Abbey Abraxas Vs. Nathan Weed

Match Type: Standard
Winning Condition: Pinfall, Submission or Knockout

Abbey bounced on her heels as she waited for her next match. She was always excited to get into the ring and while she didn't know too much about her opponent, that didn't matter. As long as she wasn't going against another Conza, she was sure she would have a good time. When her music began to play, she bounded into view of the cheering audience and smiled brightly.

Abbey raised her fist in the air and gave it a good pump. She then charged down the ramp, slapping the outstretched hands of the crowd. She slid into the ring and threw her hands in the air once more, getting a good pop before she slipped off her glasses and jacket and handed them to the ref. After she slipped back into her corner, she tugged on the ropes and began to stretch. Once she was nice and limber, she hopped on the balls of her feet and waited for her opponent to come down the ramp.

You don’t get a second chance at a first impression. That’s why Nathan wished that he was first in the ring tonight.

Oh sure, Abbey Abraxas would have heard the boos from behind the curtain, there was no doubt about that; if there was one thing about the crowds at Tension, they didn’t hesitate in making you know how they felt, loudly. But at least Abbey wouldn’t have had the time to think, to wonder as she watched him walk down the ramp, up the steel steps, and into the ring to the soundtrack of the Tension crowd’s displeasure. If she didn’t already know, that is.

It was too bad, too. Nathan, unlike Abbey, had done his research. It was a matter of self-preservation; his experience at the AFW Arena against women thus far had been nothing short of disastrous. His first match ended with a taser at his back; the second, with a kick to his nuts.

So Nathan studied. And what he saw gave him some peace of mind; from what he could tell, Abbey seemed like a nice enough woman. Fair competitor. A little chatty, but that was something he could live with. He got a taste of what she was bringing to the ring, too: lots of technical grapples, and a splash of raw power.

Most importantly though: he didn't see any ballbusting.

Most of her previous opponents were unfamiliar to him, which reminded him of how big the company was. But she’d submitted both Charlie Haines and Daisuke Takeuchi, his tag partners at Showdown; both decent enough fighters, and both men who knew much more about the ins and outs of professional wrestling than he did.

So yes, it was too bad, because Nathan was coming into this fight with a healthy dose of respect for his opponent, a respect he wasn't likely to receive in return thanks to a poor first impression.

Nathan took a deep breath. Then he took another. Getting booed by an arena full of people just wasn’t something he felt he could ever get used to. When his music started, so did the crowd, even before he took his first step out on the ramp. Nathan suddenly felt like he owed an apology to Dilated Peoples.

But he put it straight out of his mind. He jogged down the ramp, ignoring the hate, ignoring the jeering. He climbed the steps, ducked into the ring, and greeted Abbey by way of a curt nod. Then he limbered up, stretching, bouncing, shadowboxing. Fight time.

Abbey raised her eyebrow as Nathan hustled down the ramp. She turned her head and looked at the audience who gave Nathan a piece of their mind. She was surprised, usually someone that infamous would be known to her. She certainly knew who Killer King was, after all. However, Nathan's demeanor didn't seem to match the reputation that was preceding him and it made Abbey curious.

She took a few steps forward into the middle of the ring and held out her hand. She flashed Nathan a smile. "So, they really don't like you out here, Champ." She said, still smiling. "Please don't tell me you Killer Kinged some girl." Her smile drooped a bit. "I'm not going to stand for any crap like that, just so you know. I just came to wrestle."

Abbey then urged him forward with a nod. "My name's Abbey, by the way. Abbey Abraxas. Hope you're ok with me kicking your butt!" Her bright, infectious smile returned.

Nathan stepped forward to meet Abbey in the middle, shaking his head all the way. “They have their reasons. But don’t worry, I’m just here to fight, too.” He took her hand and gave it two brisk pumps.  “Nathan. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Abbey.” He disengaged and gave a polite nod to acknowledge her smile.

Abbey was tall. Nathan supposed that he knew that already, considering that he’d watched all of her matches. But her height didn’t really strike him until he was right there in front of her. The difference wasn’t enormous- maybe one or two inches- but he still had to look up to meet her gaze. He made a mental note to watch her reach.

"Good!" Abbey chirped as she hopped back a few paces after the handshake. "I'd make you sorry if you tried to cheat me, that's for sure." She said with a serious glint behind her light hearted smile.

When the bell rang, she hopped to one side and began to circle Nathan. "So, what're you feeling, Nate? You want to lock up, or get right to business?" Abbey said, as though a full conversation was no big deal. "Got any favorite submissions?" She asked, grinning widely.

Abbey didn’t know who Nathan Weed was, but Nathan had taken a crash course on Abbey Abraxas; it wasn’t much of an advantage, but it was something. From his research, one thing was made abundantly clear: Nathan’s grappling was very basic. He knew enough to know how to apply a sharpshooter or STF, sure. But he also knew enough to know that Abbey would completely destroy him on the ground.

Abbey had debuted against a man named Kyo. Nathan had watched the match, but even after multiple viewings he couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on down on the mat. At certain points, he was sure that Abbey had the advantage, only for her to cry out in pain a moment later. At others, it was clear to him that Kyo was in complete control, only for him to suddenly writhe and try and escape some unseen twist or wrench.

So Nathan did not want to lock up, thank you very much for asking. He was going to try and keep his feet for as long as possible.

The trouble was that she was pretty well-rounded besides. She was fast (she’d caught one of Charlie’s kicks, for chrissake) and she was strong (Daisuke submitted to her bearhug). As much as he would have liked to branch out and try new things, for now, his comfort zone was likely the safest place to be.

Nathan shrugged to answer her first few questions, then replied with a simple, “Nope,” to answer her last. Maybe after he’d worn her down a little with his punching, he’d start to experiment. For now, though, Nathan started to circle, too, hunched down in a wrestling stance, keeping his center of gravity nice and low and his arms out to the sides for maximum balance. One key difference: rather than splay his fingers in preparation for a lock-up, he kept his hands balled up in loose fists.

"Aww, c'mon!" Abbey pouted as she circled Nathan. His terse response made her sad. Banter was the best part of the fight! She hoped he wasn't some loomy stick in the mud. She set it aside for now. She could try and loosen him up later.

Abbey herself had a background in Roman-Greco wrestling. She'd been wrestling competitively as long as she had been able to. Being on the mats was where she belonged but she wasn't adverse to strikes, if she had to.

She just didn't want to.

After nearly a minute of sizi n one another up, Abbey was etting anxious. "Alright, Nate, I'll get this started, if you're too shy." She teased and lunged at Nathan, trying to hunch her shoulders up and catch the guy in a simple collar-elbow tie up.

Opportunity.

Nathan would have been lying if he said he wasn't interested to see how they matched up in strength; Abbey was a solidly built woman, and Nathan was no pushover himself. But as curious as he was, openings like these were not likely to come often, especially after he’d outed himself as a striker. For all of his wary admiration for Abbey’s technical game, Nathan was an expert in his own right, and he was going to make that clear from the get go.

So, as Abbey charged in with her hands up high, Nathan pivoted on his left foot and stepped forward into her rush with his right. His body twisted with potential energy, all of which he expended into a whistling right hook aimed at Abbey’s unprotected ribs.

Abbey did have her hands up. She wasn't oblivious to Nathan's balled fists,s so she figured even if he wanted to punch her face, she'd have him secured and pretzeled up pretty quickly.

However, the lower shot to her ribs was something that was a bit harder to defend and as his knuckled smashed into her side, her body twisted and recoiled instantly, and Abbey was backpedaling, trying to turn herself away from Natahan, while still holding an arm up to continue to try and protect her face.

"Shhhhhhhuttlecocks!"

Abbey kept her hands up and turned her body away from him as she retreated. Smart, Nathan noted approvingly. The only truly viable target here was the side that she was presenting to him. The head, obviously, had a wall up around it. But if he wanted to get at her guts, he’d have to reach out for them, or skip around and hit her from in front, both methods that would make it easier for her to grab him with her dangerous little tentacle arms.

So Nathan surged forward and took what he could get. He shot a quick jab high to the guard around her head- rattle her brain some, keep her on the defense, make her cautious of his fists- followed by a heavy cross at the side exposed to him. But then he danced back. If this were a boxing bout, he would have kept the pressure on, as one does with a retreating opponent. But this wasn’t boxing; he had more than punches to be wary of. As strong as his instincts to pursue were, the more he attacked, the more opportunities Abbey would have to mount a devastating submission counter. No, he would take his time, work her down little by little, and from a distance.

That wasn’t all he did, though. As he stepped back, Nathan had a brief and unexpected laugh.  Shhhhuttlecock. He used to do that, too. He thought it was hilarious back in middle school, when his own go to was “Fuuu...nnelcake.” The technique was not something he'd really heard used since then. Nostalgic.