Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Daniel Garcia, R-Truth, Hulkamania & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

And here we go. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. My apologies for being MIA for the past few days. I’ve been under the weather and sick as a dog. I still feel like crap, but the questions are piling up and I can’t let down my loyal readers, both of you. So here we go with the best damn wrestling Q&A article going today. Yeah, I said it. Let’s roll.

Thoughts on AEW wrestler Daniel Garcia. Future star or an over-pushed Indy guy?

The jury is still out on Garcia for me. He’s a talented guy and has charisma and good in-ring skills, but is he overrated? I like that he’s doing the dancing and working on becoming a character instead of just another wrestler on the roster. I think he’s got potential and could be a solid top star one day. He’s a definite asset to the AEW roster.

Tony Khan said that AEW is the safest wrestling company. Did he forget about Brawl Out between the EVPs and CM Punk, the fights with Sammy Guevera & Eddie Kingston, the drama with Andrade & Sammy Guevera, and “fearing for his life”? Thoughts?

Tony Khan lives in a fantasy world and bubble and will do/say anything to put a positive spin on his fantasy wrestling dream project. Reality doesn’t matter and everything in AEW is great. And if you don’t believe Tony, just ask him and he’ll tell you.

Sgt. Slaughter & Randy Savage versus Jinder Mahal & Drew McIntyre. Who wins?

Given the history between Slaughter and the Macho King, plus the fact that Jiinder and Drew are much bigger, stronger, better in-ring wrestlers, I’ll go with 2/3MB to take a win after Drew nails Sarge with the Claymore. Drew and Jinder with the victory.

Does R-Truth belong in the WWE Hall of Fame? If so, who should induct him?

When he’s ready to retire, Truth is a no-brainer for the WWE Hall of Fame. Over fifty runs as the now-defunct 24/7 Champion, plus he’s been U.S. Champion and Tag Team Champion in the past, as well as a former NWA World Champion during his time away from WWE and working for TNA Wrestling. So yes, Truth belongs in the WWE HOF and as a headliner. As for who does the inductions, I’d go with Miz. Their chemistry is fantastic and he’d be a great choice. Either Miz or Little Jimmy.

Fantasy Booking Time. Fatal 4-Way Tag Team Match with three-man teams from WWE, AEW, TNA, and Free-Agents. Who are your teams and who wins?

From the WWE, I’d have Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn. AEW would be represented by FTR. TNA would have the team of Ace Austin and Chris Bey, aka ABC. And my two free agents? Just for shit & giggles, Matt Cardona & Heath Miller. And the winning team? Let’s go with AEW’s own FTR, arguably one of the best teams in the world today. FTR wins and takes that trip to the pay window.

WWE allegedly has plans in place to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Hulkamania. A Hogan appearance is not in the current plans though. Thoughts?

This makes sense since Hulk Hogan and his victory over the Iron Sheik was one of the biggest moments in WWE history and led to such things as Wrestlemania, The Rock & Wrestling Connection, and one of the hottest periods in the history of professional wrestling that helped turn WWE from a Mom & Pop wrestling territory into a billion dollar multinational phenom. WWE should acknowledge it and I would bring out Hulk on television to acknowledge it. Hogan has a lot of issues and detractors and at times, I’m one of them, but give the devil his due. The ratings would spike and it would be a fun moment of nostalgia for the older fans. Hogan isn’t perfect, but a little smoke & mirrors and interaction with some other big names for fifteen minutes on RAW wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Wahoo McDaniel versus Gunther. Who wins?

Both men would walk out with their chests looking like raw hamburger meat. The chops back and forth would be brutal… and awesome. Too bad nobody has a time machine so we could put these two phenomenal talents together in an actual ring. Gunther would win, but he would know that he’d been in a major fight and would feel it for days.

Should Bill Apter be the first wrestling journalist inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame? Yes or no and why?

I’ll say yes to this. As for why, every wrestling fan in the ’70s and ’80s, before the internet, got our wrestling news, both real and kayfabe, from the Stanley Weston family of wrestling magazines, also known as the Apter Mags. Bill Apter was the public face of these magazines and he has continued that career for over fifty years and still going strong. Without guys like Apter paving the way, would we have folks today like Meltzer, Mike Johnson, Wade Keller, Sean Ross Sapp, and so many others? I seriously doubt it.

Adam Cole & Dr. Britt Baker versus Rhea Ripley & Dom Mysterio. Who wins?

Cole is a better wrestler in the ring than Dom, although Dom gets better with every match and appearance. He’s catching up rapidly. Baker is good, but she’s not even near Rhea so far as in-ring skills go in my opinion. Cole and Britt are talented and decent performers, but they’d fall victim in the end to Judgment Day… because Mami is always on top.

Dave Meltzer reports that AEW has offered Mercedes Mone a deal for 5 years worth 25 million. Also speculated that she could debut with the company as soon as this week. Thoughts?

Well, this question came to me on Monday and Dynamite was on Wednesday, and no Mercedes Mone on Dynamite. And I saw, on a reliable wrestling website, that WWE and Mercedes, aka Sasha Banks, are still talking, despite what Meltzer reported last week. If the deal for 25 Million Dollars for five years is true, I’d suggest that Mercedes jump on it as quickly as possible, but given the source, I think someone is just feeding false information to the old guy again and he’s just running with it, as usual. I’ll admit that he was right about Deonna Purrazzo, but even a clock is right two times a day and given that Purrazzo has already had two runs with WWE/NXT, the decision to go with another option makes sense. But as for Mercedes, aka Sasha Banks, I’ll believe it when I see it. ‘Nuff said!

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 things up. Take care and I’ll see you again soon. I’ve got a slight backlog of questions so I’ll probably post another edition of the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A later tonight as I play catch-up. Watch for it. And with that, I’m out of here. Watch out for foreign objects and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!