Matt Hardy Explains Brutal Ladder Botch That Shattered Joey Mercury’s Face

AEW star Matt Hardy has recalled what went wrong during a ladder match that led to Joey Mercury having his nose busted open all over his face.

Wrestling is most certainly not ballet and when things such as tables, ladders, and chairs are thrown into the mix, the risk of serious injury quickly escalates.

Joey Mercury found that out the hard way during a four-way tag team ladder match that pitted MNM – Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury – against The Hardys, Dave Taylor & William Regal, and Paul London & Brian Kendrick in WWE back in 2006 at the Armageddon pay-per-view. During the bout, Nitro and Mercury were leaning over a ladder when it was ‘see-sawed’ into their faces. Mercury’s nose and orbital bone lost the fight with the ladder and he was very soon bleeding profusely at ringside.

Speaking on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the AEW star reflected on what went wrong with the spot that led to the gruesome injury:

“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.”

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