Haruka Date vs. Thunder Ryuko

Hardcore match: No disqualification. Win via pin, KO, or submission.

Haruka honestly didn't mind being out of the spotlight for a little bit. She had been working at a local gym, training others and making new friends. It was exceptionally hard for the Silent Phoenix to make friends, but when you see the same person day in and day out, well, it is hard not to be friends. She got on well enough, and was pretty happy for the first time in a long time. When her phone buzzed and told her that she was going to be fighting again, she did not quite know how to take it.

Especially because she was told that she would be tussling against Thunder Ryuko. Both of them were former Wrestle Angels, and were at least tangentially aware of one another. The problem was, Ryuko's face was plastered all over a ton of posters, while Haruka barely made the corner of a scant few. Everyone knew Ryuko's power and toughness, while Haruka was more or less relegated to the side.

That didn't matter to her. In fact, this is where she thrived. Sure, she didn't like being in a no DQ match, but whatever. She adjusted her orange and white top as she made her way to the staging area. Her pants were nice and loose, and would ensure that she could launch a wide range of kicks with little difficulty. The Silent Phoenix was limber and loose and raring to go.

Her music played over the loudspeaker, and she marched down to the cage. The crowd greeted her politely, if not very warmly. She didn't quite know how to handle it, and blushed a little bit. Haruka opened the door of the cage and backed into her corner.

Not long after Haruka had made her way down to the ring did the music of Thunder Ryuko start to blast out of the speakers, the crowd gave her a very mixed reaction...it was mostly positive but it was also fairly loud. Not as loud as some of the insanely big names here in AFW, but her Wrestle Angels cred had managed to carry over quite well. 

She hadn't fought Haruka on many occasions, but she was at least aware of the purple haired fighter and knew roughly what she was about. So it wasn't like she was going in blind into this fight. Not exactly sure why it was a hardcore match though, but that was a subject for another time. 

The black clad wrestle angels veteran and former WA champion walked up to the caged ring and went in through the door. Stepping up towards the center as she would stand there and look out at the crowd, raising her arms up and then turning to look on at Haruka. Ryuko would flash a smirk towards the girl as she'd gesture for Haruka to come towards her. 

" Long time no see...you were a wrestle angel right ?" Ryuko let out, she knew who Haruka was but she wanted to see if she could at least get under her skin a little bit.

Haruka eagerly watched as her opponent neared the ring. She was just as strong as she ever was, it appeared, and still deadly looking. In a quiet way, Haruka admired her for honing her craft to the level she had it at. Still, this thunderous woman was no Mighty Yukiko. Neither was Haruka, she supposed. The Silent Phoenix spread her legs and brought her fists down to her hips. Those two hands of hers were cocked like pistols, and she was ready to let them fly.

Then she got shaken a bit. Haruka remembered Ryuko, but she didn't remember the purple-haired girl. Haruka blinked. Sure, she wasn't always listed at the top of the card, but if nothing else, she was to be remembered. When Ryuko didn't recognize her, Haruka blanched. Then her look of confusion turned back into one of stoic concentration. There was a chance that this was all mind games.

"Yes." Her reply was terse. The Silent Phoenix's moniker was well-earned, and Haruka was living up to it. The bell went off and Haruka tore across the ring, leaping into the air. She sent a strong kick to the side of Ryuko's head, hoping to get this match started off in her favor.

Ryuko grinned as she looked on at Haruka a bit, of course it was mind games...it was hard to forget anyone for someone like Thunder Ryuko. She usually kept most contestants in her mind and she was without a doubt not about to forget someone like the Silent Phoenix. Though Ryuko had already got a bit out of it, as she saw that face that Haruka made when Ryuko played her mind games.

The black clad woman stood and awaited Haruka who as soon as the bell rang came charging at the brunette. Refined and well trained movements, Ryuko had seen them a million times....she quickly tried to duck her head underneath that high kick and try to slip in to the side of Haruka. Looking to quickly wrap her strong arms around the woman and try to lift her up into the air, twist around and then try to slam the purple haired woman down onto the mat with a quick belly to side suplex!

This could be going better, Haruka was ready to admit. Not only did Thunder not remember her, but her kick hit nothing but air. Haruka silently cursed as she spun down on the mat. Her impeccable balance meant that she landed daintily on her feet, as if she were a cat. The Silent Phoenix was ready to launch another kick when she was grabbed. Too stunned to react, she went up in the air and back down onto the mat in the suplex.

Thunder Ryuko was a strong woman, there was no denying that. When she hit the ground, she hit the ground hard. But she was still in the incipient stages of the match, and she quickly shrugged the pain off and rolled away. Fine, the first hit wasn't what it needed to be. But Haruka was back up and in her fighting stance. If she wasn't effective when taking the fight to Ryuko, then the thundering giant could bring the fight to her.

Grabbing a hold of Haruka was not a very difficult task and the brunette quickly made way with her plans, lifting Haruka up and then throwing her down hard onto the mat with a mighty suplex! Quickly though the purple haired one rolled away from her and started to get up. 

The black clad wrestler was quick as well, to move up and instantly set out for a charge, looking to run right at Haruka. At the final moment of her charge she would try and go down low and try to drive her shoulder right into Haruka's belly to try and hit her with a quick spear!

Haruka braced herself. Seeing Thunder Ryuko in motion was a thing of beauty, and Haruka would have admired it had she not been very clearly on the business end of the charge. Her feet were wide and her eyes were open. The Silent Phoenix felt very much like she was in a position where she had to stop a charging rhino, and the reality of the situation was not so far from that.

So Haruka adopted a brave face. The second Ryuko's head went down, Haruka shot her knee up, hoping to clock Ryuko right on the nose with it. That would surely cure her of the supercilious tone she had employed earlier, and jogged that memory of hers.

Ryuko ran right towards Haruka, she had plans to drive right into the silent Phoenix and drive her shoulder right into Haruka if not through her. Yet as she came in closer and closer, she got a bad feeling about this whole thing. Maybe she had charged in a bit too quickly....

The answer came to her as Haruka's knee shot right up into her face, smacking the brunette on her forehead and shooting her body up straight, she staggered back a step and then another before she fell down onto her rear, a hand moving up to her face to hold it and rub her forehead as she shook her head and groaned out.

Haruka did everything quickly. She was happy to see that her brutal knee was enough to disabuse Ryuko of pressing forward, and even managed to knock her on her ass. Never one to just sit back and admire her work, the Silent Phoenix flew forwards again. The rush of the crowd was really getting to her, and she had not quite found her zone. She was sure she would find it, but she would have to keep probing for it.

If it worked the first time, there was no reason it could not work a second time. Haruka jerked her leg back and then sent it flying forward in attempt to hammer Thunder Ryuko down. She hoped to catch Ryuko in the face while she was still sitting on her rear, before she could put up any sort of defense.

Ryuko's eyes widened a bit as she was caught by surprise by Haruka's quick movements, she was fairly certain that she could take down this woman...but at least now she was starting to remember more and more about the Phoenix that was before her. The brunette's eyes went a bit wider when she saw that leg come sweeping out for her yet again.

Quickly the Thunder Empress would drop backwards, down onto her back to avoid the sweeping kick. Quickly trying to push up to a seated position right after and slip an arm in between Haruka's legs, grabbing onto the woman's thigh as she would try and pull her down as hard as she could onto her shoulders and attempt to roll her up for a quick pin attempt!