Elimination Chamber: Neske Alapo Vs. Gabbie Desjardin Vs. Etzlicoatl Vs. Serina Kashibara Vs. Akiha Kosha Vs. Belinda Northman

Etzli was, for once, determined to make sure the entire world recognized her as a threat.  She had barely landed from the crossbody when she sprang back upright like a cat, leaping towards the dazed Neske.  The Nahuatl landed right in front of her, mounted on the ropes as if to deliver the classic 'ten turnbuckle punches' spot.

No punches were forthcoming, though, and instead Etzli started swinging wildly, trying to deliver a barrage of buffeting slaps to the other girl.

"You dare?!" (slap, slap) "Do not presume to--" (slap!) "--mock the powers that--" (slap, slap) "--shaped the world in the formless dark, and--" (slap slap slap) "--I forgot where this was going but TAKE THIS--" (slap!)

It wasn't the most effective form of offense, but if she wanted to make a statement, a statement was definitely being made.

About the moment Neske collided with the turnbuckle is when most opponents tended to pounce, throwing a knee into her belly or tossing her halfway across the ring, but that didn't come this time. Well, not exactly. Instead, Etzlicoatl charged in with a barrage of effeminate slaps to Neske's face, ranting off with her usual nonsense as she did. Compared to the usual crippling blow that brought Neske crumbling right at the start of a match, this wasn't terribly painful, but god if it wasn't annoying.

After a handful of open-handed strikes and some utterly confusing taunts to go with it, Neske finally had enough. She raised both hands in front of her face to halt the barrage, before reaching out and grasping onto Etzli's, her fingers clamped around her opponent's ears and in her hair as she pulled in. "Do you ever shut the fuck up?!" With her own neck, Neske thrusted her head forward, until the two collided mid-way in a poorly executed, but nonetheless hefty, headbutt.

Sometimes, when a certain degree of disrespect had been shown, it was very important to teach a person that there were consequences for that sort of thing. This was one of those times, and so Etzlicoatl was throwing a bombard of slaps that, frankly, could've been a harbinger of peace between Mexico and the 209 for the next thousand years.

It was not to be.

The headbutt came abruptly and with a degree of violence that Etzli, in all of her arrogance, had not at all been expecting. There was a flash of white and then pain exploded in her nose, causing her to hop back and dance in place with obvious discomfort, like someone who'd dropped a two-by-four on their toe. "OW," she shrieked, hands clamped to her face and the match altogether forgotten for the moment as she leapt from foot to foot. "Why in the nose, you...gyah."

All of that gimmicky regal dignity was out the window for a moment. Etzli's eyes were instantly watery and, if nothing else, it was a certainty that she was going to be taking Neske a lot more seriously in just a minute.

If Neske was to press her advantage she wasn't going to get a better chance than this. Right now, it was just the two of them, but soon enough this cage would be filled with violent psychos fully intent on ripping her (and each other) to pieces. If she could thin that number out now, or at least wear Etzli down enough that she wouldn't be a huge danger later on.

How Neske would go about doing that, on the other hand, was a completely different issue. While Etzlicoatl was still gripping her face, Neske moved in placing one hand on her opponent's shoulder, and the other... well, she wasn't sure where. Even though she hadn't really learned how, Neske was more confident she could pull off a more legitimate throw or hold, something that would make the others take her more seriously. But, even if she had the technical knowledge, Etzli specifically presented a bit of a problem. Aside from the fact that she was taller than Neske, the perky Mexican was wearing little more than a few rags, and had a body proportioned like an adolescent girl to boot. Neske's first instinct was to place her hand on her opponent's hip or under her legs but it felt kind of... weird, especially with the thought in mind that her own girl was probably out there watching. Ultimately, Neske's free hand found it's resting spot on her opponent's other shoulder, hoping she hadn't wasted too much time figuring things out as she prepared to drive a knee into Etzlicoatl's stomach.

At the moment, things looked less-than-optimistic for Etzli, as they usually did. She was already flailing in discomfort, and when Neske clinched up with her and landed a knee under her ribs, the luchadora bent double with a yelp of pain. One could easily be forgiven for thinking she was about to get steamrolled, as she frequently did, and if so one would be severely mistaken. The key thing that people often forgot about Etzlicoatl - mostly because of her small size, absurd antics, and propensity to pick fights that were way out of her league - was that she was actually quite competent in a ring, and could not only take adversity, but dispense it in remarkable quantities when the opportunity arose.

Case in point.

Doubled over Neske's knee as she was, Etzli still had the ring awareness to shoot an arm up and hook the leg that had struck her. She'd been wrestling for quite a few years now, and unlike her opponent, had no compunctions at all about grabbing wherever she needed to secure her grip. Her other arm laced around Neske's ribs, grabbing for an underhook, and then the Nahuatl girl launched herself backwards, trying to land a t-bone suplex. It wasn't exactly perfect form, given the knee strike she'd just taken, but she had remarkable core strength for her size.

The initial blow that had sent her into the corner earlier had Neske worried, but now things seemed to be going quite well for her. Too well. Sure, at this point she still didn't take Etzli very seriously, especially given how the over-exaggerated luchadoress responded to her first attack. But even if things kept up like this, there were still four other combatants ready to tear Neske a new one, and it made the satisfaction of driving her knee into Etzlicoatl's open stomach that much more hollow.

And that sense of unease that Neske had in the pit of her stomach became that much stronger when her leg was suddenly hooked, both Etzli's hands wrapping around her body and launching her over the petite Mexican. With a loud "thud" she slammed into the mat, the impact rocking through her back and knocking the wind out of her in an instant.

An interesting thought experiment: Did Etzlicoatl view Neske as cavalierly as Neske viewed Etzlicoatl?

At first, the answer seemed clear-cut - the luchadora stormed over her opponent's fallen frame, hoisting her up to her knees and locking in, of all the things, a stump puller. Surely this was a calculated effort to weaken Neske considerably in the early going, so that she would no longer pose a threat, right? ....Right?

"Who among you dares to challenge the Sanguine Serpent?!" Etzli shouted, gesticulating grandly with one arm and encompassing all the wrestlers in their pods. "Is it you, swearing wretch of the night winds? Or you, joyless savateur? Or..." She squinted for a second at Akiha. "....you, I guess? I don't even know--"

The truth, as it tended to do, had made itself clear. She'd chosen the stump puller because it was the first move she could think of that would let her immobilize Neske and leave one arm free to make sweeping gestures with as she monologued.

"Tremble in your coffins of steel and, er, I guess plexiglass, and pray to your impotent gods that you are not chosen to be cast before me as a fitting sacrifice, or else you may yet share the fate of this wretch!"

A distinct groan could be heard from the crowd.

The thing Neske probably hated about submission holds was that, early on in a match, they were more annoying than anything. Sure, later on as things got more brutal they could really wear down one's energy, and they did tire out the muscles more than she might be immediately aware of, but when she was still feisty they hurt just enough to frustrate her without actually making her feel that much worn down. Given the apparent motif of this match so far, that only seemed all the more appropriate as her leg was wrenched back by her head.

A sharp, burning pain shot up through her hamstring as her knee was brought up towards her face, flailing her arms angrily as she groaned in pain. With Etzlicoatl standing above and behind her, there wasn't much Neske could do unless a lucky fist caught a stray rib or something, but that didn't stop her from trying. "Let go of me you obnoxious little clown! Stop trying to look cool and fight me like a real woman!" she grunted through gritted teeth, not waiting for Etzlicoatl to finish her speech before doing so.

Although Etzli's position was superior at the moment, it was really more or less holding together on duct tape and a prayer. She was mostly focused on posing and making grandiose threats - it was early in the match, after all, and there was no point in overexerting herself against such an obviously inferior opponent.

Or so she thought, until a lucky punch in the midst of Neske's flailing caught her right in the floating rib, followed immediately by the ultimate insult - the c-word.

Etzlicoatl yelped in startled pain, releasing the stump puller, and then did a double-take like a cartoon. "Gyah! What in---wait, clown?!?" Her eyes flashed with rage, this affront to her dignity having clearly pushed things a bit farther than they'd intended, and began throwing punches at the downed Neske's head. They were wild and not particularly powerful (she wasn't exactly a striker), but what she lacked in strength she made up for in volume. "You dare profane the sacred person of the Sanguine Serpent with your sacrilege?! Your chicanery?! Your, um...."

She couldn't think of another synonym so she just tried to hammerfist Neske again.

Akiha had been watching the match, waiting for the moment when she would be released but so far no one had been released.  In a way she was hoping to be the last one to be released, that would give her an excellent position.  Though until then, she would keep her eyes on the two wrestlers.  She had seen Neske fight several times but today she was different, she seemed a bit more confident and was actually somewhat holding her own.  Perhaps it was best if the rich Japanese wrestler did not underestimate her.  As for Etzlicoatl, she seemed a bit odd.  She had won the Mongolian horde match but was it due to luck or skill.  Either was she was dangerous, a lucky wrestler in this kind of match was a bigger threat then a skilled wrestler.

Then Neske made a comment about Etzlicoatl being a clown and it seemed the Sanguine Serpent took much offense to it.  Even though Akiha had not been released yet, perhaps she could start getting involved in this match.  “Clown, Clown, Clown!” chanted Akiha trying to get the other wrestlers and the crowd to start chanting this in order to distract Etzlicoatl and give Neske an upper hand in this match.