Joel Gertner was a recent guest on “So Says Shernoff” and the “Quintessential Studmuffin” talked about his career as a manager and commentator in wrestling. Gertner said he held a number of jobs in wrestling prior to becoming the stickman for the Dudley Boyz in ECW, considering all of his lateral moves ones that really propelled him upwards.
“So I started off as a timekeeper and backup ring announcer, full-time primary ring announcer, and then when Bob Artiz came back from a hiatus, I got moved sideways. I was blessed that, for whatever reason, every time I got moved sideways it was a move forward. It was a move upward.” Gertner said. “But it didn’t necessarily—not to say I wasn’t being given promotions based on my merit because I was effectively, so it doesn’t matter if a step forward at that moment was meant to be a step forward or a step sideways, but listen if there’s a seat on the rocket ship, go, right?
“So I get moved when Bob comes back and I had already been a foreign language ring announcer, Spanish and Japanese, for some of the Lucha guys. So I’ve been a foreign language ring announcer, and the ring announcer, and now I get moved sideways, so I get moved into being a heel ring announcer.” Gertner said. “Now I’ve bounced kind of from different act, to different act, to different stable, different faction, different team. And eventually I got paired with [Bubba Ray] and D-Von. D-Von I guess turns on him and I wind up with the heel Dudleys. Having Spike as an adversary, taking the moonsault from Big Dick Dudley. So I wind up with the Dudleys. So that’s how I wound up with the sort of ring announcer, valet, spokesperson for the Dudleys.”
