Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Iyo Sky, Mike Sanders, Hardcore Matches & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. I’m Doug. Let’s roll.

Describe Iyo Sky in 2 words or less.

Unlimited potential.

Tony Khan asks you to cut ten talents from the AEW roster due to budget cuts. Who are you cutting and why?

There are so many talents in AEW that are under contract and not being used, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel or however that old cliche goes. I’ll try to keep the list to names that I feel have potential and could be top stars in the business, but AEW just isn’t doing it in my opinion. My choices would be Ricky Starks, Britt Baker, Aaron Solo, Brian Cage, Wardlow, Griff Garrison, John Silver, Hook, Lance Archer, and Nick Wayne.

Triple H asks you to cut fifteen talents from the WWE roster, five from RAW, five from Smackdown, and five from NXT for budget cuts. Who are you cutting from each brand and why?

This one is a little harder, but there are some talents, on each roster, that I personally feel are not used well and could featured better somewhere else. For RAW, my choices would be Akam, Rezar, Paul Ellering, Tyler Bate, Karrion Kross, and Scarlett. For Smackdown, my choices would be Ashante Thee Adonis, Blair Davenport, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, and Jade Cargill. And finally, the NXT talents I would bid farewell to are Boa, Bronco Nima, Ivar, Kale Dixon, and Wolfgang.

Tony Khan tells you to hire five wrestlers, not under contract to TNA or WWE, to add to the AEW/ROH roster. Who are you hiring?

This one is actually pretty easy for me. Sammy Love, The New Breed (Trey Walker & Tripp Cautious), Nathan Cross, and Michael Youngblood.

Triple H tells you to hire five wrestlers, not under contract to TNA or AEW, to add to the WWE roster. Who are you hiring?

Look at my previous answer. It remains the same. These men, who work primarily for Coastal Atlantic Grappling Entertainment and Atlantic Coast Wrestling, have all the skills and talent to be big names someday, with the right training and being used properly. Either Tony Khan or Triple H should send scouts to check out the current NC Independent wrestling scene. I only named 5 wrestlers, but the talent is here and beyond compare. I think scouts from any of the major companies would be suitably impressed.

If you could take any 5 men & 1 female to create a 2024 version of the Dangerous Alliance, who would you pick? They can be from any company, anywhere in the world. Managed by Paul Heyman, of course.

A 2024 version of the Dangerous Alliance? I’d go with Matt Cardona and Cesaro as the two top singles wrestlers. FTR would be the tag team. The veteran talent would be Brock Lesnar. And the female would be Chelsea Green.

Trish Stratus and Lita were (collectively) asked to name the top 5 women’s wrestlers of all time, all things considered. Their choices were Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch. Who would be your choices?

The top 5 women of all time? I’d go with Charlotte Flair, The Fabulous Moolah, Trish Stratus, Becky Lynch, and Madusa.

Are you a fan of hardcore/death matches?

Not really, no. I understand their purpose and can appreciate a good match using weapons and chaos as the main purpose, but I prefer more standard matches where it’s the skill that matters and not a cinder block or needle.

I just saw where former WCW wrestler/Commissioner Mike Sanders got married. Thoughts on the “Above Average” one.

I was a fan of Sanders back in the WCW days. He wasn’t a great wrestler, but he portrayed a good character and was far ahead of most of his peers on the mic. After WCW ended, he moved on to acting and doing stand-up comedy and from what I understand, has had success in the new career. I felt he had a lot of potential and WWE could have used him better when he was under contract with them, but it was Vince booking and he was somewhat lost in the shuffle. A very talented performer.

How many different wrestling websites have you written for?

I originally started as the recapper for Sunday Night Heat and WWE Raw for Wrestling Informer.net. After the Informer shut down, I did a brief run with WrestlingHeadquarters.com, and then I went to write for Wrestle-Zone.co.uk. I also did a stint as the RAW recapper for LordsofPain.net. I did recaps of the AWA Classics on ESPN for PWInsider. com. I moved to PWBTS.com after Wrestle-Zone.co.uk closed up shop, and then I made the move to my current home at DougMaynard.com. I’ve been writing about wrestling in some capacity since 1998 and have worked for seven different websites.

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 for now. Take care and be well, my friends. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!