AV 15 Iron Woman Match: Natasha Han Vs. Valley Doll

Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.

Getting caught in a submission hold was bad, getting caught in one that involved her legs was even worse, but in an Iron Man Match? She couldn’t imagine anything below that, not that the pain coursing through her ankle at the moment made complex thought easy. Her entire style revolved around her legs - using them to flip, to kick, to counter, to move at her breakneck pace. The worse off they were, the more her performance suffered, the less options she had. A fact that she doubted Natasha didn’t realize.

”Aaargh!” She arched her back as Natasha powered down on the hold, setting her ankle on her fire as she twisted it this way and that way and everyway except the way it was designed to go. More desperate than ever to escape, Valley stretched out as far as she could go and madly reached for the ropes, hoping she was just close enough…

In that moment, at that instant, Natasha knew she had Valley. She had struck a point that could turn the entire match for her, and she had to milk it for all it was worth. Exhausted, with sweat dripping from her face, the mighty Russian twisted the Slamazon's foot harder, trying to put as much pressure into the ankle as she could. Her arms flexed, and she grunted and groaned, as she tried to summon up as much of her fading strength as possible, solely for the purpose of hurting Valley's ankle. She twisted, and pushed, and pressed, trying to inflict as much possible damage as she could.

Then, in the next moment, she heard the referee yelling at her, demanding of her to let go of Valley. The Russian turned her head slightly, noticing the Slamazon's fingers on the ropes, and sighed, doing as she was told and releasing her rival from the awkward hold.

She laid there a moment, then rolled to the side, starting to weakly pull herself up into a sitting position. She kept her attention on Valley, watching and waiting for the blonde to make a move, as she just sat there, trying to rest and recover her strength. She didn't plan on getting back up until Valley did. There was no reason to waste the energy, not when she could take an extra second or two to recover.

Valley wasn’t known for her peerless upperbody strength or for having a crushing grip, but was fairly certain that she could’ve broken bones with the force she was using to hold onto the ropes. It was short but torturous journey to reach them, and now that she’d snagged them she wasn’t letting go until her leg was in the clear.

For a fleeting moment, she hoped that Natasha might hold on past the five count and give her a point. Not the ideal way to win, but she’d take it. No such luck, though, should’ve known better. The hold was released at the referee’s demands, but not after Natasha had got in some good damage.

Valley tried to stand back up, but was forced to fall back down to her knees when she put too much weight on her ankle. Nothing was broke and she’d soldiered through worse woes to win a match, but it would be a nagging pain for the rest of the fight, and she doubted Natasha would just forget about it. A weak spot was the exact last thing she needed.

She shot a glare Natasha’s way, then grabbed the ropes for support, pulling herself back up a moment later. Valley wound up leaning in the corner, favoring her leg as she stood, but she’d be fine. She’d be fine.

As Valley rose back up, and dropped back to her knees, and rose back up again, Natasha did the same, forcing herself to climb back up to her feet. Was she hurting? Was she still tired? Was this match pushing her even further than she thought it would?

Yes, yes, and yes, but at that moment, she didn't care. Her ankle lock had done it's job, and Valley was hurting. Hurting bad, from the looks of things, and that was all Natasha needed to know.

She shot a smirk back at Valley as the Slamazon glared at her, and began to lurch towards her, intensity in her eyes once again as she approached her rival. With Valley in the corner, her plan for the moment was simple. As she drew closer to the blonde, she drew back her arm, and with a tired yell she fired off a quick, knife-edged chop, straight to the center of Valley's chest. It wasn't anything fancy or showy, but she didn't need fancy right now.

She needed pain.

Valley had been at this for over a decade, and as such, she knew when certain things were coming her way. As Natasha moved towards her, closing in like a shark on its wounded prey, she couldn’t guess exactly what her move would be, but she could hazard a few guesses. They all involved striking and a lot of pain.

It turned out to be a vicious chop, which fit the bill perfectly. The sound of whipped flesh filled the arena, all the way back to the cheap seats, and Valley’s shriek followed closely after it. She reeled back against the turnbuckle and clutched her chest, writhing with pain.

But that only lasted a moment. In the next one, she turned that shriek into a growl and lashed out, swinging her arm to throw a wild backfist into Natasha’s face.

Natasha had the next few seconds of the match laid out in her head. She would hammer Valley with chops, one after the other, until she had broken the Slamazon down again. Then she would lift her up, slam her down, and score her next fall.

But her plans were all shattered with the sound of a shriek. Valley's fist slammed right into her face, and the Russian shouted out loud, as her head snapped backwards, the momentum of the attack forcing the Wrestle Angle to stagger away from Valley. She turned away from her, stumbling to the side, her back wide open to the clever blonde.

It was a fairly rare sight to see Valley using strikes with her hands, but that hardly meant she couldn’t pull out a good punch every now and again. With her leg hurting, this had to be one of those times.

It was enough to buy her a small window, but she knew she would have to fight to keep that window open, without relying on her kicks. On that note, she had an idea. Maybe not the best idea, but an idea, and an idea that would give her ankle some needed rest.

With Natasha’s back to her, Valley hopped forward on her good leg - once, twice - then pounced on the Russian’s back. Her arm circled around the neck, and her legs, still going strong, wrapped around her stomach, coming together in the front for a tight body scissors and completing the sleeperhold. Valley clamped on Natasha like a limpet, pressing their sweaty bodies together and not even letting an inch of space get between them.

Of all the positions to be in, at the moment, Natasha found herself in the absolute worst one possible.

She staggered again as she felt Valley jumping onto her back, feeling her arm snaking around her neck, wrapping her up with the sleeperhold. She began to gag, and naturally her hands shot up, grabbing at Valley's arm, trying to pull it loose, trying to pry it open, even if just a little bit, so that she would still be able to breathe in.

But then the Slamazon's legs wrapped around her, locking around her waist, those dangerous, deadly legs trapping her tight in the scissors, and the Russian began to feel panic setting in. She was already weakened, already worn down, and she had already realized that she wouldn't be able to fight the submission for long. The obvious option here was to tap out now, before Valley could do too much damage with the hold. She would be down a fall, but it was better than letting the blonde gain any ground against her.

That was the obvious option though. Natasha didn't want the obvious option right now. She wanted the painful one.

She gripped Valley's arm as tightly as she could, gritting her teeth as she began to focus. She would only get one shot at this, and she had to make it count. She waited a second longer, and then another, and then...

Then, she suddenly thrust her body backwards, back towards the corner that Valley had just been leaning against, trying to slam the Slamazon right into it, trying to crush the blonde between her body and the turnbuckle, in hopes of forcing her to let go!

Valley had a plan when she started this match. A solid, reasonable plan, that broke what would be a long, arduous ordeal into a more manageable framework. She’d work Natasha over with aerial moves, then move on to kicks, and then, for the final leg of the match, she’d switch to her submission manuevers and just grind the clock out.

It was a solid idea, but the only problem was that Valley didn’t take into account just how stubborn Natasha was.

Here she was, wrapped tight around the Russian above and in the middle, crushing her with all the force she could summon. Valley could feel the powerful drumbeat in her opponent's body, her heart working overtime to make the most of the remaining air. She knew Natasha should’ve been going to sleep soon, or tapping out if she had any sense. Should’ve...but wasn’t. ”Just give up!” Valley hissed into Natasha’s ear and wrenched the hold. ”Give up or I’ll knock you out and-”

Valley was so singularly focused on the hold that she didn’t mind her surroundings. If she did, she might’ve noticed what Natasha was doing before her back got slammed into the corner at ramming speed. Her arms and legs immediately untangled as the pain tore through her back, and she wound up leaning against the turnbuckle for support as Natasha’s back pressed against her.

Natasha slammed Valley into the corner, then felt a wave of relief passing through her, as she got what she had wanted out of the maneuver. Valley's hold was broken, and the Russian was allowed to stumble away from her, out of the corner and away from her rival.

She hungrily sucked in air, filling her lungs again as she turned slowly back towards Valley. No more wasting time. Valley was back in the corner and Natasha could resume her earlier attack.

Just like before, she lunged towards the blonde, and just like before, her arm came up, Natasha intent on swinging another knife-edged chop to Valley's chest, a painful echo of her earlier assault!