Justin Roberts Talks WWE Career, Triple H, JBL Being a Bully

Wrestling ring announcer Justin Roberts was one of the voices of WWE for over a decade, and many fans remember his introductions as part of the biggest matches in wrestling history.

Since splitting from WWE in 2014, Roberts has been lending his announcing talents to independent wrestling companies like House of Hardcore and also written his autobiography.

In a recent interview promoting his new book, Best Seat in the House: Your Backstage Pass Through My WWE Journey, Roberts spoke to Ring Rust Radio about his WWE career, his thoughts on working with Triple H and the rampant discussion surrounding the bullying accusations against John Bradshaw Layfield.

What makes Roberts so unique is his story. He became a fan of wrestling when he was young and would meet wrestlers during and after the shows. From there, his passion for the business grew, and he got a job with WWE in 2002.

For 12 years, Roberts lived the dream by announcing on Raw, SmackDown, ECW and even at WrestleMania. When asked what aspect of his career in WWE made him proudest, Roberts spoke candidly.

"I think maybe some of those announcements that have become memorable to a lot of people," he said. "I hear from a lot of people about the John Cena introduction, the Undertaker introduction and the Jeff Hardy introduction. Some of those introductions that became part of the entrance, and those guys didn't need me by any means.

"They are big stars on their own, but just that my voice was able to contribute in a small way to their introductions and to leave a mark on people the same way Howard Finkel had on older fans. The people who grew up hearing my introductions for those guys they were watching, things like that are pretty cool."

Fans who have watched wrestling since 2002 associate Roberts with WWE programming, and that is an achievement he will be able to hang his hat on for the rest of his career.

In addition to the pride he will be able to carry because of his success, it has also built notoriety for him within the wrestling business, which he has translated to job opportunities from other companies.

While Roberts spoke highly about his time with WWE, there were issues he faced while trying to do his part to improve the company. WWE executive vice president of talent, live events and creative Triple H was one of the people Roberts felt wasn't as receptive to his ideas as he should have been.

"In my dealings with him, when I talked about the live event producer position, here was someone who was at every single show, watching every live event, every TV show, every PPV from ringside and all of them from beginning to end," Roberts said.

"I saw how it was broken, and I wanted to help fix it and just to help this company. Someone like Triple H kept blowing me off and saying that I didn't have enough experience and then bringing in guys who knew nothing about the business, and they didn't come from a wrestling world and didn't know how to put together a wrestling show or the psychology behind it."

There are always people who believe that coworkers don't take them as seriously as they should, but Roberts was in the front row for thousands of matches and had a unique insight few other people in the industry could provide.

Triple H wasn't the only person who gave Roberts issues during his time in WWE, as JBL also bullied him on several occasions. While things admittedly changed for the better during Roberts' time with the company, the stories shared in his book have become a talking point following the recent departure of announcer Mauro Ranallo.

"All I know is the experiences that I've had, which I clearly stated were in 2003 when that was happening with JBL," Roberts said. "Case in point, after the incident with Joey Styles, when he stood up to him and punched him, he basically disappeared shortly after that. When he came back, he was a much different person.

"That stuff wasn't going on, and the locker room had changed completely. So when he came back, it was a different world with different guys and a different mentality. The guys who were around in the early 2000s knew what happened, and later on, I don't know what happened with Mauro. So I can’t say anything about that, but I did say when people asked me if he should be fired, and I would say 'no.'"

As Roberts noted in his book, he was just trying to be open and honest about the situation, and then the story broke with Ranallo. If Roberts says the person who bullied him shouldn't be fired because it is more about the culture of the company than the man himself, there is likely something behind his words.

Despite Roberts' negative experiences at WWE, his autobiography is predominantly positive. It focuses on his rise from being a wrestling fan to an integral part of the largest wrestling company in the world.

Roberts' story is the perfect example of dreams coming true, and it should be embraced by everyone looking to make their way in the wrestling business.

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player above (some language NSFW).