https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbiZFlivR6g When you talk about blurring the line between reality and storyline, urging people to call the authorities because youre in mortal danger is pretty tough to top. Starting about two weeks ago, recently fired Raw GM Brad Maddox began posting YouTube videos that he was going cave hiking in the Yucatan Peninsula. If youve been fired from your job, you might as well clear your head and knock some things off your bucket list, right? But things took a dark turn quickly when Maddox started posting videos saying that he had become separated from his group and couldnt find his way out. He then asked viewers to notify the police or the authorities to find him. In his second video, he sobbed for two-plus minutes, thanking WWE fans for inspiring him before asking someone to tell his mother that he loves her. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd1M-lAoJ9M OK, hold the phone a sec. Its understandable that WWE and its superstars are using social media to progress angles and storylines. Weve seen Fandango dump Summer Rae via Twitter. We saw The Rock and John Cena engage in a war of words on social media too. But borderline trolling fans with videos asking people to notify the police is a new avenue weve never really explored. This is Andy Kaufman/Jerry Lawler on steroids. The videos led fans to speculate on whether they were real the request for police convinced some it couldnt be fake, that Maddox could theoretically have wifi or internet access but not a phone signal and posted the videos as a call for help. Then last week, WWE jumped into the fray on Twitter, asking Former GM @BradMaddoxIsWWE has been uploading his own YouTube videos. Real or publicity stunt? And Zach Ryder chimed in Is @BradMaddoxIsWWE dead? While those tweets pretty much put the issue to bed, its still tough to believe that WWE would sign off on YouTube videos like these in the name of getting an angle over. But theyre also using a reality show to further wrestling angles, so nothing should surprise.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.