Joseph Carmine Bonsignore (born July 14, 1971), better known by his stage name Joey Styles, is best known as "the Voice of ECW". He was the first, the last, and the only play-by-play announcer in the wrestling business to call entire live pay-per-views solo (that is, without a color commentator to give him some breathing time and explain moves - "wasn't done before me, hasn't been done since!", in Joey's own words). Styles was well-loved by fans for his commentary skills and snarky attitude, and when ECW folded, it took a while, but he eventually signed with WWE and took up the play-by-play mic on Raw and later WWE's ECW brand. He was Kicked Upstairs in 2008 and served as the Director of Media Content for WWE.com before being released in mid-2016. He promptly signed on with Beyond Wrestling, CHIKARA, and EVOLVE, but was fired from all three promotions in November of that year over a very controversial remark (quoting the then president-elect) made towards a female ring announcer during an EVOLVE event. He quietly left the business afterwards.
Joey is not related in any way, shape, or form to AJ Styles - though they are both phenomenal.
Tropes associated with Joey Styles:
- Accidental Innuendo: Invoked with this promotional announcement from his ECW days:"Remember, write to Beulah's Box, because her Box will always be open for you. (To someone off camera) I can't say that on the air, I'll never get an agent."
- Arch-Enemy: WCW, Bill Alfonso and Taz, Cyrus and the Network, John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
- Bash Brothers (on commentary): "The Quintessential Studmuffin" Joel Gertner on ECW on TNN, with Mick Foley on the first ECW One Night Stand in 2005 and with Tazz on WWECW.
- Beware the Nice Ones: The nerdy-looking, glasses-wearing journalist/commentator? Once legitimately punched out John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
- Big "OMG!": His Catchphrase.
- Bilingual Bonus: During the lucha libre matches in ECW, he would yell "AY DIOS MIO!" instead of his trademark "OH MY GOD".
- Catchphrase: "OH MY GOD!". Also, "CATFIIIIIIIGHT!".
- Combat Commentator: Unlike the usual wimpy backstage announcers, in ECW, Styles wasn't above hitting back when heel wrestlers picked on him.
- Cool Old Guy
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Styles once knocked out John "Bradshaw" Layfield for messing with him one too many times on a trip to Iraq.
- Dramatic Pause: Actually invoked by name a few times, usually in regard to Lance Storm.
- Everyone Has Standards: Joey Styles, the long time ECW announcer, was disgusted with Mick Foley's famous Hell in a Cell match at the 1998 King of the Ring, as revealed on the alternate commentary to said match on one of Foley's DVD sets.
- As much as he hated Mike Awesome, when Masato Tanaka hit him with a steel chair onto the chair on his face, Styles responded with a startled "Holy crap!" Lampshaded immediately:
Mick Foley: Sounds as if you actually have some sympathy for Awesome.Joey: Well he is a human being. - Japanese Ranguage: Turned "roaring elbow" from a joke made by fans of Japanese wrestling to the move's practically official name in ECW while observing Masato Tanaka.
- Kicked Upstairs: Styles retired from announcing and currently runs WWE's website.
- Large Ham
- Non-Action Guy
- Only Sane Man: Frequently. Especially when Paul Heyman is around.
- Precision F-Strike: During the ECW World Heavyweight Champion
Mike Awesome vs. Maato Tanaka match at ECW November to Remember 1999, November 7, 1999, Awesome hit a sit-out Awesome Bomb from the ring apron through a table to the floor. The crowd started the "ECW ECW ECW" chant, until the realization of what they had just seen hit them and they started a "Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!" chant.JOEY: "My mother's going to kill me for this, but, holy shit!" - Red Baron: "The Voice of ECW", "The Unscripted, Uncensored Loose Cannon of Commentary".
- Shown Their Work: Styles was one of the first commentators to take the fans seriously and use the technical names of moves (i.e. "enzuigiri", not "an amazing kick!"), as well as lampshading when wrestlers botched moves.
- Ultimate Job Security: Let's face it - any other person would've been fired from WWE for what Styles' said and done on his Twitter account alone. He keeps his job most likely because Vince McMahon doesn't want angry smarks burning WWE Corporate Headquarters down the next day. Eventually averted, as he was fired from WWE in mid-2016. Let's run down a partial list of Styles' Twitter shenanigans:
- He revealed Bryan Danielson's return just minutes before it actually happened.
- He revealed Aksana's removal on WWE NXT Season 3 before it was shown, then apologized for the reveal and insulted NXT at the same time a week later.
- He insulted WWE's ECW brand by saying it wasn't anything compared to the old ECW.
- He actually acknowledges (and rips on) TNA, something WWE goes out of their way to avoid doing at all.
- He's now decided to mock the new WWE policy of never using the word "wrestling". Not that this is the first time he's done that.
- Un-person: After the incident mentioned above that caused him to be fired from three promotions in one day, CHIKARA took this stance towards him, to the point of making his roster entry on their website unaccessible.
- Vocal Evolution: In the early days of ECW, Joey was a lot and lower pitched to the point that it was borderline Dull Surprise. It's especially noticeable when you hear Joey yelling "Oh My God" in 1993 and then hearing him say it 12 years later at the first One Night Stand.
- Worked Shoot: One of the most infamous (and best) examples is the aforementioned "I Quit" promo.
- Yes-Man: Is one of the few WWE employees to not be this to Vince McMahon. See Ultimate Job Security.
