Tossing Salt Presents
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Matt Riddle, Gabbi Tuft, More Titles for Flair & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

I’m taking a break from work on a Sesame Street fan-fiction story. I’ve hit a wall and need to stretch my mind, so why not talk about the King of Sports for a bit? That sounds like a plan to me. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Are you ready? Let’s roll.

Dusty, Cody, and Dustin Rhodes versus Fritz, Kevin, and Kerry Von Erich. Who wins?

Two of the best families in wrestling history with legacies that expand across generations, this would be an epic and fun match. If it was in World Class, the Von Erichs would win, obviously, but anywhere else, the victory would go to the Rhodes clan. I have no doubts about that.

Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham, and Bray Wyatt versus Bob Orton Sr., Bob Orton Jr., and Randy Orton, all in their primes. Who wins?

What is up with these multi-generation family feuds? I love them and the thoughts of dream matches like these, but still, damn! Just kidding. This would be another epic encounter that most likely would end up in a no-contest or double-count out. If I have to choose a winner though, I’d have to go with the Windham/Mulligan/Wyatt team. As for the reason, Barry Windham. He truly was just that damn good.

When Raw leaves USA Network do you think it will stay 3 hours?

Most likely, I would think so. That depends on where they end up and what their new business partner wants, but it’s hard to imagine cutting out an hour of television time from their programming, yet still wanting more money for the television rights.

AEW is now counting Ric Flair as a 21-time World Champion, now adding the two International World Championship titles from WCW plus several other NWA Championship reigns. Thoughts?

There are several title wins that for whatever reason, WWE, WCW, and the NWA didn’t choose to recognize, but Flair has won World Championship titles more than just sixteen times, and hell, probably more than twenty-one times to be honest. I did research one time and tried to figure it out and came up with twenty-four championship wins, so this is simply just setting the record straight. It also allows AEW to stroke Flair’s ego, not that he needs it, and make some headlines that Flair was the man in a fixed sport, but still, no worries. Congrats to the Nature Boy.

Who would you say was the best United States Champion in the title’s entire history?

This is a question that’s impossible to answer so I’ll take the easy way out. The best U.S. Champion was Harley Race. As for why, he was the first and set the bar for everyone that followed.

Matt Riddle recently stated that he believes that the UFC merger was a huge part of him being fired from the WWE. Thoughts?

I’m sure that bad feelings from his prior time working at UFC factored into the decision. So did bad decisions, legal drama with several women, and dumb behavior on Riddle’s part. He’s a talented guy and I’d love to see him back in WWE at some point, but he’s a tainted brand and needs to clean up his act and modify his actions for a bit before that can happen.

Who will be the next three AEW stars to “jump ship” to WWE when their AEW contracts expire? And who will be the next three WWE stars to go to AEW when their WWE employment ends?

Ricky Starks spends as much time with Cody Rhodes as he does in the AEW locker room so I’m sure he’s counting the days until that AEW contract expires. Daniel Garcia is making noise about his contract expiring soon, so I’m sure that he has WWE on his mind. And finally, Wardlow. The way he’s been used by AEW, with the stop-and-start bad booking, he’ll no doubt be willing to talk to WWE when possible. As for WWE to AEW, given how things seem to be over there and the lack of structure, I doubt many in the WWE locker room are thinking that AEW would be a better option. But maybe Apollo Crews, Ricochet, and Cedric Alexander?

Gabbi Tuft, who was once known as Tyler Reks before totally transitioning into a female, is said to have started training again for a return to professional wrestling after nearly ten years away. Thoughts?

I liked Tyler Reks in the old WWECW brand and I’m happy for him that he’s taken the steps to make himself happy. But that being said, unless it’s a special attraction type of event, men should not be playing in Women’s sports. Wrestling is different to a point, with Sonny Kiss, Nyla Rose, and a few others. Tessa Blanchard was beating men regularly as the Impact World Champion, and we all remember Chyna beating everyone, both men and women. So is there a place in pro wrestling for Reks/Tuft? Absolutely, as a special attraction and character. But wrestling normal, smaller women? I’m not very comfortable with that. Yes, it’s not politically correct to say that, but Reks is/was a 6’2, 250lb man, and just because he says he’s a woman now, that doesn’t make it true or fair to the other women. I have no problems with him wrestling, but it’ll be somewhat uncomfortable at first, at least for me.

Harley Race & Bruno Sammartino versus Kerry Von Erich & The Ultimate Warrior. Who wins?

Nothing against Kerry, but I don’t like the Ultimate Warrior. He’d be blown up in five minutes and Harley & Bruno, who regularly wrestled 60 and 90-minute matches several times a week, would take over and take him apart. Harley & Bruno would win.

Would Gary Hart be on your Mt. Rushmore of Wrestling Managers?

I’m not sure about the actual Mt. Rushmore since it only allows 4 spots and those would be, for me, Bobby Heenan, Jim Cornette, Paul Heyman, and probably Captain Lou Albano, at least right now. But Hart was amazing and one of the best managers in the history of pro wrestling, as well as an excellent booker and character. He might not make the big room and the top four, but he’d be in the discussion and have a wing dedicated to his honor, along with Sir Oliver Humperdink, Jimmy Hart, and Woman (Nancy Benoit).

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 now, for me, back to Sesame Street and the HOA. Stay well, my friends, and be sure to watch out for foreign objects. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!