Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 4:11 PM EST


In a story that might be hard to believe, PWInsider's Mike Johnson is reporting that during WWE's tour of Iraq last week retired WWE announcer and current WWE.com personality Joey Styles punched out former WWE Champion JBL during an altercation between the two. The punch busted JBL open under the eye according to reports.

As the story was explained, JBL made Styles somewhat of a hazing target during the trip as it was Styles' first tour of Iraq with WWE. Reports indicate that JBL was trying to bully Styles with many condescending comments and actions, including spilling a drink on Styles on purpose. Of course, this is not uncommon with JBL as he is known for pulling things like this with many performers and many simply deal with it because he has political stroke as a result of being a veteran.

Apparently a few days into the tour JBL, who many said had been drinking, did something that caused Styles to retaliate physically in defense. A number of wrestlers reportedly stepped in to hold the two apart. When JBL broke free, he went towards Styles and Styles is said to have nailed JBL with a pretty good shot according to one witness, laying out JBL, busting him open and blackening his eye. There were said to be no further incidents between Styles and JBL on the tour after that.

A few WWE sources have described the incident as karma coming back to JBL for his antics in the past with former Smackdown talent Palmer Cannon (who quit WWE during a European tour as a result of JBL's antics) as well as the very well known incident at the 2005 ECW One Night Stand PPV where JBL took it upon himself to take out The Blue Meanie during the closing brawl of the PPV. The incident between Styles and JBL was said to be talked about quite a bit at last night's Raw taping in Philadelphia, with many becoming amazed at hearing the story. JBL was described as acting completely subdued at the taping, which is something out of the ordinary for him as he more than likely knew the story was making the rounds. Styles was attempting to downplay the incident to those who brought it up to him. The general feeling was that it was considered doubly embarrassing for JBL since he was one of the main people involved with setting up the Iraq tours. The incident has now been coined by some in the company as the "Iraq Punchout."