Joey Mercury of MNM fame in WWE, worked recently in Ring Of Honor in a backstage role and recently left, and with enough dirt to fill a crater on the company to share. He started up a Twitter account, and started to unleash it, and this explains why they have such a hard time keeping talent on board. This is just a few highlights, the full account is right here.
Lack Of Medical Staffing Backstage
At a recent show in England, former ROH Champion Jay Lethal broke his arm, and there was no priority to get him the help he needed in that moment, with fellow ROH talent Marty Scurll having the call an uber to get Lethal to a hospital. There was also an incident when Flip Gordan dislocated his elbow, and Mercury assisted Brody King & Bandido in resetting it. Issues like this should be handled by a properly trained medical staff, not the talent working the shows. It shows a blatant disregard for the safety of the performers, who are in an industry where injuries are very far from uncommon.
Poor Communication With Talent
A prime example of this is that Shane Taylor is being let go at the start of next year, but he was not told this according to Mercury. Not renewing a contract is fine, but it’s pretty shady to not let a performer know they’ll be unemployed ahead of time. If this is how they handle their contracts, it’s no wonder they’ve been left with a paper thin roster that would allow a performer like Matt Taven be their top champion for nearly a year.
Backing Up His Claims
Several talent have come forward to back up the claims made by Joey Mercury including Kelly Klein who said on Twitter “I’m scared I will get in trouble for saying something in public about it. But the reports I’ve seen are wrong. He is the best coach I ever had. I partly stayed there so I could keep learning from him. He looked out for us and he tried to make it better.”
Also supporting him is BJ Whitmer, who said (also on Twitter) “From someone that actually worked in that office with Greg Gilleland, everything Joey is saying is 100% true.”
Greg Gilleland is the General Manager of ROH, responsible for the day to day running of the company, and seemingly taking heavy blame for the issue plaguing the company. He claimed Mercury was fired due to substance abuse issues.
His twitter is still posting claims and evidence of these shady dealings, making this a developing story, the link is here for you to follow yourself. It is truly sad to see a company once so respected as Ring Of Honor fall so hard, and wrestling fans are hoping for an Impact style revial, which is sorely needed at this rate. They’ve been losing talent, viewers, and good will in the wrestling community, and might not last much longer at this rate.