Showtime

Slim build, pale skin, bleach blond hair. The years have paid a toll on his physique, be his is still in very good shape.

He wears a tuxedo jacket, top hat and clip-on bowtie to the ring along with his black wrestling trunks. His boots are red, covered with sequins.

He looks like a cross between Mr. Peanut and Liza Minelli.

Showtime is liar, a cheat, a coward and an ingratiating little jerk. There isn't enough room to list the bad points.

Showtime was, without a doubt, the worst wrestler in the FFWA's history. He Talked the Talked, but when he tried to Walk the Walk, he invariably tripped over his own incompetence.

After his record-breaking twentieth loss in a row, he was fired by the FFWA. However, months after his "release," he was brought back, this time under the sage(?) tutelage of manager Dr. Slash Hayes.

Needless to say he didn't do much better. Oh, he did win the tag team tiles in the FFWA... of course his partner, Talon did all the work and thanks to Showtime, they lost it in their first title defense.

Since the FFWA folded in March 1999, Showtime went on "sabbatical" (no other federation wanted him) until November 1999, when through some clerical error, we was signed on to join the World Wrestling Alliance. On his first night, he defeated the long-time Extreme champion the Preacher of Pain in the greatest single upset since an Israeli king threw a rock at a certain giant’s head. And he lost it in his first title defense.

He looked to be a legitimate contender for any WWA title after awhile (God only knows why), but dirty backstage politics reared its ugly head, driving anyone associate with Dr. Hayes from the federation.

For some reason only he knows, the Don signed up Showtime in the newly re-opened FFWA (later the FWA), and he went on to get the fed’s new flagship show named after him. Much to the joy of internet fans, and to the chagrin of mainstream fans worldwide.

His crowning achievement in the FWA was beating seven other wrestlers, among them such luminaries as Mantis, Buck "the Hustler" Floyd, Kris Kasanova and Jim Black, to win the FWA World Title. This once again proves the axiom "You don't have to be good, you just have to be lucky." Of course he lost the title in his first defence, but that almost goes without saying.

When the FWA was absorbed by the WWA, Showtime was mysteriously absent from the Don's "Dark Tide." Instead he sat on his laurels, waiting for the right time to return. That time came when T.J. Donaldson and the then-Captain Amazing asked him for his help in toppling the Random Acts of Violence as WWA tag team champions.

In a scheme so ridiculous it can be considered sublime, Amazingly Simple beat the RAOV, and Showtime was revealed to be their masked accomplise. And since they didn't need him anymore, they did the sensible thing and fired him.

Where Showtime went after that? Who cares. It probably involved a mysterious fire or two, that's for sure. Then Jim Black decided one day that the WWA was dying. To save the WWA any untold misery, Black wanted to kill the WWA quickly. How, you ask?

By bringing the man who can kill the credibility of any wrestling organization. Showtime and Black announced the WWA dead, and then the next week it was "Reborn" with the two forming a tag team. The tag team was called "Reborn" by the way.

The team won the WWA World Tag Team titles somehow, either Havoc had a collective stroke, or it was Backwards day where losers won. Who knows. Oddly enough, Showtime didn't lose the title on his first defense this time.

No, he didn't even make it to the match. After injuring himself on the way to the ring, he spent a few month convalescing and generally not being there.

His return, thankfully, was brief. In his neverending quest to make himself more over through other peoples' work, he befriended James Curzon, a.k.a. Bonafide.
In the course of this partnership, Showtime won the Gen-X title (and lost it... oh you know) and introduced the WWA to one of its greatest travesties, the Mini-Showtimes.

This all came to an end when he got on the wrong side of Bonafide. After an unintentional slight, Curzon simply destroyed Showtime. And depending who you ask, the good news or bad news was a supposed career-ending injury at his former friend's hands.

Then he returned as Curzon's ally anyway. We could explain why, but meh.

He left the WWA to pursue a career in acting. He was cast in a Disney Channel sitcom called "I Meant to do That" starring Don Knotts and Amanda Bynes, but this project was tanked when Don Knotts suddenly died.

Over the next fwe years he served as a consultant for the straight-to-DVD sequel of the Wrestler starring Oliver Platt and David Arquette. He has a cameo as "German Dancer #2." He starred in other TV and movie projects, but this was by far the most successful.

And then in 2011, Showtime again emerged from Parts Unknown to appear as one of the Independece Day Rumble entrants when the WWA sent out an open invitation to any wrestler in the world. With him he brings his tell-all memoir: I MEANT to Do That!

Whether he will last or burn out as quickly as he has in the past has yet to be seen...

WWA Extreme Title (1999)

WWA World Tag Team Titles (2002)

WWA Gen-X Title (2003)

-Managed Amazingly Simple to the WWA Tag Team

Titles

-FFWA World Tag Team Titles (1999)

-FWA World Title (2000)

-Won the 2000 WWAmmie for Funniest Moment (Which he thought was for Wrestler of the Year)

-Never held a title for more than one defense

-Even managed to lose the WWA Tag Titles without even defending them

TrademarkShowstopper (Reverse Russian Leg Sweep)
TrademarkFigure Four
TrademarkMissile Dropkick

Victory roll

Drop toe-hold

Back drop

Belly-to-belly suplex

Spinning heel kick

Neckbreaker

Jawbreaker

Second-rope over-the-shoulder snap mare

Bulldog

Low Blow into a DDT

Sliced Bread #2 (Reverse Second-rope over-the-shoulder snap mare)

Spinning fireman's carry

Seated dropkick

Bronco Buster

Corner-assisted Split-legged Groin Kick (Golden Globes)

Cowering

Screaming like a little girl

Frog Splash

Joel "Showtime" Stein's IMDB Filmography:

Filmography

2001-2003 WWA Monday Night Meltdown (TV show)
Showtime

2000 FWA Sunday Showtime (TV show)
Showtime

(Records prior to 2000 were lost in a mysterious fire)