Joey Styles

Joey Styles
Ring name(s)	Joey Styles
Billed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Billed weight	180 lb (82 kg)[1]
Born	July 14, 1971 (1971-07-14) (age 38)[1][2] Bronx, NY
Debut	June 19, 1993[1]

Joseph Carmine Bonsignore (born July 14, 1971) better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American former professional wrestling play-by-play commentator and former professional in the field of advertising sales. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment, where he is the Director of Digital Media Content for WWE.com.

Career

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1994–2001)

Styles is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling for its entire run, from its 1994 name change to its 2001 bankruptcy. Styles spent most of the run as the promotion's only commentator, providing both play-by-play and color commentary, and was the first and only announcer in history to call a live pay-per-view event solo.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–present)

ECW One Night Stand

Styles signed with World Wrestling Entertainment and returned to commentating at the first-ever ECW One Night Stand event, where he and Mick Foley commentated for the show.

His performance at the first One Night Stand pay-per-view was hailed as a masterclass in play-by-play commentary, but wasn't without controversy. During the match between Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, Styles criticized Awesome for his real-life dealings with ECW's competition World Championship Wrestling and calling him a "Judas". Styles further chastised Awesome by quipping that it was "a shame he didn't succeed in taking his own life." after Awesome executed a suicide dive. This statement was unfortunately prophetic, as Awesome did commit suicide in 2007.

Raw (2005–2006)

Shortly after, Styles was promoted to WWE's major show, RAW brand with Jonathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler until May 1, 2006, when he "quit" after a worked shoot, in which he complained about the lack of "wrestling" and his dislike of "sports entertainment". In reality, Jim Ross, long time announcer of Raw was returning to his role.

ECW brand (2006-2008)

When WWE brought ECW back in the summer of 2006 as a weekly televised show, Styles joined the announce team alongside fellow ECW alumnus Tazz until April 2008, when he transitioned from play by play to WWE.com and replaced by Mike Adamle

WWE.com (2008-present)

In April 2008, Styles began working on WWE.com as "Director of Digital Media Content" for WWE.com, which involves overseeing work on the website. Additionally, Styles also hosts Original ECW programming on WWECLASSICS.com and WWE Classics on Demand.

Style

Styles' commentary style is highlighted by the characteristic tones of his voice. For the most part, he called the match in his normal calm, collected voice. However, once exciting or shocking events occur during the match, he began to screech and speak at a rapid pace, usually to yell his now signature catchphrase "Oh my God!" when a dangerous spot was executed successfully. In the days of ECW when such a spot was performed by the promotion's luchadors, he would yell "Ay Dios Mio!" (the Spanish translation of "Oh My God!").

In a 2009 interview, Styles claimed that he always wants to, and will be, remembered for his role as an announcer for the original Extreme Championship Wrestling.

In wrestling

• Nicknames
  • "The Extreme Announcer"
  • "Stocky Balboa"
  • "The Dean of Hardcore Wrestling Announcers"
  • "The Gordon Solie of Hardcore Wrestling"
  • "The Unscripted, Uncensored, Loose Cannon on Commentary"

Championships and accomplishments

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

• Best Television Announcer (1994–1996)

References

External links

Professional wrestling portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Joey Styles

• WWE.com Profile
• Official WWE Fan Nation Profile