Athletes - Adam Birch

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	Athletes - Adam Birch

Adam Birch, better known as Joey Mercury, is an American professional wrestler, currently one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Johnny Nitro on SmackDown!.

Career

Adam Birch debuted on June 12, 1996 under the name Joey Matthews. His career began in earnest with the now defunct promotion Maryland Championship Wrestling, where he held a variety of titles. He was also part of Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts, a high-flying promotion run by Matt and Jeff Hardy. His first national exposure came after he left OMEGA and formed a tag team, the Badstreet Boys, with fellow OMEGA alumni Christian York. The Badstreet Boys wrestled in multiple promotions before joining Extreme Championship Wrestling in late 2000. The bankruptcy of ECW in 2001 forced them to return to the independent circuit.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

Birch wrestled in TNA under the name Joey Matthews for a few months. After a lengthy absence in TNA he entered a 22-man Gaunlet for the Gold for the TNA X-Division Championship. He was thrown out by AJ Styles.

World Wrestling Entertainment

The Badstreet Boys eventually split, and Birch had a moderately successful singles career before he was signed to a developmental deal by WWE. Birch formed a tag team with Johnny Nitro, and the duo formed a stable with their manager Melina. The stable - "MNM" - took its name from their respective surnames (Birch was renamed Joey Mercury). MNM became cocky, egotistical heels.

On April 14, 2005 MNM debuted on Smackdown!, attacking Rey Mysterio. On April 21, 2005 Birch, along with Nitro, defeated Rey Mysterio and the late Eddie Guerrero for the WWE Tag Team Championships. They successfully defended the titles at Judgment Day 2005, defeating Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas to retain.

On July 24, 2005 at The Great American Bash, MNM lost their Tag Team Championships to Animal and Heidenreich. They regained them on the October 28 episode of SmackDown!, defeating Animal and Heidenreich, William Regal and Paul Burchill, and Psicosis and Super Crazy in a four way tag team match.

On December 16, MNM lost their belts to Batista and Rey Mysterio, but regained them on the December 30 edition of SmackDown!, after help from the returning Mark Henry.

In the 2006 Royal Rumble, Mercury entered at number 14 and lasted almost half an hour, before getting thrown out by Shawn Michaels.

In wrestling

Managers

Candie
Alexis Laree
Luxurious Lynne
Melina

Finishing and signature moves

Virginia Necktie (Hangman's neckbreaker)
Double underhook DDT
Frankensteiner
Northern Lights Suplex

With Christian York

Future Shock (Double powerbomb)
Double facebreaker
Combination super frankensteiner and diving elbow drop
Double enzuiguri

With Johnny Nitro====

Snapshot (Flapjack DDT)

Trivia

MNM is the only Tag-Team to hold the WWE Tag-Team Championship three times. They won the titles three times in less than a year.

Personal life

Birch previously dated fellow wrestler Mickie James
. At one point, he was rumored to be dating former WWE diva Christy Hemme
, however, in an Internet interview in January 2006, Hemme claimed that she wasn't dating anyone at that time.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Adam Birch ]

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