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Glory Be? Cracks Show in the Regime's Foundation as Merc Becomes 2x CPW Champ

Posted: Jun 5th 2024 By: CMBurnham

The doctrine of Mercism may be starting to crumble after the most recent CPW event.

Since becoming CPW Champion, Merc and the rest of the Regime (Logan Knight & Derek James, CPW Women's Champion Sgt. Slice, and their minster of propaganda, Mike Andrews) have stood atop the CPW mountain. At one point, the Regime were all champions in the company.

But once someone ascends to the top of the mountain, the only place for them to go is down. And that descent started at the 3rd anniversary event in January when Logan & James lost the CPW Tag Team Titles in the annual Tag Team Rumble match. But there was a plan and that plan saw Logan Knight win the Gold Rush match, claiming the Any Time/Any Title briefcase. This appeared to be his opportunity to bring the Tag Team Titles back into the clutches of the Regime.

While Knight was focused on the tag team belts, Merc was sewing dissent into the family of Skylar Slice. In true cult leader fashion, Merc forced all the members of the Regime to sign loyalty pledges to Merc. These pledges essentially made the members put their loyalty to Merc above anything else....including family. And while Skylar Slice seemed slightly hesitant at first about this, she eventually signed, along with the other members. That brought Nathan Estrada into Regime's orbit. Nathan, the husband of Slice, made it crystal clear that he believed what was happening was wrong and he would do whatever he could to cause the downfall of Merc and the Regime. To that end, Estrada challenged Merc for a CPW Title match at Summer Send-Off. Merc agreed but demanded that it be contested under Merc's Martial Laws, which essentially made it a No DQ Match.

This deeply personal issue started off hot as Estrada and Merc immediately came to the ring and started landing punches on each other with great intensity. The two fought to the outside of the ring and Estrada fought off other members of the Regime as well. Back and forth went the action with multiple two-counts from both sides and repeated interference from Knight, James, and Andrews. After a swinging DDT, Nathan hit a plancha on all the members of the Regime, bar Slice. Logan Knight then grabbed a chair, but Nathan grabbed it away and assaulted Knight, James, and Andrews with it before turning his attention to Merc. As the crowd encouraged him, Nathan pulled the chair back, but before he could swing for the champion, Merc shoved Sgt. Slice in between them. Nathan and Slice stood face to face while Merc slid in the ring, then around behind Estrada. Merc then grabbed the chair and threw it at Estrada, but Estrada ducked and the chair collided with the face and head of Sgt. Slice. Nathan came a fraction of a second away from winning after a high-cross body and a modified F5, but couldn't get the pin. Estrada tried again to set up the F5, but Merc backed both of them into referee Jim Southard, rendering him unconscious. Nathan put Merc down and Thomas Knight came out, but was yanked from the ring before he could complete the 3-count. With no referee in sight, Merc downed Nathan and then ordered Logan to grab a spare referee's shirt out of ring announcer AnnaLynn's backpack and put it on. But even doing that and an attempted fast count only made it to 2. This was just the latest in a series of seeming-errors on the part of Logan which cost the Regime several key moments and Merc lost control of his temper, verbally and physically berating Knight. This allowed Estrada to recover and he charged in from behind, knocking Merc into Knight and dumping Knight out of the ring. Nathan then connected with the Full Nelson Flatliner and Southard recovered and counted 3. The reign of Merc was finally over.

Or so it seemed.

Merc wasted no time in grabbing the Any Time/Any Title briefcase and hitting Estrada from behind with it. He then ordered Knight and James into the ring and a 3-on-1 attack commenced which ended with a Triple Chokeslam on the champion. Merc then took the microphone and announced that he was cashing in "his" briefcase right there. This brought immediate protest from Logan Knight, who said that he understood the plan was to use it to reclaim the CPW Tag Team Titles. Merc reminded him that when he signed the loyalty pledge, that turned over all possessions to Merc. So essentially, what was Logan's actually belonged to the Regime and Merc IS the Regime. Merc tried to yank the briefcase out of Knight's hands, but Knight held tight to it. So Merc ordered James and Andrews to pin him in the corner whlie Merc took the briefcase and cashed it in. Seeing no other option, referee Jim Southard ordered the rematch to commence and after one backdrop driver, Merc regained the CPW Title. The Regime then left the ring WITH the CPW Title...but without Logan Knight.

None of that mattered to Merc, though. He had what he wanted. The main title. He had his loyal followers. And he looked down once more from atop the CPW mountain. Nonetheless, one supporting member of the Regime was now gone. Could others fall away as well when CPW returns after an extended break in the fall?