Details on when Joey Styles punched former WWE Champion in the face and put a stop to backstage hazing

Former ECW announcer Joey Styles once gave the former WWE Champion JBL a taste of his own medicine by standing up to backstage hazing.

In the WWE locker room, some superstars are revered as seniors and role models while others’ve had the reputation of a bully. John Bradshaw Layfield often finds himself in the latter category. In the past, The former WWE Champion was known for roughening up the rookies and announcers backstage.

The most notable incident was when JBL was accused of bullying former SmackDown announcer Mauro Ranallo. However, JBL later revealed on Hannibal TV that he was staying in character and that nothing he did was intended to hurt anybody. Ranallo left the WWE in 2017 and never regarded his exit to be related to JBL’s actions. 

The Hall of Famer has been with the company from the Attitude Era. His old-school mentality is much like the mentality of other wrestlers like Bob Holly who is also regarded as a locker room bully. JBL owned up to his brash real-life character on Hannibal TV stating, We were younger we broke balls and I was a loud guy from the south, and a lot of people, I think, took that wrong.

During a middle eastern tour to Iraq in 2008, JBL picked on the wrong guy as a target for his backstage hazing, Joey Styles. Styles is the former ECW announcer and maybe because he came from the land of extreme, he stood up to JBL’s bullying.

Reportedly, JBL had been trying to get a rise out of Styles all week by calling him disrespectful names and intentionally spilling a drink on him. The hazing continued until Joey had had enough and decided to take matters into his own hands and confront JBL.

His pent-up anger found an outlet when he walked up to Bradshaw who was drinking at the time and punched him right in the face. Other WWE superstars who were around intervened to break it up. Following the incident, JBL locked himself in his hotel room and never spoke about the incident. 

Was Joey Styles punished by the WWE for his outburst?

While it is normal for some companies to not tolerate backstage violence and terminate the employee who caused it, WWE never punished Joey Styles for his actions. As a matter of fact, many believe that his standing up to the abuse and taking action raised Vince’s respect for Joey Styles. After all, Vince McMahon loves real-life scuffles and loves the people who fight.

Read how Kofi Kingston’s real-life scuffle with Vince McMahon earned him the Boss’s respect.