Donald Wood sent this in.
We had former WWE Superstar BRAD MADDOX on the show this week, and it was a great episode with plenty of exclusive content.
YouTube interview: https://youtu.be/IE_KrmEsvsE
Blog Talk Radio Episode: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ringrustradio/2015/12/08/ring-rust-radio–dec-8-w-wwe-tlc-preview-picks-and-brad-maddox-interview
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.