Professional wrestling World Championship Wrestling (1992–2001) Madden wrote for Pro Wrestling Torch from 1992 to 1994. His most notable moment during this time came during an interview with baseball legend
Hank Aaron, who was working for the
Atlanta Braves at the time and was informed by Madden of the employment of
"Cowboy" Bill Watts by
World Championship Wrestling, then a sister company to the Braves via their common ownership by
Turner Broadcasting System. Madden had informed Aaron about racist comments Watts had made to the wrestling media before being hired by WCW as head booker and president, leading to Aaron to push for Watts' removal. The story gave Madden national attention, and he was eventually hired by WCW to work as a TV color commentator and magazine writer by Watts' replacement as WCW president,
Eric Bischoff. Much of his time during WCW's peak in the
Monday Night War was behind the scenes, though he ran the WCW Hotline, a
900 number service with "insider tips" alongside
Gene Okerlund. He also befriended his childhood idol,
Ric Flair, whom Madden had watched as a child on
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling via his
UHF antenna on WJNL-TV in
Johnstown (now
Jeannette-licensed
WPKD-TV); the two remained close friends for decades. Starting in early 2000, he began appearing on WCW television on a regular basis, replacing
Bobby Heenan (in both a cost-cutting move also due to Heenan's declining health) on the commentary booth on
WCW Monday Nitro &
WCW Thunder, as well as the pay-per-view events. Primarily a
heel during this time, Madden's wrestling persona would be similar to his radio talk show persona in Pittsburgh. He did see some in-ring action against Okerlund (both losses), as well as being unprovokingly attacked by
Tank Abbott who started randomly attacking people (ironically at Madden's encouragement) until
Bill Goldberg answered a challenge that never was resolved on WCW television. During his run as color commentator on WCW, Madden began wearing
Hawaiian shirts at the insistence of
Vince Russo. Madden, who didn't like wearing a shirt and tie, liked it so much that he continues to wear them today on his radio show and as a panelist on a Sunday night sports show on
WPXI until he was fired from the show in 2021. Shortly before
Vince McMahon purchased WCW in March 2001, Madden was fired in December 2000 for making disparaging remarks about the company, lobbying for the return of the fired
Scott Hall, and disclosing information about the sale of WCW.
Post-WCW (2001–present) Madden spent several years as a regular columnist for
Wade Keller's
Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter. Within the wrestling world, Madden was known for his
legitimate running feud with
Diamond Dallas Page. Madden has often blamed Page for his firing from WCW (though he was happy to go at the time) and has often referred to him as "DDMe" on his online articles and radio shows. While Page has offered to appear on Madden's show, Madden declines each time. While Madden gave Page credit for turning around the lives of
Jake Roberts and
Scott Hall, he cited Page's use of TV cameras to film the progress of their rehabilitation in Page's home, which he felt was unnecessary and more or less was used to fuel Page's ego. By 2020, however, Madden and Page had made up at a
Starrcast event, at the encouragement of
Sean Waltman. Madden is also known for his long-running feud with
Jim Cornette. After weeks of teasing it, in 2021, Madden began co-hosting
The Best Wrestling Show. with former WWE VP of Global Television Production
Mike Mansury, a wrestling podcast produced by
Pat McAfee. The podcast was available for free on
YouTube. The podcast went on hiatus on May 13, 2021, after a little over two months due to Masury taking another job and him & Madden unable to work out logistics. On August 11, 2021, Madden was booed while in attendance at the
All Elite Wrestling event at the
Petersen Events Center for
AEW Dynamite and
AEW Dark: Elevation, sitting ringside. During the
Dark: Elevation taping, he was acknowledged on-air by former WCW colleagues
Tony Schiavone &
Paul Wight and guest commentator
Eddie Kingston during the
Sammy Guevara–
Serpentico match when Guevara threw Serpentico's tag team partner
Luther into the barricade in front of Madden. On November 17, 2021, Madden returned to wrestling podcasting when he became the host of Ric Flair's
Wooooo Nation Uncensored. The podcast came to an abrupt end on March 27, 2022, when Madden announced his resignation and thanked Flair for the opportunity, which was followed by Flair admitting that Madden was fired and replaced by Flair's son-in-law
Conrad Thompson. It eventually led to a Twitter exchange that saw the two end their friendship after 35 years. In 2015, Madden joined
WPNT for a nightly televised sports talk show, an edited replay of his radio show, which was removed from WPNT's schedule in 2016. Madden often nicknames himself the "Super Genius" on his programs and
social media due to having an
IQ score of 166, of which he was tested on in the
fourth grade. Madden wrote a weekly column called "Monday Madden" for the
Beaver County Times, a Pittsburgh-area newspaper, starting in May 2007; the column continued for over a decade until his departure to work for TribLive in 2018. In May 2008, Madden was fired from his talk show on Pittsburgh's
1250 ESPN radio station for the following comment: "I'm very disappointed to hear that Senator
Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts is near death because of a brain tumor. I always hoped Senator Kennedy would live long enough to be assassinated." Another area of sports in which Madden is heavily involved is the game of
street hockey. Madden runs Street Hockey USA, and is also involved in the American Street Hockey Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to growing the game of street/dek/ball hockey in America. He has coached numerous National Champion teams over the years (most notably his Pittsburgh Wizards team), as well as coaching the United States Junior team to a gold medal in the 2006 World Junior Championship in Germany. On April 3, 2011, his
Beaver County Times column addressed a then-current grand jury investigation into
alleged child sexual abuse by former
Penn State football assistant coach
Jerry Sandusky, suggesting the possibility of a Penn State cover-up. After Sandusky was indicted on over 40 felony charges, Madden appeared on
The Dennis and Callahan Show, a
Boston sports talk radio program, on November 10. During his appearance, he reported a rumor being investigated by two prominent columnists that Sandusky and his Second Mile children's charity may have been "pimping out young boys to rich donors."
Views on Pittsburgh sports teams Madden's views on Pittsburgh's
three major professional sports teams are mixed. While Madden usually defends the Penguins, he has mixed views about the
Pittsburgh Steelers and is harshly critical of the
Pittsburgh Pirates. With the Steelers Madden has often praised the
Rooney family for going all-out to win but questions the team's decisions regarding off-field actions of their players, and was particularly critical of
Antonio Brown. Madden has also been critical of the team's non-confrontational tactics regarding team legends near the end of their careers dating back to
Franco Harris, though he did defend the team regarding
James Harrison. Along with
John Steigerwald, Madden was one of the few local sports journalists to defend former Steelers quarterback
Kordell Stewart, feeling Stewart was being
unfairly judged due to being African American and was also critical of the Steelers decision to have Stewart downplay rumors of his
homosexuality. With regards to the Pirates, Madden is highly critical of team owner
Robert Nutting placing profits ahead of putting a competitive product on the field and is critical of Pirates fans who continuously support the team, feeling that the team will not be consistently a contender unless Nutting sells the team. As such, Madden is one of the only local sportscasters who will not cover the Pirates in Pittsburgh. Madden, did, however, defend the Pirates decision to have
Todd Frazier designated for assignment after batting .086 in 35 plate appearances, leading to a
Twitter feud between the two and many Pittsburghers laughing at Madden after Frazier was
fat shaming Madden during the feud. ==Personal life==