10 Gruesome WWE Injuries That Made Us Sick
1. Joey Mercury's Face Explodes (WWE Armageddon 2006)
There is literally no other way to describe it.
Joey Mercury's face exploded.
Occurring at Armageddon 2006 during what was an all-timer of a multi-team TLC match that has since been neatly tucked away by WWE's archivists never to again be discussed or broadcast on WWE programming, Mercury's face met a steel ladder in a spot that looked cool and sleek in execution. Jeff Hardy, one of the stipulation's foremost practitioners, dove onto a ladder that was placed across a second ladder, javelling it up into Mercury and Johnny Nitro's faces. Nitro was caught by the throat, a sprained larynx at the absolute worst, but Mercury?
His face exploded.
Matt Hardy best described the situation as if "someone went to a sink and turned the faucet on". Never should a wrestler's crimson mask be described as water gushing from a sink - but Matt wasn't wrong. Joey's face was doused in the red stuff, the claret having ruined/perfected what was a hidden gem of the Ruthless Aggression Era.
Depressingly, though, the move is what hampered Joey Mercury's career. His nose was legitimately injured and his time alongside Johnny Nitro ran thin quickly when he was cleared to return. Mercury never again reached the heights he did in MNM: the GIF of his most infamous match is how many best remember his work.