JBL gets PUNCHED by Joey Styles (not an angle)

Hey guys, check this out:

Word is coming in about a major backstage altercation that took place while the WWE crew was overseas in Iraq for Tribute to the Troops. Former ECW personality and WWE.com writer Joey Styles punched out former WWE Heavyweight Champion and former SD! Commentator John Bradshaw Layfield, busting him open under the eye.

JBL is one of the senior members of the WWE lockerroom and has a reputation for being somewhat of a bully. According to several sources, JBL picked out Joey Styles to be the target of his hazing during the Iraq tour. JBL was messing with Styles all week, including calling him condecending names in front of other WWE employees and spilling a drink on him intentionally.

After a few days of abuse, Joey Styles had enough abuse and confronted JBL, who had been drinking at the time. The altercation turned physical and Styles dropped JBL with a punch to the face. Several wrestlers had to step in and break it up.

At last night's RAW tapings, JBL was unusually quiet while Styles tried to play down the incident and did not want to talk about it. While some companies would fire an employee for an incident like this, there are actually some people within the company that feel Styles standing up for himself might actually score him some points with Vince McMahon.

credit: PW Insider

Not only score him points with Vince but, possibly get back on TV. Al lI have to say is it's a good thing Styles stuck up for himself also made for a very interesting read. I can't believe Styles gave JBL a black eye and cut him open...here's the full article...

Quote :

PWINSIDER.COM EXCLUSIVE: OH MY GOD - YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED IN IRAQ
by Mike Johnson @ 9:52 AM on 12/9/2008


One of the most newsworthy events that transpired on World Wrestling Entertainment's tour of Iraq last week took place nowhere near any of the cameras that were filming the tour. I was stunned at hearing the following story over the weekend and initially chalked it up to being just an urban legend, but as it turns out, it was completely accurate.

Retired WWE announcer (and current WWE.com personality) Joey Styles punched out former WWE champion JBL in Iraq during an altercation between the two, busting JBL open under the eye.

No, that is not a typo.

As the story was initially explained to me (and all versions I've heard since have matched the original report I was conveyed), JBL made Styles something of a target because it was Styles' first tour of Iraq for the company and was hazing the former ECW announcer.

I was told JBL was trying to bully Styles with a lot of condescending comments and actions, including allegedly spilling a drink on Styles on purpose. JBL was more or less pulling a lot of the shenanigans that a lot of of the performers in the company can't stand but deal with since he has the political stroke of being a tenured veteran.

Several days into the tour, JBL (who by all accounts, had been drinking) did something that caused Styles to physically retaliate in defense. A number of wrestlers stepped between them and held the two apart. When JBL broke free, he went towards Styles, who "nailed him perfectly with a pretty good shot" according to one witness, laying JBL out, busting him open and blackening his eye.

There were no further incidents between the two on the tour after that.

There were a number of performers who pointed out to me that the story was something of karma coming back to bite JBL in the rear because his antics had caused Smackdown talent Palmer Cannon to quit the company during a European tour (and Cannon wasn't the only victim of JBL's hazing over the years) as well as the famous 2005 ECW One Night Stand beating of the Blue Meanie during the PPV closing brawl inside the ring.

At last night's Raw in Philadelphia, the story was the talk of the day among wrestlers, who were amazed by the incident. I was also told JBL was acting completely subdued at the taping, something absolutely out of character for him, as he knew the story was making the rounds. Styles, meanwhile, was trying to downplay the incident to those who brought it up to him at Raw.

It was considered doubly embarrassing for JBL among the wrestlers since he was so involved with setting up the Iraq tours.

In a strange way, some theorized the incident would get Styles over with Vince McMahon because it showed his "toughness" and could pave the way for his return to TV. I have no idea whether Styles' cameo last night was part of any direct result of the "Iraq Punchout", as it was termed to me.

Come to think of it, it might've actually played a role in Joey's cameo for the "OMG! Moment of the Year Award" last night. But anyway, I find this to be absolutely hilarious. If it can only teach JBL a lesson, it's only better. Even better if somehow, Joey finds his way back to TV because of it.

Seriously, I think we should set up a pool on the board to see which WWE worker will bring the incident on-air during a promo!

I didn't think Joey Styles could do that much damage to JBL. Thank god other broke it up before JBL destroyed him.

Never underestimate the anger of a smaller man, my friend. If he's really pissed off, he still can do damage. I remember a fight I witnessed in high school when a guy my size (I'm 5'3'') completely murdered a guy who was 6'2". And I mean MURDERED him.

This just shows how much of a prick JBL can be. Veteran or not this is no way to treat a fellow worker. Someone needs to stand up to scums like this backstage and show them that everyone should get equal oppurtunities etc.

BTW! good job Joey