Ryuunosuke Tachibana vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Slobberknocker

Yeah, the headbutt wasn't exactly fun for Army, even though he was the one dishing out the pain. As soon as it connected, he staggered back and fell into the corner, shaking his head as stars danced across his vision. It sucked, but not as bad as missing the look on Ryuu's face when it connected. He made a mental note to check out the match later and look out for it. Had to be a thing of beauty.

When he opened his eyes all the way, he could see his opponent nearby, popping back up to his feet, and getting his guard up, likely expecting something big to come his way. Army hated to disappoint the guy, so...

Army bent his knees, took a moment to settle his aim, and then took off across the ring like a runaway freight train, recklessly charging straight towards Ryuu. Instead of going right back to boxing, he tried to see how the new guy handled a sudden return to wrestling form - he jumped up, kicked his legs out, and tried to nail his guarded chest with a front dropkick, looking to break his defense clean in half. It was a little sloppy, not a move he'd practiced much with, but he was willng to bet it would get the job done.

Ryuu was thankful he had managed to get back up in time to see Army coming, it was going to be a lot less painful than it could have been. The last time he had run like the devil was chasing him, he had thrown a wicked punch at Ryuu, but this time he would be ready. Ready for the wrong move that is.

Ryuu adjusted his guard to specifically protect his head, which left him out of position for the dropkick Army transitioned into at the last moment. Army's feet smashed into Ryuu's chest just below his pecs, sending the big man from S.E.M.E. sprawling backwards. No way he was going to be able to stop his momentum this time, as he crashed into the unforgiving ropes who then threw him back onto his chest at Army's feet.

Ryuu let out low, panting groans of pain as he clutched as his chest. The soldier in him screamed to get back up, that he'd been hit harder and faster than that before, that this was nothing he couldn't shake off. The wind had been knocked out of him, and he found it was harder to get full breaths. Ryuu sucked deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth, trying to restrict his own breathing and slow it back down to normal.

Meanwhile, Ryuu managed to bring one knee in under himself and get it up, his head still hung low and arm wrapped across his chest. He was definitely getting back up, just not right this very second.

Army wasn't as fast on his feet as Carmen and nowhere close to being in his cousin, Felina's, league, but he could get some hustle when he wanted to. This was one of those times. He very much desired to plant his feet into Ryuu's chest, and that was exactly what happened.

He landed and rolled back, this time able to see the fruits of his labor fully. Ryuu was down and easy pickings, and for the first time since the battle began, things felt firmly in Army's court. He intended to make the most of the situation, too. Ryuu looked like he needed some recoup time, but he wasn't about to get it.

He threw his fist up in the air, rallying the crowd back behind him, and moved back towards Ryuu as he tried to get back to his feet. Army would help him up, too, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back up to two solid feet...only for him to then twist around, give him a hard tug, and send him running off to the other side of the ring with a fierce Irish Whip.

As Ryuu was recuperating and getting back to a stand, Army decides to be a swell guy and help him out. When He grabs Ryuu's wrist, Ryuu grabs back at the waistline of his boxing gear to steady himself. Army brings him back up to two feet, only to then yank hard on his wrist and fling him off towards the opposite side of the ring. Ryuu's feet stomp and shake the ring floor as he travels with an unsteady gait into the ropes.

He at least is able to turn himself around before impact and his weight stretches the ropes out for a few seconds, even bending him over it slightly and chancing an out of the ring tumble thanks to Army's strength and Ryuu's height. The elasticity of the ropes reaches its peak, and very quickly his world is in motion once more.

The ropes toss Ryuu back towards Army, still on unsteady footing. But by this point, Ryuu was ready to get back into action. He steels himself for impact and throws his arm out to try to clothesline the Puerto Rican.

The crowd was getting pumped up now, roaring as Army moved in to meet his advancing opponent. They were probably expecting him to go for a lariat, or something like that. He would. Kind of.

As he moved in, Army spun around and brought his arm up, coming at Ryuu with his new signature move - Hurricane Armando. He swung his arm hard at his opponent, looking to drop him hard with the discus clothesline...

...and he wound up taking a clothesline himself at the same time.

The two attacks landed in almost perfect sync, and Army was immediately floored, dropped on his back with a ring-shaking impact. He laid there, still for a moment, before signs of life returned to his body. His only consolation was that, maybe, Ryuu was feeling as bad as he was.

"Hate..." He groaned and sat up, grimacing every inch of the way. "Fucking hate you."

There was nothing Ryuu could do about Army winding up for some big move, his momentum was out of control unless he wanted to take a nosedive into the mat. In the split-seconds he had to prepare, he braced himself for one hell of an impact.

BOOM! Both Ryuu and Army annihilate each other in record timing, knocking both men flat on their asses and shaking the entire ring. Ryuu lie spread eagle, flat on his back for several seconds, his already blank expression looking even bleaker. His return to the world of the living took a few seconds as well, signaled by a low groan as Ryuu brought a hand up to shield his eyes from the bright ceiling lights.

The audience was awash with shock and awe, the two heavy-hitting brawlers had nearly done themselves in with a double KO! But it was not to be, Army roused himself first and then Ryuu followed suit.

Ryuu pushed up onto his elbows with a groan, shaking his head slowly to clear his mind. It was possible he had lost consciousness for a split-second, his head certainly ached like it. And his chest? It felt like Army had caved in his ribcage, though the fact he was breathing this easily disproved that. He heard and saw Army groaning and cursing his name nearby, his own attempts at a clothesline had not been wasted. This earned a rare and short laugh from Ryuu in return, and a brief smirk graced his face.

"Then do something about it, hotshot" he taunted, hauling himself up to his knees. his body screamed in protest, particularly his upper chest, that it was too early, that he ought to rest for a while longer. But like with anyone who had something to prove, your body was going to be the last thing that could stop you.

Ryuu got up to his feet next, wobbling slightly and then righting himself. He brushed off his pants like their collision was nothing more than a minor scuffle. This juggernaut routine he was putting on seemed to win over more than a few hearts; over the roar of the crowd screaming for Army he could swear that some had started chanting his name.

The one good thing about the wipeout - at least the crowd liked it.

That, along with the sight of Ryuu struggling just as much as he was to get back up, was the one bit of consolation Army had as he made his way up. The chants for him were still strong. Maybe not as good as when the match started, but people still wanted him to win, and he was pulling through for them as best as he could. That was the Rodriguez way, after all.

Army sat up just as Ryuu made it to his knees, and he hurriedly spun around to his chest to quickly match. Maybe a little too fast, it made him woozy, but there was no way he was going to be left behind. Not when Ryuu had that little smirk on his face that was just begging to be wiped off.

{color=#ff0000]"Yeah..."[/color] Army grunted, his voice barely getting through the mouth guard. 'Yeah, I'll do something."

That 'something' turned out to be a chop. As soon as Army was up, he moved and swung his arm right at Ryuu's rippled chest, hitting him with a harsh knife edge across the pectorials.

As Ryuu hauled himself up to his feet, he saw Army suddenly kick into gear and struggle to do the same. Ryuu couldn't quite make out what Army had said, or if he had said anything at all, the only audible noise that reached his ears was the grunt.

Ryuu wasn't quite expecting Army to launch another offensive the second he got to a stand, a powerful chop slapping across his pecs. The muscle bounced from the force and sent Ryuu back a step, but gritting his teeth he pushed back forward and swung his own right arm straight back to Army with equal ferocity.

Not even a minute had passed since these two juggernauts floored each other, each unmoving and stunned, and the second they stood back up they were at it again. The intensity of the match was turning the energy of the arena up another notch, if that were even possible.

A few things were certain at this point. One, at the current rate these sluggers were going at it, the match wasn't going to last forever. And two, when one man went down, he was gonna go down hard.

"Woo!"

The crowd made their approval loud and clear as the blow landed right on Ryuu's chest. Army had been practicing his chops, perfecting them, and the fruits of his labor showed on his opponent's chest. One nice, long streak, all the way across. A thing of pure beauty.

Of course, Army had done the chop enough times to know what was likely coming next, and he flexed his chest in preparation. Sure enough, Ryuu was perfectly willing to give as good as he got.

"Woo!"

Ryuu's chop hit on target and knocked Army back a couple of steps, hissing as his nerves lit on fire. Good impact - wherever this guy trained, they made sure he got the full set of moves. Launching a decent chop took a lot of practice, and it seemed like he'd had it.

Army wasn't going to be outdone, though - not at this. He came right back at Ryuu, jumped to gain a little momentum, and fired off another fierce chop. Same spot, same attack, even harder this time.

WAPOW!

The back of Ryuu's pops into Army's broad chest and leaves its own stinging red mark behind. Something Army had that Ryuu didn't however was preparation, and his flexed chest likely dissipated a good deal of the force of the blow.

And the exchange of blows was just getting started. Army wasn't stunned very long at all, he came right back at Ryuu almost as soon as Ryuu was pulling his arm back into position. This time however Army had jumped and fired again, adding more power to his chop.

WAPOW@

The crowd had cheered louder after each consecutive strike by the two, and this was no exception. Army aimed his strike dead on, nearly overlapping his previous strike perfectly. Ryuu let out a hissed protest between gritted teeth as his pecs flared up in pain. That jump was a neat trick to improve damage, Ryuu would have to remember it.

Now that they had established this little slapping match, Ryuu came back at Army with a roar. His arm whipped to the side as he recovered the distance he had been forced back. He moved like he was going to swing back at Army, but instead he ducked low and tried to plow his shoulder into Army's gut. He tried to get under him and lift him up, trying to either carry or shove Army and plow him into a corner turnbuckle.