Brooklyn Bruiser vs. Valley Doll - Coast to Coast

There was a moment - short, but tense - where Valley was genuinely worried about Kimmy's health. She looked okay, sure, but looks were never something she could be sure of with this sort of thing. Bones might bebroken, internal damage, a dark laundry list of stuff that could go wrong.

She breathed a sigh of relief when Kimmy started coming to, fluttering those baby blue eyes of hers as full conscious began to return. She could only imagine what was going through the younger woman's mind. Waking up to the booming crowd, regaining your senses, and getting the slow realization that, yes, you'd lost your first bout in the company. It couldn't be the easiest thing to process, and Valley could make a safe guess that the Brooklyn Bruiser wasn't currently in a mood to chat..

Valley backed away on her knees, giving Kimmy the space it looked like she needed. She rose up to her feet, only sparing a quick glance to the crowd. She kept her eyes focused on her the whole time, looking down on her with furrowed brows. She wanted to raise her hand to the crowd, wanted to openly acknowledge how amazing this fresh talent was...but now wasn't the time. Maybe it would be someday, when Kimmy was in the mood. But, at the moment, the best thing Valley could do was to back off and give her space.

"I know you're not in the right mind to hear this now, Kimmy." Valley spoke as solemn and softly as she could with the people clapping as loud as they were and her music booming out across the arena. "But you just did an amazing job. If you want to talk, I'll meet you by the dressing room. If not, I just wanted to say that much. Thanks, Valley leaned forward and gave her a polite bow. "I had a great time. I hope we get to wrestle each other again, sometime."

With that said, Valley straightened up and made her way out to the ring, hobbling over to the ropes. Now that the adrenaline was dying down, she was getting a harsh reminder of the pain all over her body, and the walk up the ramp wasn't fun for her ankle. But she made it with her head held high and a pleasant smile on her face. She was proud of the match, and she prayed Kimmy was, too.

Kimmy rubbed at her eyes and her forehead with her closed fists, kneading her temples with her knuckles in an attempt to soothe the terrible headache that she had as a result of everything she suffered through during this match. It was also a convenient excuse not to have to look at Valley or at the crowd. She wasn't angry at Valley, not exactly, but she just didn't know how she was going to be able to interact with the thirty year-old veteran right now. Kimmy had enough trouble talking to people under favorable circumstances. Outside of her family and her circle of friends back in Brooklyn, communicating was always a challenge for Kimmy. More than once, she had gotten into pretty tense situations due to her lack of tact when conversing.

She didn't want to say anything to insult or offend Valley, and so Kimmy decided that the safest course of action would be to say nothing at all right now. She was still hurt. She was still coming back from unconsciousness. Those were both true statements, and right now, she was sure that she could hide behind them and avoid any awkward post-match conversation with Valley Doll.

"Gruh..."

But just because Kimmy was playing possum—no, exaggerating her condition—didn't mean that Valley wasn't going to talk to her. When the Californian started talking, Kimmy felt a knot form in her stomach, and it wasn't a side effect of the scissor hold she had just endured. She had no idea how she should react to Valley right now. Valley seemed to see right through Kimmy's efforts to isolate herself and figure some of these things out, and it was making everything excruciatingly, painfully awkward.

Kimmy froze for a few seconds, not moving anymore, other than the heavy breathing that was causing her chest to rise and fall rapidly. She was trying to think. Why shouldn't I just...talk? she asked herself. It was a stupid question, of course. I'll say something wrong and look like a huge stupid asshole...

But she had to say something. She had delayed far too long already. Kimmy would slowly slide her hands down from her face, letting them drop to the canvas.

By that point, Valley had already gone.

But she had mentioned meeting by the dressing room if Kimmy was in the mood for talking. Well...Kimmy wasn't sure if she was in the mood, but she could at least see if Valley was still there. She could try to thank her for the introduction, and for what had been a truly fantastic match. Slowly, Kimmy would get up onto her feet. And, slowly, as the audience's cheering picked up to a roar of appreciation once again, she would make her way out of the ring and towards the locker room.

Winner: Valley Doll