Eka Guramishvili vs. Vanessa York - Generation Gap [FWC]

For what had been a long, tedious match, it was amazing that it all ultimately came down to a couple of seconds. If that long.

There was no problem with Vanessa’s move by itself. Even hurt, she could do the Gazelle Punch properly in her sleep. It was a move she’d used hundreds of times over the years, both in the wrestling and boxing ring, to put her opponent’s down. It would’ve taken Eka out if it hit.

If.

But it didn’t. At the end of the day, as great and powerful as the Gazelle Punch could be, it was still a punch. It could be avoided, it could be dodged, and most importantly, it could be countered.

That was what happened, though far quicker than Vanessa thought possible. In a heartbeat, she was flipped up and over, brought down hard on her back, caught in the armbar. A painful move by itself, made all the worse by the damage she’d already taken and the distance to the ropes. Too far. Way too far.

”No…” Vanessa started to flop about, kicking her legs around, but she couldn’t find any ropes to save her this time. There was just her, Eka, and a lot of pain, as the Georgian pulled hard on her muscles and stretched to their limit...and beyond.

Eka had it. She was not sure what the exact sequence of events was The Georgian girl was aware of what she had done, but everything after that was just a blur and a rush of adrenaline. Far away the crowd was roaring, and there was a small ache in her back which told her that she hit the ground pretty hard at some point. This was maybe the first time in history that the flying armbar actually flew, and that fact was slowly beginning to dawn on her.

The Georgian girl was sweating bullets now. She checked left and right, seeing how far away the ropes were. They were nigh in the center of the ring, but Eka did not rest, not for even a moment. EKa was tugging on the armbar, desperately trying to get her opponent to tap. The move, as impressive as it had been, did not mean a damn thing if it did not get results.

Eka was straining. Some muscle helped her fill out her form, and they were all pushed to the breaking point. Her long dark hair formed a wide dark halo around her head as she lay on the ground. She said nothing. Eka adjusted her feet and legs a little bit to ensure that Vanessa stayed in the armbar, and really put the screws into her opponent.

And she waited.

Eka would not have to wait long.

All Vanessa really needed to do was weigh her options, here. She could keep on fighting, yes, and she might get to the ropes. Maybe. It was a longshot, but if she pulled and pulled, she could get there and tap them with her foot, escaping once more.

But then what? Her felt like it was about to come unhinged. She was tired. Hurting. She couldn’t throw a decent punch, and slams were right out. Unless she was considering a rampage of headbutts, this simply was not happening.

She hated it. She hated it with every fiber of her being, every atom, to the core. But there simply were no options.

Vanessa tapped out, and the crowd cheered.

Eka let go the second she heard the tap. A big smile spread across her face when she heard the bell, and it was immediately replaced by a look of concern. The armbar was a terrible move to be in, and she was experienced enough with them that she knew that they could easily lead to a broken bone. She got to her feet, and shook her head at the ref girl who was coming to raise her hand.

"Are you ok?" She was at a respectful distance, and was leaning in. Her tone was genuinely pretty worried. The Georgian girl tried to observe Vanessa's arm to see if it was obviously broken, and she did not sense that it was. No one had ever accused her of being a doctor, however. She took a deep breath in, and looked out at the crowd. They were still cheering for her.

She gave them a quick thumbs up, and turned back to the redhead.

Was Vanessa okay? That depended on your definition of ‘okay’.

Her arm hurt in ways that she wasn’t aware it could, and after a decade of fighting, she thought she was familiar with most of the ways it could be done, but Eka had introduced her to a whole new level. It was hard to be sure of the damage. Vanessa doubted there was anything permanent done, but she’d be getting an X-Ray and an expert opinion to be sure.

Eka didn’t need to know any of that, though. This was her victory, and Vanessa wouldn’t muck it up.

”Yeah,” She hissed at the pain for a flash, then started standing up. Slowly. Damn slowly. ”Yeah, I’m good, babe.”

With a deep huff, she extended her body up and stood straight. Straight-ish, anyway. ”Good match.” She extended her hand. ”Rematch?”

Eka was watching her opponent, a bit nervously. The hissing was not a good sign, nor was the getting up slowly. Eka was practically kicking herself for not having the decency to help her up, but she supposed there was absolutely nothing she could do about it now. She took a step back and let her opponent get all the way up. Part of her thought that Vanessa was lying, but if she was putting on this brave a face, she might not have been exaggerating that much.

"Ok, glad to hear that." She gladly accepted the handshake. Hers was warm but firm. "I, uh," she brushed her hair behind her ear, to ensure that she could hear correctly. "Surely you do not mean right now, yes? I am not sure I could deal with any more punches this evening." Her blue eyes blinked.

Vanessa immediately laughed at Eka’s reply, but it was cut short from a sharp pain in her arm. She was barely able to clutch it with her other arm, and she took a moment to squeeze her fist, opening and closing, making sure the blood was still flowing.

”Need to get that looked at.” She sighed and looked back up to Eka, regaining the smile along the way. ”No, no more punches for you today. Some other time. After I work on my submission game.”

She gave the Georgian a wink and started to make her way out of the ring, giving her a playful bump with her shoulder as she passed. ”Take care of yourself, blue-eyes.”

"Absolutely," she nodded and smiled. Vanessa had made a good point in and of her last statement. Eka was going to have to work on striking. She was not sure if she could strike as well as the redhead, but she was going to need to worry about dodging them more in the future. And surely, she was going to run into another striker at some point. But that was another concern, for another time. "You too. Maybe we will see each other again, yes?" The Georgian girl watched her opponent leave the ring.

Finally, it was time to celebrate. The ref girl found it apropos to come over and raise her hand in victory. This one felt truly gratifying. Not only had she won for herself, but her tiny country up in the Caucuses could celebrate her victory alongside her. The things she had drawn on herself, the cross of St. George and the word Georgia in Georgian had long since faded, but the pride she felt in her heart was never going to disappear. Eka jumped into the air and fist pumped when the ref girl let her go, and the crowd responded to her enthusiasm.

She knew this victory did not mean that her career was back on track. She knew this victory did not eliminate all of her troubles. But for the moment, it felt good, and Eka was going to celebrate as if she had won the title belt. The Georgian girl ran to the corner and jumped on the middle rope. One of the stadium workers returned her Georgian flag to her, and Eka had a big smile on her face as she waved it up and down. "Saqartvelo!" She shouted again. The crowd did not really know what that meant, and a few of them attempted to shout it back. A handful of them got close, and that made Eka smile deeply. She wrapped the flag over her shoulders and raised a single finger in the air.