Five years ago Joey Styles cut a "shoot-style promo" with the blessing of Vince McMahon ripping on the WWE product and quitting Raw, setting up the relaunch of ECW. The following is my cover story on that memorable moment on Raw five years ago...

PWTORCH NEWSLETTER #912
COVER STORY HEADLINE: Styles rips on WWE and fans, quits Raw
SUBHEADLINE: Memorable scripted angle sets the stage for formal revival of ECW brand

After months of being belittled and demeaned behind the scenes, WWE took it to the airwaves. But for a purpose. The real-life frustration built up in Styles translated into one of the most memorable, well-delivered "shoot-style" promos ever, and one of the best promos of the year anywhere.

With Spirit Squad given the role as guest general managers of Raw, they called Styles backstage during a match and threatened to put him in a female cheerleader outfit next week. Styles returned to ringside and was playfully poked and prodded by his broadcast partner Jerry Lawler. Styles eventually had enough, and shoved Lawler. Lawler pie-faced Styles, sending him to the ground. Styles stormed to the back. After a commercial break, Lawler asked Styles to return. He said he wanted to apologize for taking things a little too far. Styles then responded with the following words which were delivered effectively and believably by Styles because, well, they closely reflect his true feelings about his stint in WWE so far:

"You want to apologize like nothing happened, like you didn't knock me on my ass in front of millions of people worldwide and I'm going to come down there and work with you? I'm not coming back. And now, thanks to the magic of live television, I'm going to show the whole world that for seven years in ECW, I was the unscripted, loose cannon of commentary.

"Six months ago, WWE called me. I didn't call this company because I was looking for a job. I wasn't looking for a job. WWE called me because they had fired and humiliated again Jim Ross. So I get J.R.'s spot. From week one, week after week, I got a lecture on the differences between professional wrestling and sports entertainment. I'm not allowed to say pro wrestling or wrestler. I have to say sports entertainment and refer to the wrestlers as superstars.

"I'm told to deliberately ignore the moves and the holds during the matches so I can tell stories. Well, ignoring the moves and the holds is damn insulting to the wrestlers, not the entertainers, who leave their families three-hundred days a year to ply their craft in that ring. They're the best part. Because I'm not a sports entertainment storyteller, I get pulled from WrestleMania. The reason given is I don't sound like Jim Ross, who is the guy they fired in the first place. That makes sense, right?

"So I swallow the bitter pill. I'm a company guy. I get bumped from WrestleMania. Then I get bumped from Backlash. I'm not good enough to call Backlash? On ECW, I called live pay-per-views on my own, solo, no color commentators dragging me down. Wasn't done before me. Hasn't been done since. But I'm not good enough to call Backlash because I'm not a sports entertainment storyteller. Well, you know you what? I'm a sick of sports entertainment. I am sick of male cheerleaders. I am sick of boogers and bathroom humor and semen. I am sick of our chairman who likes to talk about his own semen. He mocks God. He mocks God and makes out with the divas all to feed his insatiable ego. I am sick of sports entertainment. And most of all, I am sick of all of you fans who buy into that crap - this sports entertainment circus. (Crowd boos.)

"I never needed this job and I don't want this job anymore. I quit!"

Styles then yanked off the WWE mic cover and walked away.

Lawler put his headset aon. "We brought Joey Styles up from the gutter and it looks like he just got homesick," he said. "Maybe Joey Styles would seem more at home in a bingo hall kissing Paul Heyman's ass."

Styles's speech will set up his hosting the ECW TV show, which will at least be broadcast on WWE.com and perhaps cable TV, if WWE can find a taker. To the general WWE fan, though, Styles's speech may sound so biting, so anti-WWE, so "I can't believe he just said that," that many fans may truly believe it was unscripted and unplanned. That's what WWE wants. For ECW to succeed, the belief is that it must have credibility as an anti-authority product. It has an uphill battle, since it will be clear that WWE owns the promotions and reaps whatever profits it generates.

Jim Ross is expected to be named the replacement for Styles as full-time lead announcer of Raw, which will translate into an admission that his removal last year was a mistake. The relaunch of the ECW brand, though, allows the Ross critics (and Joey Styles himself) to save face since Styles isn't officially being removed from Raw because he failed. Instead, Styles is simply being shifted to a more natural role as the voice of ECW.

The plans for the ECW relaunch have not dramatically changed over the past week. The goal is to get it up and running as a full-time territory, running profitable shows every weekend, multiple pay-per-views per year (which could be a dagger to TNA), and a weekly TV show eventually generating ad revenue from worldwide distribution.

Allowing Styles to reveal some of WWE's "trade secrets" (for lack of better term) and rip on WWE fans shows that Vince McMahon is committed to taking some chances in allowing ECW to have some edge and feel genuine, even at the risk of exposing or demeaning WWE.

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