Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Michael Cole, Thunderbolt Patterson, Chad Gable & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

I’ve had it up to here and if you move. If you move! It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. If I only had time. I’m your party host and Guiding Light, Doug. And if you move! If you move! Let’s roll.

If John Cena retires next year, who should be his final opponent?

I’m thinking Austin Theory should be the man. He and Cena had a fun match last year and they have great chemistry together. Given their recent history, Theory would be perfect to be the last man to put Cena over.

Does the amount of title defenses hurt Roman Reigns’s historic title reign?

It does to a point, but in the big picture of things, I don’t think most people will care.

Michael Cole has said that he plans to retire from commentary when he turns 50. Who should replace Cole as the WWE’s lead commentator?

It appears as if Corey Graves may be the man being groomed to take Cole’s role at the announce table and if that’s the case, he’s a good choice.

Thunderbolt Patterson has been announced as the fourth Inductee for the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2024. Thoughts?

I am looking forward to this speech at the HOF Induction ceremony. Thunderbolt is an obvious choice for most of the wrong reasons since the main reason he’s been picked is that he’s outspoken, controversial, and black. He’s not a great or even a good wrestler, but the man could talk and that mouth set him apart from the crowd. Most of the time, it wasn’t quite clear what he was talking about, but damn if he didn’t make it intriguing and must-hear. I don’t think he’d be on my top 100 list of top wrestlers of his era, but I get why he was chosen. His induction will either be excellent and must-see, or an absolute trainwreck. Regardless, it will be a moment. Congratulations to T-Bolt.

The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) versus Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn in a Canadian Street Fight. Who wins?

This would be an excellent match with four all-time great Canadian wrestlers. It’s hard to pick a winner because both teams are so good. I think I’ll go with Bret and Neidhart. A little megaphone shot from Jimmy Hart from the outside and we’d see the Hart Foundation take out Zayn for the win.

Is Christian Cage more over than Adam Copeland is in AEW?

Given Copeland’s run thus far since his debut, this is an easy yes. Who would have thought that talking about dead fathers would be so over?

You have the book. What’s next for Chad Gable?

If I were the booker, given the finish of Zayn and Gable’s match on RAW, where Gable’s shoulders were NOT on the mat when he was pinned, I’d insert Gable into the match with Zayn and Gunther at Wrestlemania, making it a triple-threat match.

Did anybody else think it was sort of gay for Rikishi to rub his ass in other men’s faces?

It’s what Vince McMahon wanted. And some people like that kind of thing. Maybe not in the wrestling ring, but still. It was the Attitude Era. Don’t be a hater.

Thoughts on John Cena’s “naked” Oscar appearance?

Well, it was different. It was an attempt at comedy to draw attention and get some eyes on the Oscar event, which needs all the help it can get these days. It worked and caught attention and people watched the clip. Hell, if I had a body like Cena’s, I probably would have done it too. It’s increased Cena’s stock in Hollyweird.

Jim Cornette, Big Bubba Rogers & The Midnight Express (Stan Lane, Bobby Eaton, Dennis Condrey) versus Paul Heyman and The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, The Rock) in the War Games match. Who wins?

Just to see Heyman and Cornette involved in the match would make it epic in all of the wrong ways. Look at all of the talent involved. No way this could not be an excellent event. The Bloodline would win in the end since they’re the bigger names and have The Rock on their team. It wouldn’t hurt Team Cornette a bit in the big picture of things and man, this would be incredible.

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. I’m still in catch-up mode since I’ve been feeling less than great over the past few days and the questions have been piling up. So there’s more to come. You’ve been warned. Take care and be well, my friends. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!