Army vs. Charlie: Boxer Against Flyer

Standard Match: Army vs. Charlie
Win Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or KO
Place: Tension Arena

Charlie waited anxiously by the ramp for his music to start wearing his usual ring attire: A pair of long blue shorts, black kneepads, boots and a pair of black MMA gloves. He was confident his brand-spanking-new surgically reconstructed knee would hold up. He hadn't been in an actual match in a very long time.... and he sure missed it. His first opponent was a big boxer named Armando. No biggie.... just about everyone Charlie faced before was bigger and stronger than he was. Charlie heard his music and ran out onto the ramp. Not breaking stride he dove into the ring and ran for the ropes directly across from him. He lept onto the middle ropes and used the momentum to jump back, doing a flip and landing on his feet. His knee was pain-free.

"Hell yeah..... its go time!" Charlie said aloud to no one in particular. The referee simply rolled their eyes, as if they'd heard a new guy say that a million times before, which they probably had. charlie didn't care. He was ready for his debut which was months in the making thanks to an out of the ring injury that happened a week after arriving in Japan. After bowing to the crowd after the backflip Charlie relaxed in a corner and waited for his opponent to come down.

Army watched Charlie from the back, peeking out from behind the curtain as his music played and he came down to the ring. He didn't know the guy, not even in passing - apparently he was new on the roster, an import from America that was just getting into the ring, fresh off an injury. He looked lively enough, ready to fight, full of energy. Smaller than Army, but built well enough. Not that Army would have cared too much if he wasn't. He was just happy to be taking on another guy, for once.

Army didn't have anything against taking on women - in fact, he was starting to like it. Really like it. He'd had a hot bout with Ro Larren a little while ago, and even though he'd lost, she definitely made it worth her while. Army didn't expect every fight to be that fun, but he was learning that the AFW had plenty of women who could hold heir own against him. Hell, he'd lost more matches than he won, so far. Pretty hard to get around it.

Still, Army had come up training with other guys, sparring with them, fighting with them. He felt like he needed to get back to that, every now and then. The women were strong, but at the end of the day, a guy like him just needed to beat the crap out of another guy like him. He'd been asking for a straight fight for a while, and it seemed like someone on the top was tired of hearing him.

After Charlie's music ran its course, Army came out to his [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_cJ5fvVhiI:2yerfrpd]own[/url:2yerfrpd]- or, started to, anyway. The audience was looking thin, lots of people starting to take a break, not interested in a male on male match, looking bored as he came down in his red and black boxing attire. Army would have to spice it up a little.

"Hold up, hold up, hold up." He gave the kill sign over his neck, shook his head. "Quà demonios, what's all this? I mean, okay - I asked for a guy to fight against, change up the rotation a little bit, got a little tired of hitting girls all day long, and what do they give me?"

He made his way to the ring and slid on in, circling around Charlie, looking him over close up. He looked like he was in great shape, really, but Army wasn't letting that on. It was shit-talking time, and it had been far too long since he got the opportunity. "Do they give me the soldier, John Mitchell? Nope. Big Hero, Johnny Higurashi? Nope. I don't even get to fight that dumb fuck in the leopard mask? I don't even get to whip Clyde's cowboy ass all the way back to Texas? No, no - they give me 'Gnarly Charlie'?" He threw his hands up, confusion rampant on his face. "A guy with a nickname that uses a word that nobody's used since the last good Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? What's next? They gonna have me wrestle in the Kawaii league?"

Army tsk-tsked and turned away from Charlie. "I'm sorry, this is just disappointing. Was expecting a real match, and I get discount Rob Van Damme. You sure you want to ride this train, man?"

That seemed to work, bringing back some of the crowd. A little smack talk always turned heads, and Army offered Charlie the mic to see how he'd take it.

Charlie took the mic and went over a few things in his mind. What would he say? How would he say it? He knew he looked like a stoner, so he figured why the hell not play that up a bit? What better way to do that than talk like Bill S. Preson Esquire from the Bill and Ted movies? "Dude, you totally reek of being untriumphant. Instead of coming down and doing your thing you totally showed that you are bogus."

Charlie said before changing things up a bit, speaking in his normal voice. "I get it though. A big guy like you going up against a short stoner lookin' guy from California, you should be confident." Charlie said. He heard a few laughs from the crowd and some of the people that were leaving stopped and stood by. At least they were willing to see what the new guy had to say. Finally Charlie decided to go Clint Eastwood on the big boxer. "You know what this is? He said pointing at himself, keeping up the Clint Eastwood impression. "This is a Charlie Haines, the fastest, craziest wrestler on the Tension roster. You must be thinking 'is his knee good, or is it still busted up?' You have to ask yourself 'do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk?" Charlie said as he tossed the mic right back at Army.

Huh, good Clint Eastwood impression.

Army took the microphone back. Guy was confident, that was a good sign. Little on the small side, but Army had gotten to the point where he stopped seeing that as a big thing. "Armando Rodriguez, the One-Man Army, the Wrecker from Rico, the man with the punch that sent Crusher Cruz crying back home to his Mama...will do his thing. Don't you worry about that. Dude." He smirked and took a little strut around, parading for the crowd.

"And no, nah, nunca, wasn't thinking about that. See, it doesn't matter to me if you knees fine - in a few minutes, it's going to be one of the few things on you that's not broken, but whatever. What I was wondering was 'who the hell did you piss off'? Because, clearly, somebody back there does not like you." He leaned in a little closer, whispering, his voice still carrying far on the mic. "You can tell me, man. You tick off Sellers? Take a little pass her way? I mean, I think she's pretty much only in girls, but with a body like yours, you might be close enough for her to make an exception - but I guess not, tough break. Looks like the 'wrestling hippy' look just doesn't work anymore."

This guy was trying to get Charlie frustrated, and it wasn't going to work. After a lifetime of being doubted and made fun of this was small-time. Charlie knew the fight would be tough regardless of the opponent. However he couldn't let Army know that. "Haha you are right, I did piss someone off. I told the powers that be that I wanted a challenge, and this clearly is not the case."

Army raised an eyebrow - something he was very good at. He practiced. "Really? You don't think a six foot tall boxer from Puerto Rico is a challenge, man? Something's wrong with your head - aside from the haircut, I mean. Here, let me see if I can fix it."

Fight's on.

Army dropped the microphone, moved in, and threw out the first punch - a jab, nothing too special, but he wasn't a flashy kind of. Charlie seemed to be, though. One of those jumpy, crazy, speedy running-around-the-ring-like-he's-had-one-too-many-energy-drinks sort of dudes. Army wasn't slow, but he wasn't that quick, either - he knew going in that he'd probably miss more than he hit. But with his power, one or two solid blows would do the trick.

Charlie figured as soon as Army dropped the mic he would get as close as he could. However, the big guy moved quicker than Charlie expected. The jab caught Charlie's jaw and he stepped back, shaking his head. His hands went up and he readied himself for a charge.

Charlie hoped Army would be confident enough to move closer for a follow up strike. Once he moved in Charlie planned on trying to drop down and leg sweep Army. The less time Army was vertical, the less likely Charlie was to get his face smashed into next week.

Oh, yeah, Army was definitely moving in. He was all about confidence.

After seeing how he took the jab, the plan was pretty clear. All Army had to do was pour on the pressure and Charlie would fold. He figured the more he pressed the advantage and the less space he gave up, the harder Charlie would have for anything fancy. Make it into a brawl, and he'd win. Hands down.

He threw out a straight for the follow up, putting enough power in it to ram Charlie's nose out the other side of his face. Unfortunately, there was a little problem - Charlie wasn't there to take.

"-the fuck!" It wasn't the first time someone dodged Army's punch, but it was the first time he could remember it being done so quick. The next thing Army knew, his legs were kicked out from under him, and he wound up flat on his ass, sitting down with Charlie beside him. He leaned to the side and swung his leg out, trying to keep dangerous even from the ground.

Perfect. Charlie's little plan worked and he managed to take Army down to his backside. However, before Charlie could pounce his opponent had kicked his feet out as a defensive measure. Charlie hopped back up to his feet and moved away from Army, and slightly closer to the ropes. "Man.... the short fat kid is totally out maneuvering you dude. Whats up with that?" Charlie said, hoping to get Army to rush forward again.

"Awrighty... this guy seems to have an ego. I gotta keep using that against him while I can." Charlie thought to himself as he motioned with his hands for Army to move in again.

Army chuckled and stood up, taking his time to do it. No reason to rush with this guy. "You can knock me down all night, you know that's not going to beat me. You're just stalling for time, man. Clear as day."

Patience, patience. Like the tortoise and the hare.

He took a solid step and moved forward again, swinging his arm out and around and trying to catch Charlie with a solid clothesline. Wide, hard, pretty fast for his side, and crushing if it connected, not to mention simple as fuck to do. This was the sort of move he'd have to use a lot of tonight. Nothing too fancy, just punches and power moves.