WWE Rumors: Joey Styles Released, Controversial Comments Surface

A big change is taking place in the biggest professional wrestling promotion in the world. According to Wrestling Inc, Joey Styles has been released. After more than a decade with World Wrestling Entertainment, Styles is no longer the Vice President of Digital Media Content, and some are saying that it stems from comments that he made recently.

On July 29, Joey Styles participated in a question and answer session with Facebook. The interview was taken down shortly after it was completed. Styles also stopped posting on Twitter, which is weird because he is one of the more active social media participants in WWE.

https://twitter.com/JoeyStyles/status/758670211625132032

The last thing that Joey Styles posted on his Twitter account was a link to the quarterly reports for WWE. Since the company posted record revenue, it is highly unlikely that this would be the thing to get Styles in enough trouble that World Wrestling Entertainment would release a vice president. Plus, the data is available publicly.

Highlights from the since removed question and answer sessions with Facebook have surfaced online, as reported by Wrestling Inc. Many have noted that there are some answers given that might have been a source of discord for upper management, as public relations is a heal deal for WWE.

One of the more interesting words stated by Joey Styles is “belt.” There have long been rumors that WWE prefers the term “championship.” Styles himself even joked about that in the interview. There are reports that stated that the term is no longer banned, as reported by 411 Mania.

Joey Styles also made a comment about Gorilla Monsoon, a beloved former WWE star and commentator. Styles felt that it was nonsense when Monsoon used to talk about how a good big man can always defeat a good little man. The comment came up as Styles was trying to defend Finn Balor, a very talented performer who is smaller than the other wrestlers.

Another thing that WWE might not have been happy about was Joey Styles advising the wrestlers to stop doing suicide dives, which is where a performer propels himself from the inside of the ring and over the top rope onto another person on the arena floor.

Management might not like having someone telling wrestlers how to perform. The company routinely praises the trainers down at the WWE Performance Center, so the comment might be construed as something negative towards the developmental process.

With World Wrestling Entertainment splitting into two brands, Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live, again, a new championship was created. It is called the WWE Universal Belt. When asked about it, Joey Styles said that he was not a fan of the name and stated that fans did not like it either.

As part of the job of being the Vice President of Digital Media Content, Joey Styles spends a lot of time on social media interacting with the fan base. If he states that fans are not pleased with the name, then he is basing it on his informed interactions.

WWE.com plays a huge role in the success of the company, as the website generates millions and millions of page views every month. That generates tremendous advertising revenue for the corporation. With Joey Styles playing such a big role in that department, it is really hard to believe that he would be released this easily and over something that could have more than likely been overlooked.

Joey Styles is a really talented and versatile person, having worked in front of the cameras and behind the scenes, so if he wants to stay in professional wrestling, he can do so outside of WWE.

[Image via WWE]