Brad Maddox to appear on Monday Night Raw next week to address Hell in a Cell controversy

Well this quickly went from "oh god, they don't have a clue what they're doing and this is going to be swept under the rug with no explanation" to "hey, this has real potential."

When WWE had its writing team hard at work in the days leading up to Hell in a Cell this past Sunday night in Atlanta, it had them pitching ideas on the most creative way to get out of the pay-per-view while serving the best interests of all parties. Ultimately, the decision was made that CM Punk needed to keep the WWE championship by defeating Ryback but he couldn't do it by disqualification because of the match type. Oh, and Ryback needed to keep all the heat they had spent so much time building for him by having him crush everyone for months on end.

What to do, what to do?

Enter Brad Maddox.

The referee who was called up from FCW to run a storyline poking fun at the National Football League (NFL) over its situation with replacement referees had previously cost Punk a match and was verbally berated and made to look like a fool by the WWE champion. But that storyline was quickly dropped when the NFL got its issues with the "real" referees worked out and Maddox wasn't heard from again.

But he continued reffing matches on Raw and what not, seemingly in a holding pattern.

Until the opportune moment when they could dust him off and put him back in the spotlight in a match like this to help find a creative way out of a corner. Unfortunately, when the creative team came up with his involvement in the match, they didn't actually figure anything out beyond just having him cost Ryback the match. He disappeared right after while they scrambled to come up with an explanation.

He was absent from Raw but in the following days, WWE.com has been the spot to find all the storyline advancement. First, they revealed he was suspended and going in front of the Board for a meeting. Now, they've revealed he will be appearing on Raw next week to explain his actions.

This Monday night on Raw, suspended referee Brad Maddox will be granted the opportunity to explain his shocking actions at WWE Hell in a Cell, WWE.com has learned.

...

The file on Maddox's closed-door meeting at WWE HQ on Thursday is sealed, while the official's attorney has yet to issue any kind of statement regarding the inquiry. As such, Monday night will mark the first time the WWE Universe will learn what was truly going through Maddox's mind at WWE Hell in a Cell.

As many of you have already noted, it's entirely possible this has a less than satisfying conclusion, as most angles in WWE like this do. But at least there's real potential for something great here and if nothing else, the right steps have been taken to get this thing back on the right track.

Now we wait and see.

Excited? Or too jaded for that?