Julia Rogers vs. Valley Doll II - Try Again

The moments before a match were always the most tense for Valley Doll, even though she’d been wrestling for well over a decade now. Waiting in the gorilla position, standing there in the dark while the crowd rumbled above you, knowing that, any second, the music would start and she’d go out to the crowd and find herself engaged in electric combat in front of hundreds, thousands, millions...a little anxiety was understandable.

But today was a little different for Valley. Today, she was a little more nervous than usual. Today, as she stood in the gorilla position, decked out in her ring gear, waiting for the music to hit, she could feel her heart beating faster than any other time she could recall.

Today, she took on Julia Rogers. Again.

Valley should’ve been finishing her stretching, but instead, she was watching her phone, looking at the last match she’d had with Julia for what had to been the five hundreth time. It was a whirlwind of a match, with so many counters and reversals, a lightning fast contest that only two high-flyers of their calibre could deliver. It was a great match, one that Valley couldn’t be more proud of.

Then again, that wasn’t true, was it? She would’ve been more proud if she'd won the match. Instead, after minutes of hard wrestling, Julia took her down with a brutal finisher and cemented herself as the best aerial wrestler in the AFW. She was a better a high-flyer than Valley. Superior in the style she'd been training with for years. A hard pill to swallow, but there it was.

That was then, though. In the past few months, a few things had changed. Valley had challenged Alaina for the Entropy Title, and while that challenge was accepted, the match wouldn’t happen until Avalanche. Until it happened, it was on Valley to prove why she deserved it. And Valley could think of no better way to do than taking on her younger rival, the former co-champion, and walking away with a win.

”Not like last time.” Valley muttered and sat her phone aside as her music began. She came out from behind the curtain, all smiles and waves as she made her way down the ring, shaking hands with the fans, bouncing to the music, going through all of the motions as she slid into the ring.

But she didn’t do any of it with too much energy. She was slower than usual, bounced less, danced at half the usual pace. Not because she didn’t care about the entrance or she wasn’t feeling the music. Valley Doll was conserving energy. Making sure she had every ounce of power she could spare for the cowgirl.

She made her way to the center of the ring and leaned forward, looking straight down the ramp, the glare of a starving tigress in her eyes.

Ever since their high-intensity bout earlier in the year, lots of fans had been clamoring for another match between two of AFW’s greatest high flyers. Of all the matches she’d competed in, in the near-two year period she’d been in Japan or her several years in Mexico and the U.S., Julia Rogers could count the number of matches she’d had as good as the Valley Doll match on one hand. Probably wouldn’t need all five fingers for it either. So when she found out they’d be mixing it up again, needless to say the blonde luchadora was all in!

But, as excited as she was about the match, there was something troubling Julia’s mind. At last year’s Avalanche her Entropy Title bout with Alaina Sanders had been one of the marquee matches. Losing that match was something she took no shame in whatsoever, but her “reign” (if it could even legitimately be called such) as co-Champion leading into that day would forever be a black mark on her career she wished she could erase. Now Avalanche was on the horizon again. Not only was Julia not going to have a chance to pursue the Entropy Championship legitimately, but the new contender was now looking to use Julia to make a statement to the defending champion. She had all the respect in the world for both Valley and Alaina. But looking at her position now in comparison to where she was this time last year, it felt like she’d gone a step in the wrong direction.

Tonight, however, was one hell of an opportunity to change that. One victory over Valley Doll had unofficially crowned Julia “Queen of the Skies” in AFW. But a second consecutive win over her, especially now that Valley was in contention for the Entropy Title? It wouldn’t just be pride Julia would walk out of the ring with. That had potential to open some serious doors in the near future. Not that she needed extra motivation to give a match like this her all, but it was there nonetheless. The stakes were high this time around, and Julia felt ready to repeat history.

When her music began to blast over the arena speakers, the cowgirl burst through the curtain with a bright and confident smile. Unlike Valley, Julia quickly made her way down the aisle, practically jogging to the apron. She climbed up and grabbed onto the top rope, then slung herself over it and landed perfectly on her feet.

While the announcer introduced her, Julia didn’t pose for the fans like she normally would. Instead she marched right up to Valley to get face to face with the Slamazon.

“Don’t ya get too carried away worryin’ ‘bout the Entropy title, now. Ya better be ready to fight me as if this were the title match. Cause I ain’t here to help ya look good for someone else’s match. I’m here to show everyone nothin’s changed since last time. Ya got that?”

Valley took in deep breaths as Julia’s music began to play, doing her best to fight off the flashbacks. Memories of a fierce match against an opponent who played her own game better than she could, who managed to meet her and beat her every time she went down a familiar path. Younger. Faster. More energetic. Less experienced, perhaps, but not enough to make a notable difference. Valley wished she could say she didn’t take Julia seriously last time, that she was holding back, but that lie would stand out to anyone who watched the previous match for five minutes. Hell, just five seconds at the right time. Julia was the better woman.

Back then, anyway. Today? Today was a new day.

She was a bundle of nerves when Julia came storming down to the ring, and that didn’t change a bit when the cowgirl came stomping right up to her face. A little more confrontational than she expected right off the bat, but Valley didn’t mind. They were two high-flying blondes with a lot to prove and goals to meet. Sparks were bound to fly.

Valley got right up in Julia’s face as the crowd started lighting up, showering them with camera flashes. The Slamazon just locked eyes with her rival and smirked, getting close enough for their noses to briefly touch.

”I got that.” She huffed and blew some of Julia’s hairs away, giving them a clear view. Luckily, she always had a few Tic-Tacs before a match. [color:71b4=ff00ff]”But don’t think you know how this is ending before the bell even rings. I came this close to beating you last time…”

Valley held her hand and pinched her thumb and forefinger together, leaving only the smallest inch between the tip.

”I can beat you. You know I can. Today, I will.”

Despite all the excitement and confidence that radiated from the cowgirl luchadora, that didn’t mean there weren’t butterflies in her stomach too. She got them before every one of her matches, no matter who she was against. But with an opponent as talented as Valley, who was all but guaranteed to push her to the very limit of her abilities, those butterflies were swarming. But early on in her career Julia had learned the importance of dominating those feelings and making them smaller than her excitement for competing. Sometimes it was easier said than done.

But, though the people here were bound to see lots of amazing sights, a nervous Julia Rogers damn sure wasn’t going to be among them.

She cracked a grin at Valley’s response. “Close only counts with horseshoes and hand grenades, Val,” she said. The ref then came to back the two girls into their corners and Julia moved as instructed, but kept her eyes locked onto Valley with each step, never turing he back to the girl. The key to doing as well as she had last time had been keeping the Slamazon in her sights as often as possible. Not always possible, but Julia knew the fewer chances she gave Valley to catch her off guard, the considerably higher her chances would be of getting her hand raised at the end again.

Julia leaned forward in her corner while holding onto the top rope on either side of her, just waiting with intense anticipation for the bell to ring! Fortunately she didn’t have to wait very long...

Ding!

There it went, and Julia bolted like a bullet out of a gun straight for Valley! Knowing her chances of catching the girl with something flashy and intricate would initially slim, especially when she was right in Valley’s line of sight the whole time, Julia instead went for something that was much more basic, but also much more practical under the circumstances. Throwing her arms forward, she’d attempt to start this off with a pretty standard lockup. But with the momentum behind her mad dash, she hoped she’d be able to push Valley back a bit, perhaps against the ropes if she could. But if not, that didn’t worry her. The two were unlikely to remain in a lockup like this for more than a second or two, whatever happened, before things would quickly get a lot more interesting...

”Horseshoes, hand grenades, and nuclear weapons.” Valley wagged a finger Julia’s way. ”And I’ve got enough to push me over this time. Just watch.”

Valley could’ve stood there and traded barbs with Julia all day, and she wouldn’t have considered it a waste of her time. A little trash talk didn’t have to get personal, they both knew it was just a few harmless pricks. Besides, Julia had earned her right to talk smack. If Valley had won, she would be doing the same.

Soon, though. Soon, she’d have the same pleasure.

Following the referee’s instruction, Valley moved back to her corner and took up position, mirroring Julia’s stance as she leaned forward. The starting bell might as well have been a gunshot.

Ding!

Julia came out like a bullet, and so did Valley - a slightly slower, older bullet. The two speedsters narrowly avoided the referee and crashed near the center of the ring, with the momentum favoring the younger wrestler. Valley was getting steadily pushed back at an alarming rate.

Good.

She took a step back, then another, then suddenly ducked down and to the side, abandoning the lockup and letting Julia’s force keep carrying her forward. Valley dropped to her side, shot her legs out and scissored the cowgirl’s boots. With one deft move, she twisted around and tried to make Julia fall forward with a drop toehold!

As serious as Julia was trying to keep herself going into this match, she couldn’t help but chuckle at Valley’s comment. “Of course. How could I forget that one?” Yeah, they were here to beat the crap out of each other, and they’d get to that very soon. But Valley Doll was such a fun gal to be around. Julia’s banter was never meant to be vicious or personal, but it was always nice when both sides could keep it fun and respectable.

But the time to be playful ended the second that bell rang. Julia and Valley burst out of their corners in a mad dash toward each other in the center of the ring. The cowgirl felt like she was covering just a little more ground than her foe. Perhaps she had gotten a split second head start? Hard to say, but she seemed to have more momentum than Valley, which helped the masked blonde quickly drive her foe backward!

Once they got close enough to the ropes the luchadora could really start getting to work. Or at least, that would’ve been the case, except Valley suddenly shifted to the side, and Julia found herself toppling forward! A startled yelp left her lips as her arms shot out just in time to keep her from collapsing face first onto the mat. But still, Valley had outsmarted her in the opening seconds of the match. Julia may have saved herself somewhat, but it would only take Valley the blink of an eye to strike again if she wanted to.

Oh, Valley wanted to follow up on this. She so wanted to. Getting a moment where Julia wasn't looking at her would be a rare thing, and she wasn't apt to waste it. The only question was what she'd follow up with.

Submission? Too close to the ropes. Same problem with a pin. Julia wasn’t winded enough for a moonsault or anything like that. She did have one good move that would work from here, but it would take a lot more strength than she usually called on in these matches. She'd done it on Ace in training before, and she weighed about the same as Julia, but...

No, no. Keep it simple for now. She could always bust that one out later.

Valley reached and grabbed Julia by the ankle, then stood up and lifted the cowgirl’s leg along with her. She took a step back, stretched her leg out behind her and then brought it forward, giving Julia a soccer kick right on the tender meat of her exposed thigh.

Right after falling forward and barely catching herself, Julia was trying to anticipate Valley’s next move so she could react. Had their positions been reversed, she’d be going for a sliding dropkick to the side of the other blonde’s head, or some type of flipping splash to drive some wind out of her. A senton, or a moonsault. Something in that area.

Either scenario would’ve required Valley to strike from the side, but a quick glance cast that way showed she wasn’t there. Must’ve had something else in mind, but what? Well, she didn’t have to wait long to find out. Julia’s leg was lifted up, and before she could even try to fight back a heavy kick blasted right against her thigh!

“AGH!!” Julia cried out sharply, immediately grabbing at her leg and falling back to the mat again. Unless Valley chose to hang onto the limb a little while longer, the masked blonde would quickly try to roll over to the ropes. The pain from the kick was lingering, and probably would continue to for a while. But as it was, it was at least manageable. She just needed to pull herself back up to her feet and make sure she didn’t give Valley too many more openings like that.

Bullseye.

Right on target.

Valley had to admit, she had a tinge of sympathy when she kicked Julia’s leg. The problem with being a high-flying kicker was that it pretty much told her opponents they needed to target her legs, and they always seemed to do so relentlessly. How many times had she been in an STF since she came to the AFW? She'd lost count.

She knew how bad the pain was, what Julia would be tasting more and more as the match progressed. But a match was a match. She’d do this sort of thing to Silver Ace if - no, when they had another match, and she certainly liked Hayley more than she liked Julia.

No quarter asked, none given. Speaking of which…

Valley let go of the leg and let Julia recover, but only to a point. As the young wrestler was making her way up with the ropes, she went on the attack again, closing in with her leg in the lead. She started to swing it low, looking like she was targeting the cowgirl's thigh again, only for her to bring it back at the halfway mark and send a roundhouse kick to Julia’s chest instead. A little feint.

Julia couldn’t fault Valley for the apparent new strategy she was taking this time around. Last time it had been a high speed dogfight, and in the end it had been Julia who remained victorious in the skies. But even the best planes don’t stay in the air long with a busted wing. Valley’s approach was different this time around, but it was both effective and unexpected.

The cowgirl managed to get back to her feet, but that was about all the recovery time she got before Valley was right on her again. A kick started to fly right toward Julia’s wounded leg, and the luchadora couldn’t help but flinch. Her bad leg hiked up defensively, but it didn’t matter. Not just because the kick would’ve hurt her leg either way, but because it ended up slamming into her chest instead.

“Ugh!” the masked blonde gasped as the hit sent her stumbling back into the corner. Her arms draped over the ropes, and she tried to take a few quick breaths to recover the air Valley had just kicked out of her. And that damn leg was still hurting too. Julia lightly stomped her foot against the mat a few times, trying to get the blood flowing nice and good in that leg.