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Biography

Adam Birch is a semi-retired American professional wrestler, also known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews. He is signed to WWE, and works as a trainer in WWE's developmental territory NXT. 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), in which he began competing in tag team competition, where he captured the MEWF Tag Team Championship, alongside Christian York. Throughout the mid-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 the WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky. 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. After signing with WWE, the group were called up to the SmackDown! roster and on their debut in April 2005, Birch 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 Birch, 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 Championshipon one occasion. In October 2008, Birch announced his retirement from professional wrestling, following an injury he sustained, but later returned to wrestling in 2010. In his personal life, Birch has admitted to using drugs since the age of 15, leading to several overdoses. While with WWE, Birch failed the company's Wellness Policy drug test, which ultimately resulted in him entering a drug rehabilitation. He has since overcome his drug problems.