Felina Rodriguez vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez: All in the Family

Getting his head smashed into the ringpost and nearly getting the most humiliating pin of his life was almost completely worth it, just for the chance to hear Felina - calm, cocky, ever-so-sweet Felina - get so pissed off. Not that it did anything to sooth the growing migraine that was taking over his brain, but at least it gave him something to smirk about.

He didn't have long to enjoy it, though. In fact, he has less than three seconds, before Felina was on him again with her full fury, grabbing him by the head and hauling him up. He thought she was going to try and get him standing again, which would've been one hell of a feat for her if he didn't want to go along for the ride, but no - for what she had in mind, it was enough for him to be seated.

"Fuck!" Army cried out and the audience winced along with him. Felina's kick came in lightning-fast and struck just as hard. He grit his teeth down hard to stop any more sounds of pain from getting out, then rolled over to his stomach and started to push up. It was slow going, but he had to a least try and get back to his feet. He wasn't going to win with her over him like this. No chance.

Felina wasn’t sure which sound she liked more: the simultaneous reactionary shouts of Army and the crowd, or the blast that caused it all as her kick smashed into her cousin’s muscular back. Regardless, it was perfectly clear that the strike had but just as painful for Army as it sounded.

The latina wasn’t in the same kind of pain the big guy was, but she was still panting some as Army rolled himself over. Still, her situation now seemed almost perfect. Felina knew if she just kept the pressure up, this could all be over soon. Come on. Almost there... she thought to herself.

As Army started to push himself up, Felina took her stance again and moved right in front of him. And as nice a sight it was to have him on his hands and knees before her, she didn’t let herself get too wrapped up in that. Instead she waited until he’d risen just a bit more before firing off a few quick punches at his head, then follow them with a heavy roundhouse kick aimed right at Army’s head.

Army managed to get to his feet, even though his feet seemed tempted to just slide out from beneath him at the slightest wind. He didn't feel like he'd been in a wrestling match, he felt like he'd been in a boxing match where someone forgot to ring the bell for the end of the round. Tired, dazed, and needing a few gulps of water. It wouldn't be getting better any time soon, either.

He started to straighten up, but Felina nixed that idea with a punch in his face, snapping his head back. She managed to get in another one before he managed to get his guard up, blocking the rest and letting them smack off his forearms. Stung, but nothing he couldn't take and keep right on coming.

Her kick, though, was a different story. That crashed into his guard like a runaway pickup truck and knocked it away for a precious second, as he staggered close to the ropes. Boxing, wrestling - that was always the worst place to be.

Felina felt her fists smack right against Army’s face twice, before his forearms got in the way to absorb the rest of her punches. Didn’t get a tremendous amount of impact off with them, but that didn’t seem to matter much as her powerful leg crashed right into the guard and blasted it away, and sent Army reeling toward the ropes. This might be her wrestling debut, but this was a dance Felina was quite familiar with. With him backed up and worn out, you could almost see the fire light up in the latina’s eyes as the end came in sight.

“I’ve got you now...”

Keeping her hands up Felina quickly moved toward him, then suddenly spun around and swung her leg out, aiming a spinning heel kick right for Army’s stomach to try to further stun him and take advantage of his destroyed guard. And from there she’d follow his movements carefully and attentively, and fire off a combination of punches at anything that looked like an opening. One at his sternum right after the kick. Another at his jaw a moment later. Then a left hook at his ribs. And after every two or three punches she’d mix in a heavy kick aimed for his ribs, then repeat all over again to try to break what was left of the big guy down.


But she knew all too well this big offensive barrage of hers could all be for nothing if he managed to slip by to either side and get away from her. So at every brief break in her onslaught, Felina kept her eyes on Army to see if he’d move, and if he did she’d quickly shift right with him to cut him off, staying right on him like a shadow. As long as he didn’t score a big defensive hit to throw Felina off, she felt confident she could keep up the pressure until Army was down for the count.

As much as Army wanted to reply with something flippant and funny, he couldn't quite get in a good comment, and it wasn't just because the pain was making it difficult to speak. She was right. She did have him, dead to rights, and it was only going to get worse from this point on.

He did what he was trained to do when someone poured the pressure on. He brought his arms up, he got closed his defenses in tight, he steeled himself for the onslaught, he took a deep breath. But he was trained to fight men his own size, who punched close to  his own speed. Felina was faster. So much faster.

At first he was doing a good job of keeping the punches out. The spinning heel kick knocked the wind out of him, but he was able to recover fast enough and get back into position. He even thought he might be able to get in a quick punch, knock her silly and make a comeback. He tried. He reared back for it.

But, instead, Army just took a punch in the face. That was when the problems started.

Lefts and right, lefts and right, left and rights, and as soon as Army thought it might be safe enough to try a counteratttack, Felina snuck in a nasty kick, as if she were punishing him for considering it. He tried to move, maybe sneak around, and find an opening. But she was there, in his way, everytime. She was always there. And the next thing he knew, his back was against the ropes, and there was no way to go but forward.

And that just wasn't an option.

Not everyone in the stands was a fan of either boxing or kickboxing, but still the fans could recognize when a fight was close to being won. Army was backed up into the ropes as shot after shot either smashed into his guard, his legs or his abs. He had no room to breath, nowhere to run and no opening to attack. Felina could just hammer away at him as long as it took until he finally broke down.

But, therein also lied the problem. Despite how bad Army’s situation looked, the fact was he was a big and strong guy with a pretty good amount of stamina and endurance. Felina was well-conditioned herself, but she also knew an explosion of offense like this ran the risk of completely gassing her. And if she didn’t put Army on his back before then that happened, then he might find himself with a perfect opening to turn the tables again. That had been a recipe for disaster in a few of her fights, and she damn sure wanted to avoid letting that happen here. But that meant she’d have to find a way to end this little test of endurance and make the turtle come out of his shell.

An idea came to mind. Risky, but it could be her ticket to a one-day vacation at Army’s expense if it worked. For a moment Felina continued her rhythm of punches and kicks attacking Army’s guarded form. But as she fired off a left uppercut trying to slip under her cousin’s guard to strike his ribs, she leaned her head out with the strike, putting it right within perfect positioning for Army’s right fist to reach. No one who didn’t follow boxing would likely even notice, but she could almost guarantee Army would. From there Felina just hoped he’d take her bait. And that she could react effectively if he did...

Wait. Wait. Wait. That was all Army had to do, in the end. Felina was doing a spectactularly good job of beating the shit out of him, but at the end of the day, she didn't have his stamina. She couldn't outlast him. An opening was going to come, and when it presented itself, he'd be ready. In theory.

"Come on, come on...."  She kept hammering away at him, coming from every angle. It was the same machine-like precision that Army father's always tried to drill into him, but it never quite took - even with his training, he was still a brawler at heart. Felina, on the other hand, had it down pat, which made the beating he was taking all the worse - it was like getting slapped around by his weaknesses.

There.

Army smirked as she finally made a mistake that he could take advantage of. Her head was practically begging to be hit with a right hook, and he was more than willing to oblige. After all, she needed a lot of hits to take him down, but he was confident that one solid blow would be enough for him to finish the job.

It might've meant take a couple of licks, but Army reeled back and let it fly, throwing a fierce right hook at Felina's face. "Drop!"

Swing, batter batter... Felina thought to herself as she moved her head into prime position for a hit from her cousin, trying to bait him into attacking. And when she saw his lips curl into a smirk, she had to make a strong effort not to do the same. Like a fish going after a worm on the end of a hook, Felina knew she had him. Now she just had to reel him in.

Army’s fist sailed through the air and set itself on a crash course for Felina’s pretty face. But just before it could make impact, the latina ducked down, allowing the fist to fly right through the air over her and its momentum to carry Army right with it, while Felina would move right by him and essentially reverse their positions by putting her back to the ropes.

But from there she’d wait for Army to turn back around to face her. And as soon as he started to, Felina would take a jumping step forward while firing her right knee up toward his jaw as hard as she could, aiming to blast him with her Whiplash finisher! This same flying knee was responsible for nearly half of her knockouts prior to coming to Japan, and she was confident it would be enough to finish Army off if it managed to connect.

Close. So close. One punch, and then Army would be able to go home, and they could laugh about it over whatever Carmen was cooking, and Felina would go off to Friction and have a grand old time, there. It would be right up her alley, and she'd be away from freaks like King. In the end, he was doing her a favor. That's what he'd tell his sister, anyway.

So, when Army swung, he swung hard, making sure to get enough power behind his blow to make this a finishing move. And that's what it turned out to be, too. Just not for him.

"What-" His grunt was a mix of surprise and annoyance, as the blow sailed overhead its target. His mind was already registering the implication, and his body would soon be getting the message, too. Her head was bait, and he'd snapped it up like a good little fish.

He moved back around just in time to see her knee rushing towards his face at terminal velocity, striking hard right on the nose. Army's neck arched and his back followed suit, as he staggered away with groggy eye. He took a single step, then another, then another...and then he fell, flat on his back, shaking his head about as the crowd exploded.

*BAM!!* The smack of Felina’s knee against Army’s face echoed through the building, causing the onlooking crowd to cringe and groan at the sight and sound of the vicious strike. Her cousin was bigger than anyone she’d ever hit like that before, so she was eager to see if it had rocked him just as hard as everyone else who had fallen victim to it before. After a couple stumbling steps, the answer became evident, as Army fell back and collapsed on the mat while the crowed went into a frenzy.

If this had been a kickboxing match, the ref would already be calling the end of the fight and checking on Army while Felina walked around with her hands held high. The ref did make his way over to Army to take a look at him, but the latina quickly waved him aside while stepping toward the big, prone body in the middle of the ring. She was out here to prove to Army, herself, and any other doubters that she had what it took to make it here as a wrestler. If the ref waved this off as a knockout, Army would forever call it a fluke and say it was called too soon. No, Felina wanted there to be no doubt who had won this match.

Once she was by his torso, she stepped over him before kneeling to sit high astride his upper chest in a schoolgirl pin, with her thighs at either side of his head while her shins rested over his shoulders. It seemed a lot of the arguing between had to do with arms vs legs, Army’s boxing vs Felina’s kickboxing. So using only her lower body to pin Army seemed like the most fitting, poetic thing in the world. “Good fight, primo. But you’re done.” Panting as she sat there on top of him, she rested her hands on her hips and looked down at his face while the ref slapped the mat to start the count.

“ONE...!”