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What you loved:
- "Oh My God!" - His classic go-to phrase for big moments.
- ECW Run - His emotional delivery was somehow a perfect fit in ECW's world.
- Wrestling Knowledge - He actually -- GASP -- calls the matches. Shocking, I know.
- Best Ever - A few of you actually said this.
- Punch Out! - Alleged backstage bully JBL was allegedly punched by Joey Styles. Allegedly.
Best comment comes via billytaylor:
"So you have Solie who sold wrestling as completely straight up athletic competition. You have Ross who had the bombast of a TV sports announcer. You have the shill with Michael Cole. Then there was Joey Styles who through a mix of hyperbole and smark baiting humor perfectly sold how ridiculous things were in ECW at the time. And you bought it. He wasn’t just a guy on your TV calling the match, he was like your buddy watching the match with you who seemed just as surprised and incredulous at everything that went on. Styles had that rare blend of being able to call the action, including proper move names (somewhat of a lost art these days), selling the storylines and having fun in the process. You never got the sense he was cooped up in some tight space with a cheap mic recording commentary, but in the stands as a fan. I’m not big on this Mount Rushmore stuff, but if you were doing a wrestling announcer one, Styles has to be on the list."
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What you loathed:
- WWE Run - He wasn't allowed to keep his natural commentating style and it hurt his performance.
- Oversell - He made a big deal out of basically everything, so it was tough to know when a big spot was actually big.
- Mike Awesome Comment - Made some unfortunate on-air comments about Awesome and committing suicide.
- Voice - Bit of a shrill voice that some of you found grating.
Best comment comes via blueandorange4life:
"His last WWE run, his tendency to oversell some moments to the point where his big moment calls were less effective, his sometimes uncomfortable feud with Mike Awesome (made worse in hindsight by Awesome actually killing himself two years after Joey said he wished Awesome would during ONS 2005)."
With 180 votes, Joey Styles' average score is 4.1.
Thanks, Cagesiders! Tomorrow's pick is all-time underrated wrestler.
Until then!