Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Fantasy Booking PPV, Tyson Kidd, Doink the Clown & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

It’s not your father’s Q&A. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Are you ready? Let’s roll.

A money-mark comes to you and wants you to book a show for an I-PPV at the Greensboro Coliseum. Money is no object and you can book anyone you want so long as they’re not under contract to WWE, AEW, or TNA. Ten matches. Who are you putting on your show?

I’ve been sitting on this question for about a week because I wanted to make sure I could give it some serious thought and have as much fun with it as possible. And last night, while at work and in between customers looking to get liquored up, I came up with an answer. So here we go.

My announcers would be Chris Cruise, Larry Zbyszko, and The Fallen Artist, Derk Douglas. Handling the ring announcing duties would be Dave Penzer, while Missy Hyatt and Chris Van Vliet would handle the interview duties. And the matches? It’d go like this. My main event would be The Indy God, Matt Cardona versus Mustafa Ali. And my other matches would be as follows. Street Fight: Joey Janela versus The Phoenix Mike Youngblood. Fuego Del Sol versus Marko Stunt. Lacey Evans versus Emma. Brock Anderson w/ Arn Anderson versus Kerry Morton w/ Ricky Morton. Matt Riddle versus Andrade. Rick Boogs & Heath Slater versus Joe Hennig & Lio Rush. Ronda Rousey versus Tessa Blanchard w/ Tully Blanchard. Hated Worldwide (Sammy Love, Angel Angels, Cruze Bittle) w/ Wachee versus Nathan Cross & The New Breed (Trey Walker & Tripp Cautious). The Atlantic Coast Destruction Crew (Ethan Storm & Tazz Jackson) versus The Reunited PG-13 (Wolfie D & Jamie Dundee).

A mix of big names with a history in the WWE or TNA, a few legends, and several wrestlers who I’m familiar with who are damn good in that squared circle and would put on great matches that the live audience and those watching at home would appreciate and enjoy and who may not be household names (yet), but should be sooner rather than later.

There are rumors that Tyson Kidd is being considered for an on-air role as the RAW General Manager, replacing Adam Pearce. Thoughts?

If for some reason, either Adam Pearce or Nick Aldis needs to be replaced in the role of General Manager for one of the WWE brands, Tyson Kidd would be an excellent replacement. I’d personally rather see Jamie Noble, but that’s just because the twisted side of me would love to see his redneck character as a boss. It’d be hilarious, but if WWE needs a more serious talent for that role, Tyson Kidd would be great in that role.

Hornswoggle recently said that the storyline as Vince McMahon’s son was the highlight of his wrestling career. Thoughts?

I can see why Hornswoggle says that, but I disagree. For a single moment, I’d go for the WeeLC Match between him and El Torita at WWE Extreme Rules 2014. That match was awesome and even today, it still is. Watch and see.

Ash by Elegance versus Timeless Toni Storm versus Eva Marie in a Triple-Threat Match. Who wins?

The entrances would be long and tedious. The match would be worse. Toni can go sometimes in that ring, and Ash by Elegance, when she was working as Dana Brooke, wasn’t bad, but Eva Marie? Oy vey! And if they’re all trying to stay in character while also trying to wrestle, even worse. I think Toni Storm would probably win this one.

NJPW just announced that Kazuchika Okada will be leaving the promotion with his contract set to expire on January 31st. So, AEW, WWE, TNA, or somewhere else?

I don’t think he’d work well or fit in with WWE, so that leaves AEW or TNA. AEW likes to over-pay for Japanese talent so let’s go with that one. Okada will be All-Elite.

Larry “The Axe” Hennig, Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig, and Joe “Curtis Axel” Hennig versus Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham, and Bo Dallas. Who wins?

This would be an awesome old-school brawl. Larry Hennig and Blackjack would match up well and better yet, teamed together briefly early in their careers in the AWA. Barry and Curt were partners in WCW, both as part of the West Texas Rednecks and as the WCW Tag Team Champions. Axel and Bo were the B-Team in WWE and held the Tag Team titles together in that promotion. So it’s all former partners against each other, three generations worth. It’s a tough call, but if there has to be a winner, I’ll go with the Mulligan/Windham family. Otherwise, it’d end up a double-countout and no-contest.

Bruce Prichard, aka Brother Love, recently stated that he would have put the title on Doink the Clown (Matt Borne) if he had been able to do so. Thoughts?

I think that Bruce is just talking to be talking with this one. With all of the criticism that WWE got just for having a clown on their roster, much less Matt Borne, who was a damn good wrestler, but had a few demons and wasn’t the most stable guy in the world, playing the role of Doink, it never would have worked and Bruce knows it. He’s just having fun with the question and nothing more.

Samoa Joe versus Hook did great ratings for AEW Dynamite, with an average of nearly 900,000 viewers. So Tony Khan is a good booker now?

With all the talk and speculation online, I would have been surprised if this match hadn’t done well and gotten some good ratings. But Tony is still Tony and even a broken clock is right twice a day. He still needs a lot of work and help with his booking duties.

The Women’s Wrestling Hall of Fame has announced Jacqueline, Rockin’ Robin, Lisa Marie Varon, aka Victoria, Baby Doll, Francine, and many others as their HOF Class of 2024. Thoughts?

The entire class of the WWHOF, in its second year of existence, is as follows: Jacqueline Moore, Rockin’ Robin Smith, Lisa Marie Varon, aka Victoria, Leilani Kai, Heidi Lee Morgan, Wendi Richter & Joyce Grable, Sherri Martel, Candi Divine, Peggy Lee Leather, June Byers, Mike McGuirk, Suzie Tanner, Nicole Bass, Melissa “Super Genie” Coates, Baby Doll, Francine, Missy Hyatt, and Komina Wanalaya. Congratulations to all of these amazing and talented women on their inductions.

What do you think is the reason AEW has so many wrestlers out with injuries? From top guys like Pac and Omega to low-rung rookies. Is it the lighter schedule? Ring ropes? Even the ring itself. It seems WWE does not have nearly the injuries. They work many more days so statistically, they should have more, but they don’t.

Working fewer days makes it harder for the body to take bumps and stay in a ring shape. I’ve heard Arn Anderson talk about this several times. So the lighter schedule is a factor. Plus, taking unnecessary risks and doing repeated high-spots when not needed. Doing the big spots every so often is risky, but it makes the matches memorable. But if a high spot is repeated several times during a show or match, it becomes just another move, and then, who cares? Injuries can always happen, as Seth Rollins proved this past Monday with a simple lionsault. But working the light schedules, taking extra risks, doing unnecessary moves, and showboating will just add to the risks and dangers, as the huge numbers of injuries currently hindering the AEW roster prove. Also, before I forget, bad supervision and referees. Allowing a match to continue when a talent is obviously already knocked silly or injured, that’s pretty damn dumb as well and AEW is bad about that. See Jon Moxley and his match against RUSH as a perfect example.

And there you go. My thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and any questions are welcome and appreciated. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe. There probably won’t be a Q&A tomorrow as I’m planning on spending the day working on a Fan Fiction story idea that popped into my head while at work yesterday. Sesame Street and an HOA. That’s the plan anyhow. Wish me luck. And with that, let’s wrap things up. Take care and be well, my friends, and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!