{"id":34984,"date":"2016-11-15T16:21:26","date_gmt":"2016-11-15T22:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=34984"},"modified":"2016-11-15T16:54:45","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T22:54:45","slug":"kellers-take-joe-styles-wasnt-fired-non-p-c-offensive-comment-fired-defied-bosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/11\/15\/kellers-take-joe-styles-wasnt-fired-non-p-c-offensive-comment-fired-defied-bosses\/","title":{"rendered":"KELLER\u2019S TAKE: Joey Styles wasn\u2019t fired because of a non-P.C. offensive comment, he was fired because he defied his bosses"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-1478350086\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Joey Styles was fired by Gabe Sapolsky of EVOLVE, not because he wasn\u2019t \u201cP.C.,\u201d but because he defied a crystal clear mandate made by his bosses not to bring politics into his commentary. If Styles had been told not to make any mentions of food or cars or chickens and he defied that order, it\u2019d be justifiable to fire him. This notion that pro wrestling\u2019s P.C. Police are coming down on Joey is just ridiculous.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2015\/12\/StaffKeller08_120.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4633 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2015\/12\/StaffKeller08_120.jpg\" alt=\"Wade Keller, editor\" width=\"120\" height=\"138\" \/><\/a>Announcers are handed a live mic and, more than anyone else on a live pro wrestling event, set the tone for the show and represent the brand. His bosses trusted him to follow what was a crystal clear mandate. Gabe Sapolsky and SlamFlo executives wanted a politics-free show on a week when emotions were running high.<\/p>\n<p>Trying to turn a celebrity or politician\u2019s comment about unwanted sexual contact &#8211; especially when put as crudely as \u201cgrab them by the\u2026\u201d phrase &#8211; into a joke wasn\u2019t serving the company that was paying him. It was serving his own desire to put himself over as Mr. Non-P.C. \u201cWhat will Joey say next!?!\u201d He was building his \u201cbrand\u201d at the expense of the expressed desires of those who chose to hire him and agreed to pay him in exchange for his services.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t a First Amendment issue, either. The First Amendment only prohibits government blocking free speech. The government is not involved here. This is someone defying his bosses\u2019 orders and being relieved of his duties as a result.<\/p>\n<p>Also, saying you&#8217;re not being P.C. is not carte blanche to say anything no matter how lame, offensive, or stupid, nor is it a free pass to defy your bosses&#8217; explicit orders. Nobody gets away with that in the workplace, and for good reason.<\/p>\n<p>Jeremy Botter, managing editor of FlorSlam, wrote on Twitter: &#8220;<span class=\"s1\">For the record: Joey Styles&#8217; claim that I wasn&#8217;t upset is false and a mischaracterization of what actually happened. I was upset.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If Styles felt the one-liner was good and fell outside of the parameters of the restrictions he and the entire crew were given before the show, he should have had the courtesy to run it past his bosses first to get approval.<\/p>\n<p>Any other wrestling company that chooses to disassociate with Styles has that right, also. If they can\u2019t trust him with a live mic to follow their orders, and they think he\u2019s at risk of going into business for himself to try to get himself over, then it\u2019s their prerogative to hire another announcer instead.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3023008783\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>If Styles is a much better announcer than anyone else he has beaten out for the jobs he\u2019s been offered, he\u2019ll get work again. If he isn\u2019t, and it\u2019s because he showed he can\u2019t be trusted with a live mic, that\u2019s the price he\u2019ll pay.<\/p>\n<p>NOTE: PWTorch VIP members can hear Bruce Mitchell and I discuss this for over 20 minutes from a variety of angles on this weekend&#8217;s Bruce Mitchell Audio Show, available exclusively for subscribers <a href=\"http:\/\/vip.pwtorch.com\/2016\/11\/13\/vip-audio-1113-bruce-mitchell-audio-show-pt-2-joey-styles-fired-by-evolve-for-lewd-trump-related-comment-should-wwe-acknowledge-hofer-trump-mailbag-on-goldberg-a-j-steiner-58-min\/\">HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If you aren&#8217;t a VIP member, you can become one this week for 80 percent off during our Fall 2016 Sale. Sign up <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/pwtorch-vip-membership-information\/\">HERE<\/a> and enter coupon code &#8220;<strong>fall2016sale<\/strong>&#8221; to get $8 off a $10 monthly sub or apply the $8 off to a three month or or one year sub.<\/p>\n<h3>What do you think? Vote below&#8230;<\/h3>\n<form action=\"http:\/\/poll.pollcode.com\/78183523\" method=\"post\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 2px; font-family: Arial; font-size: small; color: #000000;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 2px 0px 4px 2px;\"><strong>Do you agree with Joey Styles being fired by EVOLVE for his &#8220;grab her by her by the&#8230;&#8221; reference on their FloSlam stream? (Catch up on details <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/11\/13\/joey-styles-fired-evolve-thatcher-suffers-concussion\/\">HERE<\/a>)<\/strong><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"answer781835231\" style=\"float: left;\" name=\"answer\" type=\"radio\" value=\"1\" \/><label style=\"float: left;\" for=\"answer781835231\">Yes, he was told not to get political<\/label><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"answer781835232\" style=\"float: left;\" name=\"answer\" type=\"radio\" value=\"2\" \/><label style=\"float: left;\" for=\"answer781835232\">Yes, because the joke was crude &amp; lame<\/label><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"answer781835233\" style=\"float: left;\" name=\"answer\" type=\"radio\" value=\"3\" \/><label style=\"float: left;\" for=\"answer781835233\">No, because it was funny and not that bad<\/label><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<p><input id=\"answer781835234\" style=\"float: left;\" name=\"answer\" type=\"radio\" value=\"4\" \/><label style=\"float: left;\" for=\"answer781835234\">No, he stopped short of saying the p-word<\/label><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear: both; height: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 3px;\" align=\"center\"><input type=\"submit\" value=\" Vote \" \/>\u00a0<input name=\"view\" type=\"submit\" value=\" View \" \/><\/div>\n<div style=\"font-size: 10px;\" align=\"right\">pollcode.com <a href=\"http:\/\/pollcode.com\/\">free polls<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/form>\n<p><strong>NOW CHECK OUT MY PREVIOUS KELLER&#8217;S TAKE:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/vip.pwtorch.com\/2016\/10\/17\/kellers-take-why-more-than-one-hell-in-a-cell-match-is-a-bad-idea-with-diminishing-returns\/\">Why more than one Hell in a Cell match is a bad idea with diminishing returns<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<article id=\"post-29545\" class=\"post-29545 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-kellerstakes category-opinionandanalysis category-spotlightarticles category-stafftakes\">\n<div class=\"entry-content clearfix\">\n<div class=\"entry-content clearfix\">\n<p><em>(PWTorch editor Wade Keller launched the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter in 1987. Over 1,400 weekly issues have been published and millions have been sent worldwide over the last 30 years. He hosts the PWTorch Livecast at www.pwtorchlivecast.com every Monday right after Raw, every Tuesday right after Smackdown, every Wednesday for the Mid-Week episode with rotating cohosts at 1 ET, and everything Thursday at 1 ET with special interview guests, with tens of millions of downloads since 2009 and counting. He was inducted into the George Tragos\/Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame with the \u201cJim Melby Excellence in Journalism\u201d award, Class of 2015. Email: kellerwade@gmail.com. Twitter: @thewadekeller.)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-699667275\"><div id=\"pwtor-1244261012\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Joey Styles was fired by Gabe Sapolsky of EVOLVE, not because he wasn\u2019t \u201cP.C.,\u201d but because he defied a crystal clear mandate made by his bosses not to bring politics into his commentary. If Styles <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2016\/11\/15\/kellers-take-joe-styles-wasnt-fired-non-p-c-offensive-comment-fired-defied-bosses\/\" title=\"KELLER\u2019S TAKE: Joey Styles wasn\u2019t fired because of a non-P.C. offensive comment, he was fired because he defied his bosses\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,54,53],"tags":[234,4104,4232,1073],"class_list":["post-34984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-takes_keller","category-opinion_stafftakes","tag-evolve","tag-floslam","tag-gabe-saposlky","tag-joey-styles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/10\/FloSports_3x2_600black.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34984"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34988,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34984\/revisions\/34988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}