James Wright vs. Yajiri Kasamatsu

Out of the frying pan, and into the fryer. James thought he was slick in that he managed to avoid the worst of the headscissor, so when he felt Yajiri begin to give him a little leeway his hand slipped down and he tried to wriggle away from the situation. That was not to be, as Yajiri secured a choke very quickly.

And then James was truly in hot water. Yajiri's legs were tastefully thick, and he could feel the taut muscle underneath the skin as she worked the triangle choke. Panic began to set in, and James' purple eyes went wide with fright. The young wrestler lacked a game plan, and resorted to thrashing like a maniac to try and break free.

Yes! Yajiri thought to herself as soon as she got the choke locked in.

She may not have exactly been a bodybuilder, per se, but her legs were well toned. And they were also long and smooth. Most probably wouldn’t consider having their head trapped between them to be a bad thing at all. Then again, being choked out was never a pleasant experience, even under the current circumstances. James’ reaction proved it.

Like a fish out of water James began to thrash about frantically while Yajiri squeezed her legs as tight as she could. It wasn’t easy keeping him in her clutches, and the wild thrashing was gradually inching them closer to the ropes. Hoping to prevent him from getting there, Yajiri wrapped her hands around the back of James’ head and pulled him down to increase the pressure even further, gritting her teeth and straining with the effort.

She had him. Now she just had to keep him there. Just a little longer...

James felt the pressure. The physical pressure was obvious to anyone with eyes. This was one of the worst chokes to be trapped in, and James was very much on the business end of it. Four walls were closing in, right on his head, and there was very little the aerial ace could do about it. It was a trap, and a fairly lethal feeling one. The second pressure was more subtle but way more pertinent to the situation. James knew exactly what lingering this hold meant: tapping out, or worse, passing out. James was entirely unprepared to start his career 0-2, which meant that his actions needed to be concerted, efficient, and victory focused.

So the purple-haired man stopped thrashing. It was a waste of precious energy and oxygen, neither of which he could afford to lose at this stage of the game. Yajiri managed to make the hold worse, somehow, and James was far from delighted about that fact. The situation was becoming desperate- now was the time to move or lose.

One of the key facets of his game was his instinct. If nothing else, James could rely on his experience to pull him through. The purple-haired man recognized that he was fairly close to the ropes, close enough to try and pull his way there. No one would accuse James of being the strongest man in Tension, but when he was determined he could really get going. The aerial ae used all of his free limbs to get to the sidelines, and from there he could break free.

Yajiri squeezed and squeezed with all her might, trying as hard as she could to force a submission out of James. “I’ve got you! Just tap out!” she said through grit teeth, while straining with the effort she was putting into the triangle choke. But as tight as the hold was, James proved to be quite a resilient man.

The rookie felt herself being dragged, inch by inch, along the ring and immediately knew what it meant: James was searching for the ropes. Desperate to prevent him from getting there, Yajiri kept applying all the pressure she could. But then...

“Rope break!” the ref suddenly called out, and a pang of despair ran through Yajiri at the knowledge that James must have managed to just reach one of the ropes. It had taken a lot of effort to ground this speed demon, and even more to get him in such a secure chokehold. She didn’t want to let him go, but the alternative was to get disqualified. So, reluctantly, Yajiri untied her legs from around James’ head and neck and shoved him to the side with her foot.

It was in poor taste to shove him in the side with her foot, but James hardly noticed. The purple-haired man was delighted at the opportunity to breathe, and he greedily gulped down all the air he possibly could. The crowd may have been cheering, and the earth may have stopped spinning. James didn't really care. His chest rose and fell as he sucked in oxygen as if he were dying. At certain points in the hold, he felt like he was dying, so he was just happy to be alive.

Once he recovered a bit, he rose to his feet, feeling like a man reborn. Another ten seconds between Yajiri's legs certainly would have spelled doom for him, and James knew getting caught in another hold like that would certainly yield a tap from him. The aerial ace could not afford to be slowed like that again.

So the purple-haired man looked over at the referee, who gave him a nod to begin. James tore forwards, hoping the air in his lungs would propel him forward and upwards, as he went for a jump kick towards Yajiri's chest.

Even though Yajiri had been the one applying the triangle choke just now, she was still pretty gassed as she started picking herself up. The match hadn’t been extremely long, but it had been intense. And keeping James grounded and locked up was almost as tiring as getting blasted with that lethal, high speed offense of his!

So close. James had only been seconds away from submitting or passing out, and she knew it. The trouble was, you don’t win matches by almost defeating your opponent. Yajiri needed to put the final nail in this guy’s coffin before he recovered enough to fight back again.

...Or at leas that was her thinking. But as soon as she got up and turned toward James, she was greeted by a flying boot right to the chest! “Ugh!” she cried out as the kick blasted her right down onto her back! Yajiri hadn’t guessed James still had enough in him to pull something like that out of nowhere. But that assumption costed her greatly, and in the blink of an eye suddenly the tables had turned once again!

The successful kick sent James over the moon. He was amazed that he was able to pull it off, given how haggard and out of breath he was, but it came off nicely. Boot met chest and Yajiri was sent right down on her back. The aerial ace landed gracefully on his feet, and was primed to do more and more. His sweat-soaked hair flopped in front of his face, but he paid no mind to it. He wasn't quite a caged corner anymore, but he knew that the match was still very much in the balance. James was going to do everything he could to tip the match in his favor.

The usually cool and collected man threw off that charade and charged forward. The air in his lungs was crisp, filling him with life and hope and the energy he so desperately needed. James bypassed Yajiri on his way to the far ropes, and came tearing back, quicker than lightning. His legs churned, and his arms flew backwards and forwards in sync with his thundering footfalls.

Just before he reached Yajiri, he leaped into the air and planted his hands on the ground. His forward momentum carried his lower half forward, hopefully crashing down on Yajiri at full momentum. The spectacular move was done sight unseen, as James couldn't exactly aim it. What he could do was hope.

The kick to her chest alone hadn’t exactly been the most devastating move ever delivered in an AFW ring. But the fact that it had been so unexpected added significantly to the disorientation it caused. And the fatigue Yajiri was already dealing with wasn’t making matters any better for her.

So when James ran off into the ropes, the down and winded rookie stayed right where she was, blissfully aware of what was coming. By the time her foe came into view again, he was already into a descent with no time to move out of the way.

“Guh!” Yajiri gasped as he crashed onto her, the girl’s limbs jolting up at the impact only to flop right back down to the mat again.

The purple-haired man was teetering on a razor's edge, and as his lower half was crashing down the boy's mind raced. What if this doesn't work? The kick wasn't enough to keep her down for this long. This is going to be a disaster. And then his body hit. The move worked, and James was successful.

The aerial ace leaped up and fist pumped. It wasn't showmanship for the crowd, even though they were fairly excited. James was genuinely pretty excited that he got the move to come off, and he knew that this could lead to greater and greater things. The purple-haired wonderboy turned back to his quarry.

James attempted to stand his opponent back up. It wasn't out of any sense of sportsmanship or fairness. Rather, James stood her up to knock her right back down, attempting to knock her head off with a roundhouse kick.

That last move from James, reckless as it may have been, was definitely paying off in a big way. Not only was Yajiri down and hurting, but now she’d had the wind out of her too. Pain was one thing, but difficulty in breathing added onto it exasperated things considerably.

Unfortunately for her, James wasn’t going to just sit back and give the rookie time to rest and recover. Yajiri was quickly brought back up onto her feet, though her legs wobbled and had trouble keeping her up. But they held her there just long enough for James to snap off a sickening roundhouse kick right into her skull!

The crowd cringed and gasped as James’ boot smacked into Yajiri’s head with a mighty crack, and down the girl went, collapsing right down to the mat. Her eyes were open, but glazed over, as if she hardly even knew where she was anymore. Somehow she was still conscious, but just barely.