At Armageddon 2006, Joey Mercury was an unfortunate victim to one of the most brutal accidents of the Ruthless Aggression Era. The accident happened in a Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match between MNM, The Hardy Boyz, Paul London & Brian Kendrick, and William Regal & Dave Taylor.
In a spot involving MNM and The Hardy Boyz, Jeff Hardy jumped off the top rope onto a balanced ladder, which catapulted upwards, catching Joey Mercury in the face at high speed.
Now it has been revealed what caused this painful mishap.
What Went Wrong During The Joey Mercury Ladder Botch
In the latest episode of his podcast, The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, former multiple-time WWE Tag Team Champion Matt Hardy commented on the incident;
Yes, he just didn’t put up his hands. I mean, it’s one of those things, it’s a very dangerous spot as it is. Jeff jumps, but like, you have to have your hands up to block that ladder.
Because the ladder, I mean, if it hits your arms, it’s gonna bruise it and cut it or whatever, but like, it’s your arms. His face was down there, and it ended up catching him right in the face.
So you can’t go down there and just have a wide open face, you know, with that ladder flying up, especially if it has a lot of velocity. And if it’s coming up fast.
Matt Hardy was a part of the aforementioned Fatal 4-Way Ladder match, which was ultimately won by Tag Champions Paul London & Brian Kendrick. Joey Mercury lost a lot of blood because of the accident and required 30 stitches to close the cuts sustained from the ladder shot.
Later, the injury was used to fuel the storyline between MNM and the Hardy Boyz when Joey Mercury returned several weeks later. Mercury would wear a protective face mask to sell the injury in the matches following. WWE then released him a few months after the incident in March of 2007.
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