'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Former ECW and WWE Superstar Joey Mercury has wrestled all over the world. He is probably best known for his time as one half of the popular MNM tag team from the mid-2000s, in which he teamed with Johnny Nitro (soon to be John Morrison, Johnny Impact, Johnny Etcetera and more) and their manager Melina. You also probably know him from his time as one of Seth Rollins' goons during The Architect's WWE Championship reign in 2014. After his in-ring career ended, Mercury was kept around by WWE as a backstage producer, much like men such as Fit Finlay, Shane Helms, Billy Kidman, D-Von Dudley, Jamie Noble, and more. Wrestlers and promoters alike have said for years that Mercury is one of the smartest men in the wrestling business -- he "has a mind for the business", as it's called, and he has been an invaluable member of the backstage team everywhere he's been.
He recently became a free agent and is not aligned with or being paid by any pro-wrestling company, and any owner or promoter with a solid head on their shoulders would be very smart to offer him an opportunity to join their company as soon as he's available. With that in mind, here are the five wrestling companies that could benefit from having Joey Mercury on their team.
#5 New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America
With New Japan's recent announcement that they are officially launching an offshoot of their company in the United States, there are going to be some spots to fill. The head trainer of the LA Dojo is Katsuyori Shibata, a great pro wrestler who appears to have the outstanding ability to teach ohers how to succeed. Outside of Shibata, and maybe TJP if he's sticking around, New Japan's new American offshoot doesn't have a strong base of backstage generals to take the helm.
The wrestlers who help keep things together behind the scenes in New Japan are based out of their home country, and while it would be greatly beneficial to have their knowledge available when they are in America for tours, they won't be full-time. Wrestlers and former wrestlers based out of America are going to be needed for full-time work. It's too bad for NJ of America that Lance Storm decided to rejoin the WWE family, because he could have been a perfect fit.
Mercury, like Storm, has experience in many different environments. He was a member of a popular (if short-lived) tag team in ECW when he was very young and spent time on the independent scene in the late 1990s before that. From 2002 through mid-2004, he was simultaneously wrestling for WWE, Ring of Honor, and TNA before joining WWE full time in 2004. In short, he knows what it's like to be part of upstart companies, no-name promotions, and giant conglomerates. That varied knowledge picked up throughout the years makes Joey a great fit for the upstart New Japan of America, especially with the main company already having trouble gaining a foothold in America.
#4 Impact Wrestling
Much like New-Japan of America, Impact is a company trying to gain footing. It's obviously a different scenario, since NJoA is starting almost from scratch while Impact has almost two decades of history behind them. Impact also has a strong core roster and is already gaining momentum with their parent company, Anthem, purchasing AXS TV and putting the show in primetime on Tuesday nights.
Regardless, a mind like the one possessed by Joey Mercury could prove to be crucial to the ongoing success of the brand. It gets you another former wrestler in a position to teach younger talent, and the company gains a man who can be a secondary locker room leader (behind whichever current Impact star is considered the locker room leader among the active wrestlers).
Mercury doesn't appear to be in it for the money, but the love of the business. Impact has more money now than they have had in a long time so they would be able to offer him a good contract (likely far better than what he was making in his most recent endeavour), which would be another incentive to join the rebuilding brand.
He's also a good guy to have around when and if Impact becomes a touring company due to his many years travelling the country and the world with WWE, Ring of Honor and more.
#3 WWE
WWE is in the opposite of financial straits. Even with some recent difficulties in the stock market (which are projected to start moving back upward and surely will), the company may be bringing in more revenue than ever before.
With that in mind, the 40-year-old former pro wrestler would be able to secure himself for life by taking a WWE contract. In this case, Mercury could do more than one job, as well.
The Performance Center is constantly bringing in guest coaches to help some of heir young talent move along with their development. They also have a strong core of full-time trainers. With the Performance Center growing at a rapid pace, it would be great for them to have another person for the young talent to look toward for guidance.
Joey would be a great man to have around, even for seasoned pros who may have 10-15 years of in-ring competition under their belts. AJ Styles himself said that the biggest regret he has about not going to NXT for a short stint before joining the main roster was how difficult it was to learn how to play to the camera, not to the crowd. Mercury spent many years doing that, so his experience could be crucial for re-training the men and women in that particular area.
Plus, with Lance Storm shutting down his training school and opting to sign with WWE as a road agent, it opens up a spot that he easily could have taken as a trainer. Storm would have been a great fit for the WWE PC, but he's going to be on the road with the main roster. Joey Mercury could be the man at the PC instead, and he could be very influential, especially since his biggest passion in recent years is doing everything he can to help others succeed.
#2 Beyond Wrestling
Beyond Wrestling is an interesting case. They've been around for a decade now, and aren't only a single-serving promotion. In 2018, the company started their very popular and successful "Uncharted Territory" show, a live weekly broadcast on their streaming service.
It was scheduled to be a one-off series of 17 episodes to build to their version of WrestleMania, a yearly tradition called Americanrana, along with an 18th episode to tie everything into a nice bow with the fallout from the Americanrana event. Instead, they announced at that very event that they would indeed be continuing with a second season of their weekly show, which will likely continue for the foreseeable future.
Beyond Wrestling, while they are a company that runs its events, is also a major advocate for independent wrestling as a whole. Their recently created streaming service includes live streaming and VOD for companies like CHIKARA, CZW, Freelance Wrestling, Black Label Pro, AIW, IWA: Mid-South and so many more. Before the streaming service and website existed, their YouTube channel was the main hub that the company used to promote themselves as well as the promotions mentioned above and so many others. Beyond isn't a parent company, but they are a hub from which others can gather together and benefit from. It's truly a beautiful thing.
That brings us to Joey Mercury, The proper Beyond Wrestling promotion has a strong base of talent new and old with creative minds on the wrestling side and the business end. But any company could use a man with a mind like Joey's to take advantage of.
He could also visit places like CZW, Freelance, Black Label and many more as a guest at their events and training sessions to help spread the knowledge that he can offer to a larger-spanning part of the independent wrestling world. That sounds like the kind of thing Mercury would be built to do, and would probably love, even if it's only an occasional deal.
#1 All Elite Wrestling
All Elite Wrestling is the new kid on the block. The company was announced at the beginning of 2019, they began promoting their first show in February and they ran their first event in May. The company has run several PPV events in the second half of 2019 and their weekly television show on TNT began just one short month ago.
While they have great minds and successful wrestlers like Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Christopher Daniels, Frankie Kazarian, BJ Whitmer, Billy Gunn, Dean Malenko, and Jerry Lynn already at the helm backstage, Mercury would be an interesting fit among that group. While Malenko and Lynn both had runs in WWE and ECW (Malenko was also, of course, a staple of WCW's Cruiserweight division), Joey has an even more diverse background that he can share.
Mercury had a brief stint with ECW before they went under, has spent time all over the independents, had a short run with TNA in its early days as well as the early days of ROH. While guys like Malenko and Lynn had runs in ECW and WWE (Lynn also had a brief run about a decade ago in ROH and even won their World Championship), Mercury still may be the most well-rounded of them all. He was successful in WWE as part of a popular tag team who won the Tag Team Championship.
He has seen the ins-and-outs of independent companies and has spent time as a producer for WWE and elsewhere. He has the chops to be a valuable producer/coach/trainer for AEW, and the company, if given the opportunity, would be very wise to bring him on board.
Follow Sportskeeda Wrestling and Sportskeeda MMA on Twitter for all the latest news. Do not miss out!
Have you checked out Sportskeeda's new feature here? Vote for your favourite match at this location, folks.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
