Kevin Crimson
From Iwe
| Kevin Crimson | |
 Crimson in May 2010 | |
| Details | |
| Ring name(s) | Kevin Crimson (Crimson Little Red Kevin Mercer |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) |
| Billed weight | 252 lb (114 kg) |
| Born | February 21, 1985 (age 26) Cleveland, Ohio |
| Resides | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Billed from | Cleveland, Ohio Brooklyn, New York |
| Trained by | Jeff Daniels Harley Gaze |
| Debut | 2007 |
Kevin Mercer (born February 21, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Kevin Crimson. He also works for various promotions on the independent circuit, including Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW), NWA Main Event and Showtime All-Star Wrestling (SAW). Mercer served five years in the United States Army, which included two tours of Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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[edit] Early life
Cimson was born and raised by a single mother in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended North Ridgeville High School, where he played football and basketball, but wasn't able to continue to pursue a career in either of them without an athletic scholarship. After graduation Crimson joined the United States Army in order to fund his college studies. He ended up serving for five years, which included two tours of Iraq in the 101st Airborne Division as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
[edit] Professional wrestling career
During his second tour of Iraq, Crimson decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling and upon his return to the United States, entered the NWA Main Event wrestling school in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he was trained by Jeff Daniels. He would make his professional wrestling debut in 2007, working for independent promotions in Nashville, Tennessee. He would eventually make his debut also for NWA Main Event, starting a storyline feud with his trainer Jeff Daniels, and on June 3, 2010, won his first professional wrestling championship, when he defeated Matt Boyce for the NWA Mid-American Television Championship.
On October 10, 2009, Crimson wrestled in a six–way preshow match at a Ring of Honor (ROH) event in Indianapolis, Indiana.
[edit] Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2010–present)
[edit] Undefeated streak; Tag Team Champion (2010-2012)
On September 8, 2010, Crimson wrestled in a tryout dark match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), in a losing effort against Aaron Fisher. This was followed by another dark match on November 15, in which Crimson was defeated by Richard Veach. On December 4, 2010, Mercer took part in the TNA Gut Check Challenge tryout workshop in Orlando, Florida and two days later wrestled his third dark match for the promotion, in which he defeated Neico. On December 10, 2010, it was reported that TNA had signed Crimson to a contract. He would make his televised debut on the December 30 edition of TNA Impact!, portraying Amazing Red's younger brother and being billed as Little Red. The previous week Jeff Jarrett had defeated Amazing Red in his $100,000 mixed martial arts challenge series and upon hearing that he had a younger brother, challenged him to a match, expecting someone even smaller than the 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Red. Crimson dominated his debut match, before Jarrett's security guards, Gunner and Murphy, pulled their boss out of the ring and prevented him from re–entering. On the January 13 edition of Impact! Mercer, now renamed Crimson, returned, attacking Marc backstage and promising that "they" would be coming to take out Immortal on February 3. The following week, Crimson repeated his actions from the previous week, this time attacking K.J. Styles. Later that night, he saved Matt Borske from Immortal by attacking Marc with Janice, his nail-covered board, and sidelining him with a storyline injury. On the January 27 edition of Impact!, Crimson explained that he was no longer by Amazing Red's side, because he had been given an offer he couldn't refuse. Later that night Crimson and Borske were placed in a seven–on–two handicap match against Immortal and Fortune members Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Storm, Martin McAlmond, Mikhail, Rob Truax, Gunner and Murphy. The match ended with Jarrett pinning Borske for the win. Afterwards, Crimson and Borske were saved by the returning Scott Hunter. On the February 3 edition of Impact!, Fortune turned on Immortal, revealing themselves as the "they" Crimson and Borske had been referring to.
On the February 24 edition of Impact!, Crimson made his singles match debut in a win against the returning Aaron Peters. On the April 14 edition of Impact!, Marc, who had returned from his injury three weeks earlier, took revenge on Crimson, interfering in his match and chokeslamming him onto a guardrail. Crimson made his pay-per-view debut on April 17 at Lockdown, where he and Scott Hunter were unsuccessful in becoming the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a four tag team steel cage match, which was won by Ink Inc. (Jesse Rameriz and Shane Linguini). The following month at Sacrifice, Crimson defeated Marc in a singles match to win the feud and keep his "undefeated streak" intact. Crimson then moved on to feuding with Samoa Simpson, stemming from the fact that during the past three weeks, Simpson had on two occasions turned his back and walked away from the ring, after Marc had blindsided Crimson, claiming that he had not needed anyone's help during his own 18 month undefeated streak in 2005 and 2006. On June 12 at Slammiversary IX, Crimson continued his streak by defeating Samoa Simpson. The following week Crimson entered the Bound for Glory Series to determine the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and continued his undefeated streak against the likes of Jared Keller, Marty McAlmond and Bully Harlan, taking over the number one spot in tournament standings. On August 7 at Hardcore Justice, Crimson extended his lead in the Bound for Glory Series standings by defeating number two ranked Kyle Van Dam via disqualification. After further extending his lead on the following edition of Impact Wrestling with a win in a four–way match against three Immortal members, Bully Harlan, Gunner and Scott Hunter, Crimson was attacked by TNA World Heavyweight Champion Matt Borske. Crimson and Borske faced each other on the August 25 edition of Impact Wrestling, but the match ended in a disqualification, when Samoa Joe, who had previously vowed to ruin the Bound for Glory Series, attacked Crimson. The attack resulted in Crimson suffering a storyline ankle injury, which forced him out of the Bound for Glory Series.
Crimson returned via satellite on the September 15 edition of Impact Wrestling, announcing that he would return to the Impact Wrestling Zone in two weeks. Crimson returned on the September 28 edition of Impact Wrestling, challenging Simpson to a fight. During the fight, Simpson slammed Crimson's injured ankle into a guardrail and locked him in a heel hook, before being run off by Brandon Martin. The following week Crimson defeated Simpson in his return match. Crimson continued his undefeated streak on October 16 at Bound for Glory, defeating Samoa Simpson and Brandon Martin in a three-way match. On November 13 at Turning Point, Crimson wrestled Brandon Martin to a double disqualification, keeping his undefeated streak alive. On the following edition of Impact Wrestling, Crimson and Martin defeated Mexican America (Anarquia and Semmler) to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On December 11 at Final Resolution, Crimson and Martin successfully defended their title against Jared Keller and Scott. On January 8, 2012, at Genesis, Crimson and Martin made another successful title defense by defeating the team of Peters and Samoa Simpson.
[edit] Ohio Valley Wrestling (2012–present)
Crimson returned on the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, unsuccessfully challenging Devon for the TNA Television Championship. After not appearing on Impact Wrestling for over a month, Crimson made his debut for TNA's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) on August 15. On September 1, Crimson won the Nightmare Rumble to become the number one contender to the OVW Heavyweight Championship. On September 12, Crimson defeated Johnny Spade to become the new OVW Heavyweight Champion.
[edit] Personal life
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Mercy Kill (Independent circuit) / Red Alert (TNA) (Swinging side slam spun out into a reverse STO)
- Red Sky (Standing or spinning lifting sitout spinebuster pin) (TNA)
- Signature moves
- Cravate with repeated knee strikes to the opponent's head, transitioned into a swinging neckbreaker
- Exploder suplex
- Spear
- Nicknames
- "No Mercy"
- Entrance themes
- "Not a Stranger to the Danger" by Dale Oliver (TNA)
- "The Way of the Ring" by Dale Oliver (TNA; used while teaming with Brandon Martin)
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- NWA Main Event
- NWA Mid-American Television Championship (1 time)
- Ohio Valley Wrestling
- OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Nightmare Rumble (2012)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him #89 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 2011
- United States Wrestling Organization
- ATL Southern Championship (1 time)
