Grace Allen vs Maria Tempesta

The spring board elbow was a risk, Grace knew, but taking such chances had long been her bread and butter ring style. The usual threat from such a move usually came from a strike, or the opponent managing to dive out of the way in time. Few had the wherewithal and raw speed to keep up with Grace and pull off the counter Maria attempted. Grace Allen gasped as her arm was siezed and she was pitched suddenly backwards, monkey flipped again, sailing through the air before colliding with the mat face first. 

"Unh! " She exclaimed in muffled protest, landing unceremoniously on her front, feeling a conflicted mix of respect for her opponent and annoyance at having gotten tagged. With a groan Grace would begin getting to her hands and knees.

Maria's counter worked almost flawlessly, with her opponent being neatly flipped and slammed down onto her front. Some wrestlers might have paused to appreciate their handiwork, or to punish their opponent further. Maria, however, was only concerned right now with maintaining her speed. The moment she slowed down, she knew, was the moment she gave her opponent an advantage.

As Grace hit the mat, Maria tried to maintain her momentum, running towards the opposite ropes. As Grace was busy getting to her hands and knees, Maria would bounce back, attempting to launch herself in her signiature back-flipping drop kick, the Bota del Diablo!

Grace was in the midst of crawling to the ropes on all fours, intent on using them to get to her feet when she stopped, feeling the incoming danger before she saw it. That steady pointing of boots against the canvas told Grace Allen all she needed to know. Maria was *not* letting up for a moment. A woman after her own heart. 

There was only no time to make it to her feet and few options, only one was viable in that instant. Grace flung herself towards the ropes and tried to roll out of the way, and indeed, bail out of the ring entirely.

Maria knew that something as simple as a monkey flip wouldn't keep a good wrestler down for long, which made it all the more important for her to press the attack there and then. Bouncing off the ropes, Maria arched back, briefly giving the fans a glimpse of how flexible her fit, bronzed torso was as it arched, before swiping her booted foot down at her foe.

A foe who wasn't there anymore. Pain shot up Maria's foot as Grace rolled out of the way. She gasped a curse in Spanish as she bounced to the side, clutching her heel, even as Grace rolled out of the ring. Maria was in no mood to give chase at the moment, however, as she rolled up to her hands and knees, trying to get back to her feet...

Grace Allen hadn't seen the actual move, being far too busy simply getting the hell out of the way! She did, however, hear the smack of flesh and bone fitting the canvas and felt the ring shake slightly from the impact, followed by Maria swearing in Spanish. Part of her wanted to back off and take stock of this cunning, skilled opponent, maybe even come up with a plan of attack.

But there was no time. Maria would be on her feet soon and back on the offensive, unless Grace went on the attack first. She climbed back onto the ring apron before leaping onto the top-most rope, using it as a springboard with which to leap back in the ring at Maria, aiming to strike at her head with a flying forearm.

It wasn't just pain that Maria was feeling at the moment. Granted, botching her attack like that did no favours to her ankles, but what burned all the more was having one of her signature moves botch in the first place. Beneath her mask, her face was turning red, and slowly but surely, she ignored the pain in her ankle and pushed herself to her feet.

Just in time, it turned out, to see Grace sailing down at her, forearm extended. Surprised, Maria tried to dodge too late-- Grace's forearm slammed across her masked face. "UGH!" she grunted as the blow sent her crashing down onto her back, clutching her forehead where Grace's arm had made contact.

Grace Allen ended up rolling onto her back beside Maria, following the highly satisfying impact of her forearm into the luchadora's Masked face. A taunt lingered on the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back. The feeling out portion of the match was officially over, Maria would be gunning for her, she had no doubt, and Grace had to much respect for her opponent to give her more then a few seconds breathing space. 

Rolling briskly to her feet, Grace quickly stood to her full height beside the luchadora, feet close to her head. Putting her natural agility to work once again, Grace moved to jump straight up and kick out with her legs, attempting a leg drop across Maria's throat.

Maria's head ached a little where Grace's arm had impacted right against her masked face, and she gave a few dull blinks to clear out the cobwebs. Grace was good, no doubt about that. She came to the same conclusion as Grace at that moment: playtime was officially over. As much as she enjoyed the pleasant exchange of aerial moves as she had tested her opponent out, Grace had passed that test, and now it was time to start breaking her. 

Opening one eye, Maria saw Grace already on the move, coming at her with an leg drop. Cursing, Maria tried to roll...if she was not fast enough, however, then she would be nailed by the leg drop and left breathless...

"Aahh!" Grace cried out as she her attack missed by what seemed to her a fraction of an inch, landing hard and mostly on her hip. She cursed under her breath, grabbing quickly for the ropes to pull herself back to her feet. It seemed momentum had stalled on both sides and now each woman had a better idea if what the other was capable of. Grace wasnt used to fighting someone who's style was so like her own. 

"Not bad..." Grace managed a grin, as she moved to stand and get back into a fighting stance. Even if she got to her feet first, she wouldn't press the attack, letting Maria get to her feet in turn.  "... now you ready to stop playing around?"

Maria's heart was racing as she managed-- just-- to avoid Grace's leg drop. Spinning away from her American foe, Maria rolled over onto her front, knees braced and butt slightly in the air, making her look like she was going to pounce. As she saw Grace pulling herself up on the ropes, however, she pushed against the mat up to her feet, looking warily at Grace.

She flashed her foe a smile at the comment. "Aww, can't a girl have a little fun?" she purred. Without waiting for a reply, she would circle Grace again, staring the other girl down, before darting forward, faking a clothesline as she instead moved to dart behind her foe and hit her with a drop kick!