Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Pat McAfee, Rikishi, Scumbags in the Business & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

It’s the most electrifying Q&A in sports entertainment. It’s the People’s Q&A. I’m Doug, your party host and Guiding Light and this is the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. Now sit back and let’s do this. Let’s roll.

AEW is running the same building for Collision five weeks in a row. It’s a building that seats 2500. I’m all for them running smaller venues, but the same venue five weeks in a row? How many people will be there by week five?

It’s an experiment, much like TNA used to do with the Nashville Fairgrounds or Universal Studios, throwing things up against the wall to cut costs and build their audience. Running a 2500-seat arena is smart and will look better on TV with the smaller crowd. The first two or weeks will probably do well just for the curiosity factor. By the end of the run, Week 5, I’m expecting 800-1000 people maximum.

Who do you want to see Roman Reigns’ face?

I’d love to see Roman versus Gunther. Roman versus Damian Priest could be pretty cool as well. And who doesn’t love Roman versus Brock Lesnar? I’d pop for all three matches.

What are the first words you think of when you hear the name Hulk Hogan?

The pythons and telling lies.

Do you think Endeavor owning WWE will lead to WWE stars getting more acting opportunities?

Absolutely. Endeavor is, first and foremost, an entertainment company and the resources and contacts in Hollywood are immense. I expect that we’ll see more WWE talents appearing in movies and television roles over the next few years than ever before.

Bayley recently commented that she thinks it’s the perfect time for WWE Evolution 2, the all-women’s PLE event. Agree or disagree?

I enjoyed the first WWE Evolution PPV and right now, the WWE Women’s Roster is stronger than ever. Between RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and a few legends, there is more than sufficient talent to pull off a second All Women’s PLE. I’d love to see it happen.

Awesome Kong versus Nia Jax. Who wins?

I believe I’ve answered this before, but the answer remains the same. Awesome Kong wins.

I don’t like that only the final matches of the tournament will be at the King & Queen of the Ring event. Part of the prestige of winning KOTR back in the day was having to win 3 matches in one night. Thoughts?

While I get what you’re saying, this is a different era and WWE has changed. WWE has five hours of live television to put out every week and despite what AEW tries to say, ratings do matter. It seems to me that spreading out the qualifying matches and using that to fill up television time makes more sense in today’s world. The main events of the tournament take place at the PLE, along with a series of other main-event level matches. It just seems the better overall business plan to me.

What’s your opinion on Pat McAfee? He’s great on commentary. He would have been the goat in the original Attitude era. What a breath of fresh air.

McAfee is very fresh and entertaining. Part of it, at least to me, is that we’ve been hearing the same old style of announcing, with the generic mouthpieces for so long, anyone who is unique and different would sound good. Pat is a breath of fresh air and has a style that stands out from the rest. I’m not sure how well Pat would have done in the Vince McMahon-controlled Attitude Era. Probably well, but he wouldn’t have had nearly as much of the freedom that he’s allowed now.

Why does the wrestling industry attract so many scumbags?

There is an element to the world of professional wrestling that is kind of like the old west, where the rules and standards are different from the rest of the world, and yes, it does, as you say, attract a lot of scumbags. But the opposite also holds and there are many outstanding people in professional wrestling as well. Unfortunately, with the good come the bad. But I can honestly say this. I’ve been a fan for over fifty years and have been involved in some capacity in the business for nearly twenty-five years. I’ve met a lot of people because of the wrestling and made some incredible friends. Yes, I’ve met plenty of sleazoids, but the good far outnumber the bad easily three-to-one. There are bad seeds in any profession, but in my experience, the survey says, it’s all about the good guys, of which there are plenty.

I keep hearing talk about Rikishi being brought in as the new Wise Man for the new version of The Bloodline, replacing Paul Heyman, who remains loyal to Roman Reigns. Would you like to see Rikishi added to the Bloodline story?

While Rikishi probably wouldn’t be my first choice, it makes sense, and being the father of Solo, Jimmy, and Jey, it seems odd that he hasn’t become a part of this story as of yet. An argument could also be made for Haku, given that both of his sons are now a part of The New Bloodline, with a third to be possibly joining soon. Either man would work and yeah, it keeps the story going and builds on it. Works for me.

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 today. Take care and be well, my friends. Don’t take any wooden nickels and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!