Brad Maddox

Joshua Tyler Kluttz (born May 4, 1984) is an American retired professional wrestler and former professional wrestling referee. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he performed under the ring name Brad Maddox.

From 2008 to 2012, Maddox was assigned to WWE's developmental territories Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he held the OVW Heavyweight Championship and OVW Television Championship once each and the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship twice with different partners. He served as the General Manager of Raw in storyline from July 2013 to May 2014, before being released in November 2015.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2008–2010)

Kluttz debuted on April 2, 2008 on the OVW tapings teaming up with Galvin Garrison against Dewey and Adam Revolver, which they lost, he used the name Brent Wellington. He won his first match on October 1, 2008 in an Eight-Man Tag Team match, alongside Galvin Garrison and Moose, they called themselves Theta Lambda Psi. On December 24, 2008 Kluttz had a title match for the OVW Heavyweight Championship against Aaron "The Idol" Stevens, which he lost.

After he was defeated, he adopted the nickname "Beef" and changed his gimmick to that of a necrophiliac. He had his first match under his new name at OVW Tapings January 14, 2009, winning with his Theta Lambda Psi team against Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver which they won. The Theta Lambda Psi Tag team was split in April 2009 where Kluttz first won a match against Moose then lost one where he was hit with a paddle. On July 26, 2009 he competed for the OVW Television Championship against Jamin Olivencia, he won the match to win his first Championship. His reign lasted 45 days when he was defeated by his former Theta Lambda Psi mate Moose at the OVW Tapings on September 9, 2009. On 27 February 2010 Kluttz won the vacant OVW Heavyweight Championship by winning a Battle Royal. His reign lasted 90 days when he lost the title on 29 May 2010 to Mike Mondo. In mid-2010 it was reported that Kluttz had signed a development contract with WWE.

Florida Championship Wrestling (2010–2012)

Kluttz was renamed Brad Maddox and debuted for Florida Championship Wrestling at a live show on August 5, 2010, losing to Tyler Reks. His TV debut was on November 4, 2010, losing to Tito Colon. He won his first match on the July 1, 2011 episode of FCW against Percy Watson and Richie Steamboat. On 22 September edition of FCW Maddox defeated Briley Pierce, three weeks later at the 13 October edition of FCW they built a Tag Team and competed for the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship against CJ Parker and Donny Marlow, which they lost. On the November 3 tapings for FCW he won the Tag Team titles with Briley Pierce. On the February 2 tapings they lost their titles due to an injury of Pierce. Maddox tried to regain the vacant title with Eli Cottonwood, but they lost to Bo Rotundo and Husky Harris. On the March 4 edition of FCW Maddox was the first signed to Summer Rae´s "organization", and she was at ringside when he was defeated by Seth Rollins.

On June 21, 2012, he won the FCW Jack Brisco 15 Championship from Richie Steamboat. While holding the FCW 15 Championship, he won the Florida Tag Team Championship with Rick Victor on July 28, 2012. He became the final holder for both titles, as all of FCW's championships were retired when the territory was rebranded as NXT Wrestling. During this time, he participated in a 2 on 1 handicap match backstage where he picked the victory over Paige with the Piledriver finisher.

Main roster referee (2012–2013)

Maddox was promoted to the main roster as a referee in August 2012, debuting on the August 20 episode of ''Raw'' when he refereed a Divas Battle Royal. On October 28 at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Maddox refereed the main event, a Hell in a Cell match between CM Punk and Ryback for the WWE Championship. As Ryback was about to win the match, Maddox gave Ryback a low blow and proceeded to fast-count a pin for Punk, resulting in Punk retaining his title thus turned Maddox heel. Maddox explained his actions on the November 5 episode of ''Raw''. He claimed that he was not working for Punk but his actions were self-motivated. Maddox revealed his lifelong dream of becoming a WWE wrestler, but WWE continually rejected him, so he took up the chance to be a referee and attacked Ryback to make a name for himself to earn a contract to become a WWE wrestler. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon then granted Maddox's request at a match against Ryback, while offering a million dollar contract if Maddox won. The next week, Maddox faced Ryback, who soundly defeated him and threw him into an ambulance.

Maddox returned in December 2012, now accompanied by his personal cameraman, Carson, and claiming to be a "YouTube sensation". ''Raw'' Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero offered Maddox a contract if he could defeat Randy Orton, but Orton prevailed. Orton was attacked by the Shield after the match. Similar to Maddox, the Shield had earlier aided Punk by attacking Ryback during the duo's WWE Championship match at Survivor Series to ensure Punk's retention of his title and also denied an alliance with Punk. Maddox then took his pleas to SmackDown General Manager Booker T, who thrice granted him opportunities to earn a contract if he could defeat Brodus Clay, The Great Khali, and Sheamus, but Maddox lost all three matches. On the January 28 episode of ''Raw'', via camera footage taken by Maddox's cameraman, it was revealed that Maddox, as well as the Shield, had been working for Punk's manager Paul Heyman all along, although Punk did not appear in the footage and claimed that Heyman had acted independently of him and without his knowledge. Heyman had also instructed the Shield to attack Maddox. The next week on ''Raw'', Maddox revealed he turned in Carson's footage to Vince McMahon and proceeded to call out the Shield, telling them that "justice awaits you". The Shield answered his challenge by brutally attacking him until John Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback interfered.

''Raw'' General Manager (2013–2015)

On the February 18 episode of ''Raw'', Maddox was rewarded the position of Assistant ''Raw'' Managing Supervisor by Vickie Guerrero after revealing that Paul Heyman and CM Punk were working with The Shield. On the April 24 episode of ''NXT'', Maddox challenged Big E Langston for the NXT Championship but was quickly defeated. On the July 8 episode of ''Raw'', after Guerrero was fired as Raw Managing Supervisor when the fans voted that she failed in her role, Maddox was appointed as the new General Manager of Raw.

After allowing John Cena to choose Daniel Bryan as his opponent at SummerSlam, Maddox was entwined between Mr. McMahon and Triple H. On the August 12 episode of ''Raw'', Maddox was the special guest referee in the match between Bryan and Wade Barrett, where he gave Barrett the victory after a fast count. Following this, Maddox announced himself as the guest referee in Bryan's match at SummerSlam, only for Triple H to come out and announce he would referee the match instead before giving Maddox a Pedigree.

Maddox then formed an alliance with Randy Orton, where he placed Orton's rivals, Dolph Ziggler and Big Show, in handicap matches against The Shield. Maddox continued to have tension with Big Show, who, after refusing to listen to Maddox's orders at Battleground, resulted in Big Show's firing by Stephanie McMahon on the following night's ''Raw''. Later that week on ''SmackDown'', Maddox was knocked out by Big Show, after interrupting him, suffering a concussion in the storyline.

Maddox returned on the November 11 episode of ''Raw'', where he asserted his authority to Randy Orton, only to be interrupted by the Director of Operations Kane and Vickie Guerrero. The next week on ''Raw'', Maddox was placed in a No Disqualification match against Orton by Triple H; Orton won the match via referee stoppage after Maddox lost consciousness in the storyline and was carried out on a stretcher after getting punched with a microphone 17 times. Following this, Maddox began to compete with Kane to gain favor of The Authority over who ran ''Raw'' better before forming an alliance with Kane, aiding him in his feud with CM Punk.

At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, 2014, Maddox participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and was quickly eliminated by Cody Rhodes and The Great Khali. On the April 25 episode of ''SmackDown'', Maddox took over as General Manager for the night, where he was attacked by The Shield. On the May 19 episode of ''Raw'', Maddox defied the orders of Triple H of not allowing any member of The Shield at ringside, by making Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns guest commentators. The following week on ''Raw'', Maddox was relieved of his duties as Raw General Manager by The Authority, before being attacked by Kane. Maddox was absent from WWE television for the remainder of 2014, mainly working house shows.

Maddox returned on the April 6, 2015, episode of ''Raw'' in a backstage segment with Kane, before being interrupted by Seth Rollins. In August, Maddox began teaming with Adam Rose during live events, calling themselves "Beef Mode", where they lost to Damien Sandow and Curtis Axel. Later that month, Maddox performed under two different names during dark matches, Joshua Kingsley on August 11 and Lord Ruffles on August 23, losing both matches against Zack Ryder. On the November 17 episode of ''Main Event'', Maddox made his televised return, teaming up with Adam Rose in a losing effort against The Usos.

On November 25, Maddox was officially released by WWE after referring to the audience as "cocky pricks" during a dark match.

Personal life

Kluttz has been married to a woman named Ryan for almost 15 years, and together they have two children and live in South Carolina.

Other media

On November 11, 2015, Maddox appeared on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. He appeared in a turkey costume in a segment with The Undertaker, in which Undertaker gave Maddox a Tombstone Piledriver.

He appeared in video games such as WWE 2K15 as an NPC and WWE 2K16, where he can be made a playable wrestler through the Superstar Faces creation mode on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports of the game.

Championships and accomplishments

*Florida Championship Wrestling
**FCW Jack Brisco 15 Championship ( 1 time)
**FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Briley Pierce (1) and Rick Victor (1)
*Ohio Valley Wrestling
** OVW Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)
**OVW Television Championship ( 1 time)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Maddox, Brad
1984 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina
American male professional wrestlers
Professional wrestlers from South Carolina
Professional wrestling referees
21st-century professional wrestlers
OVW Heavyweight Champions
FCW Jack Brisco 15 Champions
FCW Florida Tag Team Champions