MNM (professional wrestling)
| MNM | |
|---|---|
| File:Mnm456.jpg (Left to right) Joey Mercury, Melina and Johnny Nitro reunited in 2006. | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Joey Mercury Johnny Nitro Melina |
| Name(s) | MNM (Mercury, Nitro and Melina) |
| Billed heights | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) - Joey Mercury 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) - Johnny Nitro |
| Combined billed weight | 429 lb (194 kg) |
| Debut | 2005 |
MNM are a heel stable in World Wrestling Entertainment. They consist of Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro and their manager and leader Melina. Their gimmick is that they are a trio of Hollywood celebrities and their ring entrance is complete with a rolled out red carpet and accompanying paparazzi taking their pictures. They derive their name from the first initials of the last names of Mercury and Nitro and the first initial of their manager Melina. MNM was later joined by a "fixer", Jillian Hall (Was not a MNM member, but their fixer), but Jillian left the group not long after to offer her services to John "Bradshaw" Layfield.
History
MNM got their start in Ohio Valley Wrestling when Matt Cappotelli brought in Melina Perez, an old girlfriend of Johnny Nitro, in spite of revenge, only to see Melina double cross Cappotelli and re-join Nitro. The pair was soon joined by Joey Mercury who teamed with Nitro as MNM. The team won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on November 10, 2004.
On SmackDown!, MNM made their debut during the first edition of Carlito's Cabana, an interview segment. Carlito was interviewing WWE Tag Team Champion Rey Mysterio. Suddenly, unfamiliar music hit and MNM made their way to the ring. Melina told the confused audience that Nitro and Mercury could win the WWE Tag Team Championship. The two then attacked Rey Mysterio. The next week, MNM spraypainted Rey's partner Eddie Guerrero's prized lowrider and Eddie demanded a title match. MNM, due to interference from Melina, managed to defeat the two veterans for the titles.
MNM held the title until July 24, 2005 when they lost to Road Warrior Animal and Heidenreich at The Great American Bash. The loss of the tag title was seen as bad publicity by Melina who went on to hire a publicist, Jillian Hall, to help turn the bad publicity into good publicity. On the episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown! aired October 28, 2005, MNM defeated Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal, the Mexicools, William Regal and Paul Burchill to win the tag team championship for the second time.
On the December 16 2005 edition of SmackDown!, MNM lost their championship to the team of Batista and Rey Mysterio. On the December 30, 2005 edition of SmackDown!, MNM defeated Batista and Mysterio, after help from the returning Mark Henry, to regain the WWE Tag Team Championship. It was later revealed that Mark Henry was hired for Melina's protection (because according to kayfabe, Melina had claimed that Batista had sexually harassed her the night he and Rey won the championship from MNM), although that storyline was soon abandoned as Henry became a major player in the World Heavyweight Championship picture and gained a new manager.
On the April 7 2006 edition of SmackDown!, MNM began a losing streak against the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a non-title match. This losing streak involved various types of matches, including singles matches and 6 man tag matches. On the May 5, 2006 edition of SmackDown!, MNM attacked London and Kendrick before a title match could begin to gain revenge for their recent losing streak. The next week, MNM came out to gloat about themselves, with Kendrick, London and Jillian Hall attacking them and exposing their matching underwear.
Split
At Judgment Day on May 21, 2006, MNM were defeated by London and Kendrick to lose their WWE Tag Team Championships. Melina and Nitro then inexplicably turned on Mercury, thus ending the MNM faction. Melina would go on to lose her match with Jillian Hall as well as her and Nitro's jobs after slapping SmackDown! GM Theodore Long in frustration.
Nitro along with his manager Melina would continue to team together and were moved to WWE RAW while Mercury was off television due to a (legit) failed drug test, but would go to OVW months later.
Reunion
On November 27, 2006, during the December to Dismember press conference, The Hardys announced that they were offering an open challenge to any tag team in the world for a match at December to Dismember. That night, during RAW, Johnny Nitro and Melina stated that they accepted The Hardys' challenge and then Joey Mercury appeared on camera while Nitro and Melina said that, for one night only, MNM would reunite at the December to Dismember pay-per-view. However, MNM would also reunite to defeat Paul London and Brian Kendrick on the Friday Night Smackdown! two days beforehand. MNM lost to The Hardy Boys at the PPV, but they teamed up with Rated-RKO on the following RAW defeating DX and The Hardy Boyz in an 8-Man Tag Team Match when Edge pinned Matt Hardy.
Back To Singles Competition
It turned out that Melina was right when she said that they were back for one night only, as the team, after wrestling in an 8-man tag match, stopped teaming on a good note. It was never addressed, but Nitro and Melina appeared by themselves and Mercury's profile was never put on the RAW Superstar page on WWE.com.
Signature moves
- Snapshot (Double team Flapjack DDT)
- Superkick - Nitro
- Virginia Necktie (Shoulder neckbreaker) - Mercury
- Spinning kneel-out facebuster - Melina
- Simultaneous leg-drops to the throat and leg
- Double baseball-slide dropkick
Championships and accomplishments
- Ohio Valley Wrestling
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time)
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times)
- Mercury and Nitro had all of their 3 Tag Titles reigns during their WWE rookie year.
- WWE Tag Team Championship (3 times)