Maddox

 

I don't think anybody can possibly look more Southern than wrestler Brad Maddox, 5'11", 207#. What does "Southern" look like? For me it starts with an oval, highly expressive face, full lips and bedroom eyes that easily glaze over under the influence of love or Jack Daniels, skin that flushes bright pink, but low on the cheeks, roundness where we usually expect slimness or angularity. 

Playing off equally dubious stereotypes, Southern gentleman or inbred redneck, Brad, born Tyler Kluttz in South Carolina, can be convincing as a babyface or a villain. One third Brad Pitt, a third Butch from The Little Rascals, and a third early-'90s Buff Bagwell, Maddox can look  dimwitted one second and calculating the next, all aw-shucks modesty then all of a sudden he's rhinestone-encrusted narcissism, clownish hick then savvy as a velvet tuxedo.

I haven't followed his WWE career--as I haven't followed ANY wrestler's WWE career--but in the bits and pieces I catch now and then, he blends the charms of wet-behind-the-ears amateurism and sharp professionalism, without tipping far to either side. I'm not sure he's cut out for any one ring gimmick or style; I imagine he's a "hard to place" talent, but I find Brad Maddox always watchable.