Brad Maddox has become an internet sensation in no time thanks to the leaked videos and photos of Paige.
The former WWE superstar, who has been out of the limelight for a long time, is suddenly back making headlines. And though this might not earn him a spot back on the WWE roster, it could get him some independent bookings; after all, in the professional wrestling business, all publicity is good publicity.
Brad was not a main event level name during his time in the WWE, which is probably why the fans know little about him. Now that he is back in the news, here is a look at some of the things that you probably didn’t know about him.
#5 He’s a former OVW Heavyweight Champion
Brad Maddox might’ve not won any major championships during his time on the WWE main roster, but he did have plenty of championship success in WWE’s developmental territories. Maddox is a one-time OVW Heavyweight champion; he won the title after winning a Battle Royal back in 2010.
This is a title that has been held by some notable names like CM Punk, Cody Rhodes and a string of others in the past.
Apart from this, Brad even held the OVW television championship once. The now defunct FCW 15 championship, which had matches under the 15-minute iron man rule, also has a place on his CV. He was the last FCW 15 champion before the title was deactivated.
#4 Why he was released
There were a lot of rumours about why Maddox was released from the WWE. He was released back in November 2015 and surprisingly, him being a heel had something to do with that.
During a live event show, Maddox called the fans ‘Cocky pricks’, and Vince McMahon, who was in attendance for the event, did not like it. According to Maddox, that is what led to his release from the promotion.
“I had a dark match in Indianapolis, and I called the Indianapolis crowd "pricks." I didn't think anything of it. That's never been a bad word to me. I didn't believe it was inappropriate. Vince [McMahon] was watching and did not like it. That was pretty much the reason,” Maddox noted during an interview.
#3 The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Not many wrestlers are lucky enough to be on the Jimmy Fallon show. The ones that do manage to get a crack into the show are the people who are very high up on the food chain; for people like Brad Maddox, the Jimmy Fallon show is a very, very long shot.
But surprisingly, Maddox does have a Jimmy Fallon show appearance in his CV. Not many fans would’ve recognised him, but he appeared alongside Undertaker back in November 2015.
Maddox was dressed as a turkey in the segment, and he would go on to take a tombstone pile driver from Undertaker. The Dead Man coming to the show was considered to be a big thing, and no one talked about this wrestler under the mask.
#2 His experiments at the house shows
Most fans are only aware of what happened with Brad Maddox on television; he bounced around the shows playing random roles from referees to authority figures. But once he was taken off television, Maddox did have some experiments with his character.
He once teamed up with Adam Rose on the house shows, which generated some curiosity among the WWE fans. Maddox would also change his name a couple of times, and he started working under names such as Joshua Kingsley and Lord Ruffles.
None of these angles, however, managed to save his career from the abyss; going ‘heel’ on the fans eventually cost him his job.
#1 The shocking gimmick that he played
Brad Maddox shocked everyone when he appeared on the leaked videos alongside Paige. But there is something even more shocking about his career: he had a necrophiliac gimmick back in 2009.
Maddox came up with the idea back when he was in OVW. He had lost an OVW Heavyweight Championship match against Aaron Stevens (AKA Damien Sandow), and after this loss, he adopted the nickname ‘beef’.
The gimmick would last around for four months, and during this time, he teamed up alongside Galvin Garrison and Moose; together they were known as Theta Lambda Psi.
The gimmick would’ve had no place in the current WWE product, and this is one part of his career that Maddox would love to forget – just like the recently leaked videos.
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