Kimmy vs. Katori

Standard Match
Win by Submission, Pin, or Knockout

Spoiler:

Finally, Kimmy had another opponent to fight. Sometimes it felt like she waited months between matches. Not that she wasn't grateful for the opportunities she had received with AFW, but it was never fun for a young girl with as much energy as Kimmy to just sit back on her haunches waiting for a match—especially when that match turned out to be a nasty one that Kimmy would much rather forget, like the mess she got into with Ayaka. She sincerely hoped that the pattern that had held true for her so far—that for every fun match, there would also be a frustrating brawl—would not hold for the rest of her AFW career.

Of course, Kimmy knew that she herself could be a little bit abrasive. She was working on it. But she hoped tonight's foe would not pull on her nerves like Ayaka did.

As "Don't Slow Down" played in the arena, Kimmy would hop up and down on her toes backstage, shaking out her arms and rolling her head back and forth to keep herself warm and loose. She looked to the stagehand who had been accompanying her for the last ten minutes. The short, stocky young red-haired woman checked her earpiece, then tapped Kimmy on the shoulder and gave her a "go" signal. Kimmy nodded to her, then jumped forward, running out onto the top of the ramp and into the bright white spotlight that shone down in a big circle all around her.

She paused there, putting a hand up, giving the crowd of tens of thousands a wave and even a shy little smile. Kimmy wasn't the sort who played to the crowd that much, but she did the best she could to show them that their support was appreciated. Before coming to Japan, she had only ever wrestled in front of maybe a thousand people, tops. An hour ago, she had been Skyping with Al and the twins back in Brooklyn, and had tried to describe to them just how different it was as an AFW wrestler. Her explanation had fallen a little flat, but in her mind she knew exactly how she felt about it.

Terrified, excited, nervous, and honored all at once.

Kimmy slid into the ring underneath the lowest rope, then popped up onto her feet, still bouncing as she made her way over to her corner. She was ready for this. She hoped her opponent was, too.

Spoiler:

After a good long rest since the tough match during Summer Splash 2016, Katori Kimura will be able to step back into the ring again to continue the legacy she was given. The young angel prepped and psyched herself up as she got dressed in her outfit but before putting on her lavender jacket and then slapped her cheeks a few times. "Yosh!" Katori will say to herself before grabbing her jacket and walking towards the entrance to the arena. She hadn't heard anything about who she was facing tonight, so it was a surprise, and Katori hoped that it would be a really skilled opponent.

Katori waited for her time to enter the ring, putting on her jacket as she did, and once the arena was all quiet, Furanme of the Phoenix started playing and the Mighty Successor jumps out onto the stage to the welcoming cheers from the audience. One thing that the girl loved a lot was how much the fans show and gives Katori their massive support, she really appreciates that so much and likes to return that by giving the fans a great show each time she steps into the ring to throw down.

The Wrestle Angel threw both her hands up in the air and waves to the crowd happily with a smile before she made her way down the ramp. On the way Katori gave high fives and a few fist bumps to many fans before stepping up to the ring. She'll climb up onto the apron then vault over the top ropes as always to enter the ring, walking over to her corner as she continues waving to the crowd.

While normally Katori usually climbs up onto the turnbuckle to continue waving more after getting in, this time she decided not to do it here. She turns around to face her opponent from her corner to get a good look at her. Katori sees her opponent is a short haired girl with tan skin and a colorful sporty outfit of blue and white. Just from looking at her Katori can tell she's tough and cannot wait to fight her. She'll flash the girl a friendly but competitive grin and give her a wave as she leans back against her corner.

Kimmy leaned back into her corner, letting herself sink into the padding of the turnbuckle and just relax for a moment. She had done all the preparing she needed to do for the match backstage. She would probably get a few more stretches in while the referee was explaining the rules, just to be sure. But she didn't really feel the need to show off or get chatty when she was the only one the fans were looking at. Besides, she wanted to see what her opponent was like. You could tell a lot from a girl's entrance.

And, right from the start, Kimmy could tell her opponent was pretty flashy. Music began to play, and then the girl appeared at the top of the ramp. At first, Kimmy couldn't tell much about her, as the lights caused the other wrestler to be cast in silhouette from the perspective of Kimmy in the ring. But then, the girl began to make her way down to the ring, putting both arms up and waving to the fans, giving quite a few of them high fives and fist bumps as she went. Kimmy would wince, as it was pretty saccharine sweet to see. The girl seemed to have quite the energetic personality, and, even when she stopped waving and climbed into the ring, it seemed as if she was holding back quite a bit of enthusiasm.

But that's not a bad thing, you know. She's better than that Ayaka tramp, isn't she? Sure, peppy can be a bit grating, but she looks like she's probably a nice person once you get to know her. Kimmy had to remind herself that just because she didn't like interacting with the audience to that degree, those who did weren't automatically annoying because of it. Maybe this blue-haired girl would do something yet to earn Kimmy's ire...but the Brooklynite didn't think it would happen.

She had a good feeling about her opponent, and so, when the girl smiled at her and waved, Kimmy would stand up a little taller and give her a small smile and a wave back. Then, as the referee clambered into the ring, Kimmy would start going through a few last-minute stretches.

Katori got comfortable while she was leaning against the turnbuckle and waited for the ref-girl to enter the ring. It gave her the time to observe her opponent more before the match started, and she couldn't take her eyes off of her. Even without testing her strength Katori can tell that she's gonna be very tough, and she really cannot wait to start to see just how skilled she was in the ring.

Out of the corner of her eyes Katori notices the ref-girl climb into the ring. Right away she'll push from the corner and start to do some quick warm-up stretches with her arms and legs. And apparently her opponent had the same mindset as she did the same, making the girl smile and giggle **Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!** Katori thinks to herself while doing some squats.

After a while, the Mighty Successor will stop with her stretches then walk towards the center of the ring, wanting to meet up with her opponent for the day. All while looking at her with the same smile from before. When she comes up to Katori, she'll put a hand on her hip and briefly raise the other hand for a quick wave. "Hi there, Katori Kimura of Wrestle Angels. A pleasure to meet you." She says while extending that same hand towards the girl, offering a friendly handshake to her.

As the referee climbed into the ring, Kimmy would spend just as much time checking Katori out as Katori spent looking at her. The Japanese wrestler looked strong and fast, with a lean, mean body that obviously knew its way around a ring. Not that Kimmy was any different. The two of them seemed to have similar styles, which was illustrated quite plainly when Katori stepped out of her corner at the same time Kimmy did to start stretching. Occasionally, they would even do the same stretch at the same time, resulting in Kimmy's cheeks turning a little pink and her mouth curling in embarrassment as they both swung their arms behind their heads, or they shook out their legs with the same rhythm.

Kimmy tried to break the cycle by switching to squats, but found that, as soon as she squatted down, Katori was doing the exact same thing. Kimmy found it pretty awkward to be staring at the girl the whole time, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Katori. She wanted to be certain what the girl had in store for her, and to do that she had to watch her.

When the referee was ready in the center, Kimmy would make her way forward, ready to meet her opponent at the center of the ring. Katori seemed to be a bubbly sort, smiling at Kimmy the whole time and waving at her as they got close to each other. "Hey. Kimmy Colton, from New York." Kimmy would slowly extend her hand to shake Katori's, staring the Japanese girl in the eyes as she did.

During her quick warm-up session before the match started, Katori noticed that she and her opponent were doing the exact same stretches at the same time. It was weird but it was also kinda funny to her as the angel let out a chuckle while also seeing Kimmy feeling awkward about the whole thing. But it was all good fun, even the crowd found it amusing.

Back in the present, the angel waited and was glad that Kimmy accepted her handshake and introduced herself as well. She briefly closed her eyes then nodded happily with her smile widening. Katori then opens her eyes turning her expression into a competitive one with her smile becoming a smirk and gives her opponent's hand a little firm squeeze while looking her in the eye. "Let us have a fun and great match tonight, Kimmy-san. And I won't lose!"

The two of them were both obviously very experienced wrestlers, and they knew what they had to do to get their bodies ready for battle. The similar stretching routines made sense in that context, but it was still a little bit embarrassing for Kimmy. She wasn't exactly someone who enjoyed fraternizing with her opponents—she had friends outside the ring, and foes inside of it—but she did want to make sure that her relationships with her foes were as cordial as they could possibly be. Hopefully she could come to respect some of them. And maybe some of them could even attain that coveted friend status with Kimmy...only, of course, when the two of them weren't in the ring together.

Only time would tell. Right now, Kimmy would just relax and smile back at Katori as the girl's look grew competitive. Obviously, she was ready for a fight. And so was Kimmy. "Yeah, fun and great both sound...great. I'm lookin' forward to this," Kimmy would say, as she felt Katori squeeze her hand and would squeeze back in return, continuing to slowly shake as she wanted to show off just that little bit of muscle by squeezing harder than her opponent. "But you will lose. You will lose bad. But I hope you won't take it too hard, right?"

Katori just stared into the eyes of her opponent, with that same expression on her face. They both really wanted to fight, go all out tonight, and that definitely has the Mighty Successor's heart beating a few steps faster in excitement. And in their heated pre-match moment, Kimmy already started talking a big game on Katori will lose bad and then asked if she'd be fine after that.

"If I lose, then I lose, nothing can be done about it." She will start to say as she starts to squeeze Kimmy's hand harder as well in response to her opponent doing the same before continuing to talk some more. "But regardless of whatever the result is, it's still a learning experience." Katori added, showing that whatever may come will accept whatever that may happen in this ring tonight and learn from it.

But that doesn't stop her from trying, of course, as her smirk widens more while putting more pressure in her squeeze while continuing to shake Kimmy's hand as she looks her strong in the eye with that competitive look. "Again though, I won't lose." The Successor declares, before letting go of Kimmy's hand and backing away to her corner but still looking at the New Yorker with her smirking smile as she stretches her arms one more time before getting into a stance and wait for the sound of the gong to start the match.

Kimmy wasn't really good at pre-match small talk. She was trying to get better, though, and, since her opponent tonight seemed to be pretty chatty, she would try to match that, at least to a certain extent. She knew she was going to say something stupid that came off the wrong way, though. It always happened sooner or later.

Katori seemed to take Kimmy's mild trash talking in stride, though. They would just have to see what happened once the two of them got into the heat of battle against each other. "Yeah, I mean, that sounds like a pretty good way to look at it. I guess I could try learnin' something from a loss, too...but that's not really my style. So I might just kick your ass." Kimmy would laugh, trying to make sure her joke didn't sound too mean. Katori obviously wanted to impress her, too, as the two of them both began to squeeze the other's hand harder and harder, until Kimmy felt as though they were a few seconds away from ripping each other's hands clean off.

When Katori let go, Kimmy did, too, flexing her hand and wiggling her fingers. "I'm not going to lose, either. Just wait and see." Kimmy would back up to her corner, as well, keeping her eyes on Katori as the two of them waited for the bell.

While not entirely hostile, this pre-match stuff has already been getting intense with both the conversation and the handshaking, but it was all in good fun. As long as it never went in a hostile direction, which it thankfully didn't. Just as the two girls broke the squeeze fest handshake, Kimmy couldn't help but say one last remark to finish what she was saying about Katori's outlook on losing, saying she'll kick the angel's ass while laughing about it. Katori giggles in response, knowing it's more banter and not fully serious. "Hehehe, we'll see~" Was all that Katori will say, and playfully at that.

After everything has been said and done, both girls went back to their respective corners, with Katori getting into a stance showing she is ready. After a few seconds, the gong rings starting the match. The Mighty Successor moves out of her corner and will circle Kimmy once she moves out too. As they get closer to each other, Katori will attempt to lunge at the New Yorker and try to grab her with a Collar and Elbow Lockup.