Captain Red vs. Kozue Kaburagi - Don't Stop Me Now

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions: Pinfall, Submission, or KO


On the surface, nothing was really wrong with Kozue’s entrance.

She came out to her music, bouncing to it as she popped in from the curtains, coming out an appreciative crowd. It had been a little while since she’d had a match, but in her experience, a little time away from the lights made people a lot more fond of you. That theory seemed to be coming true - the audience was lighting up for her, bouncing to the music as she did the same, enjoying every little swish and sway of her hips.

Inside, though, things were a little more complicated and less happy-happy fun-fun.

The truth was, she hadn’t won a match all year. Not one. It was starting to show on her W-L-D record in a big way. Part of her didn’t give much of a shit - what did it matter, so long as she was having fun? And she was having fun, getting pitted against a lot of interesting people, having crazy battles, getting her beast satisfied…

But winning would’ve been nice, too. Just a little.

So, while she was aiming to have a good time in this match, she was looking to win more than anything. She made her way into the ring and sent the crowd off with a few waves, before making it over to her corner - far less of an entrance than the people were accustomed to. She was conserving her energy tonight, making sure she saved it all for opponent.

She made her way over to the turnbuckle, spun around, then crouched down and leaned back against it. Ready, like a coil that was aching to be sprung, she waited for ‘Captain Red’ to come on out. She almost felt sorry for the man. Poor guy had no idea what was coming his way on the first day at work…

Maybe she’d luck up and he’d be an asshole. It had been a good while since she beat up an asshole.

Of course, an asshole was far from what she would be getting. As his music boomed and Captain Red made his way down the ramp, waving and grinning to the people cheering for him, Ninjette would see quite clearly that he was actually a pretty nice guy. A bit full of himself, sure -- especially when he stopped and signed someone's shirt on his way down to the ring -- but far from being an actual asshole. He moved onto the stairs in the corner and climbed up, making his way in through the second and third ropes, before casting a wink towards Kozue as he climbed up the turnbuckle and struck a nice pose, flexing and showing off his chisled, scarred body for the crowd in his baggy shorts.

With that, Red jumped down, turning to look back at Ninjette, still with that grin curving his lips. "Ahoy there, lass! Yer lookin' mighty fine today!" he called out, moving forward -- and sticking out his hand like the not-asshole that he was. "May the best one win, aye?" he asked, and it was clear that the grin wasn't out of some presumption of winning -- no, he genuinely was looking forward to the match ahead. He knew nothing about Ninjette, and he'd never fought under AFW's rules. He was excited for what was to come.

"And above all, let's give 'em a good show!" Red called out, getting his fans to cheer for him again. What a doofus.

Kozue knew the name of her opponent - Captain Red. She didn’t think much of it. Guys went by dumb names all time, especially in wrestling. If she had to guess, he’d have some army thing going on, or maybe a superhero gimmick, or it could’ve been a Soviet connection.

Somehow, though, she hadn’t made the connection to think ‘pirate’. But, lo and behold, that was precisely what came out.

The guy basically looked like Jack Sparrow...if Johnny Depp put some serious time into working out. Kozue was just about to think it was a silly getup for a wrestling, but then she remembered she was New Jersey girl with a Japanese name fighting in a ninja outfit for a mixed sex wrestling league. Who was she to judge?

She leaned back in the corner, stretching out a bit as Red took his name and made introductions. He seemed like a nice enough guy. Way, way too into his whole schtick. But nice.

Kozue went over and shook his hand, giving him as hard of a squeeze as she could with  a guy twice her size. ”Right on, Guybrush.” She jerked forward, bucking at him a little bit to play around, before she slid back to her corner with a smirk and waited for the bell to ring.

Red grinned at Kozue as she walked over and shook his head, squeezing as hard as she could. He didn't really even try to squeeze back, he had learned a lot about her -- including not to count her out, no matter what. He walked back into his own corner, stretching himself out for a moment. "All right, let's do this!" he exclaimed, nodding his head. The bell rang then, and Red moved forward, seemingly unafraid. He moved as if to circle her, muscled frame already glinting in the spotlights.

After a few moments, he finally moved forward. First, slowly, as if trying to meet up with her in the middle of the ring. Then, faster -- the arm that he was beginning to extend for Kozue to take in a lock up was coming a lot harder and faster than it looked and he became quite clear after a moment that he was trying to take her head off with a lariat, right off the bat. If it didn't land, he'd be vulnerable as he went straight for the ropes in order to turn around.

He was at least taking this seriously so far. Some of his opponents didn't even get that much before he annihilated them. Perhaps he saw something in her that he knew he'd have to be careful of.

Most women would’ve been a little shy to face a guy twice their size - hell, most men would’ve been, too. Asshole or not, the guy that Kozue was circling around the ring with cut an impressive figure, tall and strong and quicker on his feet than you would’ve guessed. She wasn’t too swayed, though. She’d faced bigger. She’d never beaten bigger, but everything had a first time.

She ready as he started to move in, even raising her hands for the tie up, and when he took off like a shot and tried to decapitate, she ducked under it with a cat’s grace - mostly because she’d been planning on faking him no matter what he tried.

She moved behind him, but didn’t go too far. Instead, she spun around, then spun around again and shot her leg up and out in a high arc, aiming a tornado kick at the side of his head.

All with a smile on her face and a laugh in her voice. "Yeah, let's!"

Red was expecting for her to fake him out, and his idea was that he'd try and whip around on the ropes. But he didn't have much more of a plan than that. So when she turned around and aimed that tornado kick at the back of his head, he found himself falling to the ground quickly and with a loud grunt. He slammed to the mat, though he managed to roll over quickly and away, trying to keep himself from being attacked while he was on the ground. She was good, that much was obvious. He couldn't help but grin to himself, trying to stand up before she got closer to him.

"Great! I was worried my first match would be a dud! Glad to see you've got better plans than that." He grinned wider at her, stretching out. "I still ain't gonna let ya win, lass!" As he walked up closer, she would be able to smell the ocean on him -- jeez, did he actually spend that much time out on the sea, or did he just bathe in the ocean every day? No matter. He put his hands at his hips for a moment, that stupid grin still plastered on his face. As if waiting for her reaction.

The kick connected with a satisfying crack, ringing through the stadium. Kozue didn’t bother to look and see how Red was reacting to it, not right away - she’d kicked enough guys in the face to know how it typically went.

When she finally did turn around, what she saw was the exact opposite of what she wanted to see. He was up, looking fine and chipper. The guy was downright jolly, and what was more, he was offering her is his chest. Just daring her to take a strike.

Well, she couldn’t turn that down. It would be unladylike.

Without another word, Kozue rushed towards him, jumped straight and grabbed the back of his neck while her knees pressed against her chest. From there, she fell straight back and tried to drag him down with her, looking to hammer her knees into that big, open chest of his with a slick Codebreaker.

There was a difference in the occasion this time. While Kozue managed to pull one over on him when he went for the clothesline, Red was waiting for something in this situation. He was waiting for her to attack. From the duck and kick, and even just from her overall build, there was no way she would dare to go at him head-on, which gave him a bit of an upper hand. So he dug his heels into the mat, bending his knees, waiting for her to try and strike.

Sure enough, she jumped. And it was enough of an opening that he could turn things around. As her hands grabbed onto his neck, he wrapped his arms around her quickly and moved to pull her in tight! Her knees had gone up before he could completely lock it in, making it hard for him to make it into a full on bear hug, but he still had other ideas. He didn't get where he was without being able to think on his feet!

With that, he fell backwards, moving to suplex her before she could get out of his grip! If it worked as he hoped, she would soar over the ropes and onto the cement. Of course, she probably had other ideas, but a man could dream.

She had him. At least, she thought she had him.

Kozue had never hit the codebreaker before, but it was a simple enough move that she figured it required little practice on her part. And, to her credit, it would’ve worked perfectly...on a smaller man. A weaker man. A man who could’ve fit two of her inside him.
This man had power. Oh, shit, did he have power. Enough to stop her, grab her, haul her up and throw her out of the ring.

Kozue was about to take dive. A bad dive. She didn’t want to think of what would happen if she crashed to the floor from that height, and she wasn’t about to find out.

As she soared, she grabbed the top rope, hard, with both hands. It was the one thing that saved her and stopped her flight, and just barely at that. She came down hard on the apron, then pulled back on the rope and leaped back into the ring, flying back at him with a forearm to his face.

Each of them were underestimating each other, and that was leading to quite a few amusing moves on both of their parts. He grinned as he managed to actually land the suplex, expecting her to just fall to the floor and give him a few moments to recover. In fact, he figured he had enough time to get up and strike a pose. He stood up and grinned at the audience, flexing and trying to get them to cheer louder! He turned around, about ready to go through the ropes -- just in time to watch Kozue fling herself up.

His eyes widened for a moment, and he tensed, but there was no way he would be able to get away quick enough. He may have had strength, but he sure as heck didn't have the speed for that kind of stuff. He went down, mainly to try and mitigate the blow as much as possible. It still connected and hurt like a bitch, enough to see stars twirling around his face. But it could have been worse.

Red moved quickly, trying to roll away and get to the ropes in order to use them to get back to his feet, keeping his eye on Kozue. "Ha…yer good at this, lass," he commented, reaching up to wipe at his mouth. "But I'm still gonna beat ya." With that, he would move to charge at her and spear her, though if he missed, he would keep going so he could bounce off the ropes and try to turn it into a lariat!