10 Nastiest Backstage Incidents In Wrestling History

5. JBL vs. Joey Styles

When you talk about backstage heat and bullying, one name constantly crops up from the post-Attitude era, and that€™s one John Bradshaw Layfield. Whether it€™s wrestler€™s court, pranks and hazing, threats and intimidation, genuine physical confrontations or potatoing fellow wrestlers in and out of the ring, JBL has a track record second to none €“ at least, before he retired and changed his ways. One guy who didn€™t back down in the face of relentless mockery and bullying was former ECW announcer turned Vice President of Digital Media Content, Joey Styles. On the WWE€™s annual trip to Iraq for the Tribute To The Troops mini-tour in December 2008, all reports have it that Layfield was drunk the majority of the time, and constantly and consistently abused Styles, who was giving up nearly a foot in height to the big Texan. JBL should have known better than to underestimate an Italian kid from the Bronx, especially one who cut his teeth as sole announcer on Extreme Championship Wrestling. After a week of nasty, pointless hazing, Styles had had enough, and confronted JBL who, still drunk, had to be restrained. When he broke free to lamp Styles, Styles simply decked him, no doubt occasioning a classic Styles OH MY GAWD call from someone nearby. JBL would sport a cut and bruised eye to RAW the following Monday, where he was uncharacteristically quiet all day. Bless his little cotton socks.