Popular backstage rumor states that the decision to end Hell in a Cell with a CM Punk victory was a very last minute decision and one where the outcome had gone back and forth over the days leading up to the event. While I have always felt that Punk’s hold on the title is a fairly stable thing until The Rock reenters the picture, it would seem that Vince and company were very, VERY seriously considering giving Ryback the title for a time there. So when it was eventually decided that Punk would retain the question became, “How will Punk keep the belt without destroying Ryback’s momentum?” Ryback has gotten one of the most consistently biggest reactions over the past several weeks and it seems like the months of Ryback crushing “Jobber Joe” week after week actually ended up paying off. How do you keep Punk the champion without dropping the ball on a buildup like Ryback’s?
The eventual decision of having Brad Maddox screw over Ryback is actually one that could almost be considered fringe brilliance. With the causal fan becoming more and more aware of the independent wrestling scene with stars such as Punk and Daniel Bryan making it all the way to the top of the WWE, the idea of a wrestler slipping through the cracks is one that is fairly easy to grasp. A rogue referee already give you one guaranteed shock moment when he screws over a face (which has now been used up at HiaC) but playing the character right, could allow for plenty more opportunity. A heel, seemingly at war with the WWE is often one of the biggest dreams of the Internet, mainly because WWE lets them voice some of the complaints that you see pop up on message boards all the time. (In this case, Brad Maddox complaining about wresters, like Ryback, being an example of WWE caring more about a guy’s look than his skill.) As the WWE continues to dip its toe into the idea of pulling that metaphorical curtain back, this storyline can allow them to create a brand new type of character, and style of character building.
But here lies my concern. With knowledge that the Hell in a Cell outcome was a fairly last minute decision, I don’t know how far in advance this storyline has been planned out. Because Maddox, a wrester, had already been portraying a ref, I would expect that some version of this idea had been floating around ahead of time. But before Hell in a Cell, we had only seen one mistake come from Maddox. (Which admittedly may have been a stab at the NFL refs as much as anything else) And now, Maddox has been put into a feud with Ryback. I was hoping that Monday would result in some sort betrayal or trickery that would allow Maddox to win the match so that we could ensure this continuing storyline, but I understand that Ryback needed to appear completely dominant the Monday before his Survivor Series match. But this has put Maddox in a feud with a wrestler who is by all accounts higher up on the ladder than him, and with more important things on his mind. And wrestlers in this position seem to more often than not fall back between the cracks.
Hopefully Maddox’s brief moment with Paul Heyman this past week indicates that the WWE had more planned for Maddox than one screwjob moment. The best thing that can happen for Maddox right now is probably joining Heyman’s stable that we all expect to be officially formed any day now. And with similar complaints about the WWE as Punk (don’t fit in, looked over in favor of bigger guys, having to fight for opportunities) Maddox should be able to fit right in.
Unrelated Thought: It really made me glad to watch Punk almost say SummerSlam in the ring this week when he was supposed to be talking about Survivor Series. Not that I enjoy watching Punk mess up or anything, but the similar sounding major PPVs have plagued me ever since I was aware of them and it’s nice to see that even those who are on the card of the PPV itself have trouble remembering which double S PPV they’re supposed to be talking about.
