Josh Shernoff Explains The Inspiration Behind His On-Air Tie Gimmick

You might recognize Josh Shernoff as the “tie guy” on FITE, and he’s put plenty of thought into his personal brand.

Josh Shernoff recently spoke with WrestleZone about his new role as FITE’s Director Of Programming. He’s worked on-air the past several years for the company, appearing on FITE In Focus, his own So Says Shernoff series and as a live correspondent at various wrestling events. During that time, fans have come to know him for his airbrushed ties, which he says was a carryover of sorts from his own in-ring days.

Shernoff explained how Rob Van Dam first inspired his ring attire, but he credited wrestling journalist (and former co-host) Bill Apter for helping how to stand out in the next phase of his career.

“I wrestled for about a decade and I finished up my career in 2008 and what I always tell people, because my claim to fame was my last match was Rich Swann’s first match and we wrestled each other and Rich and I are friends to this day and he’s a great guy. But I used to get my gear airbrushed, I have some gear that wasn’t but I have airbrushed singlets and stuff that was half-inspired by Rob Van Dam and in 1999 when I started I didn’t know where to get gear made, so I brought my singlet to a person and said here’s a singlet that I bought out of a catalog, can you airbrush it for me?

“All these years later, I got back into the business, Bill Apter offered to have me sit in with one of his YouTube shows that he was doing and I showed up and I was wearing a dark blue polo shirt and afterward, we had a lot of fun, Bill goes ‘you just need a gimmick though, you look too normal, you need a gimmick’ and I was thinking that I was in there as me, not a wrestler, I’m using my real name and I’m just having some fun, what kind of gimmick? The next week I wore a flashier shirt and a bright-colored tie, ya know, just trying to be the reporter here and it didn’t feel right. Then I started thinking to myself, I did feel a little Jimmy Hart and I thought A. that’s been done and B. that’s too much because I’m very dry and sarcastic in my humor, I’m not Jimmy Hart over-the-top [like he is].

“So, it had to be a little more professional but it needs to stand out so I thought what if I went back to that person that used to airbrush my gear and ask her to do a tie. So, I got one that said ‘the Apter Chat’ and then one that says So Says Shernoff, because that was my Twitter handle back then before it was even my own show and I kind of went from there and I did the first Starrcast, I did a tie for the first Starrcast that had the Starrcast logo on it with all of the little Chicago stars on it and then I just expanded on it to do stuff that’s spoofs on wrestling gear and then I have my FITE TV ties but it all started with Bill Apter who told me that I needed a gimmick and he was right.”