In a recent interview with the Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast, former WWE and ECW commentator Joey Styles commented on a variety of topics, including why he wants to become the voice of the independent wrestling scene.

“Gabe introduced me to Mike Quackenbush of CHIKARA. I was a little familiar with CHIKARA but I kind of dismissed it as being silly and being cartoonish but also when I originally worked in this building (ECW Arena) as the ‘extreme’ announcer I was 21 so I didn’t have a problem with blood and gore and women flashing and profanity and now being 45 and the father of a thirteen year old and an active member of the Knights of Columbus, a very family friendly show where the fans chant ‘holy poop’ and I’m not paraphrasing in CHIKARA they actually chant ‘holy poop’ and you do not swear and you do not use foul language, you do not do crotch-chops and once you buy into it with the wrestling ants, the ThunderFrog with the ‘hammer of truth’ that only he can lift, The Proletariat Boar of Moldova, Los Ice Cream which is Spanish for ‘the ice creams’ and then there are mermaids and just all of these crazy characters.

The first night I was really just laughing into the microphone as I was calling the matches and fans seem to appreciate it and they didn’t hold that against me because especially for first time fans it is hard not to. It’s kind of like Anime come to life and it is a lot of fun so going forward I will be working with Evolve, I will be working with CHIKARA, I’m talking to Beyond Wrestling in New England. I started my career as the ‘voice of ECW’ and now going forward I would like to be the ‘voice of the indies’. Indies that I feel are special or have a good buzz or are people I know and that are Tommy Dreamer approved. It is a great way to spend Saturdays, I still get to be home at night and on Sunday’s with my family which is wonderful so I’m really just having the time of my life and I feel 21 again.”

The interview is available in full at this link.