Japan, it would be Brody & Hansen. Most likely, it would be a no-contest or DQ finish to protect both teams. This would be a stiff and bloody fight. The audience would be the ultimate winners here.

What are your thoughts on The Raging Bull Manny Fernandez?

I remember seeing Manny wrestle many times for Crockett when I was younger and he was okay. A tough dude to be sure, but personally, he just never did anything for me. Solid worker, and had solid promos, but his persona was kind of “Eh!” at best, at least to me. I wouldn’t mind having a beer with him one day and hearing stories, but I’m just not a fan of his in-ring work ir character.

EC3 has been rocking at NWA as their World Champ. What do you personally think about him?

I think he’s a solid wrestler, and a good promo guy, and WWE dropped the ball with EC3 when they had him under contract. I think he’s a good choice for the NWA as their current champion and thus far, has filled that role quite well. I wasn’t a big fan of the whole “Control Your Narrative” concept a few years ago, but that’s not taking anything away from EC3. I’m glad to see him doing well and he deserves it.

Is there a better way to debut Jade Cargill than at the 2024 Royal Rumble, where she can eliminate 10+ women – akin to how Diesel eliminated 6-7 people in succession in the 1994 Royal Rumble? Wouldn’t that instantly get Cargill over as the next huge female Superstar?

She doesn’t have to win the event, but it would get her over as a force to be reckoned with and a monster in the ring. Strong matches with other top women would work as well, but for immediate feedback and results, your idea sounds good. Book it, Triple H.

Top Dolla recently called out Jim Cornette on Twitter, saying, “A 60-year-old documented racist called me fat, a whale, a manatee & worthless on his show for like a year straight and nobody batted an eye… but it’s aight Cuz when I see him in person and take care of that business myself, don’t start actin’ like I’m the bad guy 😊 😇. Cornette responded, “I’m 62, Flopper, get your facts straight. How can having an aversion to marine life that tries to wrestle be termed racist? I don’t think whales and manatees are ALL bad, just the lousy workers. If your swimming is half as bad as your wrestling, you could be HUGE at Sea World.” then added, “By the way, just tween you and me, run your piehole all you want about what you’d “do”, cause we all know we’ll never meet and if we did, you’d do nothing and like it cause you’re not a gangbanger, you’re a fat Uncle Phil. Blow me.” Thoughts?

Top Dolla is entering a battle of wits unarmed and if he’s smart, he should stop now while he’s behind. Cornette didn’t say anything about him that wasn’t true and that WWE, via Michael Cole, wasn’t already saying on television anyhow. If Dolla was any good, he’d still be under contract and working for WWE. He’s not. That pretty much says everything that needs to be said in my opinion. Also, Dolla blocked Cornette on Twitter immediately after Jim replied, but then continued to talk his big talk after he made sure Cornette couldn’t see it or reply. That tells you just how big and bad Top Dolla is. All talk, but nothing more. He just needs to go away already.

Do you think MJF is really going to be a free agent at the start of the new year or has he already resigned? Personally, AEW seems unable to keep secrets so I think his upcoming free agency is legit.

Honestly, I don’t know what the deal is with MJF. I think he’s already agreed to re-sign with AEW and Tony, at least in principle, so Tony allows him to say these things, play into the MJF character, and be the top rebellious guy. But if he is telling the truth and ends up leaving AEW for WWE at the start of the year, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would make Tony Khan look like a schmuck, but that’s not anything new. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. It’s pro wrestling and anything can happen.

Have you ever seen anything as disturbing as Hangman drinking Swerve Stricklands’s blood in a wrestling match before?

Disturbing? Yes. I remember the Sid Vicious leg snap and it still gives me chills. But sickening and downright stupid? I think Adam Page and Swerve Strickland have set a new bar for being disgusting, ignorant, and trying to kill the business. It’s like they saw the “Cocaine Spot” at the NWA show and said, “Damn that was dumb! Hold my beer!”. I’ve talked to many people both in the business and fans alike and no one has said anything positive about that spot. Not a single person. It’s gotten attention for AEW so if that’s what they were aiming for, so be it, but I’m sure that the management at Warner Brothers Discovery can’t be happy. It was just bad taste, ignorant, and stupid as hell. ‘Nuff said!

Why do fans all of a sudden hate MJF? He’s fucking brilliant, and the person AEW can’t afford to lose.

You’re right that AEW can’t afford to lose MJF, but they’re not doing anything to make his character stronger or make the fans want him to stay. Watered-down promos, comedy skits, and just bad booking have killed the momentum that MJF had going on and because he was so good for so long, it’s even harder to bear with Max because he’s better than what we’ve been seeing and we all know it. I don’t think it’s hate so much as it’s disappointment and regret. He’s better than this and we know it.

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

Ubuntu!