Money Talks, But Gold Speaks Louder
With a moniker like "The Mercenary", it would seem like the one thing he would be most interested in was money. And to a certain extent that's true. But Mercenary also has a strong moral centre and understands the difference between right and wrong. Most notably, he knows that the way UWE United States Champion Christopher Fury has been acting has been wrong. And he intends to do something about that, hopefully capturing the US Title along the way.
Last Saturday saw two 4-man battle royals to determine the #1 contender for the US title. The winners of each of those events would face each other to earn the shot at Fury's belt. The first Battle Royal featured Chazz Morrison, Kid Krazy, SRPW United States Champion Kyle Everlast and Bryan Heisley. Krazy & Heisley are both rookies this year and Morrison is a rookie to UWE so this was a chance to spotlight some of the young talent in the federation. As the largest man in the match, Everlast was certainly the favourite to pull out a victory, but it wasn't easy for him. All four men lasted a long time before Everlast threw Morrison over the top, closely followed by Heisley. Everlast then low-bridged Krazy and gave him a chokeslam on the ring apron, followed by kicking him off, gaining a win and advancing to the #1 contender's match.
While the first match was a display of high-flying athleticism, the 2nd match came down to raw, brute strength as 4 of the biggest men on the UWE roster, The Mercenary, Stewart, Rolling Thunder and Magnum XL, competed to see who would face Everlast for that #1 contendership. Despite their problems in the past, Thunder & Magnum were able to cooperate and teamed successfully to eliminate Stewart, but then Thunder dumped Magnum over without blinking twice. Mercenary then moved in and toppled Thunder over the top, but Thunder's previously injured ankle got caught in the ropes and Mercenary had to work had to get that dislodged and released to move on to the #1 contender's match.
Everlast wasted no time in trying to capitalise on his opportunity to become a dual US Champion. While neither man had a significant size or power advantage, Mercenary did have a major experience factor to work with and was able to use that to his advantage, catching Everlast coming off the 2nd rope with a clothesline and getting the pin. Christopher Fury, who had been doing colour commentary during the Battle Royals, came to the ring and said they were feuding over the only championship in UWE that mattered since the Heavyweight Title was "held by a woman". In a surprising show of respect, he shook Mercenary's hand, but that action was soon followed up by an attempt to hit Mercenary in the back of the head with his US title belt. But Mercenary was too quick for him and spun around, causing the US Champion to bail out of the ring and go to the back.
Mercenary said Fury could run, but he couldn't hide and that was proven true later in the show when Fury faced another UWE newcomer in the form of Mitch Baxter. In what many considered to be best match of the show, Fury did to Baxter much the same as he did to Anarchy 2nd upon entering UWE: isolated a body part and worked on it for the duration of the match. In Mitch's case, it was his leg and it prevented Mitch from being able to use much of his high-flying arsenal. There were multiple 2-counts on the part of both men, but neither could secure the victory in this non-title match. Sensing an end coming soon, Mitch climbed to the top rope, but Fury shoved referee Stevie Jay into the ropes, causing Mitch to injure himself in the groin area. Fury then connected with a Crossrhodes-type move from the top rope and got the pin. That wasn't enough for the self-proclaimed "Bad Bad Man" as he then exited the ring and grabbed a steel chair. He then reentered and prepared to do some more possibly permanent damage to Baxter's leg, but Mercenary arrived, literally punching the chair from Fury's hands. Mitch then caught the US Champion with a leaping neckbreaker and celebrated with the crowd.
This isn't the first chance Mercenary has had at this title as he also was #1 contender when ComPro Champion Brandon Walker held the belt. But with Mercenary being part of UWE practically since its beginnings, it's surprising that he has yet to capture any gold at all. Mercenary certainly has Fury outclassed in size and brute strength, but Fury is a master at psychology and mat wrestling and will probably focus on those aspects in their match. No matter what good things you can say about The Mercenary, he's not a genius in any respect. But he does have heart and a willingness to win. And perhaps he can find a way to invest some of that hard-earned money he's acquired for his services over the years to purchase some protection of his own on his way to his first championship reign in UWE.