Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
The Young Bucks, R-Truth, Victoria & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

I’m Doug and Happy New Year. Okay, it’s technically still 2024 as I write this, but the new year is only an hour or so away, so it’ll be 2025 when this is posted. Yeah, I’m bringing the new year in with style. What an exciting life. This is the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A, where anything goes and no wrestling question is off limits. Are you ready to rock? Let’s do this.

Do you believe John Cena should win the 2025 Royal Rumble?

No, I don’t. I have no problem with Cena being a part of the Rumble or having a match at the PLE, but I don’t want to see him win. I want Cena and the WWE Championship to be kept apart. He doesn’t need it and should let others have their moments in the light instead.

Who is one WWE Superstar you’d like to see become champion in 2025?

Matt Cardona, but he’s not back in WWE yet. So, let’s go with R-Truth. I watched the great interview he did with Chris Von Vliet earlier tonight and I’d love to see Truth with some WWE gold that doesn’t say 24/7 around his waist.

Who will show up first to support their man? AJ Lee in WWE or Beth Phoenix in AEW?

I think we’ll see AJ Lee back in WWE eventually but with Adam Copeland challenging Jon Moxley, who is regularly accompanied by Marina Shafir, I expect we’ll see Beth Phoenix showing up sooner rather than later to even the odds.

AJ Francis has signed a new deal and will remain with TNA. Thoughts?

I spoke on this just a few days ago. Francis was asking if he should go to AEW or WWE, and I said he should stay in TNA for now. And it looks as if I was right.

Toni Storm versus Trish Stratus. Who wins?

This match would be good. Storm is one of the few women in AEW who can go against anyone and have a good match. And Trish? Well, it’s Trish Stratus. ‘Nuff said! I think Toni would do the honors just out of respect for Trish. Trish wins.

The Young Bucks say they intentionally had “boring” matches during the 2024 heel run in AEW. Thoughts?

Well, that explains that run, but why were they boring and predictable, unwatchable for the rest of their AEW run? Just getting in practice or are they just really that bad and now, making excuses? I’ll go with the latter.

Is WWE booking CM Punk better than Tony Khan did in AEW?

Is this even a real question? Punk, even when suffering an injury, had been at the top of his game with rivalries against Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins. He’s been in the mix at the top of the card and the popularity hasn’t dropped a bit. In AEW, the MJF feud was well done, but everything else? WWE, under the auspices of Triple H, knows how to use and book CM Punk. AEW didn’t have a clue.

Would you like to see R-Truth do a heel turn?

The fans would never buy it, but I’d love to see Truth drop the clowning for a bit and become a serious Ron Killings for a time. He would do excellent in that role and the heat he could generate could put Dominik and The New Day to shame. It won’t happen, but it would be very cool to see.

Victoria has signed a new Legend’s Deal with WWE. Does this mean we’ll finally see her in the WWE Hall of Fame?

One can only hope. I’m hoping this new deal allows us to see Lisa Marie Varon regularly on WWE television and yes, I hope it does lead to an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. She is certainly well deserving.

Booker T is stepping back into the ring for Reality of Wrestling and will be facing Zilla Fatu. Thoughts?

The teacher versus the student. Fatu has been wrestling for Booker’s promotion for a few months now and my guess is that this is Booker’s way, and by extension, WWE’s way, of learning firsthand if Fatu is ready for a move to the WWE yet. Plus, Booker gets another match while Fatu gets to wrestle a WWE Hall of Famer. And it gives Reality of Wrestling a strong match for their main event. Everyone wins.

And there you go. Thanks for reading. And I’ve still got 32 minutes until the ball drops and the new year begins. I guess I’d better go wake Eric up. Take care, my friends. Happy New Year and thanks for the continued support. Thoughts, comments, and questions are welcome and appreciated. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!