Exclusive Ring Rust Radio interview with former WWE Superstar Brad Maddox on his time in WWE, his depature from the company, and more

The hosts of Ring Rust Radio – Donald Wood, Mike Chiari and Brandon Galvin – recently had the chance to speak with former WWE Superstar Brad Maddox. Maddox made his debut on the main roster working with CM Punk and Paul Heyman and in addition to speaking about his recent departure from WWE, Maddox talks about his roles in the company, working with legends like The Under taker, his future after WWE and more.

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Otherwise, continue on and you can read the entire interview here!

Ring Rust Radio: The biggest topic of conversation for you recently has been your release from WWE. Will you explain why you were let go by the company and if there are any hard feelings regarding your departure?

Brad Maddox: Well at least I’m making news now. You guys know what it was all about at this point. I called the Indianapolis crowd pricks in the dark match of a SmackDown taping, which I didn’t consider inappropriate or a bad word knowing that it was a dark match. My job is to go out there and work up the crowd get them warmed up. You don’t have the rules you have while on TV. There I can talk to the crowd directly, make fun of their football or basketball team, tell them that they smell bad, and whatever you want to use to get them worked up. I just kind of threw that in there and was going to call them losers, but thought that was a little lame. So instead I called them pricks, and Vince did not take it as lightly as I did.

Ring Rust Radio: If WWE came back to you and said enough time has passed, would you be open to going back to them?

Brad Maddox: Depends on what I am doing. I am certainly not going to close any doors. I have enough experience in my 31 years to know you can never say never. We will see what happens, I have some other plans and things I am working on, but I am not opposed to it.

Ring Rust Radio: You debuted on the WWE main roster in a pretty high-profile spot getting involved with CM Punk as a referee in his world title match and then doing stuff with Paul Heyman and The Shield, but as a fan it didn’t seem like the payoff was everything it could have been. What was your expectation for how that angle was going to play out, and looking back, what do you think could have potentially been done better or differently?

Brad Maddox: I agree with you as far it could have led some where better than it did, but that is where I messed up early on. I wasn’t proactive enough. I didn’t go to Vince in those days or knock on his door; I didn’t go ask questions to the right people or ask where this is going or say, “Hey did you guys know that I can wrestle and came up through your developmental program?” I did all the things there that they said I had to do to get moved up and show that I am qualified. It was a lack of communication on my part with Vince and Hunter and the right people. It probably would have had a totally different impact instead of just sitting around and waiting on the writers to come hand me my script and assuming they had some grand plan for little old me. I can definitely say I could have been more proactive in those early days. I did love working with Paul and working with Vince in his office and working on promos in his office. It was a really cool experience.

Ring Rust Radio: WWE's creative team has been under fire not just from fans recently, but also former WWE legends. What was your experience like with the creative team and what are your thoughts of the creative process as a whole in WWE?

Brad Maddox: I mean, I got along with all those guys really well. It’s a matter that they have a lot of content to get through every week and have a lot story and a roster full of guys to write for. Obviously, I was in a pretty good spot, but I wasn’t one of the most important guys. They are focused on the main angles that are going to make money for the show and then of course everything has to be run through Vince, so there is a limited amount of time there. You can’t rely on someone else to handle your career for you. You have to go knock on Vince’s door and say “this is what I want to do” or “what do you think about this.” That’s where I should have taken care of business for myself. I am no John Cena and not making a ton of money for the company, so I am not going to be a priority upfront.

Ring Rust Radio: While everyone watched The Undertaker on The Tonight Show, starring Jimmy Fallon last month, it was your role as the turkey that really stole the show. How did you get the honor of working with Undertaker on national TV?

Brad Maddox: I knew the Undertaker was there, but I was a turkey on Thanksgiving, I felt that there is no higher honor. It was like, “Let’s book this turkey and see if we can get anyone to work with him.”  It was fun, and I might have been the only guy left in the states at that time since everyone was working the European tour. I don’t know why I was picked for it, but I had fun with it. I assumed at the time that it was going to be a full turkey mask. When I got there they showed me the outfit and I thought, “Where is the rest of it?” I guess everyone is going to know I am a turkey and that’s awesome. I did get to meet Jimmy Fallon and he let me know I had made it in show business. We were talking to their writers and to see what they were thinking about us. There wasn’t much for Taker and I to talk about. We pretty much walked around and just tried not to laugh about it. Then during rehearsal he said this is the part where he was going to tombstone me. I thought that yeah, this is the Undertaker, I’m sure he has done enough tombstones to where he doesn’t have to practice it and I was pretty sure I could trust him. I will say that I didn’t envision my first tombstone from the Undertaker being in that environment. If someone had told me nine years ago when I started wrestling that I was going to be tombstone by the Undertaker but it’s going to be on 30 Rock on late night television I wouldn’t have believed it.

Ring Rust Radio: You weren't given many opportunities to showcase your skills in the ring as a wrestler, but you were certainly able to generate a reaction from the crowd with your speaking skills and natural charisma. Do you think you would have excelled as a manager and why do you think WWE never tried to put you in that position?

Brad Maddox: I would never have stuck around to be a manger. I just wouldn’t have. I love wrestling and that’s why I started. I watched guys like Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho be entertaining in the ring and that’s what I wanted to do. If I had gotten pinned into that role, I wouldn’t have made it very long because I wouldn’t have been happy.

Ring Rust Radio: Now that the WWE chapter in your career is closed, at least for now, what are you hoping to accomplish in the wrestling business. Where do you see yourself going over the next year or more?

Brad Maddox: I plan onto diving into acting. I don’t want to say that’s a priority because I want to do both. I am excited to get back into working on a regular basis and getting into ring shape. Being in ring shape is so much different than being in regular shape, and you can’t accomplish that working a dark match once every two weeks. I have no idea where I am going wrestling yet, but I know I will do both. I am going to focus a lot more on acting now that I have the freedom to do that.

The Stone Cold Podcast – The new kayfabe

 

One of the best features on the WWE Network right now are the live Stone Cold Steve Austin podcasts. The first one Austin did with Vince McMahon generated a lot of buzz because of McMahon’s comments about the business as a whole as well as the way new stars are created (the “brass ring” comments have taken on a life of their own). But the most recent interview Austin did with Triple H was equally compelling and interesting.

One of the first questions Austin asked Triple H was about kayfabe and if Triple H thought that it was dead. It was a very interesting way to start the interview and it got me thinking about how kayfabe is viewed or use in modern professional wrestling.

With the social media boom and the rise of the information age, people are savvier to the sport of professional wrestling than ever before. People no longer view pro wrestling as black and white, good guy versus bad guy because every wrestler has such a presence in social media that whether good or bad, they’re all more fully realized people now than they would have been in eras past.

One could argue that the old style of kayfabe is dead – that idea that everything presented was real. We no longer think that, outside of the confines of the ring, the good guys and bad guys never mix. Thanks to social media and the ease that everyone has access to information, wrestling fans today are more aware that wrestling is just a show.

But one could also argue that the interviews Austin has been doing with WWE figures is creating a new kind of kayfabe. Call it “kayfabe 2.0” or “reality era kayfabe” but whatever you want to call it, these interviews are helping blur the lines between reality and pro wrestling reality.

For example, these interviews have been presented as legitimate interviews. That this is off-work hours, not a part of the weekly Raw or Smackdown programming and are just two guys having a chat. But it’s presented within the realm of pro wrestling as a whole and therefore must be taken with a grain of salt.

“Smart” fans often feel like they know everything about what’s happening backstage. They feel like they know the reason behind storylines and the motivations the higher-ups have to put those stories in motion. But what these interviews are doing is allowing WWE to say, “Let’s put all this info out there on our own” – info that once was only presented by “insider” wrestling journalists. This way, WWE can play off the ideas and instances presented like they’re general knowledge while still being in control what fans see and hear.

The Stone Cold Podcast is helping to bridge the gap between “old school kayfabe” and “reality era” kayfabe. They’re talking about storylines, creating characters, guys coming from indy and foreign companies – topics that would never have been referenced on WWE programming until now. And it’s allowing WWE to basically perform sleight of hand – pulling back the curtain slightly to allow fans to think they know what is happening so that when they do put together a good, surprising storyline, it has that much more impact.

Now, this isn’t to say that I think these interviews are completely staged – that they are being put on for the implicit act of blurring the lines between reality and kayfabe. They talked about a lot of interesting topics (like Reign’s Rumble win, CM Punk and NXT) and it’s really cool to hear how the business works from people at the top. But at the same time, you can’t discount that these interviews are happening on the WWE Network and should be considered “canon” for lack of a better term – that these interviews could or are serving to further WWE storylines.

I also found it very interesting how Austin ended the interview. Triple H said he’d love to do another interview sometime and talk about how Austin used to “potato him,” i.e. actually hitting Triple H with punches that could have been pulled more. Austin responded by saying “Hey, I had to protect the business,” which I found to be a really interesting phrase for him to use in the context of the interview.

Austin wouldn’t pull his punches so as to make the in-ring action seem more real – “protecting the business” in other words. In the days when Austin first got into wrestling, I bet he would never have dreamed of talking about the inner workings of the professional wrestling business in an interview that could be seen or heard by millions. But today, that act is in essence accomplishing the same goal as his stiff punches were – working to make the business seem more legitimate and blurring the lines between reality and kayfabe.

Royal Rumble 2015 – What went wrong, part 2

After posting my thoughts on the 2015 WWE Royal Rumble yesterday, I wanted to write another article (this one will be shorter – I promise) about why the crowd in Philadelphia reacted the way they did to Roman Reigns winning the Rumble.

I wanted to write a more concise piece about the outcome of the Rumble because I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot of backlash about the reaction that Reigns got – with a lot of it aimed at Philadelphia fans and the perceived “IWC” wrestling fans specifically.

I’ll say this right away – like I did in my last piece – Roman Reigns didn’t deserve the negative reaction he got after he won the 2015 Royal Rumble. The booing and chants opposing his victory weren’t necessarily a reaction to the fact that Reigns won the annual event, rather they were a reaction to booking decision by WWE overall and it’s unfortunate that the reactions to those decisions came down squarely on what should have been a crowning achievement in the career of Reigns.

The biggest problem many fans have with WWE right now is the treatment (or rather, perceived treatment) of Daniel Bryan. Here, we have a man who has worked for many, many years to hone his skill in the sport of professional wrestling. He started training when he was in high school, made his professional debut in 1999 and has been working nonstop since then to be, one of, if not the best in the world.

And despite Bryan’s technical mastery in the ring, his heartfelt work on the mic and the support he has from the fans, the powers that be in WWE deigned that he is not now, nor will he ever truly be “the guy.”

The crowds love Daniel Bryan. They love his attitude, his skill, his quiet-yet-confident personality. They chant his name. They lead “Yes!” chants whenever he is mentioned. They buy his merchandise. Yet, despite all this vocal fan support (which also amount to money in WWE’s pocket), the WWE was dragged begrudgingly into putting him in the title picture leading into Wrestlemania 30 and has, allegedly, decided that he will never return to that position.

And the fans notice this. They see him feuding with Kane, losing to Bray Wyatt and entering the Royal Rumble in the first third of the competition, only to be eliminated minutes later. The fans want Daniel Bryan and they want him in a better position in the WWE – and the WWE is resisting every step of the way.

But what does this have to do with Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble, you might be asking?

You see, the overwhelming support for Daniel Bryan is due to the WWE’s fans wanting someone new at the top, they want someone fresh. For the past decade or more, the biggest storylines in WWE have been ruled by a few familiar faces – John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H and a handful of others (like Kane, Sheamus, Big Show, etc.). CM Punk was another man who did not fit the WWE mold but received overwhelming crowd support, sold merchandise by the ton and the WWE was basically forced to recognize his popularity with a spot at or near the top of the card.

During Punk’s rise, Daniel Bryan’s stock was rising but it was only when Punk walked out that the fans turned to Daniel Bryan as their choice. Both Punk and Bryan, though having different in-ring styles, took similar paths to the WWE and the fans, more savvy to the business now than ever before, respected the work these men put into their craft and supported them.

But all while the fans were voicing their support for guys like Punk and Bryan, the decision-makers in WWE continued to put the same faces at the top of the card. It’s why Cena has been getting such mixed reactions for several years and why the crowd booed Batista’s win at the 2014 Royal Rumble. The fans acknowledge the time that men like Punk and Bryan have dedicated to professional wrestling, yet the WWE seems to be actively ignoring their cheers and push other stars.

But considering this, one would think that Roman Reigns’ win at the Rumble would have been received in a different light. Doesn’t Reigns represent a change at the top of the card? Well, yes and no.

It’s true that Reigns is new blood in the main event picture, which is something that the fans have been clamoring for. But at the same time there are other stars who have been in the WWE longer than Reigns who fans want to see given a chance at the top – stars like Daniel Bryan and to a lesser extent, Dolph Ziggler.

As mentioned earlier, fans today are more savvy to the professional wrestling business than ever before. We’re aware of the pedigree wrestlers bring into the WWE and wrestling fans today appreciate the hard work these men have done to reach the biggest stage in professional wrestling. Where Bryan and Ziggler represent men who have worked for years inside and outside of the WWE system to earn the respect of the fans and slaved to reach their spot on the card, Reigns represents the opposite, a wrestler chosen for that spot by WWE management and not by the fans.

Where Bryan debuted in 1999 and worked through the indies to get to WWE and Ziggler debuted in 2004 and worked through WWE developmental system and persevered through several horrible gimmicks to get to reach his current role, Reigns only debuted in 2010, was in WWE developmental for two years and in The Shield for two years before turning into a singles competitor in June of 2014. The fans have responded well to Reigns since going solo but, savvier fans we are today, either do not think Reigns is ready for a main event spot yet or feel that there are others more deserving of that spot but have been overlooked for whatever reason.

The reaction to Reigns’ Royal Rumble win wasn’t out of negative feelings toward Reigns himself. Nor was it due to a feeling that he doesn’t have potential to someday be “the guy.” The reaction at the Royal Rumble was due to the fans understanding the product well-enough to recognize the effort men like Bryan and Ziggler and want them in the limelight and not someone who has been pushed too hard, too fast.

It’s times like these that make me think the powers that be in WWE still think of pro wrestling fans as the witless suckers of days past, content to take whatever is given, before the business was exposed to the degree it is today. But those times are gone. You can’t tell modern fans that someone with two years’ experience on the main roster and mere months as a singles wrestler is more qualified for a main event spot than men who have been working twice as long for that same opportunity and expect them to take WWE at their word.

Fans today won’t accept “Because we say so” as the reason for someone’s main event push and that is why Roman Reigns was booed after winning the 2015 Royal Rumble.

Exclusive Ring Rust Radio interview with former TNA World Heavyweight Champion and Bellator MMA fighter Bobby Lashley

The Ring Rust Radio team – Donald Wood, Mike Chiari and Brandon Galvin – are back with another exclusive interview and this time they had the chance to speak with former TNA World Heavyweight champion and MMA fighter Bobby Lashley about TNA’s move to Destination America, his career as a mixed-martial artist in Bellator and much more. Check out the exclusive interview below and make sure to visit the show at www.ringrustradio.com.

Donald Wood: You square off against Bobby Roode for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on Wednesday, January 7 in Impact Wrestling’s debut on Destination America. What are your thoughts heading into the third match against Roode and do you feel you’re poised to regain the world title?

Bobby Lashley: First of all, I think we rose that bar really high coming into this third match.  The first match we had was incredible and the person that was supposed to win won.  The second match was as incredible if not better.  So with this third match were really going to have to give the crowd what they want but at the same time we know who should be the champion especially in TNA and that’s me.  Destination America January 7th I think it would be a good time for them to go ahead and hand the title over to the real champion and then we can run it the rest of the year that way.

Mike Chiari: There’s a lot of intrigue surrounding TNA right now with the reboot and the move to Destination America. So, with TNA now potentially being seen by a brand new demographic of viewers, how important is it for not only you and Bobby Roode, but also the roster as a whole to make a good first impression? Is your mentality any different heading into this match than usual?

Lashley: I don’t think it’s any different.  I think that is what TNA has been doing the entire time during their existence.  They were the organization everyone wanted to put their thumb on.  Even with all the amazing people and talent we had coming over.  Every week we had to prove ourselves over and over again.  I don’t think it’s going to be a challenge.  Since I have been there and even before that when I would watch some of the TNA stuff and they would always have great shows.  The ratings have been doing great and the shows have been getting better each time.  I think the momentum we had last year we’re going to keep it going.  We have a lot of good guys coming in like the Hardys that are still in there.  MVP, myself, and Kenny King we’ve been doing some big things.  Bobby Roode, I mean he is the champion right now but we gotta take that away from him.  Everything we’ve been doing has been right on point.  We’re gonna show new fans what TNA is all about.

Brandon Galvin: Can you explain the difference in how you approach and prepare for a wrestling match and an MMA fight?

Lashley: Well I think, part of which is because I’m a little crazy, I don’t really distinguish between the two.  My training stays basically the same.  Before when I would go into training I would train just one way to get bigger and more of an appearance wise.  Now I train completely different.  I train to be a better athlete.  That just goes hand in hand with what I’m doing for the professional wrestling side and the MMA side.  I have a great training here and train with some great guys.  So I don’t really have to change my training around.  Sometimes when I get closer to a fight, I’ll just up my cardio just a hair.  Now with the matches we’ve been having in TNA I’ve been having 20-30 minute matches so I have to be in good shape for those also.  The training is so similar I just do some tweaks here and there depending on what I’m doing that week.

Donald Wood: Since making your debut in Bellator fighting, you have been lights out with two straight victories. You will face James Thompson at Bellator 134 in February. Thompson was only one of two men to defeat you during your career. How can you ensure you continue your winning streak and defeat Thompson in the rematch?

Lashley: There is a little bad blood between us and he knows why.  The media circus we’re going to be in leading up to that point, I know there’s going to be a lot of discussion about it.  People we go back and watch that fight and understand what happened.  I don’t want to be the guy that says this, but I’m going to be that guy that says this, “I believe I won that fight.”  So going back into this fight, I am training a little bit harder, this fight to me is a little bit more important because I am going for that redemption.  I’ll put the time in in the gym.  I’m in the gym a couple times a day now and we’re so far out, just getting mentally focused and ready for the New Year.  I am giving almost 100-percent that I’m beating this guy in this fight.

Mike Chiari: You’re coming off one of the most impressive world title reigns in TNA history and arguably the best stretch of your wrestling career to date. You really seem to have settled into that dominant heel role, but what’s your preference in terms of playing a face or heel and why?

Lashley: I think for me I am the middle guy a little bit.  I think for my character he comes off as a heel but there is still a little bit of me inside there.  Me as myself I don’t think is a huge heel.  That’s why I have MVP over there running his mouth the whole time and Kenny King causing all the drama.  That’s what makes me a bigger heel.  I contribute that to the whole group.  I’m a baby face in real life in person.  I’m not kissing babies or doing cart wheels or jumping up in the crowd.  So I’m kind of in that rougher stage where I’m a baby face or a heel.  I don’t really care how quick the turn is, I think my wrestling style is going to stay the same.

Brandon Galvin: We always feel that wrestlers never get enough respect as athletes. When you head into an MMA fight, do you feel an added sense of pressure to represent for all professional wrestlers? And when you return to TNA, do you feel there's also added pressure to bring new viewers and fans to the company?

Lashley: Hell yea.  That’s just part of the job.  If that didn’t happen then there’s no reason for them to keep me around.  That’s just me being real and some people they don’t like to be real with things.  When I go into a MMA fight all eyes are on me for the wrestling crowd and everything.  They want to legitimize pro wrestling and so do I.  The minute they go out there and say, “Oh Bobby Lashley the pro wrestler”.  I go hey man, you don’t understand what we actually do.  We’re not just guys that come into this and put a cape on and next thing you know were super heroes for little kids. We have backgrounds you know?  I was a three time college national champion, I took second at the World Championships, and so I have a background leading into this.  So when I come into this, I say, “Hey, I am a pro wrestler, but I’m doing MMA.”  There’s going to be a relation between the two regardless of what I do so I don’t try to hide the fact at all.  At the beginning, I wanted guys to consider me a really strong mixed marital artist.  Now with my career where it’s at now, I have no problem going out there and defending pro wrestling.  If they ask us before the fight what our fighting style is, I let them know I am a pro-wrestler.  They kind of chuckle and I tell them to put that down.  They can list collegiate wrestling but I have no problem defending pro-wrestling.

Donald Wood: You are one of the few professional wrestlers to find legitimate success in MMA. One of the biggest topics of conversation lately has been CM Punk joining the UFC. What went into your decision to make the jump to MMA and how do you think a less-experienced fighter like Punk will do in the Octagon?

Lashley: My jump was after I left pro-wrestling.  I still had that competitive edge and felt like I was in great physical shape without too many miles on my body.  I felt like I could go through training camps and be able to be healthy.  So when I got out I jumped right into it.  I think the big factor is getting into a good camp.  I was in a good camp where they said, “Bobby we know you are a pro-wrestler and now you are in our room.  We aren’t going to baby you. We’re going to go after you like we would anyone else”.  I think that’s good and it helps keep me honest and humble at the same time.  As far as the other side, I have been torn about this whole CM Punk thing.  I am getting torn hard both ways.  I can understand it from the fighter’s point of view but at the same time I can see it from CM Punk’s point of view.  As soon as he did it, I went online and told him, “Congratulations and do what you want to do” because that’s what it’s all about.  It doesn’t matter if people think he is ready or not, if he says he is going to do it then it’s him that is going to have to step in that cage.  That is where I take my hat off to him and respect him for it.  It’s going to be harder for him without having that extensive background to be able to do it.  So I take my hat off to him and as a friend, a co-worker, I just tell him to make sure to bust your ass before going out there because once that cage door closes it’s real.  There’s so many people that sit off on the side, that armchair quarterback and say, “I took a jujitsu class I had a couple fights on the street.”  It is completely different.  It’s a physical chess match and you have to have all your pieces of the game intact before going in there.  CM Punk is a very intelligent guy and there is no way he would have made it to the level where he is now unless he was a very intelligent guy.  This move was very calculated and he knows what the next step is and the one after that.  Or if he doesn’t know he is going to have the right people around him to tell him.  Man, I am going to tune into that fight and everyone else is so it’s good for everyone.  It’s a win-win situation.

Mike Chiari: There’s recently been some talk about Bellator potentially making a play for Brock Lesnar when he becomes a free agent. If that comes to fruition would you be interested in stepping into the Octagon with Brock? And how do you think you’d fare against him?

Lashley: Yes.  Hell yea I would.  I’m not one of those arrogant guys that goes around saying I would kick his ass or start trash talking online or anything like that.  I’m one of the guys that understands what this business is about and it’s about money.  Any fighter at the end of the day that says it’s not about the money is ridiculous.  We wouldn’t be training this hard, putting our bodies on the line, and torturing our bodies if there wasn’t a payday at the end of the day.  With that being said, if Brock does sign over with Bellator I think one of the biggest fights he could have is me.  It’s not a case of this is going to be the greatest fight it’s because we have so many similarities.  The crazy part is I have never even come face to face with Brock.  I don’t know him and I have never met him.  We just have always had a lot of comparison so this time give the fans what they want.  Brock and I would beat each other up pretty bad but we will walk away very financially healthy.  As far as who would win, of course I’m going to say myself.  I wouldn’t take the fight if I thought I was going to go out there and get crushed.  Our styles match and we wouldn’t over do the other person since we have the same styles.  It would be a very strategic match and I like the match up.

Brandon Galvin: Your recent work with MVP and Kenny King has been among the highlights of every TNA show. Could you discuss the relationship you have with them backstage, is that a reason the chemistry you share on screen has been so great?

Lashley: When they put it together, it was one of those things we all joked about.  You know, the obvious reason is there, and we all joked about it going “Why did they put us all together?”  Our characters on TV are pretty close to what we are in real life, almost.  I’m more the quiet and reserved person but I do the fighting and I’m pretty intense in that instance.  Kenny King, his character on TV is him.  They put us together and it was pretty organic and just meshed together.  I’ve known MVP for a long time and then we put Kenny King in there and just fit like a piece of a puzzle.  Since we’ve been together everyone keeps saying there is going to be that time when we need to split apart.  But to me, I’m going to do everything I can to keep us together.  I think it’s something fun, it’s different, and it works.  So I would like to keep it going.  Backstage we are all friends and we all mesh really well.  We talk to each other outside the shows and strategize on what to do next.