Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A:
Damian Priest, Curtis Axel, Wrestling Fans & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. I’m Doug and it’s raining outside. I’m no stranger to the rain. Nor am I a stranger to your questions about the King of Sports. Keep them coming. Let’s roll.

How do you rate Damian Priest’s title reign out of 10?

I’d probably go with a 7.5. Priest has been a good champion and he’s an excellent worker, but the reign, thus far, has been less than impressive. He needs some solid victories and to maybe turn his character up a notch as the heel leader that the fans love to hate of Judgment Day. I get it that WWE wants to make him, and Rhea for that matter, into babyfaces, but I think, for the time being anyhow, cool heels is a better way to go. Priest just needs to decide for sure what direction he’s headed and turn it up. He is much better than this reign as the champ seems to imply.

Booker T. recently stated that he thinks Ricky Starks would fit in very well in WWE. Thoughts?

I think that for once, Booker is 100% correct. I think Starks has a ton of talent and potential and I’ll be glad when his AEW contract expires so he can come to WWE NXT and show everyone what he’s capable of.

Ronda Rousey says she is “extremely encouraged” about the state of women’s wrestling. Thoughts?

She trashed it and now, she’s back on board again. I guess that she realized that she was burning some bridges and decided to walk things back a notch or two. But she’s correct. As it stands now, at least for WWE and NXT, it’s not men’s wrestling or women’s wrestling, but just wrestling… as it should be.

What modern-day wrestler is the best “Every Man” character?

The first name that came to mind for me was Sami Zayn. It doesn’t get much more normal person than Sami.

Triple H asks you to book John Cena’s 5 final matches. So who would you have Cena going against?

Off the top of my head, CM Punk and Matt Cardona are no-brainers. As for the other three, how about Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and Cody Rhodes?

Who is a wrestling star that you feel never reached their full potential?

Many names come to mind, but Joe Hennig, aka Curtis Axel, stands out in my opinion. A third-generation superstar who had all the tools, but never seemed to connect or get any kind of major push. I’d love to see Hennig under a Triple H WWE run, rather than working the Vince-era. Hennig started as Michael McGillicutty and that name essentially doomed his run in WWE from the start, and despite a name change, to Curtis Axel, he never truly recovered. The man had all the tools, but a Vince decision and bad gimmick doomed him from Day One.

Tully Blanchard versus MJF. Who wins?

The original Super Brat versus AEW’s resident scumbag. What a fun match this would be, especially the promos leading up to the actual match. I think it’d be an instant classic. MJF would win.

Is the casual wrestling fan more important than the hardcore wrestling fan?

They’re not more important, nor are they less important. An effort has to be made to reach out to and appeal to both types of fans for a wrestling promotion to survive. The hardcore fans keep the promotion alive. The casual fans make it profitable. It’s a fine line to walk, but ALL fans need to be reached out to and drawn into the product. Otherwise, failure is inevitable.

MVP recently confirmed that he has not hung up his wrestling boots and has no plans to retire. Who would you like to see MVP feuding against?

Another match against Matt Hardy would be fun to see. MVP versus Moose would be cool. And maybe MVP versus Adam Page to wrap it all up. All of those matches would be fun to see.

What is the weirdest object you’ve ever seen tossed into a ring?

I’ve seen stop signs, baking sheets, skillets, brooms, the obvious chairs and tables, etc. But the weirdest? It was a “Fans Bring the Weapons” street fight between Michael Youngblood and Viper, for Viper’s promotion, in Elizabeth Town, NC, I believe. It’s been a long time. As Youngblood and Viper beat the holy hell out of each other, one of the weapons was a plastic tray from a printer or copy machine. Solid plastic and unyielding. My first thought was, who broke into the copy machine? It was just so odd and different, and as Mike told me later, painful, it stands out in my memory. And there was the time they literally brought in a kitchen sink, but that’s a story for another day.

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 need to go wash my clothes. Have a great one and be good, my friends. Watch out for cackling women with kneepads, and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!