The most wonderful time of the year is nearly upon us and there’s lots of ground to cover this week from your hosts Vic Sosa and Les Thatcher.
We start with a few words on Timothy Thatcher (7:12) who recently suffered a concussion at a recent EVOLVE show, plus some thoughts on Drew Gulak and Tony Nese (10:38) who recently signed WWE deals.
The 13th of this month marked the anniversary of Eddie Guerrero’s passing (16:07), so we’ll spend a few minutes on the WWE Hall of Famer as well. In addition, the guys talk Brock vs. Goldberg at Survivor Series this weekend (22:39), and the dismissal of Joey Styles from a number of companies this week based on what happened in Evolve last weekend (30:51).
We then move on to the mailbag where we’ll tackle whether or not WWE missed a marketing opportunity Monday night (46:42) and formatting a 1 hour wrestling TV show (51:03).
After being fired for making a misogynistic and politically-themed joke toward ring announcer Joanna Rose at EVOLVE 72 on Saturday night, Joey Styles addressed the matter in an open letter that appeared on PWInsider.
Styles attempted to explain the misstep by claiming that he panicked after the segment occurred at ringside instead of in the ring as he anticipated:
“I told Joanna before the show that during my promo with her and Stokely in the ring, I was going to ask her about English tailoring so we could compare my suit with Stokely Hathaway’s suit.
I had no idea what to say when Stokely Hathaway and I were at ringside about to trade promos and I didn’t have Joanna with us to ask about English tailoring.
I panicked and I did exactly what Gabe Sapolsky told me not to do earlier in the week and made a political joke. The joke included a partial quote from the President-Elect that was meant to mock him and then, in-turn, my scripted nemesis, Stokely Hathaway.
I started the joke and stopped quoting the President-Elect without using the offensive word.
Again, I did not utter the offensive word.
I then turned to Stokely Hathaway and said “the word that I will not use, brings me to you.”
In the letter, Styles also said that he was the one to suggest that EVOLVE head Gabe Sapolsky fire him publicly so that Sapolsky wouldn’t be put in the position of having to decide to fire someone that he’d known for so long:
“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.
I apologized to Joanna who said she said she wasn’t upset because she knew it was a joke about the President-Elect. It didn’t matter if she was upset or not, therefore I apologized to her again, repeatedly.”
Styles said that he apologized to the EVOLVE locker room as well:
“I apologized to the locker room and the wrestlers weren’t upset. It didn’t matter if they were upset, therefore I apologized to the wrestlers again, repeatedly.”
With EVOLVE 72 being the promotion’s first live event on FloSlam, Styles said that he also apologized to FloSports managing editor Jeremy Botter. He thanked FloSlam for editing the comments out of the show’s replay.
Styles concluded the letter by saying that he accompanied EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher to the hospital after Thatcher had suffered a concussion in the show’s main event. He noted that he made the decision to not speak about the matter until Monday so that it wouldn’t take attention away from EVOLVE 73 on Sunday night.
UPDATE: Both CHIKARA and Beyond Wrestling announced on Monday that they have terminated their relationships with Styles. Botter also commented on the situation in a series of tweets, refuting Styles’ claim that he wasn’t upset about the comments.
Botter’s tweets: “For the record: Joey Styles’ claim that I wasn’t upset is false and a mischaracterization of what actually happened. I was upset. When Joey approached me to apologize, I was more concerned about Thatcher, who was being loaded into a car going to the hospital. 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.”
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
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 FloSlam era began at EVOLVE 72 with the promotion’s first show on the new streaming service, but that didn’t bring a change for the EVOLVE Championship.
Timothy Thatcher’s reign continued as he picked up the win over Drew Gulak in a Squared Circle of Survival match. The ropes were deconstructed before the battle began and there were no holds barred in the match. The two had another good brawl to follow up their street fight at EVOLVE 71, and the stipulations greatly enhanced the last two matches of the feud.
They tore apart the ring as the match went on. Gulak seemed to almost have the win with a sick looking dragon sleeper, but Thatcher fought out of it. Thatcher retained his title in a somewhat flat finish with a back suplex on the exposed ring.
A dejected Gulak said that Catch Point had failed after the match and left his partners behind. Drew Galloway came out and said that the only mission he’s concerned with right now is exterminating Matt Riddle, but Riddle only said “Bro” before leaving a furious Galloway and DUSTIN to close the show.
Unfortunately, what should have been a landmark night for EVOLVE was marred by comments made by Joey Styles on commentary shortly before the main event began. Styles was overbearing all night to the point where it became an annoyance, but an incredibly tasteless misogynistic and politically-themed joke he made was particularly heinous.
Gabe Sapolsky apologized for Styles’ comments almost immediately and confirmed that they have parted ways with him. The quick action should be applauded, but it was really the only choice to be made. You have to trust someone to give them a live microphone and Styles failed in the worst way tonight.
The high point in the show came right before Styles’ comments as Chris Hero and “Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams put on a genuine EVOLVE Match of the Year contender. The two have amazing chemistry, which was evident in their match earlier this year at EVOLVE 56. This might have been even better with Williams coming even more into his own since then, and Hero continues to show that he might be the best wrestler in the world. The sheer amount and variety of his great 2016 matches is becoming mind blowing.
Williams got the surprise win by getting Hero to tap out to the crossface. The match started hot with Williams taking it to Hero and they exchanged stiff strikes almost all match long. In a clever spot, Hero used Williams’ own shirt against him and threw it at him for a distraction before hitting a strike. They traded massive near falls with Williams kicking out of a piledriver and Hero kicking out at one after a lariat and then at two after another before Williams finally got the win.
The FloSlam era kicked off with Matt Riddle as the first wrestler to pick up an EVOLVE win on the streaming service. Riddle figures to play a huge part in both EVOLVE and FloSlam’s plans, and he started things off with a solid match against DUSTIN. Riddle won after hitting the Bro to Sleep and a fisherman buster into a cradle.
Catch Point was also successful with Fred Yehi beating Jason Kincaid in the next match. Yehi got the win with the Koji clutch, but Kincaid continued to impress in EVOLVE and would be a great addition to the promotion’s roster. He hit a nice looking sunset flip powerbomb into the guardrail earlier in the match.
In a match that’s likely to have future title match implications, Ethan Page stayed on the winning track by beating Zack Sabre Jr. The Gatekeepers were by Page’s side for the match, but he surprisingly got a clean win over Sabre by hitting the spinning Dwayne after a good closing sequence. Page called out Cody Rhodes after the match.
Tony Nese wrestled twice in the night, first getting a win over NXT’s Tommy End in a dark match that was added to the card after Galloway wasn’t able to compete due to injury. Nese then appeared on the live show by turning a scheduled Darby Allin vs. Chris Dickinson singles match into a tag team affair. Dickinson teamed with Jaka in a winning effort over Allin and Nese. At one point earlier in the match, Allin botched a dive to the outside multiple times before just flipping himself onto a sea of bodies.
Dickinson complained about not having a permanent spot in EVOLVE before the match, and seemed to possibly move towards that goal with his team getting the win with Total Elimination.
Final thoughts:
It would be hard for me to recommend giving EVOLVE and FloSports your money if Sapolsky didn’t come out so strongly against what Styles said, but they deserve credit for their quick action. I’m not sure if his failed joke will be edited out or not, but he was bad enough on commentary that his presence will still be unwelcome otherwise.
But it would be impossible for me not to recommend a show that had a match as good as Hero vs. Williams. Everything else was at least watchable, with Thatcher vs. Gulak, Riddle vs. DUSTIN, and Yehi vs. Kincaid as probably the other best bouts on the show.
EVOLVE returns tomorrow with a show from Joppa, MD with the third match in the Hero vs. Riddle trilogy, Nese vs. Thatcher for the title, Gulak vs. Sabre, and more.
UPDATE: Thatcher suffered a concussion on tonight’s show and won’t be able to compete tomorrow.
EVOLVE 72 results:
EVOLVE Champion Timothy Thatcher w/ Stokely Hathaway defeated Drew Gulak to retain his title
“Hot Sauce” Tracy Williams defeated Chris Hero
“All Ego” Ethan Page w/ The Gatekeepers defeated Zack Sabre Jr.
Chris Dickinson & Jaka defeated Darby Allin & Tony Nese
Fred Yehi defeated Jason Kincaid
Matt Riddle defeated EVOLVE Tag Team Champion DUSTIN
F4WOnline has confirmed that Joey Styles was released by WWE last week.
Prior to being released, Styles served as WWE’s Vice President of Digital Media content. He transitioned to a behind the scenes role for WWE.com in 2008 after a lengthy career on commentary for both ECW and WWE.
The release comes at an interesting time after Styles took part in a noteworthy Facebook Live Q&A with WWE broadcast correspondent Cathy Kelley in late July.
Styles was outspoken in the session, and even jokingly speculated that it would be the reason he would be fired. During the Q&A, Styles spoke candidly about why WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has felt the need to push Roman Reigns as a babyface, not liking the name of the WWE Universal Championship, and other topics. Video of the Q&A was later taken down.
Styles is most famous for anchoring ECW broadcasts during the company’s heyday, and he later served as a member of the commentary team for both Monday Night Raw and WWE’s ill-fated ECW revival.
In an interesting note, Chris Harrington discovered that Styles registered his wrestling name as a trademark in 2013.
News that Styles had been released was first reported by Pro Wrestling Sheet.
