Justin Jason Roberts (born December 29, 1979) is an American professional ring announcer currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Roberts regularly announced for its

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

s and television shows like '' Raw'', '' SmackDown'', '' ECW'', and ''

Superstars A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity. Superstar or superstars may also refer to: People * Warhol superstars, the associates of Andy Warhol * WWE Superstar, a branding term referring to a WWE wrestler * Superstar Billy Graham (born 1943) ...

''.

Career

Early career (1996–2002)

Roberts began watching professional wrestling after he saw an edition of Saturday Night's Main Event and met Kerry Von Erich and The Ultimate Warrior at a hotel in Wisconsin. The combined events inspired Roberts to become a fan of wrestling. He also briefly trained as a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

so he could be in the same ring as Curt Hennig, of whom he was a big fan. Roberts began ring announcing at age 16 for local

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

Pro Wrestling International, and announced his first match in November 1996. While studying Media Arts and Communications at the University of Arizona from 1998 to 2002, Roberts worked for other

independent promotions In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor league for pro wres ...

such as the American Wrestling Alliance, All Pro Wrestling, and Impact Zone Wrestling. During this time, he also announced for the Toughman Contest.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2014)

In 2002, he got a job on ''SmackDown!'', followed later by a move to the Raw brand. He also worked on '' Velocity'' and '' Heat'' shows while touring as the full-time ''Raw'' live event announcer. Most notably, Roberts announced the ECW show each week on the Sci Fi Network until September 2007, before swapping with '' SmackDown!'s'' Tony Chimel. Roberts reached the peak of his profession when he announced the main event of WrestleMania XXIV between Edge and The Undertaker on March 30, 2008. In addition to announcing ''SmackDown'' and

matches, Roberts would also announce on '' WWE Superstars'', including its inaugural episode on April 16, 2009. Beginning on September 28, 2009, Roberts took over the ''Raw'' announcing duties from the departing Lilian Garcia. On the June 7, 2010 episode of ''Raw'', Roberts was attacked by the rookie wrestlers who had competed in the first season of '' NXT''. During the segment, Roberts was

strangled Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two main ways that hanging ...

with his own

tie Tie has two principal meanings: * Tie (draw), a finish to a competition with identical results, particularly sports * Necktie, a long piece of cloth worn around the neck or shoulders Tie or TIE may also refer to: Engineering and technology * Ti ...

Daniel Bryan Daniel Bryan may refer to: * Bryan Danielson (born 1981), American professional wrestler who formerly used the ring name "Daniel Bryan" * Dan Bryan (1900–1985), Irish soldier * Daniel Bryan (Big Brother), contestant on the British reality televi ...

, which led to Bryan's release, as WWE felt the incident was too violent for their TV-PG programming. At the SummerSlam pay-per-view two months later however, Bryan returned to WWE. At WrestleMania XXVII, Roberts worked as the sole announcer for the whole show, with the exception of the announcement of the

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

class of 2011, which was announced as usual by Howard Finkel. On October 13, 2014 immediately after ''Raw'', WWE released Roberts after opting not to renew his contract. Following this, it was reported that Roberts would be working on an autobiography.

Independent circuit (2014–2019)

Roberts was guest ring announcer at the '' House of Hardcore 9'' event and a couple of other events soon after leaving WWE. In 2016, Roberts was the ring announcer for the UR Fight iPPV Events which included his announcing for the Angle vs. Mysterio match. Since 2015, Roberts has worked for the band Tool hosting and moderating their VIP events. On July 13, 2018, it was announced Roberts would commentate the All In broadcast with Don Callis, Sean Mooney, Excalibur, Alicia Atout, Ian Riccaboni, and

Bobby Cruise Bobby Cruise (born February 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestling ring announcer best known for his time with Ring of Honor. Career Cruise began his career on the independent circuit in New England in 1994. Ring of Honor (2003– ...

. Roberts along with Cruise were the ring announcers at All In.

All Elite Wrestling (2019–present)

On April 3, 2019, Roberts was hired by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as its main ring announcer.

Other media

Roberts has appeared in "Graves" and "The Messengers" recently. He has also done some acting and was featured in such movies as ''

Stuart Saves His Family ''Stuart Saves His Family'' is a 1995 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis based on a series of ''Saturday Night Live'' sketches from the early to mid-1990s. The film follows the adventures of would-be self-help guru Stuart Smalley, a cre ...

'', '' The Guardian'' and '' Soul Food''. As a child, he was an extra in '' Sleepless in Seattle'', '' Blue Chips'' and '' Only the Lonely''. He also appeared in an episode of '' The Jerry Springer Show''. He released his

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Best Seat in the House'', on April 1, 2017.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Justin 1979 births Living people People from Chicago Writers from Scottsdale, Arizona Professional wrestling announcers All Elite Wrestling personnel