Maddox joined WWE as a referee in August 2012, debuting on the August 20 episode of Raw when he refereed a Divas Battle Royal. On October 28 at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Maddox refereed the main event, a Hell in a Cell match between CM Punk and Ryback for the WWE Championship. As Ryback was about to win the match, Maddox gave Ryback a low blow and proceeded to fast-count a pin for Punk, resulting in Punk retaining his title thus turned Maddox heel for the first time in his WWE career. Ryback brutally attacked Maddox after the match. Maddox explained his actions on the November 5 episode of Raw. He claimed that he was not working for Punk but his actions were self-motivated. Maddox revealed his lifelong dream of becoming a WWE wrestler, but WWE continually rejected him, so he took up the chance to be a referee and attacked Ryback to make a name for himself to earn a contract to become a WWE wrestler. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon then granted Maddox's request at a match against Ryback, while offering a million dollar contract if Maddox won. The next week, Maddox faced Ryback, who soundly defeated him and threw him into an ambulance.
Maddox returned in December 2012, now accompanied by his personal cameraman, Carson, and claiming to be a "YouTube sensation". Raw Managing Supervisor Vickie Guerrero offered Maddox a contract if he could defeat Randy Orton, but Orton prevailed. Orton was attacked by the Shield after the match. Similar to Maddox, the Shield had earlier aided Punk by attacking Ryback during the duo's WWE Championship match at Survivor Series to ensure Punk's retention of his title and also denied an alliance with Punk. Maddox then took his pleas to SmackDown General Manager Booker T, who thrice granted him opportunities to earn a contract if he could defeat Brodus Clay, The Great Khali, and Sheamus, but Maddox lost all three matches. On the January 28 episode of Raw, via camera footage taken by Maddox's cameraman, it was revealed that Maddox, as well as the Shield, had been working for Punk's manager Paul Heyman all along, although Punk did not appear in the footage and claimed that Heyman had acted independently of him and without his knowledge. Heyman had also instructed the Shield to attack Maddox. The next week on Raw, Maddox revealed he turned in Carson's footage to Vince McMahon and proceeded to call out the Shield, telling them that "justice awaits you". The Shield answered his challenge by brutally attacking him until John Cena, Sheamus, and Ryback interfered.
On the February 18, 2013 episode of Raw, Maddox was rewarded the position of Assistant Raw Managing Supervisor by Vickie Guerrero after revealing that Paul Heyman and CM Punk were working with The Shield. On the April 24 episode of NXT, Maddox challenged Big E Langston for the NXT Championship but was quickly defeated. On the July 8 episode of Raw, after Guerrero was fired as Raw Managing Supervisor when the fans voted that she failed in her role, Maddox was appointed as the new General Manager of Raw.
After allowing John Cena to choose Daniel Bryan as his opponent at SummerSlam, Maddox was entwined between Mr. McMahon and Triple H. On the August 12 episode of Raw, Maddox was the special guest referee in the match between Bryan and Wade Barrett, where he gave Barrett the victory after a fast count. Following this, Maddox announced himself as the guest referee in Bryan's match at SummerSlam, only for Triple H to come out and announce he would referee the match instead before giving Maddox a Pedigree.
Maddox then formed an alliance with Randy Orton, where he placed Orton's rivals, Dolph Ziggler and Big Show, in handicap matches against The Shield. Maddox continued to have tension with Big Show, who, after refusing to listen to Maddox's orders at Battleground, resulted in Big Show's firing by Stephanie McMahon on the following night's Raw. Later that week on SmackDown, Maddox was knocked out by Big Show, after interrupting him, suffering a concussion in the storyline.
Maddox returned on the November 11 episode of Raw, where he asserted his authority to Randy Orton, only to be interrupted by the Director of Operations Kane and Vickie Guerrero. The next week on Raw, Maddox was placed in a no disqualification match against Orton by Triple H; Orton won the match via referee stoppage after Maddox lost consciousness in the storyline and was carried out on a stretcher after getting punched with a microphone seventeen times. Following this, Maddox began to compete with Kane to gain favor of The Authority over who ran Raw better before forming an alliance with Kane, aiding him in his feud with CM Punk.
At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, 2014, Maddox participated in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and was quickly eliminated by Cody Rhodes and The Great Khali. On the April 25 episode of SmackDown, Maddox took over as General Manager for the night, where he was attacked by The Shield. On the May 19 episode of Raw, Maddox defied the orders of Triple H of not allowing any member of The Shield at ringside, by making Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns guest commentators. The following week on Raw, Maddox was relieved of his duties as Raw General Manager by The Authority, before being attacked by Kane. Maddox was absent from WWE television for the remainder of 2014, mainly working house shows.
Maddox returned on the April 6, 2015, episode of Raw in a backstage segment with Kane, before being interrupted by Seth Rollins. In August, Maddox began teaming with Adam Rose during live events, calling themselves "Beef Mode", where they lost to Damien Sandow and Curtis Axel. Later that month, Maddox performed under two different names during dark matches, Joshua Kingsley on August 11 and Lord Ruffles on August 23, losing both matches against Zack Ryder. On the November 17 episode of Main Event, Maddox made his televised return, teaming up with Adam Rose in a losing effort against The Usos.
On November 25, Maddox was officially released by WWE.