Adam Birch

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Adam Birch
Statistics
Ring name(s) Joey Matthews[1]
Joey Mercury[1]
Billed height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Billed weight 187 lb (85 kg)[1]
Born July 18, 1979 (1979-07-18) (age 29)[1]
Fairfax, Virginia[1]
Billed from Los Angeles, California
Fairfax, Virginia
Trained by Jimmy Cicero[1]
OVW staff
Debut October 12, 1996[1]
Retired October 2008

Adam Birch[1] (born on July 18, 1979)[1], is an American professional wrestler, competing under the name Joey Matthews. Birch is best known his time in World Wrestling Entertainment, where he competed as Joey Mercury. There, he regularly teamed with Johnny Nitro as MNM, with the pair being three time WWE Tag Team Champions.[2][3][4]

Birch began his career, under the name Joey Matthews, in Maryland Championship Wrestling, where he held a variety of titles. He was also a member of the North Carolina based Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts (OMEGA) run by Matt and Jeff Hardy.[5]

His first national exposure came after he left OMEGA and formed a tag team named "The Badstreet Boys", with fellow OMEGA alum Christian York. Together the Badstreet Boys wrestled in multiple smaller promotions, and had nine independent tag team championship reigns. In late 2000 they joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where they stayed until it's closure in January 2001, and were on the company's final pay-per-view Guilty as Charged. York and Matthews had a brief stint in World Championship Wrestling before that company's demise in March of 2001.

At the tail end of their ECW careers, they simply changed their tag team name to York and Matthews and floated around the independent circuit after ECW folded, most notably competing in Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Phoenix Championship Wrestling. York's 2004 retirement from the wrestling business dissolved the team and left Matthews to wrestle in singles matches in promotions like PMF - Premier Wrestling Federation, Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Main article: MNM

Birch wrestled in dark matches[6][7] before being assigned to a developmental deal by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2004 and moved to Louisville, Kentucky to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) "farm territory". There he formed a tag team with Johnny Nitro, which along with manager Melina Perez, was called MNM.

MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, winning the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before being called up to the main SmackDown! roster, where Matthews was renamed Mercury.[8] While on SmackDown! they feuded with teams of Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero,[9] Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas,[10] Legion of Doom, Rey Mysterio and Batista,[11] and Paul London and Brian Kendrick.[12] Together they captured the WWE Tag Team Championship on three occasions, all in their rookie year on the brand.[13][14]

On May 21, 2006 at the Judgment Day pay-per-view, where MNM lost the tag team title to London and Kendrick, Nitro and Melina suddenly turned on Mercury, breaking up the group. Later that night they were (kayfabe) fired from the SmackDown! brand[15] and reappeared on the following Raw. The legit reason for the team's sudden split was later revealed to be Mercury failing a WWE Wellness Policy drug test and being forced to serve a 30 day suspension.

Mercury actually stayed off WWE television for six months. In that time he went through a drug rehabilitation in College Park, Georgia at a facility that has an exclusive contract with the WWE. Afterwards was sent back to OVW. He made a surprise return on the November 27, 2006 edition Raw, temporarily reforming MNM with Nitro and Melina to take up the also recently reunited Hardys (Matt and Jeff) "open challenge" for ECW December to Dismember.[16]

The Hardys went on to win the match,[17] but the feud continued across all three brands,[18][19][20] and in a fatal-four way ladder match at December's Armageddon - also involving London and Kendrick, and Dave Taylor and William Regal - Mercury suffered a (legit) medical injury when he was struck in the face with a ladder, breaking his nose. He immediately left the match and was rushed to an emergency room where he received 5 stitches to the inside of his nose and 15 to the outside.[21][22] As a result, Nitro continued the match all by himself on behalf of his team.

After missing a few weeks, Mercury returned wearing a protective face mask and his injury was worked into the angle, with both he and Nitro attempting to injure the Hardys in various ways for revenge. On his return he continued to wrestle, both as a singles competitor on SmackDown![23] and with Nitro on Raw[24] until he was released from his WWE contract on March 26, 2007.[25]

Birch appeared in All American Wrestling in July 2007, where he lost to Eric Priest. He made another appearance on September 29, 2007, reuniting with Christian York, in a losing effort against the AAW Tag Team Champions, the Motor City Machine Guns.

On January 25, 2008, Matthews returned to Ring of Honor as the newest member of The Age of the Fall. He teamed with Jimmy Jacobs in a losing effort against Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero of the No Remorse Corps. The following night, Matthews lost to Mark Briscoe. Matthews continued to make appearances with ROH until he was apparently written out of the company at Battle For Supremacy, as Austin Aries was shown attacking him and slamming him in a car door.

Matthews works for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as a trainer for the intermediate class. He returned to in-ring competition on March 5 at OVW's television taping. He later defeated Jamin Olivencia for the OVW Television Championship on the March 15 edition of OVW. He lost it to Tommy McNaler on April 16. In October 2008 Matthews announced his retirement from professional wrestling.[citation needed]

He had a three and a half year relationship with current WWE Diva Mickie James, living together in Virginia before splitting up.[26] He also briefly dated Christy Hemme.[26]

During an interview, Birch revealed that he had been using drugs at age 15, using cocaine, crack and heroin, and mixing it with alcohol.[27]

“ I've been a drug addict and alcoholic since I was 15 years old, right before I started in wrestling -- so that's the better part of 15 years. ”

As a result of this, Birch has overdosed three times, and wrecked ten cars.[27] Birch entered rehab in 2006, and missed 6 months of work.[27] After his return, Birch became addicted to painkillers, due to the facial injury he suffered at the Armageddon pay-per-view in December 2006.[27] After a direct intervention by WWE owner, Vince McMahon, Birch was released, and credits this with him beating his addictions.[27]

  • Atlantic Terror Championship Wrestling
  • American Wrestling Council
    • AWC Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Delaware Championship Wrestling
    • DCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Christian York
  • Five Star Wrestling
    • Five Star Light Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
  • Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance
    • IPWA Light Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
    • IPWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Mark Shrader
  • New York Wrestling Connection
    • NYWC Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Phoenix Championship Wrestling
    • PCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Christian York
  • Southern Championship Wrestling
    • SCW Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • Steel City Wrestling
    • SCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Christian York
  • Ultimate Championship Wrestling
    • UCW Heavyweight Championship
  • Virginia(now Vanguard) Championship Wrestling
    • VCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Christian York

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Joey Matthews Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  2. ^ a b "History Of The WWE Tag team Championship - MNM(1)". WWE (2005-04-21). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  3. ^ a b "History Of The WWE Tag Team Championship - MNM(2)". WWE (2005-10-28). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  4. ^ a b "History Of The WWE Tag Team Championship - MNM(3)". WWE (2005-12-30). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  5. ^ Matt Hardy (2007-05-29). "Will Not Die-aries: Thoughts on rival Gregroy Helms". Retrieved on 2007-05-29.
  6. ^ "Heat - May 12, 2003 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  7. ^ "RAW - September 22, 2003 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  8. ^ "SmackDown - April 14, 2005 Results", Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 8 July 2007. 
  9. ^ "SmackDown - April 28, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  10. ^ PWI Staff. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts" (in English), "Wrestling’s historical cards", Kappa Publishing, pp. 117-118. 
  11. ^ "SmackDown - January 6, 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  12. ^ "SmackDown - February 10, 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  13. ^ "SmackDown - April 21, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  14. ^ "SmackDown - December 30, 2005 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  15. ^ PWI Staff. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts" (in English), "Wrestling’s historical cards", Kappa Publishing, pp. 121. 
  16. ^ "SmackDown - November 27, 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  17. ^ PWI Staff. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts" (in English), "Wrestling’s historical cards", Kappa Publishing, pp. 122. 
  18. ^ "ECW on SciFi - November 28, 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  19. ^ "SmackDown - December 1, 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  20. ^ "RAW - December 4, 2006 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  21. ^ "Update on Joey Mercury". WWE. Retrieved on 2007-03-26. "I have four fractures on the inside of my nose; I have 5 stitches on the inside of my nose and my cheek and 15 stitches on the outside of my nose and cheek. My left eye is swollen shut and I have continual internal bleeding from my nose and my eye."
  22. ^ PWI Staff. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts" (in English), "Wrestling’s historical cards", Kappa Publishing, pp. 122. 
  23. ^ PWI Staff. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated, May 2007" (in English), Arena Reports, Kappa Publishing, p. 130. 
  24. ^ "SmackDown - March 12, 2007 Results". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  25. ^ Waldman, Jon. "Mercury released by WWE". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
  26. ^ a b RF Video (2008). "Shoot with Joey Matthews". RF Video.com.
  27. ^ a b c d e Hillhouse, Dave (2007-10-12). "Joey Matthews addresses his addictions". SLAM sports. Retrieved on 2008-08-05.
  28. ^ "3PW The Future is Now". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-07-06.
  29. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners - Tag Team of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2008-05-04.

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