Julia Rogers vs. Valley Doll - Light Up the Sky

High-risk moves didn’t come much higher or riskier than the Sasuke Special. Not just a moonsault, but one with some considerable windup time, and so many different ways it could go wrong even if - big ‘if’ - her opponent didn’t move in time to avoid it. When Valley dedicated herself to the move and backflipped over the top rope, time seemed to slow. She could feel her heart pounding, knowing that this could’ve very well been the end of her career. Or worse.

But it wasn’t. She crashed into Julia, and while she didn’t hit the move well enough to land on her feet, she was quickly able to roll back and pop back up with her arms high in the air, basking in the triumph and the roar of the crowd.

”AFW! AFW! AFW!”

Valley took a moment to soak it up and, more importantly, catch her breath, before she turned her attention back to Julia. The tide had changed again, but there was no telling how long it would stay that way. She’d be making the most of it.

”2!”

The referee called out to them as Valley walked back to Julia and grabbed her by the arm and shoulder, hauling her back up. She lifted the cowgirl just enough to roll her back in under the bottom rope, with the Slamazon following right behind.

A lot of Julia’s matchups had been against people the crowd didn’t exactly like to cheer for. It almost felt strange to hear those loud chants coming after she’d been on the receiving of a flashy high-flying maneuver rather than the other way around. Still, she couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment. Things weren’t looking good at the moment for her, but the action had been intense, and at a level that could only be found here in AFW.

The ref started counting, but didn’t get very far. Julia’s recovering body was pried up off the ground, and no resistance was offered as Valley rolled her back into the ring. The count stopped and the crowd softly applauded. They clearly didn’t want to see a matchup like this end in a countout, and they were glad to see Valley shared the sentiment.

Julia was looking dead in the water, practically begging to be pinned. As Valley started to roll in under the bottom rope, she almost began to do it, too...but the cowgirl’s position made her think twice. It was a little iffy, but the Slamazon thought she might’ve been just close enough to hit one of her personal favorites before she tried a pin. Some added insurance.

Standing up on the apron, she gripped the top rope tight and let Julia come to a stop before she committed to the move. Valley pulled back on the rope, then leaped and forward, doing a slingshot manuever right into the ring. Her body rolled forward, she went into a perfect spin with her lower limbs extended, and came down on Julia’s prone body with a somersault legdrop.

The final touch that would seal the match...she hoped.

The floored cowgirl remained still, aside from the rising and falling of her chest as she breathed, and stared up at the lights while trying to get her wits about her again. Valley had taken control, but Julia wasn’t out of this just yet. She didn’t feel she was, at least. But scrambling to her feet and attempting to recklessly dash at Valley again wouldn’t have been wise. Granted, much of Julia’s offense revolved around a tremendous amount of risk. But picking the moments to make those risks had a big influence on their chances of paying off. For now she just needed to be patient. Valley would be coming in any second for a pin attempt and....

“Ugh!” Julia suddenly gasped out as Valley’s leg crashed down onto her, completely dispelling any notion or hope that she’d have a moment to recover while her foe attempted to pin her. Against most people, she would’ve been right in her guess. But Valley Doll wasn’t most people. And as a result of her wishful thinking, the Higurashi dojo’s resident cowgirl now found herself in even deeper trouble than before!

Valley loved the somersault leg drop for a lot of reasons. Flashy, of course, but unlike a regular leg drop, it did enough damage to warrant the unpleasant crash on her butt. Happened fast, nice and snappy. Fit her style.

Plus, it put you in a position to almost immediately go for a pinfall. Which Valley took advantage of.

She swung around, laid on Julia’s chest, grabbed her leg and began her third pin attempt on the match.

The referee dropped nearby and started it up. ”1…!”

Right after Valley’s leg had crashed down hard onto Julia, in a flash the Slamazon had spun around to lay right on top of the cowgirl and hook a leg for another pin attempt. And while Julia would’ve loved to defiantly kick out right after the one count again, she was too dazed and winded to do so this time around.

“Two...!” the ref called out while slapping the mat a second time. The ref’s hand came up again, but as it descended Julia grunted and kicked up and out with her free leg to jolt a shoulder off the mat before the three count could be made.

Valley flopped off of Julia after she kicked out, then sat up and huffed, blowing a few stray pink strands out of her face. It was a tad disappointing, but she could see even a two-count as a small victory. Julia was wasting precious energy. Having a harder and harder time kicking out. Another round of high-impact moves, and it might just prove too much.

”Okay, okay,” Valley grabbed Julia arm and started to lift her up, giving her a couple of quick kicks in the chest to prod her along. ”Let’s try this, then.”

When Julia was up enough for it. Valley jerked back, tugged her arm, and sent her off to the corner with an Irish Whip, putting her own body weight behind the move for some added oomph.

What Valley had picked up on hadn’t escaped Julia’s notice. Budgeting of energy was tremendously important in any match, but particularly one like this. This was now the third pin attempt she’d had to force herself out of. The more she did that, the less she’d be able to focus on finding ways to put Valley down.

She was in need of an opening, but for the moment she was coming back up to her feet, albeit with Valley’s “help.” And then she was hurled toward the corner. “Ngh!” Julia grunted as she turned at the last second to bring her back crashing roughly into the turnbuckles. She bounced off from the impact, but quickly slumped right back to lean against the corner with her arms draped over the ropes on either side.

“Come on, Jules. Head in the game...” she muttered to herself, knowing just how pivotal the next few moments were likely to be.

The instant Valley let go of Julia and let momentum decide her fate, she was already running off in the opposite direction. It all had to be about conservation of movement and energy, so when she was on the attack, she had to stay on the attack, full throttle.

Valley ran to the other corner, planted one foot on the middle turnbuckle, then jumped straight up off, getting an extra boost. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she was off in a mad sprint, dashing towards like a homing missile zeroing in on her target.

Her goal was simple this time, and hopefully less open to dodging than her last attempt. Just an elbow to Julia’s face. Granted, an elbow with a lot of accumulated force behind it, but an elbow nonetheless.

Julia had hardly been in the corner a full second before she saw Valley was already making a mad dash straight for her. It was smart of the Slamazon to keep up the pressure, not give Julia any room to breathe. But this was the second time now Valley had tried this tactic, and the cowgirl was just as ready for it this time around.

When her foe closed in to deliver her elbow strike, Julia crouched down to get her shoulder right under the charging Slamazon’s midsection, then stood up and threw her arm up in an attempt to use Valley’s own momentum to catapult her out of the ring!