Joey Mercury Adam Birch ( July 18 , 1979 ) is an American professional wrestler , also known by the ring name s Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews . He was formerly signed to WWE , where he worked as a producer and was on - screen performer as part of J & J Security with Jamie Noble until July 2015 . Birch was trained by fellow wrestler Jimmy Cicero and made his wrestling debut in October 1996 , using the name Joey Matthews . The following year , he began competing for Mid - Eastern Wrestling Federation ( MEWF ) , where he began competing in tag team competition and captured the MEWF Tag Team Championship , alongside Christian York . Throughout the late - 1990s , Birch competed in various independent promotions , where he and York continued to work as a team . It was also during that time that he won various championships in singles and tag team competition . In 2004 , Birch signed with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) in Louisville , Kentucky under the name Joey Mercury . While situated at OVW , he was placed in tag team competition , alongside Johnny Nitro , in which they won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship on one occasion . It was also during this time that he and Nitro , alongside their manager Melina , were known as the stable MNM . The group were called up to the SmackDown ! roster and on their debut in April 2005 , Mercury and Nitro went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship . After their third and final reign ended in May 2006 , Nitro and Melina turned on Mercury , thus ending their faction . However , in November 2006 , the team reunited for a brief period , before Mercury was let go from his contract in March 2007 . Following his stint with WWE , Birch continued his wrestling career , appearing at several independent promotions , including competing at Ring of Honor events . In March 2008 , he returned to OVW , where he won the OVW Television Championship on one occasion . In October 2008 , Birch announced his retirement from professional wrestling , following an injury , but later returned to wrestling in 2010 , working for WWE as a producer . He returned to TV in 2014 as an on screen security for the WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins as part of The Authority faction . Professional wrestling career . Early career ( 1996 – 2001 ) . After being trained by fellow professional wrestler Jimmy Cicero , Birch made his debut in October 19 96 under the name Joey Matthews . 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 . Matthews defeated York on May 8 , 1998 , to regain the Southern Championship Wrestling Junior Heavyweight Championship in Wendell , North Carolina . Matthews and York , soon teamed up again , however , and won the Steel City Wrestling Tag Team Championship on December 20 , 1998 . Less than a month later , Matthews defeated York to win the Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance Light Heavyweight Championship on January 9 , 1999 . He was also a member of the North Carolina based Organization of Modern Extreme Grappling Arts ( OMEGA ) run by Matt and Jeff Hardy , where he defeated York to win the OMEGA Light Heavyweight Championship on January 29 , 1999 . He was briefly signed to a World Championship Wrestling contract in 1999 . A few months later , while competing in singles competition at Maryland Championship Wrestling ( MCW ) , he once again defeated York to win the MCW Cruiserweight Championship on May 21 . Matthews and York soon began teaming again , and , sometimes using the Bad Street Boys as a tag team name , they won numerous tag team championships , including the Atlantic Terror Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship on January 15 , 2000 and the MCW Tag Team Championship on May 17 , 2000 . In late 2000 they joined Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) , and lost to Danny Doring and Roadkill at Anarchy Rulz . They then began a feud with Simon Diamond and Johnny Swinger , whom they lost to at November to Remember , but defeated at Massacre on 34th Street . They competed in ECW until the promotion closed in January 2001 and were on the company ' s final pay - per - view Guilty as Charged , where they suffered a loss to Jerry Lynn and Cyrus . After the closure of ECW , they returned to the independent circuit , where , on February 3 , 2001 , the Bad Street Boys defeated Rick Michaels and David Young to become the NWA World Tag Team Champions , a championship that they held for two weeks . They won the MCW Tag Team Championship for the second time on November 3 by defeating Earl the Pearl and Rich Myers , and later won the Virginia Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship on December 1 , 2001 . Independent circuit ( 2001 – 2004 ) . In 2002 , Matthews and York competed in Ring of Honor ( ROH ) , and teamed together on several occasions , before Matthews joined a faction called Special K , of which he was a member until 2004 . He also worked for various independent organizations such as Xtreme Pro Wrestling , Maryland Championship Wrestling ( MCW ) and Phoenix Championship Wrestling . On January 29 , 2003 , Matthews defeated Romeo Valentino to win the MCW Rage Television Championship , but lost it four months later to Doug Delicious on May 15 . On the April 14 , 2003 , episode of World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) ' s " Raw " , one of WWE ' s primary television programs , Matthews and York teamed up to defeat Phil Brown and Pat Cusick in a dark match . In the months that followed , Matthews wrestled for North America ' s three largest wrestling promotions , WWE , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , and ROH . His early months in WWE saw him taking on Lance Storm and Crowbar in dark matches , and Matt Hardy , Último Dragón and A - Train on " Velocity " . On July 19 , 2003 , at " Death Before Dishonor " , a Ring of Honor event , he teamed with Krazy K and in a loss to Jeff Hardy in a handicap match . In August 2003 , Matthews lost to Chris Sabin on an episode of " TNA Xplosion " . After spending some time in November 2003 at the Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) training center , 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 and Chris Sabin . Meanwhile , Matthews was still active in WWE , and lost to Rhino and Maven on " Sunday Night Heat " . He was also still competing in TNA ' s X Division , and in August , he took part in a 20 - Man Gauntlet match , in which Petey Williams won the X Division title . Afterwards , Matthews competed for Puerto Rico ' s World Wrestling Council ( WWC ) , losing to Eddie Colón in September , and exchanging victories with Alex Montalvo in November . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2004 – 2007 ) . Matthews wrestled in dark matches before being assigned to a developmental deal by WWE in 2004 and moved to Louisville , Kentucky to the Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) " farm territory " There he formed a faction with Johnny Nitro , which 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 ! " roster , where Matthews was renamed Joey Mercury . In their first match for the 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 , before dropping them to the new Legion of Doom ( LOD ) at The Great American Bash in July 2005 . They recaptured the titles in a four - way match defeating The Mexicools , William Regal and Paul Burchill , and LOD , but lost them to Mysterio and Batista days before the Armageddon pay - per - view in December . Due to help from Mark Henry , they defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on December 30 to win the 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 tag team title to London and Kendrick . Nitro and Melina suddenly turned on Mercury , attacking him and breaking up the group . Later that night Nitro and Melina were fired from the SmackDown ' brand in storyline , to facilitate their move to Raw , where they reappeared the following week . The legitimate reason for the team ' s sudden split was later revealed to be Mercury failing a WWE Wellness Policy drug test and being forced to serve a 30 - day suspension . 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 ECW December to Dismember . The Hardys went on to win the match , but the feud continued across all three brands ( Raw , ECW , and SmackDown ! ) , and in a fatal - four way ladder match at December ' s Armageddon event , also involving London and Kendrick , and Dave Taylor and William Regal , Mercury suffered a legitimate injury when he was struck in the face with a ladder , breaking his nose . He immediately left the match and was rushed to an emergency room where he received five stitches to the inside of his nose and fifteen to the outside . As a result , Nitro continued the match on his own . 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 at the No Way Out pay - per - view in February which concluded the feud . He also wrestled in singles competition on " SmackDown ! " until he was released from his WWE contract on March 26 , 2007 . Return to the independent circuit and Ring of Honor ( 2007 – 2008 ) . Matthew ' s first appearance after his WWE release was on April 21 for Northeast Wrestling , when he and Romeo Roselli defeated The NOW . He went on to make appearances for MCW , Independent Wrestling Association Mid - South , and the New York Wrestling Connection , competing against wrestlers including Alex Shelley , Tyler Black , and Brother Runt . Matthew ' s wrestled in All American Wrestling ( AAW ) in July 2007 , where he lost to Eric Priest . He made another appearance on September 29 , reuniting with Christian York , in a losing effort against the AAW Tag Team Champions , The Motor City Machine Guns ( Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley ) . In September 2007 , Matthews began working for OVW as a trainer for the intermediate class . He also competed in dark matches at the OVW television tapings . At TNA ' s Bound for Glory pay - per - view in October 2007 , he competed in a dark match , where he teamed with Johnny Swinger in a losing effort to The Motor City Machineguns . For the remainder of 2007 , Matthews worked for independent promotions , including Pro Wrestling Unplugged and the United Wrestling Federation . On January 25 , 2008 , Matthews returned to ROH as the newest member of The Age of the Fall ( AotF ) , where he partnered with Jimmy Jacobs in a losing effort against Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero of the No Remorse Corps . The following night , Matthews lost to Mark Briscoe . Matthews was mainly utilized in a tag team role as a member of the AotF , teaming with fellow faction members Tyler Black and Necro Butcher . During this time , he continued to work for other promotions , and on March 12 , at an OVW television taping , he defeated Jamin Olivencia to win the OVW Television Championship . After successful defenses against Olivencia , he dropped the title to Tommy McNailer a month later on April 16 . He continued to wrestle for ROH until Battle For Supremacy in June , when he and Jimmy Jacobs lost to Kevin Steen and El Generico , in what was his last ROH wrestling match . He continued to wrestle for OVW , and also made appearances for MCW and German Stampede Wrestling . In October 2008 , Matthews announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to injury . Return to WWE ( 2010 – 2017 ) . In 2010 , Birch came out of retirement and returned to WWE at the " SmackDown " tapings on April 20 , where he lost to Shelton Benjamin in a dark match . On April 25 at Extreme Rules , he reappeared on television as a masked member of CM Punk ' s Straight Edge Society and interfered in Punk ' s match with Rey Mysterio , helping him pick up the win . Birch continued to interfere in Punk ' s matches during the following months , before being unmasked by Big Show on the July 23 episode of " SmackDown " . At SummerSlam , Mercury ' s name was tweaked to Joseph Mercury . In early September it was reported that Mercury had undergone surgery on a torn pectoral muscle . In order to rehabilitate the muscle , he began training at Florida Championship Wrestling , WWE ' s developmental territory . He later began working there as a trainer . Following this , he moved into a producer role for the main roster . Starting in mid - 2014 , Mercury began to make occasional on - screen appearances as part of The Authority , along with Jamie Noble . The pair were frequently used as henchmen , performing various tasks for Triple H . After Survivor Series 2014 and The Authority ' s loss of power , they appear to still be operating as bodyguards for Seth Rollins . Together they were referred to as J & J Security when chosen as his tag partners in a match against Cena and Ziggler . In January 2017 , it was reported that Birch had been quietly released from WWE in 2016 .