Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
WWE Hall of Fame, OVW, Hook & More
DougMaynard.com
Doug Maynard

Welcome to the show. It’s the only pro wrestling Q&A that matters. You have questions and I have answers. It’s the Ultimate Wrestling Q&A. I’m Doug, your party host and Guiding Light. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

Tony said no, and Dallas Page is inducting Lex Luger into the WWE Hall of Fame instead of Sting. Thoughts?

This sucks for Lex, but I can understand where Tony is coming from. I’m sure that Sting will be at the HOF ceremony, but much like Lex wasn’t allowed to be on camera during Sting’s retirement, I’m sure that Sting will be under the same restrictions. He’ll be there, but we won’t see him and he won’t be acknowledged by WWE. Considering the past few years, DDP is the perfect alternative. It still sucks though, that it’s not Sting.

WWE released a list of the Inductors for the WWE Hall of Fame Inductees. HBK for Triple H. Undertaker for Michelle McCool. DDP for Luger. CM Punk for the Austin/Bret match, etc. Thoughts?

Predictable and kind of boring, to be honest about it. To see CM Punk up there with Steve Austin and Bret Hart will be cool, but the rest of these? Whatever! I do wonder who they’ll get to induct The Natural Disasters. Jimmy Hart is the most obvious name, but Jimmy is old and I’m not sure what his health status might be. I guess we’ll find out either on Monday or Friday.

The Honky Tonk Man has signed a new WWE Legend’s Deal. Thoughts?

The second-longest Intercontinental Champion of all time, it makes sense. I thought he already was under a Legend’s Deal. Unlike some people under a similar deal, like Kelly Kelly, HTM is actually a wrestling legend. Congrats to Honky.

Ohio Valley Wrestling, OVW, has new owners. Thoughts?

The current ownership is maintaining a minority partnership, so Al Snow won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. It’s a big move for OVW, as the new owners are already talking about expansion and going worldwide. We’ll just have to keep our eyes open and see how things go.

Ken Shamrock was the guest referee for the Austin/Bret match that’s being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Should Shamrock get a HOF ring too?

Shamrock was arguably as big a part of that match as Bret and Austin were. He should get a ring, and be on stage at the HOF ceremony. He deserves it as much as Bret and Steve do.

What are your thoughts on Hook throwing up in the ring on Dynamite and them continuing the match and doing that chair spot?

Vomiting during a match means he most likely had a concussion. And then, he takes a shot to the head immediately afterward. It’s pure insanity and sloppy wrestling. And Hook’s career has been destroyed by that one simple action. Instead of the Handsome Devil, Hook will forever now be known as Barf Boy. People wonder why Cornette calls AEW an Outlaw Mud Show. Hook got sick and the camera focused on it, he took an unsafe hit immediately afterward. Total amateur hour in so many ways.

If you could do some kind of all-time best 3v3v3 (like that NXT War Games) between WWE, AEW and NJPW who would you pick for each promotion?

For WWE, let’s go with CM Punk, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. The AEW representatives would be Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland, and Adam Page. Representing New Japan Pro Wrestling would be Hirooki Goto, Konosuke Takeshita, and Gabe Kidd. The WWE team, accompanied by Paul Heyman, would win.

How damaging is the Death Riders stuff to Mox’s overall legacy?

Moxley’s legacy is essentially dead and buried as it is right now anyhow. The Death Raiders garbage has contributed, but the excessive bleeding for every match, the wandering promos, and the overall bad booking have all contributed to the downfall of Ambrose as well. Moxley did well at first in AEW but left to his own devices and creativity, he soon started to sink and decline and he hasn’t stopped since. The Death Riders are just another nail in the coffin of Jon Moxley’s credibility and career.

Looking at the landscape of AEW tag team wrestling, what current tag team do you see taking the belts off of the Hurt Syndicate?

Of the current roster and active tag teams, I’ll bet my money on FTR, although a future feud and run with a reunited Adam Copeland and Christian Cage isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Before 2024 is over, I expect we’ll see that happen.

If you could take one current wrestler and put them in a different era, and one from a previous era and put them in today’s North American wrestling who would they be?

The person I’d move to in the past would be Brock Lesnar. He would easily be on the level of Bruiser4 Brody, Harley Race, etc., and would be a huge worldwide star, even in the territory days. As for a star from days gone by who I feel would do well in today’s wrestling environment, how about Barry Windham? Windham was such a natural and so talented in the ring, he could be a star in any era.

And there you go. Thanks for reading. Comments, thoughts, and questions are welcome and appreciated. Reach me by e-mail at Doug28352@yahoo.com or on X at @Doug28352. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe. And with that, let’s wrap it up. Take care and be well, my friends. Watch out for foreign objects, and I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!