topcenter





WRESTLING COLUMNS

The Split Of MNM
May 29, 2006 by Mark D.


Editor's Notes: There are lots of columns posted on various topics, and sometimes there are multiple columns with similar topics. If you read a column (ANY column) and decide to send in feedback, PLEASE be sure to indicate which column you are responding to by typing the TITLE of the column in the subject line. Also, DO NOT FORGET to sign your name. Thanks!


Hi peeps! This is my first column on OWW, but I have been a reader for quite a while now. I have always thought to myself that I would not write an article, as I would toil away for far too long on something that I was not particularly bothered about.

However, I could not hold back after the absolute atrocity that I witnessed when watching Judgement Day last Sunday night; the split of perhaps the greatest tag team to come out of WWE since before Attitude, MNM. Now, maybe it was about time they dropped the belts to London & Kendrick, however the way WWE have gone about it has been disgraceful. I mean 6 straight defeats" What the hell is that all about" It completely devalues the belts the MNM have solely kept the respect for since they beat Batista & Rey for the belts back in 2005 for their 3rd reign, and even looking as far back as April last year when they beat Rey & Eddy to win the straps for the first time.

And after all that they go on a losing streak that must only be beaten by The Mean Street Posse, just shows how much the WWE scriptwriters are blind to the fact that they are cheapening each and every one of their belts, and their superstars. What does MNM's losing streak say about Batista & Rey, whom they beat for the belts" These two men are current and former World Heavyweight Champions! And they can't even win against two men who have lost to a tag team that weigh less than Batista put together"!"! If someone can find logic behind that, please enlighten me.

Now let me say well done to London & Kendrick. They are by far the most suited challengers to MNM's titles since they won them. But I still think that MNM should have stayed together, for a thousand reasons that I am going to try and sum up. Firstly, MNM had one of the best gimmicks in the WWE at this time. I think I can count on one hand the amount of people who wouldn't want their 'Red Carpet Lifestyle'. It's brilliant!! And their attitude they showed as soon as showing up on SmackDown! was superb! For those of you who don't remember, they challenged Rey & Eddy to a match by spraying 'M N M' on Eddy's low-rider!

Secondly is that the new question arises of 'who will challenge London & Kendrick for their titles"' The Mexicools" Probably the best option, but there's no way WWE would do a Face vs. Face tag feud. Kash & Noble" They don't have enough heat as a heel tag and Noble just isn't good enough to carry a tag belt. And that's SmackDown!'s tag division. MNM are starting to sound better and better with every passing second.

Thirdly, if the rumour that Nitro & Melina are switching to RAW is true, then what will become of Mercury" We've already seen Nitro on the mic when he was Bischoff's crony on RAW, and its more than obvious Melina will fit right in to the best brand WWE has to offer. But Mercury has had no singles action since joining WWE, and his current gimmick just does not work without a valet. Normally this sort of storyline would set up a Nitro vs. Mercury feud, but it doesn't even look like that will happen with Long 'firing' Nitro & Melina.

Fourthly, I think that WWE needs MNM more than they could believe. At least SmackDown! was one up on RAW with their tag teams, but now SmackDown! has no main draw. The cruiserweight division is currently a sham, as is the Heavyweight division (especially with the absent Batista, Orton, Angle), but that's for another time.

I could go on like this forever, but I will make my last, and perhaps biggest point now: MNM are the greatest tag team in the WWE of the past ten years! Better than the Dudleys, Hardys, Edge & Christian, APA, New Age Outlaws, Brothers Of Destruction, Rock & Sock to name a few of the greatest recent tag teams. They were fluent, good on the mic and complimented each other. Look back to the great tag teams of the late 80's, MNM were bringing back the glory days! And now it's over! Why" What for" I don't know! It's terrible!

It's just a shame that they did not get to headline the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania. That is probably one of the worst decisions of recent years, not putting the company's top tag team in the top PPV of the year. But for now, that's all. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

by Mark D. ..


Dan wrote:
There is a rumour that Mercury (along with Chris Masters) failed a drugs test and was sent to rehab. With WWE's strict rules on drugs this year there is a high chance that this could be true and would obviously be the reason for the split.
Andrew Betts wrote:
as far as mnm go i guess it was about time for them to break up because this gimmick was just getting old that and there is a rumor that joey mercury has been sent to drug rehab and that mercury is going to ECW becuase he does have a history there so maybe this is the best for mnm in the long run or maybe we will find out that johnny nitro is no good as a singles wrestler in the eyes of WWE and will be let go like all the rest of the Tough Enough kids
Robert Clark wrote:
MNM was a great team but I believe WWE had no choice splitting the team up. There are two rumors going right now and both would mean the end of the team. The first is that Nitro and Mercury wasn't getting along, but then a fued would be a good choice so I'm dismissing it. The other however could hold more truth to it and that rumor is that Mercury is being sent to rehab and not to hold Nitro and Melina back until Nitro is back from rehab they split the team and sent the two to RAW.
Victor Orians wrote:
I agree whole-heartedly that MNM was the best tag team in the WWE CURRENTLY. But I think that saying they are better than the Dudleyz, Hardyz, Outlaws and others is just a bit over the top. Sure, MNM's gimmick was gold in my opinion, and their in-ring work was above average... but who have they had to face" Let's face it... MNM was the best tag team by default because there is nobody around now to compare them to.
Xumanweiser wrote:
MNM's split is a split with reason.....according to ProWrestling.com the split happened because Joey Mercury has to be sent to a drug rehab because he failed the drug policy of the WWE. Here are some excerpts:

Victims Of WWE Drug Testing Revealed
Date Added: May 27, 2006
Story By: Steve Carrier
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Effective immediately, Joey Mercury has been sent to drug rehab and he will be out of action indefinitely. This is one of the major factors as to why MNM parted ways. Also, Mercury was said to be the "glue" of the team, and he basically was the point man in regards to laying out most of their matches.

I know that MNM is one of the greatest tag team of all time...but the company just don't want their employees abusing themselves...
Nogs Patelo wrote:
Seriously" The greatest tag team before Attitude Era" Better than the Dudley's, Hardy's" I don't think so.

Big Show and Kane's tag team is much better than these guys. But we all know its not permanent.
Tim wrote:
I dont think WWE had any choice but to split the team. Nitro and Melina have supposive backstage heat in the Smackdown locker room. And Mercury is the supposive victim of the new drug test policy and is being sent to rehab. So obviously you didnt do much research into why the team was split before you wrote your article.

I do agree that MNM was a great team and its a shame they are no longer, BUT there were obvioulsy reasons behind the split, some of which we may never truely know.
Azza wrote:
By reading around, you should realise that MNM were split up due to Mercury being caught out in the WWE Wellness Program and being forced to go into rehab, similary to Chris Masters. So logically, MNM needed to split up to allow Nitro room to grow as a singles competitor and Mercury to rehab.
Dish wrote:
Excellent collum. I'm going to have to agree with you on every aspect. MNM was a truely superb tag team. You're right though, without MNM there is currently literally nothing to do with the tag team division. *sigh* Splitting them up was a horrible decision.
Ralph wrote:
I like the article, but I have to agree when somone said that MNM were better then The Dudley Boys...I think 99% of people out there will agree with me...But as for MNM, Rumor has it that Mercury failed a drug test along with masters. And unlike masters, I hope Mercury comes back to the New ECW as Joey Mathews and teams up with Christian York again. Doing that would sure help the failing tag team division...As for Nitro, He fits the DX Mold. And as somone said on another article, they would have like to see MNM in the New DX. Now that the New Age Outlawys are long gone, DX will need a tag Team, But Not MNM. However, I think Nitro would be a good replacment for X-Pac and melina would be a good replacment for X-Pacs old Girlfriend Tori...DX will survive without MNM as their Tag Team..They'll just have to find another team that could use a big push...

Long Live Joey Mathews & Christian York
Barry Bradwell wrote:
Ok like mostly is saying"Mercury failed a drug test and has been sent to rehab."Maybe rumor and maybe some truth. This what happens when you failed a drug test in WWE. So the split of MNM was a good decision. This may hurt the Smackdown Tag Team Division but its for the best and to say that MNM is the best team I don't agree with at all. The Hardyz,Dudleys and Edge and Christian has created memories in the Attitude Era. Look for my first column soon.
James Watts wrote:
Yes, their splitting up was unfortunate, but now London & Kendrick are the champs (and they are way more exciting than MNM). Also, this allows Joey Mercury to show off his skills because in 3PW (as Joey Matthews) he became the Heavyweight Champion and successfully defended the strap against Jerry Lynn, Sabu and Raven, amonst others. It also allows Nitro to develop as a singles talent as well.
Jonathan wrote:
Hey what's going on. I couldn't help but read your column about the split of MNM. There is a few things that I agree with you on. For starters, this had to be the worst tag team chosen to be split up. I mean the tag team divisions in both Raw and Smackdown are LACKING!!

There absolutely terrible. And to split MNM and make the divisions worse, I completely disagree with that. If they were to make a feud between Mercury and Nitro, that would be great, but that's not going to happen either because I've heard rumors of Mercury going to Rehab. But, to say that MNM is the greatest tag team within the past ten years" I'm sorry, but that's stretching it a bit. They're good but not great. Especially when you throw Edge and Christian in there.

They're 10 time tag team champs. They went through some of the most fiercest battles with the Hardy boys in TLC matches. The Dudley boys, who revolutionized the tables in the WWE and them being multiple time ECW and WWE champs. I'm sorry but MNM are not even close to being their leagues. Not even close. Tag teams like Edge and Christian, The Hardys, and The Dudleys, they've all been in serious wars and had some memorable matches. MNM hasn't been put through tables, been in cage matches, been in hardcore matches like these other tag teams. As far as I'm concerned, MNM never really earned their stripes. They were in the right place at the right time. There wasn't any tag team competition and their gimmick was more successful then any other of the scrub tag teams on Smackdown and Raw for that matter. And it didn't hurt to have a gorgeous Manager like Melina leading the way.
Matt Connolly wrote:
Even though Mercury will be out of action to rehab for awhile, I think it was a pretty idiotic idea to dismantle a tag team of MNM's calibur. Leaving the other 2/3 of MNM (Nitro and Melina) off TV completely while Mercury rehabs would have been the best option as Nitro as a singles wrestler wont cut it on Smackdown, let alone RAW. During most of their matches, indy alumn Mercury would serve as the workhorse as Nitro really lacked experience. Best case scenario while Mercury rehabs would be sending Nitro down to OVW for awhile to brush up his game, and sending Melina to counseling with Randy Orton. After a couple months, MNM could re-emerge better than ever.
Jon Rosaler wrote:
For Starters, I want to Congratulate Nitro for winning his first Singles title. Matt Connelly, MNM were in a Cage Match. It was the first Smackdown! of 2006 against ReyRey and Bautista. Then, Mark Henry Parodied Brock Lesnar. Although, they were really not putting up a fight.
wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

If you have any comments, reactions, rebuttles or thoughts on this column, feel free to send them to the email below,
PLEASE INCLUDE THE NAME OF THE COLUMN YOU'RE REPLYING TO AND SIGN YOUR NAME..
We at OnlineWorldofWrestling want to promote all points of view, and that includes YOURS.




© 2015, Black Pants, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders.

[ CHAT ROOM | FLASH | SEARCH | FORUMS | DOWNLOADS | TAPES | WRESTLINKS | GUESTBOOK | THANK YOU | CONTACT ]