Joey "Styles" Bonsignore, most famous as the voice of the original Extreme Championship Wrestling, was let go today by World Wrestling Entertainment.
After a run with the original ECW that lasted from 1993 to 2001, Styles had pretty much left professional wrestling. The ECW One Night Stand revival PPV changed that and WWE brought him into the company in 2005 for that event, also signing to a deal that would see him host ECW-related material for the company.
Styles was later brought into a full fledged deal that saw him be the lead announcer on Raw and PPVs for a short period before being shifted over to the revived ECW brand. Styles later retired from announcing and worked behind the scenes for the company on WWE.com and digital media. He had been with WWE a little over eleven years total.
It should be interesting to see if Styles, who has publicly stated he had no interest in announcing again, changes his mind given the plethora of alternative products that are out there across the independent wrestling landscape.
The news of Bonsignore's departure was first reported by ProWrestlingSheet.com. PWInsider.com has indepenently confirmed that report was correct.
Can't believe he managed to stay with WWE for over 11 years.