A native of Brooklyn, New York, Joel Gertner started out with dreams of professional wrestling stardom. He attended Cornell and almost graduated before attending the now defunct Lower East Side Wrestling school in Manhattan. During this time Gertner was the sports director for the college radio station. It was while working for the radio station that Gertner realized he was much with his oral skills than his mat skills.
Joel's break came in 1995, when he was invited to perform as a timekeeper for PaulHeyman's ECW. At an event in Septemeber, the ring announcer got chokeslammed and Gertner stepped up and filled in for the fallen man. This lead to a full time role with the company as an announcer.
At Heatwave '96 Joel Gertner's dreams would come true. In an angle, Bill Alfonso had Joey Styles fired from the company and told everyone he would be replaced by "The Quintessential Studmuffin" Joel Gertner. "The Quintessential Studmuffin" gimmick worked well for Joel as he kept it until ECW's unfortunate demise to bankruptcy.
When the Dudleys moved on from ECW, Gertner stayed, and quickly landed himself a job as the ring announcer for ECW's Friday night show on TNN, becoming one of the youngest men to host a wrestling program. The height of Gertner's fame came in an angle where Cyrus started bashing him. Cyrus tried to censor Gertner and do other not-so-fun things to him from bragging about his sexual prowess in a humous manner.
Part of Joel Gertner's gimmick was to give himself a different nickname instead of "The Quintessencial Studmuffin." These different nicknames often took on an oftern vulgar, sometimes funny nature. The following are some of the different ways Joel Gertner has referred to himself:
- Joel "I'd try to beat the women off of me with a stick, but it would truly be a waste, because they really like the size of my stick, and you KNOW they LOVE the taste" Gertner
- Joel "Six Times That Girly Came Before I Even Knew Her Name" Gertner
- Joel "When I reach their esophagus, they'll know I am hung like Mr. Snuffalufagus" Gertner
- Joel "I'm hung like a moose, and I **** your girlfriend till her brains come loose" Gertner
- Joel "I have busted more nuts than a peanut factory" Gertner
| 
