Paul Heyman has two names in mind as far as ECW legends who should be inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame go.
Heyman once ran the show for ECW, so he knows a thing or two about some of the legends to have come from the promotion. Of all the names he could list, Heyman has two in mind who he feels should be in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Paul Heyman’s Hall Of Fame Picks
Serving as a guest on the Battleground Podcast, Paul Heyman shared his take on why Sabu and Joey Styles are his picks for the WWE Hall of Fame (via Wrestling Inc).
“I would say Sabu definitely belongs in the WWE Hall Of Fame. Because I think the concepts that Sabu was introducing, were 20 years ahead of its time. And I don’t just mean the breaking of the tables. I mean just the manner in which he performed in the ring was so far ahead of its time that he never got the credit he deserved.
“I would say Joey Styles was a very progressive announcer that no one understood just how valuable he was to the ECW brand. Because here you had these criminals, and these gangsters and these barroom brawlers and these misfits. Yet you also had these supreme, elite, exquisite technicians. Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Rey Mysterio, Psychosis, Juventud Guerrera, that came over from Japan or Mexico. We scoured the world for the greatest talent.
“And no American announcer had ever called the moves for what they were, Joey Styles did. Joey Styles ushered out the era of, ‘wow that looked great, here’s a replay,’ and started calling the moves by the names that were associated with the moves. And he was completely different than any other announcer because he did his job solo for so many years. So I would say Joey Styles, absolutely.”
Styles was the voice of ECW known for his signature, “Oh My God!” call. Sabu is a renowned legend all over the world and he was a two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion.
Joseph Bonsignore is best known to wrestling fans as Joey Styles.
The voice of ECW has been away from the industry for several years, but recently filed a trademark application for the name, “Joey Styles.”
The United States Patent & Trademark Office database shows that Styles filed to trademark the name on February 25th, 2021. The ‘Goods and Services’ usage for the trademark covers the following:
“G & S: Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer. FIRST USE: 19920101. USED IN ANOTHER FORM The mark was first used anywhere in a different form other than that sought to be registered at least as early as 11/06/2000.”
Styles previously owned his name, but that mark was canceled in 2019.
After working for ECW from 1993-2001, Styles had a brief stint with Major League Wrestling (MLW) before joining WWE in 2005 for the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view.
He was a WWE employee up until 2016. Styles was a key executive in WWE’s Digital Media division from 2008-2016. He’s been away from wrestling since 2016.
Hardcore wrestling legend Tommy Dreamer recently spoke with Wrestledelphia to promote Friday’s House of Hardcore 22 event from Philadelphia. Among the topics discussed, Dreamer commented on Joey Styles getting fired from Evolve and other promotions after making a Donald Trump joke during an iPPV. Despite the fact that Styles directly disobeyed instructions from his then-boss Gabe Sapolsky to avoid political references, Dreamer thinks it was wrong for Styles to be let go.
“I thought it was complete and utter BS,” he said. “You can’t fire somebody from an independent company unless you’re giving them full-time salary. It did not have to be made public. It could have just been ‘hey, after the show I’m not going to use you anymore, thank you, and goodbye.’ But that wasn’t the case. If there was ever a person who is a great human being, an amazing husband, an amazing father, an all-around great person, it’s Joey Styles.”
“There was people then calling him racist, homophobic. If there was ever a miscast upon somebody, where it got him to be so, I want to say upset, not even mad about the business, where he just stopped being on social media because he was heartbroken as an individual. It was all BS, could have been avoided, should have been avoided, but it’s ok because he moved forward.”
If Joey Styles ever returns to the world of professional wrestling, would Tommy Dreamer welcome him at House of Hardcore? “Absolutely,” he said. “He may happen to be a surprise Friday or Saturday, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Mickie James took to Facebook and offered her support to Joey Styles after he was fired from Evolve, Chikara and Beyond Wrestling for making a Donald Trump-related joke during an iPPV over the weekend.
I want you to know that I love you. In the midst of all this ugliness surrounding you at the moment I think it’s important you know that. From me and all your friends who you’ve helped throughout your career. How so many have forgotten that because they’d prefer to jump on the bandwagon to make themselves relevant is sad to say the least. I’ve known you for many years & you’ve always been nothing but respectful & loving to me. I’ve never seen you be disrespectful to any woman in the business. If anything you’ve always been so supportive & kind. I thank you for that. It’s a shame that a JOKE, whether it be in bad taste or not, has been taken so far out of context. I’m curious as to what the lady involved thought of this whole thing. Because if it had been me, I would’ve popped because I understand comedic context. Call me old school but had you been a comedian, or an actor in a movie, everyone would’ve laughed. It’s only because everyone is tiptoeing in this politically correct, sponsor endorsed, & way overly sensitive generation that it’s been blown way out the water. Last I checked this is the wrestling business. A business where we have cursed, endorsed sexuality to all kinds of extremes, kissed asses, and even murdered on live tv, that a little political joke seems to be the least of offensive things done. I understand we are in a new era but for goodness sake let’s not lose our sense of humor, or the sight of why we all fell in love with this business in the 1st place. That is to be a character, that can do and say things they would never do or say in real life. Because it’s acting! Also, for all your “Friends” who have jumped on the bandwagon now that you’ve been “Fired”, also a complete joke because you CAN NOT fire an independent contractor, they should be ashamed of themselves. Yes they have a right to their own opinion but we should also remember… people in Glass Houses shouldn’t throw stones. That means pretty much everyone in this business as it’s one of the dirtiest games ever played. That’s my 2 cents… and it’s worth exactly what you paid for it… but since everyone else seems to feel so important to throw out their public statements then why not. Lastly, I will say this again… I love you, I respect you, and I respect everything you’ve done for this business that I adore. This too shall pass…
On Monday, in response to Joey Styles’ open letter about his firing from Evolve, FloSports Managing Editor Jeremy Botter (who was at the show both covering it for FloSlam and as the Flo representative) disputed Styles’ version of what happened with a series of tweets:
Styles had gotten in hot water for making a reference to the Donald Trump “hot mic” video after being directly told not to make any political references on commentary. His firing was quickly announced on Twitter, and Flo having to edit out his remarks delayed the release of the on demand version of Saturday’s Evolve show.
Joey Styles has issued an open letter addressing his departure from Evolve due to an explicit violation of the company’s request to avoid any political references during this weekend’s Evolve 72 show, the first iPPV broadcast on the new FloSlam streaming network. During the show, Styles was doing a segment with ring announcer Joanna Rose and said, “Joanna you look great, if our next President were here he’d want to grab you by the …” He did did not use the “offensive word” used by the President-Elect in the infamous Access Hollywood tape that leaked during the Presidential election, but admits he should have handled himself better.
Gabe Sapolsky and FloSlam wasted no time publicly denouncing the politically-charged remark.
In an open letter published by PWInsider, Styles said he “panicked on camera” during the live broadcast and was caught off guard when he found out he’d be doing a promo with heel manager Stokely Hathaway at ringside and not in the ring with ring announcer Joanna Rose, as he had anticipated.
“I panicked on a live broadcast, ad-libbed by telling bad joke, apologized to Gabe, told him to publicly fire me to protect himself and then apologized sincerely and repeatedly to everybody involved including Joanna Rose, Jeremy Botter from FloSlam and the wrestlers in the EVOLVE locker room. In conclusion, I’d like to thank FloSlam for editing out the segment from the EVOLVE 72 replay on FloSlam so fans can enjoy the historic event forever without it being marred.”
“Gabe was justifiably furious at me and thought that I had endangered his relationship with FloSports,” Styles said. “After the event, I looked Gabe in the eye, apologized to him, and as not as to put him in the awkward position of having to fire someone he has known for 20 years, told him to fire me publicly and then shook his hand.”
He also apologized to Joanna Rose, FloSlam’s Jeremy Botter and the entire locker room. He says nobody was upset about his political reference, but “it didn’t matter if they were upset” because he defied an edict from his boss, plain and simple.
While Evolve’s Gabe Sapolsky initially tweeted that he wouldn’t be commenting further on the firing of Joey Styles as the promotion’s play by play announcer for making a crass reference to the Donald Trump “hot mic” recording, he followed up further late Sunday morning:
The show, hailing live from La Boom in the Woodside section of Queens, New York, was Evolve’s first as the flagship promotion on FloSlam, FloSports’ pro wrestling streaming service. The FloSlam Twitter account, currently operated by FloSports Managing Editor Jeremy Botter, tweeted support for Sapolsky’s decision, later adding that the show is being edited before it’s uploaded for on-demand viewing. As of Sunday morning, @FloSlam is tweeting that not just the required editing, but also slow hotel Wi-Fi in New York is delaying the availability of the on-demand version of the show.
Evolve has another show scheduled tonight in Joppa, Maryland.
Tonight was supposed to be a big night for Evolve with their first show on FloSlam’s streaming service. The show ended up getting a lot of attention on social media, but not for the reasons you would expect. During the show, announcer Joey Styles was doing a segment with ring announcer Joanna Rose when he said this:
Joanna you look great, if our next President were here he’d want to grab you by the —
After a lot of complaints to Evolve booker/talent relations head Gabe Sapolsky, Styles was dealt with swiftly:
– Vanguard1, Matt Hardy’s beloved drone, now has a Twitter account and is posting footage from Hardy’s compound in North Carolina. Follow @Vanguard1AAR.
– Joey Styles was asked on Twitter if he’d consider working for TNA. The former Voice of ECW made it clear we won’t be seeing him on Impact any time soon and took a dig at TNA’s lackluster digital presence.
EVOLVE announced on Wednesday that Joey Styles has joined the company and will be assuming a unique new “authority figure” role. The latest WWN Alerts states, “At this point in time, Joey wants to cement his legacy in wrestling. In order to do that, he is going to share his knowledge on EVOLVE events with the goal of making EVOLVE a better place.”
Joey Styles has been given the “go ahead” to interject himself at EVOLVE live events when he feels he can make the show better for the wrestlers and the fans. EVOLVE clarified “this isn’t a typical commissioner or GM role,” which hopefully means he won’t be turning heel any time soon.
“It’s about Joey paving a legacy of unselfishly giving back to the pro wrestling business and the fans.”
Styles’ new role with the promotion begins this Saturday at EVOLVE 68 and Sunday at EVOLVE 69.
– Join us later tonight for our SmackDown Live coverage and discussion. WWE is advertising AJ Styles will react to his win over John Cena at SummerSlam and an appearance from Nikki Bella. We’ll also probably get an update on Randy Orton’s medical condition following SummerSlam, which saw him receive 10 staples in his head to close the gash opened by Brock Lesnar’s elbow.
It will be interesting to see how the Lesnar situation is addressed tonight. Stephanie McMahon noted on RAW that there will be repercussions for Lesnar delivering an F5 to Shane McMahon after the SummerSlam main event.
– Tyson Kidd has been out of action for more than one year with a neck injury and there’s been really no word on a possible return. Wife Natalya tweeted the following on his status when asked by a fan during RAW last night:
– Former WWE employee Joey Styles tweeted Tommy Dreamer on Saturday and indicated that he wants to work some with Dreamer’s House of Hardcore promotion. As noted, Styles appeared at EVOLVE 67 yesterday and did commentary for the main event.
– Some main roster stars attended NXT Takeover: Brooklyn last night but as seen below, Sheamus, Gallows, Anderson, AJ Styles and Chris Jericho went out with TNA star Drew Galloway instead:
– WWE IC Champion The Miz and wife Maryse filmed a prom date for Total Divas while in New York City this week, apparently Maryse’s first prom ever. Apparently the date will air on the next season of the show. Miz tweeted these photos on Saturday:
It now appears that Joey Styles’ comments during a Facebook Q&A with Cathy Kelley are what got him fired by WWE. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that WWE felt Styles’ comments sounded like he didn’t care what company higher-ups thought, and that’s a big no-no.
During the Facebook interview, Styles talked about Roman Reigns being pushed because kids and their mothers like him. The former ECW announcer also revealed that he doesn’t like the idea of the new Universal Title, and had joked that some of his comments may get him in trouble. He said the WWE.com team was unappreciated by the company, and may have said too many “inside” things for WWE’s liking.
The interview has now been pulled from all of WWE’s social media pages.
Styles most recently appeared at the EVOLVE 67 iPPV in New York City and received a big pop from his hometown crowd.
Joey Styles is no longer a WWE employee, according to a report at Pro Wrestling Sheet.
The former “Voice of ECW” had been working for WWE’s digital media department since 2008, working on WWE.com, the WWE mobile app and managing the company’s social media accounts as the Vice President of Digital Media Content.
Styles last tweeted on July 29th and participated in a Facebook Q&A session around that time. During the Q&A, Styles was asked why Vince McMahon pushes Roman Reigns and replied:
“Moms are the ones who bring kids to shows. Kids like Roman Reigns. Moms like Roman Reigns. That’s the reason. Just because some people boo him doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t like him.”
He was also critical of WWE’s 3-man commentary teams and the “WWE Universal Championship” name. It’s unknown if the Q&A had anything to do with his release, but the video of his Q&A was removed from YouTube and Facebook.
Longtime wrestling personality Joey Styles recently took part in a Facebook Q&A with Cathy Kelley. During the interview, Kelley brings up the topic of controversial WWE star Roman Reigns. WWE continues to push Reigns as a babyface despite audible boos on television most of the time he comes out, and Kelley asked Styles for his take on why the company still books him as a face.
Styles says it all comes down to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s vision.
“The bottom line is if our Chairman thinks he sees a future star as a babyface, that’s how things are going to play out,” Styles said.
The former ECW announcer credits McMahon with having a good track record, and he has faith in the second-generation wrestling promoter’s instincts.
“Vince thinks it can work,” Styles continued, “He’s been right much, much, much more than he’s been wrong over the last 40 years. I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna second-guess the chairman.”
Styles feels that part of the reason why Vince continues pushing Reigns as a face despite the audible boos, is that Reigns does in fact have a fan base.
“Moms are the ones who bring kids to shows. Kids like Roman Reigns. Moms like Roman Reigns. That’s the reason,” Styles theorized. “Just because some people boo him doesn’t mean everyone doesn’t like him.”
– Zack Ryder gets shocked while recording with Dolph Ziggler in this new WWE Swerved clip. As noted, the second season premieres in its entirety after RAW tonight.
ECW Original and former WWE announcer Joey Styles recently took to social media to respond to fan criticism over the current WWE product.
Styles has been addressing random comments on his official Twitter page as of late. Below are some of Styles’ responses to fans being overly critical of WWE.
One of the biggest complaints about WWE Network has always been the speed at which they release older content as well as the inconsistency in how they do it. The service added shows at a pretty consistent clip for its first couple months, but since then, it’s been all over the place. The last month or so has been encouraging, with a wide range of old shows added from all sorts of promotions and eras, but we still don’t really know when to expect anything.
In light of this, a fan asked Joey Styles on Twitter when we can expect more ECW shows, and Styles replied:
This was common in pro wrestling for many years, but ECW did it later than any other major promotion. Music was also a much bigger part of the aesthetic of ECW than it was of other promotions, though, so he’s right that it will take much longer to edit those shows than it would with other promotions.
The official WWE website has a new article up where WWE Hall Of Famer Howard Finkel and ECW Original Joey Styles offer their predictions for tonight’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view.
Below are the predictions “The Fink” offered for the Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt and Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar matches.
On Reigns vs. Wyatt: “Their differences are varied by nature, but their goals are similar in scope: To do a number on their opponent. With no Wyatt Family members running interference, the advantage should favor Reigns. But I look for Wyatt to turn it up a few notches and score the victory! WINNER: Bray Wyatt”
On Undertaker vs. Lesnar: “There is no love lost between these two iconic figures. When the dust settles, Brock Lesnar will come out the victor, in what should be a match for the ages! WINNER: Brock Lesnar”
Check out more predictions from “The Fink,” as well as Joey Styles, by reading the full article at WWE.com.
– WWE announced on Monday’s RAW that the WWE App has been downloaded 20,038,999 times.
– Joey Styles took to Twitter following Monday’s RAW to send praise to two WWE Superstars. Styles put over Cesaro as a future world champion and Titus O’Neil as a great color commentator. You can check out Styles’ comments below.
– Fans can now vote on which WWE Superstars and Divas have done the most good in the new DoSomething.org “Athletes Gone Good” awards. WWE tweeted the following:
– Paige’s ongoing storyline with the Bella Twins talking about bringing change to the Divas division will likely culminate with one of the NXT Divas being called up to the main roster.
Ric Flair’s daughter Charlotte is a strong possibility, since she’s been considered ‘ready’ for quite some time now.
– Bayley is currently working through a broken arm. She was wearing a cast at this past weekend’s NXT live events.
– Joey Styles confirmed on Twitter that the July 4th WWE live event from Tokyo, Japan will air live on the WWE Network in its entirety. Aside from the Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor NXT Championship match, Brock Lesnar and Chris Jericho will also be in action on the show. (Full Card)
– The following is Part 1 of WWE’s new in-depth look at Finn Balor as he prepares to face Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship on July 4th.
Joey Styles interviewed WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart on what would have been the 100th birthday of his father, the legendary Stu Hart. During the interview, Hart commented on the status of the legendary Hart Dungeon.
When asked who some of the first competitors that his father trained were, Hart said, “Nikolai Volkoff was one of the first guys who came out of The Dungeon. He was a teenager when he got here. He was just a big, strong, heavy kid. I remember talking to Nikolai many times in the basement and watching my dad stretch him. [Former AWA World Heavyweight Champion] Gene Kiniski was also trained by my dad.”
Hart also spoke about the status of The Dungeon itself.
“The house is occupied by three different families,” said Hart. “There are three condominiums in the one dwelling. It’s quite an upscale area. It’s cozy, but I have no desire to see it. It’s not the same house that I remember. The Dungeon doesn’t exist anymore. It’s just a room.”
Former WWE Diva Eve Torres, who is expecting her first child with husband Rener Gracie, was recently interviewed by Joey Styles for WWE.com. When asked about the news that WWE is bringing back the Divas Search competition, she said:
“I’m happy to hear that Diva Search is back. I was wondering when WWE would bring it back. The one thing that I always encourage women who want to be WWE Divas to do is have something you are passionate about. For me it was Jiu-Jitsu and martial arts. For some people it’s soccer. Whatever it is, it gives you confidence and that will translate. That’s what WWE fans look for. That’s what WWE looks for in their Divas. WWE wants women who are confident and can handle everything that being a WWE Diva comes with like lots of travel and being tough.”
She also volunteered to offer self-defense classes to the contestants.
After recently shooting a movie with Jackie Chan in China, Eve said she hopes to continue acting and has received offers for new roles:
“Yes. Being offered the role in the Jackie Chan film was amazing. I got to do a fight scene with Jackie Chan. I really enjoyed it. I feel that I got to use all of my strengths and had a lot of fun. As timing has it, it’s a good time for me to take a break from the movie and television scene while I prepare for our new addition.”
Eve offered this response when asked if there’s a chance we will see her on Total Divas:
WWE’s Vice President of Digital Media Content Joey Styles has made a bold prediction for Sunday’s Royal Rumble match. Despite not even being an announced participant, Styles thinks that reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar will win the 30-man battle royal.
WWE.com has published a new “Editor’s Choice” feature with predictions for the Rumble match, with Styles laying out the most outlandish scenario. Here’s how he thinks it will go down:
“After losing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship without being beaten when Rollins pins John Cena, Lesnar will take another Superstar’s spot in the Royal Rumble Match after beating him into unconsciousness backstage. The enraged former UFC Heavyweight Champion will then leave battered and broken bodies strewn about ringside behind him as he starts his Road to WrestleMania — and revenge.”
Comment below and tell us what you think of Styles’ prediction.