Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
Lanny Poffo, Wade Barrett, Matt Hardy & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

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

Allegedly, Vince McMahon tried to buy the rights to the Netflix documentary but was turned down. Thoughts?

It’s called damage control. Vince realized that the documentary wasn’t going to be flattering and wanted to squash it. From what I’ve watched so far, he shouldn’t have bothered. It’s not good for Vince or WWE, but it’s nothing new or earth-shattering. We’ve heard all of this before and to be honest, it’s kind of boring.

Main Event Jey Uso defeated Bron Breakker and is the new Intercontinental Champion. Thoughts?

I think this is a good move by WWE. Breakker has built up enough heat and momentum that his character won’t be hurt by the loss, while Uso was losing steam as a singles wrestler and needed that big moment. And now he’s gotten it.

Today is Matt Hardy’s 50th birthday. What are your favorite memories of Matt?

As a fan, it would be the Matt versus Edge feud. They took a real-life bad situation and made it work as an angle. I also liked the Broken Matt Hardy character. DELETING people is one of my favorite things. On a more personal note, I’ve met Matt and Jeff a few times. Matt is a little more reserved, while Jeff is far more outgoing and friendly. But both were cool and it was a good experience each time.

I saw on a podcast where this guy said Cody is Batman, Seth is the Joker, John CENA is Superman, and Randy is Lex Luther. So then, who would Roman & Brock be?

Roman reminds me of The Penguin, the manipulator who controls it all. As for Brock, that one is easy. He’s Bane.

So Dom is going into a shark cage at Bad Blood to prevent interference in the Rhea versus Liv match. Thoughts?

It’s funny and makes sense. I just hope that they play up on the ‘behind bars’ situation and have him escorted and put into the cage by police officers. It’s a pro wrestling classic move and I love it.

Does Vince Russo belong in the WWE Hall of Fame?

I doubt it will ever happen and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but in the big picture of things, Russo holds a lot of responsibility and influence for one of the most successful eras of WWE. I would say that, yes, he does deserve a spot.

Darby Allin says, “If people are going to compare the two companies, WWE and AEW, I like to put it as a music reference. WWE is like Taylor Swift and AEW is like Slayer. Taylor Swift can sell more records, but that doesn’t mean Slayer doesn’t have a huge following. Our brand of music is a little more intense and violent, and we don’t have to change anything. We don’t have to try to sell the same records as Taylor Swift. We’re kind of in our own world. That’s what I like to compare the two things to. You can watch All Out and it can be a little offensive, but I live to offend people.” Thoughts?

I get what he’s trying to say, but comparing Slayer to AEW is an insult to Slayer. I’d do the comparisons more like this. WWE is the Rolling Stones with a long and consistent history of greatness. Even when they’re not touring or putting out new music, no one can or will dispute their greatness. And AEW is LMFAO! They had a couple of hits and were even entertaining for a while, but no one really or truly cares. They might be sexy and they know it, but when on a stage next to the Stones, they’re not even qualified to part of the opening act.

How interested are you in seeing Wade Barrett return to the WWE ring?

For a brief run, I’d be very interested in seeing Wade Barrett share some bad news with a few people. He was a good wrestler and solid performer and never really had a fitting farewell from in-ring competition. I don’t think I’d want to see Barrett back full-time in the ring as I enjoy him on commentary and he’s doing an excellent job. But for a match or two against Drew, a quick return could be fun.

Of these three AEW stars, who have made the most impact? Mercedes Mone, Will Ospreay, or Kazuchika Okada?

Okada is used more as a joke than anything else, while Mercedes has totally destroyed her credibility and worth. Ospreay still has good matches and is a solid performer. He could be used better, but he also could be used much worse. Ospreay still looks like a star. The others, not so much.

Why did Lanny Poffo not get more of a push in the WWF? Here is a guy who was good in the ring, good on the mic, good look, good size, charismatic, was valued enough to hold down a WWF job for quite several years, but he never really rose above the lower card. Thoughts on Leaping Lanny.

Lanny was all that you say, but he wasn’t the big guy Vince tended to favor. And from what I understand, Lanny was hired more as a favor for Randy Savage, who WWE wanted badly, than any other reason. Lanny was given a fair push and his partnership with Mr. Perfect was excellent, but he wasn’t what Vince McMahon considered star material and thus, suffered for it. Maybe if he had put on a show for Pat Patterson, things might have been different, but we’ll never know.

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. Take care and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!