Whatever happened to former WWE Superstar Joey Mercury?

Joey Mercury celebrates his 43rd birthday today, which comes more than five years after his second release from WWE.

The former Tag Team Champion initially joined the company back in 2004 and rose to fame as one-third of MNM alongside Johnny Nitro and Melina. Mercury was able to climb all the way up to the Tag Team Championships with MNM before disaster struck following a botch at Armageddon 2006.

In a match between MNM, The Hardys, Paul London & Brian Kendrick and Dave Taylor & William Regal, there was a ladder spot involving Jeff Hardy and Mercury. In the now-infamous botch, Mercury was hit in the face with the ladder. He needed more than 30 stitches and was out of action for several weeks.

Upon his return, he was only able to wrestle a few matches before he was released from his contract in March 2007. Following his release, he began attending rehab due to a painkiller addiction. During this time, CM Punk bought his house for him when it was on the verge of foreclosure.

Mercury worked the indy circuit and Ring of Honor before returning to WWE as a member of The Straight Edge Society in 2010. Following an injury, Mercury returned as part of The Authority before joining forces with Jamie Noble and becoming J&J Security.

The duo were aligned with Seth Rollins throughout his run as Mr. Money in the Bank in late 2014, but after a beating at the hands of Brock Lesnar, Mercury was written off TV and released for the second time.

Joey Mercury has remained involved with the wrestling business since his release from WWE

The star has been working on the independent circuit in recent years, but in 2019 it was revealed that he had parted ways with Ring of Honor, where he'd worked as a producer for around 18 months.

Mercury has since remained involved with the business and often shares his thoughts on WWE as part of Wrestling Shoot Interviews. Mercury also joined a class action lawsuit against Ring of Honor back in March 2021.