Clyde Gastin vs Carmen Rodriguez - The Quick and the Dead

Carmen was no stranger to broken bones - either taking them or dishing them out. After her fight with Saldano, just touching anything thing on the left side of her torso was extreme agony. She couldn't lay flat on the bed for at least a solid month. So, she had some idea what Clyde was feeling now.

Some. Just some. In all her days, she'd never taken a spill that bad.

That he could even function after that was a testimony to his endurance. He was in a lot of pain - excruciating, unimaginable, inexorable pain - but he was moving. Carmen couldn't help but feel a bit bad about it, too. Clyde seemed like a genuinely good guy. Maybe a little corny, but in a fun way. He wasn't a raging, monstrous asshole like Killer King, and he wasn't a brazen egomaniac like half the Friction roster seemed to be. Just a good fighter with a great heart. The AFW could have done with a few more of him. A lot to respect.

But respect also meant holding nothing back. He was giving her his best, and the favor had to be returned. "Sorry about that, vaquero." She stood up on wobbly feet, a little weak in the knees - her legs protected her from the brunt of the impact, but it did jar her legs a bit. As he started punching the guard rail, she came up behind him and grabbed him under the arms from behind, trying to throw him back into the ring, partly because she needed him in there to win, but also to get him away from something metal and sharp, the sort of thing that could make at temporary injury more permanent. "Just be glad this isn't a hardcore match. We'd kill each other, I'm thinking."

Clyde felt like he honestly wanted to tear his ribcage out of his body. The pain was just unbearable, it was hard to breathe, it hurt every time he inhaled or exhaled. It was so bad he compelled himself to just hit something, he was numb to striking the metal with his fists for nothing was worse than the pain in his torso right now.

"R-Rrrgh!" He growled as Carmen snaked her arms under his shoulders and threw him back into the ring, leaving Clyde to roll inside and stop on his knees, sitting up with his elbow resting on the mat. "H-Hnngh....F-Fuuuck..." Clyde was slumped over but eventually collapsed on his front, quickly rolling on his back where his body arched up before falling on his side, the less battered side of his rib cage. He was barely paying attention to Carmen as he got messed up like this. A part of him just in pain. And that same pain making him infurated. Not her. But this huge am mount of pain got his blood boiling naturally.

If this had been a boxing match, it would be over by now - the ringside physician would never let Clyde continue, the way he was going.

Carmen slid in the ring a moment later, watching him flop about, hesitant to nail the coffin shut. From watching Youtube, she knew enough about Clyde to say that he had a lot of problems - some crazy crap with a cheerleader and a stodgy Brit bitch. A set of broken ribs was about the last thing she wanted to pile on that. She didn't have a problem hurting him, sure, but there was a limit to how far she was willing to go, and judging by the way he whopped and hollered, that point was quickly approaching. So she had a handful of options.

She could pin him. He'd probably just kick out, though. He was in pain, not doubt, but still looked lucid.

She could just punch him until he was knocked out. Too disrespectful, he deserved better.

She could try to get him up, but he didn't look like he could take the strain.

Or...or...she could try to make him submit. Hurt him, but not in a way that tortures the ribs, see if he'll tap. It wasn't her first choice, but it was the best option she saw.

As Clyde flopped to his side, Carmen came to him, stepped over him and dropped down, trying to force him on his chest and reach forward to wrap her arms around his neck - the start of a camel clutch. Simple enough to do, but a solid move all the same. "Whatever happens...you've been a great fight, Clyde. I owe you a beer."

As far as Clyde knew, his ribs were either cracked or broken. Thankfully it was neither but it didn't stop his body from aching any more than it already did. He didn't feel done yet though, but he was hurt. He didn't even know how much damage he had done to Carmen with all the moves he had pulled on her thus far, but he couldn't lie down and quit. He was feeling too good. Charisma wise anyway.

When Carmen came up on him, Clyde felt her weight suddenly drop on his back, he grit his teeth as he felt her arms slip around his neck for the start of a camel clutch. He winced and gagged slightly at the pull she gave him while hearing her statement that made him crack a breif smirk. The feeling was mutual.

"Damn...Straight..." He muttered while moving side to side, his arms were still free, so he planted them on the mat and tried to reach over and grab at Carmen's ankle, trying to yank it out from under her and let her drop down, chest first right in front of him.

If that worked, Clyde would try to lunge over Carmen and wrap his arms around her neck and legs around her body, trying to initiate a desperate choke.

He was struggling, putting up a crazy fight. Of course he was.

As a boxer, if there was one thing she knew and knew well, it was how bad ribs could hurt. Clyde was certainly showing all the signs. Carmen had her fair share of lumps, too. Between the DDT, getting her face plastered on the turnbuckle, the suplex and the kick, she would have a headache for at least the next week. But his injured ribs were looking to be a game changer - she'd planted the seed early on, and it was certainly growing. Good to see at least some of her boxing philosophy would work in the ring.

Her mat skills still needed some work, though, and she realized this when she noticed that Clyde's arms weren't locked into the hold, something her wrestling trainer had told her to do with this hold, but she always seemed to forget. She didn't think he'd have the strength to do much with them, but that notion was proved dead wrong when he yanked her legs out from under her and sent her toppling forward, landing chest first on the mat in front of him.

You didn't have to be a boxer or a wrestler or a even a fighter at all to know that having your opponent right behind you was a very, very bad thing, She immediately got to her knees and started to push up, but Clyde was on her in a heartbeat, wrapping his arms around her neck in and his legs around her body, squeezing her tight, forcing the wind out of her. She fall back, thrashing on top of him, pulling at his hands.

She hated to do it, but there was only one way she saw to retaliate from this position. She'd done it with many opponents in the boxing ring, and it looked like wrestling wouldn't be any different, even if she liked the rowdy Texan. You see a weak spot, you go for it. Simple as that.

She brought her arm up and shot it down, trying to elbow him in the side and hit those ribs.

Clyde would grunt as he fell back with Carmen after locking in the hold, pouring in as much pressure as he could, squeezing her sides while trying to choke her out desperately, pouring pressure with his arms around her neck, doing his best until he felt her elbow jam into his ribs. "Aagh!!" He howled in pain immediately, his grip faltering, prompting him to relase Carmen and try to shove her off of him with his feet before making a single roll backwards to the opposite of her, sitting up immediately once he did thism knowing they could be close range or just barely out of arms reach.

Clyde's cry made Carmen cringe. She'd heard a noise like it before, sure. Just always from behind a mouthguard, and never from a man.

The elbow connected right on and did its dirty work, getting Clyde to release the hold and fall back. Carmen took a deep gasp of air, refilling her lungs - Clyde was a small guy, but he could put some incredible pressure on when he wanted to. They were on the ground, now, and she had, at best, a couple of seconds before he moved in again - he was wounded, but that just made him all the more dangerous.

Trying to catch him off-guard, she decided to try something a little wild - she got up to her feet without turning around and jumped backwards, flying back-first towards him and trying to come down on him with all her weight. Risky, especially if he was quick enough to move out of the way. That would just stun her and put her with her back on the floor, ready for all sorts of nasty moves. For this, she was just relying on the sheer element of surprise.

Throwing Carmen off him, Clyde had immediately rolled back from his previous position the moment she got off him. Thus when Carmen took a blind leap backwards, she would land directly in front of Clyde, flat on her back, like a door that just fell off its hinges.

He blinked for a moment before leaped forward and tried to drop his elbow across Carmen, laying across her after plopping himself over her abdomen if he managed to hit her.

Carmen would have to file that under 'Things She Would Never Do Again'.

She landed hard on her back, even sliding a bit from the momentum. Not the worst thing that ever happened to her, but as she looked up and saw Clyde above her, she realized that the pain was yet to come. On reflex, she tried to turtle up, bringing her arms high to protect her chest.

It didn't matter.

Clyde's elbow had too much weight behind it for that, and the point of it easily slice through her guard, cracking her in the chest. She grunted as the sharp pain cut through her chest, giving her a good taste of the same medicine she'd fed Clyde earlier. He went for the pin right after, covering her up as the referee moved in.

"1...!"

She shook her head, taking a moment to gather herself - between the choke, the fall, and the elbow, she was reeling. She would have to get back on her feet and make this a straight fight if she wanted to win this thing. The longer he had her down here, the more wrestling technique came into play, and he was the unquestioned superior dismantling a novice.

"2...!"

She shot her arm up and broke the count, knocking him off. "Not dead yet, sorry." Much closer than she'd like, though.

Slamming himself onto Carmen to crush her abs, Clyde put all his weight on Carmen, trying to weigh her down as best he could, feeling his heart thump as the Ref-Girl slid in and slapped her hand on the mat hard.

"C'mon... C'mon..." Clyde bit his lip and waited for the count.

ONE!

TWO!'

And then Carmen kicked out!

"Gahdangit!" Clyde yelled. He was both excited by this close fight and frustrated at not being able to put the boxer away despite using just about ALL his best tricks and some he had yet to even try before.

He sat up and crawled over towards Carmen's legs, trying to grab her ankles. He panted and then tried stand up, if that worked, he would attempt to put one foot between her legs and place it at her left side before trying to cross her legs, attempting to turn her over and get into a crouch to try and apply his Sharpshooter finisher!