This article explores the careers of three distinct wrestlers, each with their own unique impact on the world of professional wrestling. From Joey Mercury's tag team success to Mark Haskins' independent circuit dominance and Hercules Hernandez's powerhouse presence, we delve into their journeys, accomplishments, and legacies.
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MNM (Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, and Melina)
Joey Mercury: From ECW to WWE and Beyond
Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979), better known by the ring name Joey Mercury, is an American professional wrestler and wrestling agent. He was trained by fellow wrestler Jimmy Cicero and made his wrestling debut in October 1996, using the name Joey Matthews as he wrestled in ECW Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 1997, approximately a year after his debut, Matthews began competing for the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (MEWF) promotion, where he won the MEWF Tag Team Championship with Christian York.
After spending some time at the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) training center in 2003, Matthews made several appearances in Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling (3PW), defeating A.J. Styles, before defeating Jerry Lynn and Sabu to become the number one contender to the 3PW Heavyweight Championship. On April 17, 2004, he defeated Raven to win the championship, a title he retained until August 21 of that year, when he lost it to Christopher Daniels in a four-way elimination match, also involving A.J. Styles. He moved to Louisville, Kentucky to the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) farm territory. There he formed a faction with Johnny Nitro; along with manager Melina, they were known as "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! brand. In their first match for the SmackDown! brand, in April 2005, they won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero. They held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Mysterio and Guerrero and Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas at Judgment Day, before dropping them to the new Legion of Doom (LOD) at The Great American Bash in July 2005. They recaptured the titles on the October 28 episode of SmackDown! in a four-way match defeating the Mexicools, William Regal and Paul Burchill, and LOD, but lost them to Mysterio and Batista two days before the Armageddon pay-per-view in December.
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Due to help from Mark Henry, they defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of SmackDown! to win the WWE Tag Team Championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until the Judgment Day pay-per-view on May 21, 2006, where MNM lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to London and Kendrick. Nitro and Melina suddenly turned on Mercury, attacking him and breaking up the group. Mercury stayed off WWE television for six months.
Mercury made a surprise return on the November 27, 2006 episode of Raw, temporarily reforming MNM with Nitro and Melina to take up the also recently reunited Hardys (Matt and Jeff) "open challenge" for December to Dismember. The Hardys went on to win the match at December to Dismember, but the feud continued across all three brands (Raw, ECW, and SmackDown!), and in a fatal-four way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at December's Armageddon event, also involving London and Kendrick, and Dave Taylor and William Regal. During the ladder match, Mercury suffered a legitimate injury when he was struck in the face with a ladder, breaking his nose and orbital bone.
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. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble, and again in a six-man tag team match in which they teamed with Montel Vontavious Porter (Chris Benoit teamed with The Hardys) at the No Way Out pay-per-view in February which concluded the feud.
On the September 29, 2014 episode of Raw, Mercury and fellow producer Jamie Noble aligned themselves with The Authority. Dubbed "J&J Security", Mercury and Noble began acting as bodyguards to Authority member Seth Rollins. On the November 24 episode of Raw, J&J Security wrestled the first televised matches for each man in several years, partnering with Rollins in a three-on-two handicap match against John Cena and Dolph Ziggler, which they lost.
On the March 16, 2015 episode of Raw, both Mercury and Noble seemingly left The Authority due to Rollins not listening them. Later that night, it was revealed to be a ruse, with all The Authority members coming out to help Rollins take out Randy Orton, but they were stopped by Sting, who made a surprise appearance and helped Orton fight off The Authority. On the June 22 episode of Raw, J&J Security reconciled with Rollins when the three of them and Kane attacked Brock Lesnar.
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On the July 6 episode of Raw, Mercury was viciously beaten by Lesnar, who after destroying his and fellow J&J Security member Jamie Noble's prized Cadillac car, which had been gifted to them by Seth Rollins the week before, picked him up and tossed him onto the then unbroken windshield of it. Birch, performing once again as Joey Matthews, announced his return as an active independent wrestler. On September 30, 2017, he won the MCW Heavyweight Championship.
Mark Haskins
Mark Haskins: A British Wrestling Sensation
Mark Haskins (born June 25, 1988), is an English professional wrestler. Haskins debuted on July 22, 2006, for FWA Academy by teaming up with Tom Langford to defeat Mark Sloan and Ollie Burns. He was involved in his first cage match just days after his debut, losing to Mark Sloan and Ollie Burns. He debuted for Premier Promotions on September 7, 2006. Haskins would go on to wrestle many matches for Premier Promotions over the years, mostly British Rules matches.
He was part of the FWA Academy Championship Number One Contendership tournament and got to the semi-finals before being eliminated by Max Voltage. Haskins debuted for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom on April 1, 2007, with Dan James, Harry Mills, & Tommy Langford defeating Ian Logan, Jake McCluskey, Jamie Brum, and Wade Fitzgerald. He would then team up with The Chavs (Dan James and Harry Mills) in a losing effort on April 4, 2007. In August, he debuted for Joint Promotions and real-quality wrestling. He participated in a British National Championship Tournament and got to the quarterfinals before being beaten by Terry Fraizer.
Haskins and Bison Smith lost to Kotaro Suzuki and Mitsuharu Misawa at A-Merchandise's Noah vs. At the beginning of 2009, he lost a 4FW Heavyweight Championship Number One Contendership five-way ladder match. Haskins lost a three-way match for the wXW World Lightweight Championship on July 4, 2009. At All-Star Wrestling, he lost to Mikey Whiplash for the World Mid-Heavyweight Championship.
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Haskins formed a team with Joel Redman known as The Thrillers; on their debut match together, they lost to The South Coast Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ian Logan and Jake McCluskey) on July 14, 2007, which involved a special guest referee. The team would go on a losing streak for the next few months and even lost to The Kartel (Sha Samuels and Terry Frazier) in a match for the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship. The team debuted for Real Quality Wrestling on February 16, 2008, and defeated the Maximum Head (Dan Head & Max Voltage) and would next month beat The Lost Boys (Danny Darko and Jo FX).
The Thrillers returned to IPW:UK on May 4, 2008, triumphant with tag team gold in the form of the RQW Tag Team Championship, only to lose the championship to The Kartel (Sha Samuels & Terry Frazier) in a championship unification match that also involved the IPW:UK Tag Team Championship. The team debuted for One Pro Wrestling losing to BritRage (Mark Sloan & Wade Fitzgerald). However, they would beat The Kartel on September 28, 2008, for the Unified British Tag Team Championship. Upon their return to IPW:UK, The Thrillers lost the Unified British Tag Team Championship to The Leaders of The New School (Marty Scurll and Zack Sabre Jr.).
Haskins debuted for Dragongate on October 31, 2009, during their European tour stop in Germany, teaming with Tommy End in a losing effort against The Young Bucks. A day later, in the UK, Haskins defeated Kagetora. Haskins joined Dragon Gate in February 2010 for a two-month tour, making his Japanese debut on February 6 and losing to Don Fujii. In August, Haskins teamed up with Pac to take part in the Summer Adventure Tag League, finishing the tournament with one win and four losses. On September 6, Haskins lost to Pac in his final Dragon Gate match in Japan.
Haskins wrestled on TNA's European Tour in January 2011. He made another appearance with TNA on July 10 at Destination X, where he was defeated by compatriot Douglas Williams. On August 18, 2011, TNA announced that Haskins had signed a contract with the promotion. On that evening's episode of Impact Wrestling, he took part in a gauntlet match to determine the X Division rankings.
Although signed to TNA, Haskins continued to perform for British independent promotions. At Preston City Wrestling's Blood, Sweat, and Beers, Haskins lost to T-Bone in a match for the PCW Championship, which also included Johnny Moss. At NGW Destiny 2012, Haskins took part in a NGW Heavyweight Championship number one contendership 30 Man Royal Rumble. At SWE Speed King, Haskins lost to Ego Dragon in the semi-final of the SWE Speed King Championship Tournament and, a month later, took on Marty Scurll for the same championship.
On January 19, 2013, Haskins lost to Zack Sabre Jr. in a qualifying match for the 16-carat gold tournament. When Dragon Gate returned to tour the UK, he wrestled at all three events, where he developed a small feud with Marty Scurll, which, on February 24, 2013, culminated with Scurll going over Haskins. On March 16, 2013, at Eastmount Recreation Centre in Hull, Haskins defeated 29 other men to become the new New Generation Wrestling Champion. On May 18, 2013, he went on to successfully defend the title against Kris Travis at Victoria Hall, Keighley (just outside Bradford).
Haskins has been a regular at Southside Wrestling Entertainment since August 2012 and won the heavyweight title on October 27, 2013. On December 4, 2017, Haskins debuted for Defiant Wrestling at #WeAreDefiant as a heel, attacking Martin Kirby with Chris Ridgeway. Austin Aries ran down to seemingly save Kirby; however, he attacked Kirby instead and aligned himself with Haskins and Ridgeway.
Haskins first competed in Progress Wrestling at Chapter Seven and quickly made a name for himself in the promotion as part of the hated Screw Indy Wrestling stable alongside Nathan Cruz, Rampage Brown, Sha Samuels and Martin Stone. Haskins and Cruz made several attempts to become Progress Tag Team Champions, but were ultimately unsuccessful in every attempt. At Chapter Thirty-Six, Haskins pinned Marty Scurll in the main event triple-threat match, also involving Tommy End, to become Progress Champion for the first time.
Haskins won the Smash Wrestling Championship at a Progress Wrestling show in June 2016, successfully answering champion Johnny Gargano's open challenge for the title. He went on to successfully defend the title against Tarik in August 2016, his first appearance for Smash in the company's home country. Haskins returned to ICW in 2022, scoring wins over Andy Wild, Theo Doros, and Stevie James while losing another ICW World Heavyweight Championship match to Kez Evans at The 10th Annual Square Go! Haskins made his Ring of Honor debut in May 2018, working during the Honor United tour.
On 20 December 2018, Haskins announced he signed a contract with Ring of Honor. At Best In The Word, Lifeblood's Haskins and Williams along with P. J. Black were defeated by Villain Enterprises for the ROH World Six Man Tag Team Championship, after the match they tried to recruit Flip Gordon to the stable, however he turned on them and joined Villain Enterprises. At Honor For All, Lifeblood's Haskins and Bandido defeated Villain Enterprises thus earning an opportunity for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. At Death Before Dishonor XVII, they were defeated by the defending champions The Briscoe Brothers.
Hercules Hernandez
Hercules Hernandez: The Powerhouse
Raymond Fernandez (May 7, 1956 â March 6, 2004) was an American professional wrestler who is known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Hercules. Fernandez started wrestling in 1981, mainly performing in the Florida and Texas territories as Hercules Hernandez.
In 1982, Hercules joined the NWA Central States territory (which ran out of Kansas City and promoted shows in Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa). While in Central States, Hercules teamed up with Dewey Robertson, the future Missing Link, and the two won the Central States tag team championship on two occasions; they beat Mike George and Mark Romero (aka Mark Youngblood) both times. He also held the Central States Television title for a little over 6 months, winning it from, and losing it back to, his main rival, Mark Romero. His two other notable feuds in the Central States territory were with Manny Fernandez and Harley Race.
His feud with Race garnered Hercules significant attention in the national wrestling scene, due to Race's stature as a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion. This feud began because Race had an issue with Oliver Humperdinkâs House of Humperdink stable, which Hercules had become a part of soon after joining the promotion. One match between the two had the stipulation that if Race won, he would get 5 minutes inside a steel cage with Humperdink. Hercules was caught using brass knuckles and got disqualified, which meant that the cage match was on. When the match was about to start, Hercules ran to ringside, knocked Race out, in kayfabe, and threw him into the ring with Humperdink.
In JCP, Fernandez was paired up with Jody Hamilton, who had been wrestling as a Masked Assassin; Fernandez became the Masked Assassin 2, a gimmick that had been played by several other wrestlers over the years. The two competed at the first ever Starrcade beating the team of Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw. After being unmasked, Fernandez moved on to Bill Watts' Mid-South promotion, where he once again donned a mask.
Mr. Wrestling II had recently turned on his tag team partner Magnum T.A. and become a heel. Mr. Wrestling II renamed himself simply âMr. Wrestlingâ and got a new protégé, âMr. Wrestling IIâ, who was Fernandez under a mask (referred to as âMr. Wrestling IIIâ in magazines to avoid confusing their readers). Mr. Wrestling II seconded Mr. Wrestling in his feud with Magnum T.A. Later on, Fernandez unmasked and competed once again as âHercules Hernandez", and feuded with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan under the tutelage of Jim Cornette. alongside future WWF co-worker Ted DiBiase.
In Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF), Hercules quickly won the NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship from Brian Blair, and then won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship from Hector Guerrero the following month; this made him a double champion. Some time during July 1985, Fernandez was fired from CWF after a dressing room fight with Wahoo McDaniel and stripped of both titles. Fernandez debuted in the WWF in 1985, managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie.
His first major national exposure came when he competed at WrestleMania 2 in a losing effort against Ricky Steamboat. Blassie would soon retire, in storyline terms selling his stable to Slick. Hernandez soon found himself floundering in the WWF midcard. In late 1986, however, his contract was "sold" to Bobby Heenan. Soon after, he would drop "Hernandez" from his ring name, begin carrying a long steel chain to the ring, and re-emerge with a visibly changed, more-muscular physique.
On the November 26, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Hercules received a highly hyped shot at the WWF Championship, facing champion Hulk Hogan. Also in the fall of 1986, Hercules would rekindle a feud with Billy Jack Haynes that went back through every promotion the two were ever in together. Both men at the time were using the Full Nelson submission hold as their finisher. This incident set the stage for their match at WrestleMania III.
The momentum swung back and forth throughout the contest until Haynes clotheslined Hercules over the top rope. When he refused to re-enter the ring, Haynes gave chase and successfully applied the full-nelson only to have both men counted out. Heenan attempted to break Haynes hold by driving a knee into his back. Haynes attention turned to Heenan once again as Hercules grabbed his steel chain and wrapped it around his fist. When Haynes turned to deal with his adversary, Hercules drove the chain into his forehead. Haynes bled profusely while Hercules and Heenan both gloated.
In the early part of 1988, during an episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling, Hercules was swinging his chain in the direction of The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior caught the chain, and the two began a tug of war, which led to the steel chain snapping at the middle. This led to their match at WrestleMania IV, which ended with Warrior pinning Hercules after pushing off from the turnbuckle while in Hercules' full nelson and landing on top of him. During the fall of 1988, Bobby Heenan sold Hercules' contract to âThe Million Dollar Manâ Ted DiBiase; DiBiase claimed that in Hercules, he had now purchased his own slave". This comment angered Hercules, who stated that he was owned by no man and turned face to feud with DiBiase.
After the feud with DiBiase ended, Hercules had a series of matches with âKingâ Haku. Despite pinning Haku at WrestleMania V, he did not become âKingâ. Herculesâ career stalled following his feud with Haku. He was mainly used as a jobber to help push the latest heels such as The Earthquake, who squashed him at WrestleMania VI. In the summer of 1990, Hercules turned heel alongside Paul Roma and the two formed Power and Glory, managed by Slick.
They had a high-profile feud with The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty), defeating them at SummerSlam '90 in Philadelphia and challenged WWF World Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart). Yet, despite the fact that the two worked well together as a team, they were never given the opportunity to cement themselves as serious players in the tag team division. When the Legion of Doom (Animal & Hawk) squashed them in 59 seconds at WrestleMania VII, it was evident to fans that the team was not destined for greatness.
After SummerSlam 1991, Roma left the WWF. Hercules spent the rest of his time in the WWF jobbing again, losing to wrestlers such as the Big Boss Man and Sid Justice, and then Intercontinental champion Bret Hart. Hercules lasted nearly forty minutes in the 1991 Royal Rumble. After being with the WWF for 7 years, Fernandez signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He once again adopted a masked persona, this time as Super Invader, a supposed oriental assassin under the management of former rival Harley Race.
As Super Invader, he beat Todd Champion at WrestleWar 1992 and beat Marcus Bagwell in a dark match before the Great American Bash 1992 PPV. One of the promotions he worked for was New Japan Pro Wrestling where he appeared as âHercules Hernandez" once more, mainly teaming with fellow powerhouse wrestler Scott Norton to form The Jurassic Powers. The team would win the IWGP Tag Team Championship from the Hell Raisers (Hawk Warrior and Power Warrior) in August 1993 and hold it for about 4 months before losing it back to the Hell Raisers at NJPW's January 4 Dome Show (NJPW's biggest annual event).
In 1994, Hercules wrestled in the American Wrestling Federation promotion taking part in the tournament to crown the first AWF champion. Fernandez died in his sleep in his home on March 6, 2004 at the age of 47.
Championships and Accomplishments
The following table summarizes the championships and notable accomplishments of Joey Mercury, Mark Haskins, and Hercules Hernandez:
| Wrestler | Championships and Accomplishments |
|---|---|
| Joey Mercury |
|
| Mark Haskins |
|
| Hercules Hernandez |
|