Crimson Tommy Mercer ( February 21 , 1985 ) is an American professional wrestler , he is best known for his time at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) under the ring name Crimson . He also works for various promotions on the independent circuit , including Absolute Intense Wrestling ( AIW ) , NWA Main Event , Main Event Championship Wrestling and Showtime All - Star Wrestling ( SAW ) . Mercer served five years in the United States Army , which included two tours of Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom . Early life . Mercer was born and raised by a single mother in Cleveland , Ohio . He attended North Ridgeville High School , where he played football and basketball , but was unable to continue to pursue a career in either of them , without an athletic scholarship . After graduation , Mercer joined the United States Army in order to fund his college studies . He ended up serving for five years , which included two tours of Iraq , in the 101st Airborne Division as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom . Professional wrestling career . uring his second tour of Iraq , Mercer decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling and upon his return to the United States , entered the NWA Main Event wrestling school in Clarksville , Tennessee , where he was trained by Jeff Daniels . He would make his professional wrestling debut in 2007 , working for independent promotions in Nashville , Tennessee . He would eventually make his debut also for NWA Main Event , starting a storyline rivalry with his trainer Jeff Daniels . On June 3 , 2010 , Mercer won his first professional wrestling championship , when he defeated Matt Boyce for the NWA Mid - American Television Championship . On October 10 , 2009 , Mercer wrestled in a six – way pre - show match at a Ring of Honor ( ROH ) event in Indianapolis , Indiana . United States Wrestling Organization ( 2009 – 2010 ) . Mercer made his debut for United States Wrestling Organization ( USWO ) on July 7 , 2009 , defeating Matt Burns . Following the match , Mercer was attacked by Jeff Daniels and Dominique . This led to Mercer ' s second match in USWO , a tag team match on August 7 , where Daniels and The Convict defeated Mercer and Scott Hayes , following interference from Dominique . Mercer ' s rivalry with Daniels culminated in two singles matches in September , which were both won by Mercer . On November 6 , Mercer defeated Chris Michaels to win the ATL Southern Championship . On November 20 , Mercer wrestled SAW International Champion Kid Kash in a title vs . title match , which ended in a disqualification ; as a result , both men kept their respective titles . Mercer would lost his title to Chrisjen Hayme on February 5 , 2010 , in his final USWO appearance . Absolute Intense Wrestling ( 2009 – 2010 , 2014 ) . Mercer debuted for Absolute Intense Wrestling ( AIW ) on December 19 , 2009 , defeating Corvis Fear . On February 29 , 2010 , Mercer took part in a thirty - man Gauntlet for the Gold to determine the new AIW Absolute Champion . The match ended with Mercer , Facade , Johnny Gargano and SJK all tumbling over the top rope at the same time , setting up a four - way decision match for " Absolution 5 " . On April 9 , Mercer formed Team No Mercy with Chris Dickinson and Toby Klein to take part in the Jack of All Trios tournament ; the team was eliminated in the quarterfinals by The Young Studs ( Bobby Beverly , Eric Ryan and TJ Dynamite ) . On June 27 , Mercer was defeated by Johnny Gargano in the four - way decision match for the AIW Absolute Championship . Mercer made his final AIW appearance on December 17 , unsuccessfully challenging Gargano for the AIW Absolute Championship . Mercer returned to AIW on April 25 , 2014 , when he , B . J . Whitmer and Jimmy Jacobs formed a stable named The Forgotten and attacked the AIW Tag Team Champions , the Jollyville Fuck - Its ( Nasty Russ and T - Money ) . Showtime / NWA Southern All - Star Wrestling ( 2010 – 2011 , 2013 ) . Mercer debuted for Showtime All - Star Wrestling ( SAW ) on July 24 , 2010 , defeating Jesse Emerson . In August and October , Mercer received shots at Chase Stevens ' SAW International Heavyweight Championship , however , both matches ended in a no contest . After the title was vacated , Mercer entered a tournament to determine the new champion . On June 11 , 2011 , Mercer was eliminated from the tournament , when his semifinal match against Chase Stevens ended in a double countout . Mercer would finally get the better of Stevens on October 8 , when he was victorious in a Last Man Standing match , which would turn out to be his final match for the promotion . Mercer returned to SAW , now known as NWA Southern All - Star Wrestling , on September 6 , 2013 , defeating Hot Rod Biggs to become the new NWA Southern Heavyweight Champion . Crimson vacated the title on October 11 due to an injury . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . Undefeated streak ( 2010 – 2012 ) . On September 8 , 2010 , Mercer wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , in a losing effort against Jay Lethal . This was followed by another dark match on November 15 , in which Mercer was defeated by Stevie Richards . On December 4 , 2010 , Mercer took part in the TNA Gut Check Challenge tryout workshop in Orlando , Florida and two days later wrestled his third dark match for the promotion , in which he defeated Neico . On December 10 , 2010 , it was reported that TNA had signed Mercer to a contract . He would make his televised debut on the December 30 episode of " TNA Impact ! " , portraying Amazing Red ' s younger brother and being billed as Little Red . The previous week Jeff Jarrett had defeated Amazing Red in his $ 100 , 000 mixed martial arts challenge series and upon hearing that he had a younger brother , challenged him to a match , expecting someone even smaller than the Red . Mercer dominated his debut match , before Jarrett ' s security guards , Gunner and Murphy , pulled their boss out of the ring and prevented him from re – entering . On the January 13 episode of " Impact ! " Mercer , now renamed Crimson , returned , attacking Abyss backstage and promising that " they " would be coming to take out Immortal on February 3 . The following week , Crimson repeated his actions from the previous week , this time attacking A . J . Styles . Later that night , he saved Kurt Angle from Immortal by attacking Abyss with Janice , his nail - covered board , and sidelining him with a storyline injury . On the January 27 episode of " Impact ! " , Crimson explained that he was no longer by Amazing Red ' s side , because he had been given an offer he couldn ' t refuse . Later that night Crimson and Angle were placed in a seven – on – two handicap match against Immortal and Fortune members Jeff Jarrett , James Storm , Robert Roode , Kazarian , Rob Terry , Gunner and Murphy . The match ended with Jarrett pinning Angle for the win . Afterwards , Crimson and Angle were saved by the returning Scott Steiner . On the February 3 episode of " Impact ! " , Fortune turned on Immortal , revealing themselves as the " they " Crimson and Angle had been referring to . On the February 24 episode of " Impact ! " , Crimson made his singles match debut in a win against the returning Magnus . On the April 14 episode of " Impact ! " , Abyss , who had returned from his injury three weeks earlier , took revenge on Crimson , interfering in his match and chokeslamming him onto a guardrail . Crimson made his pay - per - view debut on April 17 at Lockdown , where he and Scott Steiner were unsuccessful in becoming the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a four tag team steel cage match , which was won by Ink Inc . ( Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore ) . The following month at Sacrifice , Crimson defeated Abyss in a singles match to win the feud and keep his " undefeated streak " intact . Crimson then moved on to feuding with Samoa Joe , stemming from the fact that during the past three weeks , Joe had on two occasions turned his back and walked away from the ring , after Abyss had blindsided Crimson , claiming that he had not needed anyone ' s help during his own 18 month undefeated streak in 2005 and 2006 . On June 12 at Slammiversary IX , Crimson continued his streak by defeating Samoa Joe . The following week Crimson entered the Bound for Glory Series to determine the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and continued his undefeated streak against the likes of D ' Angelo Dinero , Bobby Roode and Bully Ray , taking over the number one spot in tournament standings . On August 7 at Hardcore Justice , Crimson extended his lead in the Bound for Glory Series standings by defeating number two ranked Rob Van Dam via disqualification . After further extending his lead on the following episode of " Impact Wrestling " with a win in a four – way match against three Immortal members , Bully Ray , Gunner and Scott Steiner , Crimson was attacked by TNA World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle . Crimson and Angle faced each other on the August 25 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , but the match ended in a disqualification , when Samoa Joe , who had previously vowed to ruin the Bound for Glory Series , attacked Crimson . The attack resulted in Crimson suffering a storyline ankle injury , which forced him out of the Bound for Glory Series . Crimson returned via satellite on the September 15 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , announcing that he would return to the Impact Wrestling Zone in two weeks . Crimson returned on the September 28 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , challenging Joe to a fight . During the fight , Joe slammed Crimson ' s injured ankle into a guardrail and locked him in a heel hook , before being run off by Matt Morgan . The following week Crimson defeated Joe in his return match . Crimson continued his undefeated streak on [ [ October 16 ] ] at Bound for Glory , defeating Samoa Joe and Matt Morgan in a three - way match . On November 13 at Turning Point , Crimson wrestled Matt Morgan to a double disqualification , keeping his undefeated streak alive . On the following episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Crimson and Morgan defeated Mexican America ( Anarquia and Hernandez ) to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship . During the next month , Crimson and Morgan made successful title defenses against Anarquia and Hernandez in a rematch on the November 24 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , and against D ' Angelo Dinero and Devon on December 11 at Final Resolution . On January 8 , 2012 , at Genesis , Crimson and Morgan made another successful title defense by defeating the team of Magnus and Samoa Joe . On February 12 at Against All Odds , Crimson and Morgan lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Magnus and Joe in a rematch . On the February 23 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Crimson and Morgan failed to regain the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Joe and Magnus . Despite the problems between Crimson and Morgan , the two managed to defeat Robbie E and Robbie T on the March 8 episode of " Impact Wrestling " to once again become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship . During the title match against Magnus and Samoa Joe on March 18 at Victory Road , Crimson turned on Morgan , costing the team the match and turning heel in the process . On April 15 at Lockdown , Crimson defeated Morgan in a steel cage match to keep his undefeated streak alive . On the May 10 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , Crimson and Morgan were set to face each other in what was billed as their " final confrontation " , however , before the match could start , Morgan was attacked by Bully Ray . After Morgan was stretchered away , Crimson was given a countout victory . Three days later at Sacrifice , Crimson defeated Eric Young in a singles match to keep his undefeated streak alive . On June 10 at Slammiversary , Crimson ' s 470 day undefeated streak ended , when the returning James Storm answered his open challenge and defeated him in a singles match . Sporadic appearances ( 2012 – 2013 ) . Crimson returned on the July 5 episode of " Impact Wrestling " , unsuccessfully challenging Devon for the TNA Television Championship . On January 12 , 2013 , at the tapings of the Joker ' s Wild One Night Only pay - per - view , Crimson teamed with Gunner in a losing effort against Christian York and James Storm . On March 19 at the tapings of the Hardcore Justice 2 One Night Only pay - per - view , Crimson took part in a nine - man Hardcore Gauntlet , which was won by Shark Boy . Crimson returned to " Impact Wrestling " on June 13 , claiming that he had been sent home for a year after his 470 - day undefeated streak had ended . He then proceeded to lose to Joseph Park in a Bound for Glory Series qualifying match . On July 3 , Mercer was released from his TNA contract due to budget cuts . Ohio Valley Wrestling ( 2012 – 2013 ) . After not appearing on " Impact Wrestling " for over a month , Crimson asked Al Snow to improve in TNA ' s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) , making his debut on August 15 , 2012 . On September 1 , Crimson won the Nightmare Rumble to become the number one contender to the OVW Heavyweight Championship . On September 12 , Crimson defeated Johnny Spade to become the new OVW Heavyweight Champion . Crimson ' s first title program was with another TNA employee , Rob Terry , which built to title matches on October 10 and November 4 , which both saw Crimson retain the OVW Heavyweight Championship . On December 1 , Crimson lost the OVW Heavyweight Championship to Terry . Crimson then formed a stable named the Coalition Forces with Jack Black , Jason Wayne , Joe Coleman , Raul LaMotta and Shiloh Jonze and began being referred to as " General " Crimson . On January 16 , 2013 , Crimson and " General " Jason Wayne won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship by defeating Alex Silva and Sam Shaw . Crimson and Wayne lost the title back to Silva and Shaw on February 27 , before regaining it from them on April 3 . Crimson ' s and Wayne ' s second reign ended on June 26 , when they lost the title to Michael Hayes and Mohammed Ali Vaez . Despite his July 3 release from TNA , Crimson wrestled one more match for OVW on July 6 , when he and Wayne failed in their attempt to regain the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship from Hayes and Vaez . He was then sidelined with a meniscus tear in his right knee . Other promotions ( 2014 ) . On May 16 , 2014 , Crimson and Amazing Red defeated The Young Bucks ( Matt and Nick Jackson ) to win the House of Glory ( HOG ) promotion ' s Tag Team Championship . In December 2014 , it was reported that Mercer was taking part in a one - week tryout camp with WWE . Return to TNA ( 2015 – present ) . On February 12 , 2015 , Crimson returned to TNA , losing to Sam Shaw at a " TNA Xplosion " taping . Over the next days , Crimson also worked several One Night Only pay - per - view tapings . Personal life . Outside of his career in professional wrestling , Mercer works as a personal trainer and attends classes in business management at Austin Peay State University .