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TOSSING SALT: The day "The Dream" died, plus thoughts on Money In The Bank

Posted: Jun 13th 2015 By: Doug Maynard

I'm Doug and this is pro wrestling's most eclectic column, going strong since 2002, Tossing Salt - Worldwide News. Let's just do this...

Dusty...

I'm not even sure how to start this. Yesterday (Thursday), was a very sad day for the world of professional wrestling. Yesterday was the day that "the Dream" died... literally. I sat down in front of my computer, ready to go check out the amazing world of Facebook and clear out my mailbox when I saw the news and from there, it was just a blur. I checked out a couple of my favorite websites for confirmation, but still didn't want to believe it. I went to WWE.com and had it confirmed once more. I could feel a small tear in my
eyes slowly running down my face. It was true. Virgil Runnels, aka "Dusty Rhodes", had passed away.

And for most of the day afterwards, I spent time going back and forth between watching old videos on YouTube with Dusty fighting Harley Race, Dusty winning the Bunkhouse Stampede, Dusty and Sapphire dancing around in the yellow polka-dots in the WWF, a six-man tag from Memphis with Dusty teaming up with Jerry Lawler and Magnum T. A. to fight Ole & Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, Ole Anderson turning on Dusty in the
cage in Atlanta and re-sparking a feud that would lay the groundwork for what would eventually become the Four Horsemen, and so on and so on. So many matches and so many memories.

And then I started remembering the great angles with Baby Doll and Tully Blanchard, the infamous "manilla folder" that Baby Doll and Larry Zbyszko threatened to blackmail Dusty
with, the teaming with Nikita Koloff as the "Super Powers", the times Dusty wore a mask as the "Midnight Rider" and then as part of the "James Gang". So many memories of "The
American Dream".

He was a wrestler, a great talker, a promoter and booker, charismatic beyond belief and truly a legend and superstar in every way, shape and manner of the word. While there
were certain aspects of Dusty that I didn't really care for personally, there is no doubt that he took creativity to a new level and was always entertaining and fun to watch. There are wrestlers and there are legends, but there is only one "American Dream" and his name was Dusty Rhodes.

Rest In Peace Dusty... You definitely will be missed.

It's kind of ironic to me that just a few nights ago, I was sitting up at my computer, bored and restless, and had a quick whim of an idea for a fan fiction story about "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. I decided to go with it and after about an hour of relentless typing, here is what I came up with:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11304686/1/Ric-Versus-Dusty-One-More-Time. Check it out if you'd like.

And now, let's talk about this Sunday and the latest WWE pay-per-view offering, "Money In The Bank". It's available on pay-per-view and also on the WWE Network. Isn't it ironic that the last big WWE show / special event featured a so-called "Dusty finish" in the main event of Seth Rollins versus Dean Ambrose? I just thought about that. And on this Sunday, we move on to the next stage and that's "Money In The Bank". For my predictions for "Elimination Chamber", I only went 2 out of 6 correct. Hopefully, with this event, I'll do much better. So now, let's put on the Gary Spivey wig and get to doing that predicting the future type thing. Are you ready? Let's go...

WWE Money In The Bank 2015 Predictions...

WWE World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose.

A ladder match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship as Rollins, who now walks alone after alienating all of his team mates from The Authority, faces the "Lunatic Fringe" Dean Ambrose. No doubt that this will be a hard hitting and stiff match that will leave both men bruised, battered and sore for weeks to come. It will be fun to watch and see if Seth can truly do it on his own and defeat his former "Shield Brother". Yeah, right. Do you really think that The Authority is going to send Seth out there alone? These
arguments are all a ruse to give Ambrose false security. Ambrose will dominate the match and Seth will take a beating, but when it comes time to see who climbs that
ladder and wins the WWE World Championship belt, look for J&J Security to make the save. Ambrose goes down and Rollins makes that climb, grabbing the belt and retaining
the title "all by himself".

Winner and STILL WWE World Champion: Seth Rollins

Money In the Bank Ladder Match: Dolph Ziggler vs. Neville vs. Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus vs. Kane.

This one could honestly go any way or to any of the participants. It's being billed as an "All Star" match and this is one time that the billing on the Marquee is not over-hyped. I don't think we'll see Randy Orton or Dolph win. They have both already won previous MITB matches and there's a "been there - done that" air about them. I also don't think that Neville will win since he's still primarily seen as a NXT guy and hasn't really paid his dues on the WWE roster yet. I just don't really care for Sheamus so that will eliminate him from contention, at least in my eyes as well. So that leaves Kane, Kofi and Reigns.

I love the idea of Kofi and the contract, especially as part of the New Day where they would all three try to use the "Freebird rule" and all go after the WWE World Title. It
could be extremely entertaining and fun, but is the WWE ready to take their top prize in that direction? Probably not at this point so that probably eliminates Kofi from the picture. And now we have Kane and Roman. The smart money says it will be Roman. He's the man they've strapped a rocket to and are pushing towards the top of the card. But
think about it with Kane. He's already part of The Authority and the Director of Operations for the WWE. His dislike of Seth Rollins, the WWE World Champion, is extremely well known and part of all the current storylines. Just imagine the turmoil and tension in The Authority if Rollins is the champ and Kane has that briefcase. Roman is starting to get over and doesn't need the briefcase at this point. There's far more intrigue and story if Kane wins and holds that contract in his demonic little hands. I think I'm going with the "Big Red Machine" on this one.

Winner: Kane

WWE United States champion John Cena vs. WWE NXT champion Kevin Owens.

And here we are with Cena - Owens II. Common sense says that since Owens won the first match with a clean pin, then Cena should win this one to even up the score and set the stage for a rubber match at SummerSlam. That's the way WWE likes to do things and most likely that's the way they'll go here now as well. I hope not though. I don't want to see
Cena win against Owens. I'd like for it to be established that Owens is the one man that Cena "can't beat" so they can really expand on this in the future and establish Owens as
the "Anti-Cena", much like it was with Flair and Sting in WCW. So I'd like to see either Owens get another clean pin on Cena or else win by maybe a count-out as he just leaves
Cena laying out of the ring and just watches non-chalantly as the ref counts the fallen U.S. Champion out. It won't happen though. Look for another great match and lots of
hard hitting, in your face action. And Cena gets the clean pin to tie them up at 1 - 1 and sets up the rubber match for the next big show.

Winner: John Cena

WWE Intercontinental champion Ryback vs. Big Show

Ryback is the new champion and for some reason, the humanoids like him. Big Show is... well, he's the Big Show. Unless a Divas match is added to the card, this is the
designated bathroom break match of the night. Show is big, but Ryback eats him like a plate full of chicken salad at the backstage buffet. 'Nuff said!

Winner and STILL WWE Intercontinental Champion: Ryback

WWE Tag Team champions The New Day vs. The Primetime Players.

While the Players are entertaining and could be fun to have as tag team champs, I think they'll have to wait for another time and another day because this day belongs to the New
Day. The act is still fun and fresh and the New Day folks (Woods, Kofi and Big E) are really growing into their characters and getting over big time. It's too soon to take the straps off the champs. Sunday will be a winning day for the New Day.

Winners and STILL WWE Tag Team Champions: The New Day

Bad News Barrett vs. R-Truth (Kickoff show)

Ever since becoming WWE King Of The Ring, Barrett has been losing to everyone. Will the mighty ruler regain his standing and proclaim his standing as the King of the WWE
Universe once more with a mighty victory over Little Jimmy's favorite tag team partner? Nah, I don't think so either.

Winner: R-Truth

And I guess that's it. So far, as I write this, no Divas match has been announced for the event although I do expect that WWE will realize this and throw one out there at the
last moment before the show starts on Sunday. If this does happen, I'll post my thoughts and predictions on my Twitter account (@doug28352) and on my Facebook page
(Facebook.com/saltpalace) as soon as I can. Or I can just do it here. Whatever the match is, the Bellas win or the Bella wins or however that goes.

And with that, I'm out of here. I have to go ride uptown and pay some bills. Uugh! What fun! So this is a wrap. I'm Doug and thank you for reading. Comments and thoughts can
be sent to Doug28352@yahoo.com or else at the Twitter and Facebook pages listed above. Have a great weekend and I'll catch you on the flip side. But for now, "dat is all de'
people need to know!"

Ubuntu!