The AFW Rookie Beat the Clock Challenge!

The crowd grew hushed as they waited for the next segment to start up, eager as always to get the show on the road. After a moment, the lights dimmed and a familiar song began to play over the arean's speakers. Outfrom the backstage area stepped the Friction General Manager, Lukretia Von Crreuzfeldt. She had a microphone in one hand, an index card in the other and a grin on her face. She was wearing a tight fitting red dress that showed off her curves without showing off too much skin.

She strolled down the entrance ramp with her usual mix of style and purpose, her ever present smile looking heavily upon the audience who showered her with echoing boos. She loved it. In truth she had no real desire to please those in attendance or those watching at home. Of course she had a financial obligation to do so but she long decided that if she was happy with the product she presented, then the rest would take care of itself.

Once she was in the ring, she strode tot he center andlooked around. "Guten abend ladies und gentlemen. I hope you are enjoying yourselves here und I hope zat you may enjoy vhat I have in store for you next." Whether they did or did not mattered little at the moment. All they wanted to do was keep booing the General Manager. "Let it never be said zat I do not pay attention to up und coming talent. For tonight, I vould like to present you vith four vomen who are relatively new or quite literally stepping into an AFW ring for ze first time. To see vhich one of zem has vhat it takes, ve vill be presenting a special "beat ze clock challenge." Hot it vorks is zis vay. Ze girls vill compete to see who can score a standard match fall in ze fastest time. Ze girls vill be on ze clock so zey vill be encouraged to show vhat zhey have right off ze gate vithout letting ze jitterbugs of having to compete on such a grand stage get to zem." Lukretia smiled and then shrugged. "Who knows, perhaps one of zese girls could impress you..." Lukretia grinned wider. "...or me. Really, zis is an invaluable opportunity."

Lukretia turned to face the entrance ramp. "Now, shall ve meet ze girls?" She said and swept her hand forward. "Come on down, ladies." As she beckoned, she began to read off the index card. "First, we have a greco-roman wrestler hailing from America by vay of Gerogia, Ekaterina Guramishvili. Next is a Russian powerhouse named Alexandra "Ashura" Rudova Putyovy. Blossom Fields is familiar vith ze AFW ring but after a disheartening start to her career und recovering from a devastating injury, ve vill see if she still has a zeal for zis business. Finally our last rookie vas a champion in her last league. I am eager to see if she can continue to bring excellence to a much larger federation in ze AFW. Please girls, gather at ze top of ze stage und ve vill get things started."

Eka hopped from one foot to the next. She still felt some eagerness to get out in the ring and prove what she was worth. Even if her first bout hadn't gone spectacularly. The monitor in the back room flickered on, and showed a pretty woman in a tight red dress. Eka had been informed earlier that this was the manager of the whole shebang. Eka furrowed her brows. This match was doubly important then. She figured the manager watched every tilt but to be introduced by her, to be right next to her... it was almost too much. The audience was not as taken with the manager as Eka was and their raucous boos were loud over the tiny monitor. She checked herself. Her black bikini top and pink and black leather pants, the usual ring attire, were nice and tight, just how she liked them.

The heavily accented words came over the monitor's speaker and fell on deaf ears. Her heart nearly beat itself out of her chest. She put her hand on her chest and tried to calm herself.  Don't overdo it, she thought. That is how you got in trouble with Mariam. Just play your game and let the cards fall where they may. She looked up and breathed deeply. There would be a clock ticking away the minutes as she wrestled. Her modus operandi had always been to wear down the opponent and contort a limb into a dangerous position, hopefully leading to a tap. She wouldn't have the luxury of time here. But she had lost her debut because she had thrown caution to the wind, she ruminated. She shouldn't just rush in, she thought. Eka shook the thoughts away and walked towards the entrance ramp.

A look of disgust flashed over Eka's face. She was a woman, not a girl. She shook off that look like the thoughts before it.  Her frightening theme blared over the loudspeakers of the arena. She waited the few bars until the horns blasted their arrival. Nothing wrong with a little showmanship, right? She took a few steps out and waved to the crowd. The slight worry in her eyes gave away her emotions as she did her best to put on a brave face. She put her hand on her hip, as she waited for her fellow wrestlers to join her on the entrance ramp.

Unlike Eka, Ashura had little trepidation about her first appearance in the arena. What was there to fear? Her performance would be flawless, there was no doubt. The redhead snatched up a microphone from the stand by the entrance in order to clear things up for the GM. Strolling out casually in her bikini she paused for a moment at the entrance way, letting the photographers take in her voluptuous body for the first time. For a moment she had been caught of guard by Lukretia's colloquial use of the term jitterbug, which she knew only as an old fashioned dance, but after a few moments she worked out the meaning of the manager's words from context. "Please, Miss von Creuzfeldt, do not project your imaginary fears upon me. You probably view this," she waved her arm over the crowd, "as some sort of 'audience' that a new wrestler would be intimidated by. That is incorrect. They are my new subjects, here to kneel before me!"

Some of the smarter onlookers had already worked out what sort of wrestler she was from her appearance and opening statement which began to garner a few 'cheers' for the towering brawler. Not nearly as many as Lukretia though, not yet. Ashura narrowed her eyes for a moment as she began to walk down the ramp. They would learn soon enough, she would teach them. Although perhaps it would be wise to get some input from Lukretia, who seemed very popular with the viewers.

Ashura continued her speech straying towards one side of the ramp unexpectedly, "So, you say, to impress you, we must beat clock? Then I will beat clock for you." Suddenly she turned and glared at a man only feet away from her. "You!" she roared, "you have watch? I smash it!" She swiped at him with one meaty hand causing her to lunge backward and fall onto his ass on the floor. Ashura dismissed his behavior and continued her way down the ramp. "All of you, give me your timepieces, I shall beat all clocks! And whatever woman you put against me in the ring tonight, Miss von Creuzfeldt, I will clean her clock too."

Ashura concluded her tirade against the concept of time not a moment too soon as she was now standing at the base of the ramp directly next to her Georgian peer. She looked over at Eka giving her a steely glare. She was from one of those countries that technically should be part of Russia but weren't for some bizarre reason. Was this the woman she was meant to crush tonight? Or was it one of the women yet to be introduced? Slowly Ashura turned her gaze back up the ramp behind her, just in time for the appearance of the next competitor.

Blossom honestly wasn't sure how she should feel about this. Not because she wasn't down for a good match, whatever the cause was, but because she honestly couldn't make out what Lukretia was saying half the time. She felt like she would have understood the GM better if she just talked in her native German, even if she didn't speak a word of it.

What Blossom could make out, though, she liked. It was nice to know the GM even realized she existed, for one thing. She hadn't been 'disheartened' by her losing streak - not anymore, anyway. She was getting better. She felt stronger than ever, and she'd even had a good match since coming back. She didn't beat Silver Ace, but they did go the distance, and it really came down to the wire. It wasn't a real win, but a spiritual victory. Yeah. That sounded better.

This could turn out to be a genuine notch in the W column, though. It was a good setup, as near as Blossom could tell. Four rookies, with comparable experience to her own, so things would be even. Well, even-ish. She wasn't all that sure about the giant, redheaded Russian monster. She looked like she could give Akashi a run for her money. But the other two girls didn't look too intimidating. It would be another great chance to really show off her new skills and squash some doubts. She wasn't the same girl from a few months ago, the girl that contemplated quitting in a dark moment. Blossom belonged in the AFW. She knew it. And now she was willing to prove it.

It's coming up,
It's coming up,
It's coming up,
It's coming up,
It's coming up,
It's coming up,

It's dare!

Blossom came out to her music, dressed in her green singlet, gloves tight, wrestling shoes laced. Eager to start. She waved to the audience and her fellow newbies as she took her place on stage, standing a good ten feet away from the titanic Ashura, just in case she really was as crazy as she looked and sounded. She decided it was as good a time as any to limber up, so she started stretching while the final entrant came out. Touching her toes, arcing her back, getting ready for some fierce competition.

Oh, holy sweet mother of Jesus, this was exciting! The AFW! The big leagues! Not just the big leagues, even--AFW had bought every other big league, so this practically was the big league! If that made sense. ANYWAY!

It was time for Sandalwood Cooper, undefeated champ of the Portland City Woman's Wrestling League, to explode the AFW scene. She was going to take the ring by storm, the interviews by storm, the champion by storm, probably make like ten million dollars and win a yacht, then get her own deodorant...

Oh, wait, that was her cue! Sandalwood sprinted down the runway, arms in the air, shouting at the top of her lungs. "WOOOOOOOHOOOO, COOPER IS IN THE HOUSE!" She shouted, before skidding to a stop on the stage, snatching a microphone up! "Oh, wait, was there supposed to be music playing? I didn't pick anything--oh, well, what the heck! Yoo! Last name Cooper, first name doesn't matter, and I am here to ROLL THIS JOINT!"

She whirled around, pointing at the other wrestlers. "You see these guys? Guess where they're going? If you said, 'down', you won! A ring ding ding! I'm going straight to the top of this outfit, and I'll bring the hammer down on anyone who wants it!"

Sandalwood's enthusiasm was catchy. The crowd was getting behind her stupidly over the top pronunciations of awesomeness. "C'mon, ya nerds, get hype! This is going to be frickin' AWESOME! Raise the roof!" The crowd broke out into cheers, and Sandalwood felt pure, blissful adrenaline rush through her body. You couldn't get a feeling like this at the PCWWL!

Lukretia watched as each girl came down the ramp. She looked them over very carefully and still managed to keep an air of disinterest with her posture. However, when they were all gathered, Lukretia smiled and turned to the audience. "Ahhh please clap in a circle for zese fine ladies. it is nice to see such enthusiasm. I hope zat zhey vill bring zat vith zem to ze ring."

Lukretia began to step away from them and slowly exited the ring on the opposite side. "Now, Ms. Guramishvili und Ms. Putyovy you two vill face off first. Whoever vins vill set ze benchmark for ze rest of ze competitors. Ze other two, take careful notice. Your turns vill come."

Lukretia stepped to the timekeeper's booth and pulled pu a stop watch and small hammer. "Now, I vill start ze vatch vhen I ring ze bell und I vill ring ze bell vhen you have entered ze ring. Viel erfolg, Frauleins." Lukretia set the microphone down and sat in the booth. She held up her hands, ready to strike the bell and start the clock when the girls entered as a giant clock appeared on the AFWTron.

Continued here.