Valley Doll vs. Chris Morgan - No Blonde Jokes

Chris was big, and you expect big girls to be slow. All that weight to move around, it has to be ponderous, right? Wrong.

OlÃ.

Valley flew up and Chris moved to the side, making Valley miss and miss wide, flying in the air like a big, dumb goblin. A prime target for Chris Morgan, too tempting to pass up.

Chris jerked forward and hitting Valley with a rolling shoulder block - not much of a move, but with a powerhouse like Morgan and and a comparative lightweight like Valley, it was enough to send her flying. She landed on her back and kept rolling, flopping over and landing hard right on her butt. Her hands immediately went up, expecting the worst as a followup.

*There we go...* Chris thought to herself as she sent Valley Doll end over end. *Nothing like some properly applied mass and acceleration. And to think, back in high school some people laughed when I said I liked physics.*
The crowd murmured uneasily at the sight of Chris still able to dodge and counter faster opponents, before booing the bigger woman.

However, Chris decided not to press her advantage, instead stepping back and letting Valley get back to her feet. It was still early in the match, and the American felt like she could still be civil before things eventually heated up. Also, sometimes it was better for an opponent to think about what might have happened, and let a sense of unease build. It was a tactic that mostly worked on newer wrestlers, and Valley had probably been around too long to be intimidated by a knockdown, but there might be some of the roster in the back that would be watching and suitably rattled by Chris's supposed sense of confidence.

"Whenever you're ready." Chris called politely.

Valley was fully expecting to be stomp, or elbowed, or hauled up by her hair, or leg-whipped, or any number of a variety of fairly nasty moves a big girl like Chris could inflict on a hapless little opponent like her...but none of them happened. No, instead Chris eased off her, let her get back to her feet.

Ah. So they were playing it like that. Okay.

Smirking back at Chris, she dropped her guard and started to pull herself up by the ropes, getting her feet back under her. Chris was putting up some theater, she had to know this sort of intimidation wasn't going to faze her. Still. It was opportunity, and if Chris wasn't going to seize it, well...

Valley moved back in and came at Morgan with something a little more straight up this - a faked roundhouse. She swung it around, keeping it in too tight to hit, trying to throw her off, then bringing the leg around with high hook kick aimed at her lovely blonde face.

Evenly, standing almost stoically, Chris waited for the Slamazon to make her way back to her feet. The smirk she threw told Chris that she knew about her attempt to intimidation and that it failed.
*That's ok. If she was the sort of get shaken by one hard knockdown, she would've never been a champion.* she told herself.

Valley came out of the ropes, moving back on offense. That was ok with Chris. Most times when someone was faster the Wrestle Angel preferred to let them stay on the attack, last through the storm and then remind them of why the saying about winning races started with 'slow and steady'. The smaller blond lashed out with her leg, a roundhouse kick. Chris drew on her experience, using a tactic that worked well in past matches; sliding back a step to let the kick miss, then surging forward to try and catch her opponent off guard with a thunderous clothesline while they were off balance.

However, Valley was never off balance. Drawn in by the fake kick, Chris was committed to a full on rush that carried her face first right into the hook kick. The impact was marked by a thunderous slap of a foot hitting flesh, followed by a loud 'Oohhhhhhh!' from the crowd. Stopped in her tracks, and stunned, Chris sank to her knees before Valley before falling face down to the canvas.

Bullseye. And that's why Valley loved her damn kicks.

The thing about taking on the big dogs was that you had to be tricky - Chris was tough and a pro at that, so the list of things that would surprise her was short. But Valley was willing to bet she had a few moves that made the list, and her trick roundhouse was definitely near the top. Chris fell for it and took Valley's heel right in the face, smacking hard and bringing her down on her face.

The crowd cheered, but she knew there wasn't any time to bask in it, since girls like Chris weren't known for staying down long, on the rare occasion they went down at all.

Valley hopped over Chris' head and dropped down to sit on her back, reaching for both of her legs and trying to put her in a classic Boston Crab, pulling back on both legs. That's how you take down a tree, after all: cut off the trunk.

Chris was barely aware of the roar of the crowd as the world seemed to be swimming in and out of focus. Dimly, she tried to remember the last time she got kicked in the head like that. Oh right, years ago. Panther....girl something or other. Now on her first night back she got her bell majorly rung. Definitely not shaping up to be a fun time.

She mumbled a vague protest as she felt Valley Doll's weight settle on her back, something that sounded like it was supposed to be 'Get off me' but sounded more like "Ge ah me", her face still on the canvas. However once Valley locked in the submission hold, bending her legs backwards into the Boston crab, Chris's face came up off the mat with a loud cry of pain. While her body was in great shape, it had been a long time since it was forced to bend and flex in ways it wasn't quite supposed to.

The ref knelt down by Chris's head while the crowd was yelling and stomping it's feet, demanding her surrender.
"What do you say, do you give?" came the important question.
"No!" yelled Chris, shaking her head to emphasize her reply.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Valley shook her head. So rude.

Chris seemed pretty out of it for a moment, that kick having majorly rung her bell, even more than Valley had hoped for. It wasn't that Chris was a weakling, far from it. She still had the skills, too. But wrestling wasn't like riding a bicycle, and a little absence could wear down on things. Some things couldn't be relearned, they had to be experienced. It seemed like a kick in the head was one of those things.

Whatever the case, having her back curved certainly gave her a shot of new life, making her yell out in pain, a cry dampened only by the crowd's screams. The steady chorus of 'TAP! TAP! TAP!' came out like a drum beat, getting more powerful by the minute.

"Might not be a bad idea, Chris!" Valley called, grinding down and powering on the hold.

The crowd was always a factor, acting like a second man at times, rallying behind it's favorites to breathe life into them, or in Chris's case trying to will her defeat into existence. However, Chris was used to their disdain and, like some heels, used their derision to draw a curious sort of strength, as if in defiance of them.

Her eyes narrowed in determination, Chris decided to refrain from answering Valley's taunt and conserve her energy. Instead, using her upper body strength, the one time Wrestle Angel raised herself up on her arms and began to crawl to the ropes. If she got somewhat close, she would lunge for them, putting her long reach to good use to try and get a hand on the ropes.

If she didn't admire anything else about Morgan - and she did admire a few things already, being honest - she would have to give her credit for toughness - the woman was made of stern stuff, refusing to give in, even though the Crab had its claws deep in her back. Valley knew first hand just how torturous this move could be. If the audience wasn't so focused on being against her, they would've been applauded her resolve instead of disdainfully deriding it.

Chris' effort to make it to the ropes was a valiant one. She putted that impressive upper body strength to good use and start to make the long, agonizing trek to the rope, and sure enough, she made it. She grabbed hold of the rope with a lunge and got the ref in to break it up, for Valley off before she could get in some more damaged. No problem, though. Chris was injured now. Slower, at least until her legs stopped hurting.

Giving Chris the same courtesy she'd extended, Valley stepped back and allowed the golden giant to stand back up, bending her knees like a lioness about to pounce.

Chris gave a gasp of relief as her back and legs were allowed to return to a more normal position. Using the ropes, she made her way back up to her feet.
*Well, I now see what I'm going to have to work on if I'm going to keep doing this, and have a shot at winning.* she thought to herself. *Hours upon hours on the mats and hard sparring...*
She too, was beginning to realize that there were parts of wrestling that you couldn't just hop back into. A lot of it having to do with conditioning your body to take punishment. But that would have to wait. For now, all of Chris's attention needed to be to focused on the here and now, and getting through this match.

Still holding onto the ropes, she turned to face Valley before letting go. Chris found her poised and ready. Ignoring the ache in the back of her legs, the blond let go of the ropes, signalling she was ready to resume the match.
*I'm still in this..* she thought, rallying herself...