Tossing Salt Presents:
Ultimate Wrestling Q&A
WWE PLEs, Zelina Vega, Westside Gunn & 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, guiding light, and the man with the best mullet since Billy Ray Cyrus. Are you ready? Let’s do this.

WWE is expanding the number of PLEs from Saudi Arabia to three for 2026, plus RAW and SmackDown at each of these events. Thoughts?

The Saudi regime is where the money is, and TKO is slave to the almighty dollar. They want to keep the master happy. Within five years, probably less, I expect WWE and TKO to be owned by the Saudis.

TKO President Mark Shapiro says WWE needs to move past PLEs that Vince McMahon created. Thoughts?

TKO wants to erase Vince McMahon and everything that bears his mark, including PLEs. So far, the best they’ve come up with is WrestlePalooza, and that was hardly a spectacular name or event. But changes are coming, and no PLE name or event is safe.

If you could only watch the matches of one wrestler in 2025, who would it be?

JD McDonagh. The guy is amazing in the ring, and with all due respect to Dominik, who is the better character, JD is easily the best in-ring performer in Judgment Day.

How many times does Zelina Vega need to be repackaged before enough is enough?

She doesn’t need to be repackaged. WWE Creative had it right with the first version and has been goofing around ever since. Zelina is a great heel, and the decision to turn her babyface as part of the LWO was a huge mistake. When left alone, Zelina is amazing. When forced into a goody-two-shoes role, she’s buried. It really is this simple.

Zelina slapped the taste from Cody’s mouth. Does that mean Brandi is coming back?

It sure worked that way with CM Punk and AJ Lee when Becky Lynch slapped Punk, so who knows? But Brandi just had a baby a couple of months ago, so I doubt she’s in wrestling shape right now. But it’s WWE, so who knows?

Westside Gunn says he was unjustly kicked out of WWE Raw, and says he won’t push the WWE product anymore. Thoughts?

Who is Westside Gunn? And more importantly, I can not find a reason anywhere why he was kicked out of RAW. He claims it was for “absolutely nothing”, but I highly doubt that’s true. Without the proper context and the reason why, it’s hard to know what to think here, and even harder to care. A rapper that nobody knows is playing the victim and complaining, trying to sound more important and matter more than he actually does. I’m sure that WWE will survive without Westside Gunn in their corner.

Matt Hardy says that AEW caused him to fall out of love with professional wrestling and question why he was still doing it. Thoughts?

The way AEW is booked and run, I’m sure that several other wrestlers can make the same claims. Tony is a nice guy. On that, everyone agrees, but for a wrestler who is trying to get better and be the best, AEW creates more barriers and discourages ambitions. For a person like Matt, or FTR, or Ricky Starks, or Rusev, it’s not a healthy work environment.

Former NXT talent Zayda Steele has allegedly been approached by AEW. Thoughts?

Steele has a good look and character, and even though she’s still relatively inexperienced, I can see why AEW would be interested. Good for her.

Nixon Newell, formerly known as Tegan Nox in WWE and Miranda Alize, walked out of the AEW Collision tapings roughly an hour before the show started due to disagreements about their scheduled match. Thoughts?

The original report was that Newell and Alize didn’t want to lose the match, but that was not correct. Seemingly, the match was only scheduled for three minutes, and Nowell and Alize wanted more time. That’s all well and good, but neither woman works for AEW, and both were under a per-appearance contract, so when it comes to booking decisions, they really were overstepping. TV matches are timed and booked to fit a schedule, and changing one match changes the entire show. The proper thing, in my opinion, would have been to do the match, make the best of what you’re given, and stick around to keep collecting a paycheck. By walking out as they did, Newell and Alize burned a bridge, and most likely, they won’t be used by AEW anymore. They are being unprofessional, and their careers will probably suffer as a result.

AEW is bringing in Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat for their AEW Blood & Guts PPV in Greensboro. Thoughts?

From what I understand, ticket sales have been less than spectacular, so AEW is bringing in the big guns to create some interest. I wonder if Flair will try to make it all about him? Of course, he will. I feel sorry for Steamboat. He’ll be stuck on babysitting duty all night with the Nature Boy. I honestly doubt that adding Steamboat and Flair will do anything for ticket sales or ratings. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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; that is all people need to know. I’ll see you at the matches.

Ubuntu!