Joey Roth is the self-proclaimed villain of pro wrestling. He is the Chicagoland Wrestling champ (as evidenced by the belt he carries with him). He is also a wrestling manager, an actor and more.
A while back, I started hearing about Joey on the Chicago independent wrestling scene. I saw videos on social media, but I had not yet met him until Wizard World a couple years ago. Since then, our paths have crossed many times at various comic cons. Oddly, scheduling conflicts have prevented me from actually witnessing him live in action at a wrestling event.
I'm told (mostly by him) that he is the greatest entertainer and villain on the scene. Actually, I can understand the entertaining part, as he is engaging and full or charisma. I am having a hard time with viewing him as a villain.
I don't want to break the image, but he is a nice guy. He is a very nice guy. We always have fun in our short exchanges when our paths cross. I get a special kick out of seeing him meet some of his favorites, like Richie Ramone, CJ Ramone and The Honky Tonk Man, whoh he credits with inspiring him to get in the business.
The fact that he is a villain in pro wrestling is a credit to his skills. Believe it or not, he can rile a crowd against him with his verbal sparring. That really speaks volumes for his talent that a nice guy can be so evil. (This phenomenon is similar to my buddy PL Myers, a nice guy who is often hated in wrestling.)
You can check out Joey in action at a few places, including POWW and you can go to POWWEntertainment.com for scheduling info. If you see Joey, be prepared to boo the villain, but also to appreciate his work.
Joey Roth and me in Rosemont, IL-August 2019.
No comments:
Post a Comment