EVOLVE WRESTLING FIRES JOEY STYLES FOR ON-AIR REMARK

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.f4wonline.com/news/evolve-wrestling-fires-joey-styles-air-remark-224541

EVOLVE WRESTLING FIRES JOEY STYLES FOR ON-AIR REMARK
BY JOSH NASON | @joshnason | NOV 12, 2016 7:44 PM


Joey Styles will forever be known as the voice of Extreme Championship Wrestling, but what he said on air Saturday during EVOLVE 72 was just too extreme for them.

Before the night's main event featuring Timothy Thatcher and Drew Gulak, Styles said on air toward ring announcer Joanna Rose, “Joanna, you look great tonight. And if our next President were here tonight, he’d want to grab you by the..."

The reference is, of course, related to President-elect Donald Trump's infamous comment made on a tour bus in 2005 that was picked up by a hot microphone he was unaware was on.

Styles had said on-air that he was told to not get too political on air, essentially setting up the comment.

EVOLVE head Gabe Sapolsky was not thrilled with Styles' choice of words.

I deeply apologize for Joey Styles' comments and am furious

— Gabe Sapolsky (@bookitgabe) November 13, 2016

And then 30 minutes later, Sapolsky delivered some news shortly after the show had wrapped up:

We've parted ways with Joey Styles and that's my final comment on this. Thank you for your support.

— Gabe Sapolsky (@bookitgabe) November 13, 2016

Streaming partner FloSlam tweeted that they support EVOLVE's decision, and that the replay will be delayed due to editing.

Styles is a longtime conservative voice who has gone after President Barack Obama on Twitter frequently through the years. As of this writing, he has yet to comment on the firing.

After being released by WWE in August, Styles had become a voice for several indie groups including EVOLVE, Beyond Wrestling, and CHIKARA.

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.sescoops.com/joey-styles-comments-on-the-trump-joke-that-to-his-departure-from-evolve/

Joey Styles Comments On The Trump Joke That Led To His Departure From Evolve
By Brad Davis on November 14, 2016@sescoops
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.

Follow
Gabe Sapolsky ✔ @bookitgabe
I deeply apologize for Joey Styles' comments and am furious
7:23 PM - 12 Nov 2016
561 561 Retweets 967 967 likes
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FloSlam @floslam
We do not support or condone Joey Styles' remarks tonight in any manner, and we support this decision 100%.

…
8:43 PM - 12 Nov 2016
349 349 Retweets 675 675 likes

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.

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.sescoops.com/joey-styles-open-letter-disputed-floslam/

FloSports Editor Disputes Joey Styles’ Open Letter: ‘I Was Upset.’
By David Bixenspan on November 14, 2016
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:

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Jeremy Botter ✔ @jeremybotter
For the record: Joey Styles' claim that I wasn't upset is false and a mischaracterization of what actually happened. I was upset.
1:58 PM - 14 Nov 2016
57 57 Retweets 75 75 likes
Follow
Jeremy Botter ✔ @jeremybotter
When Joey approached me to apologize, I was more concerned about Thatcher, who was being loaded into a car going to the hospital.
1:58 PM - 14 Nov 2016
22 22 Retweets 31 31 likes
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Jeremy Botter ✔ @jeremybotter
But to say I was not upset is false, and I support Gabe's decision 100%. This will be my last comment on the matter.
1:59 PM - 14 Nov 2016
25 25 Retweets 46 46 likes

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.

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/1114/619329/more-wrestling-promotions-drop-joey-styles/

More Wrestling Promotions Drop Joey Styles

As noted, former WWE employee and ECW announcer Joey Styles was fired from EVOLVE over the weekend for making a Donald Trump related joke during a broadcast. Beyond Wrestling and CHIKARA have announced that they have also parted ways with Styles.

Beyond Wrestling posted on Twitter:
12h
Beyond Wrestling @beyondwrestling
Despite his unprofessional behavior I would like to extend him the professional courtesy of a phone call before making an announcement.

…
Follow
Beyond Wrestling @beyondwrestling
Joey Styles will no longer be appearing at Sunday's live event in Worcester or any future Beyond Wrestling live events. Thank you.
1:44 PM - 14 Nov 2016
72 72 Retweets 78 78 likes

CHIKARA founder Mike Quackenbush also posted a blog piece noting that the company would not be using Styles any further, as seen below:

The events of the last few days have been just cause to take a look at the state of professional wrestling. The art form that I love, and have dedicated my entire adult life to, is embarrassingly behind the times. It is beholden to outdated tenets that threaten to render it...obsolete at worst, and a punchline at best.

I know there are others, influential and celebrated, that imagine pro-wrestling to be a bubble in which the social norms from a bygone era are still relevant and valid. At CHIKARA, we rail against them, and those ideals, with everything we make. It is one thing to speak, to voice an opinion. It is one thing to call for change, to wish for change, to imagine how that change might come about. It is another thing to make it. At CHIKARA, we make it happen. It doesn't matter to us in the least how many people show up to see it, or how many people recognize it for what it is. Our mantra is not about critical acclaim or pats on the back: "We believe pro-wrestling should be fun. That's why we make it for everyone."

Effective today, we are terminating our relationship with Joey Styles. Effective today, we are instituting a zero tolerance policy for misogynistic, racist, and/or homophobic speech, written or verbal, whether it's directed toward our cast, our crew, or our patrons. This is the shape of CHIKARA.

To all that craft and shape pro-wrestling, we must fully understand this: the patrons of our art form demand more of us. It is to them - those that empower us to create the larger-than-life spectacle of professional wrestling - that we are beholden. Not to an archaic sub-culture made up of turn-of-the-last-century carny values.

The time for us to do away with antiquated and insulting vocabulary, like the term "mark," is right now.

The time for us to relinquish any last vestige of power we've given to outmoded wrestling rhetoric is right now.

The time for us to draw a line in the sand, and to say this is where we stand on equality and integration in our art form, is right now.

The patrons of our amazing art form deserve not just our respect, but our thoughtful presence of mind in 2016 and beyond. We owe nothing to "the business." The people our antecedents called "marks" are not handing us their dollars because they fail to understand what it is we truly make - they support us in spite of it. They come because they know our kind of live entertainment is a viable art form, not some midway hustle. They come for an inclusive experience where they can be bolstered by a passionate community of like-minded fans.

At CHIKARA, we love pro-wrestling every bit as much as our fans do. We love it so much, we want it to change. Let's take a step toward a world where we need not be subject to any type of hate speech, and that the only violence we witness is of the neatly choreographed variety.

-MQ