Julia Rogers vs. Valley Doll III - One More Time

Valley didn’t want to be pessimistic, but it was hard to deny that this was hardly the most auspicious start for one of the most important matches of her entire career, more so when you compared it to the way the others had been. Before, she and Julia had been evenly matched, working with a style that complimented what they could and couldn’t do, trying to gain an early advantage. Here, the advantage had already been gained. Julia was ahead, and it would be a struggle to catch up.

Not that she wouldn’t try. She was already making an attempt at getting back, grabbing the apron skirt, when Julia came over and decided to help her along. By grabbing her by the hair. And shoved her head under her arm. And gripping tight. And lifting her up. ”Nonononotonthefloornoton-”

Up and over and down she went, crashing into the mat with Julia’s snap suplex. The mats gave her a little protection, but only a little, as she came down with spine-tingling force, making the audience collectively wince. She sat upright after the hit, her back arched, her face screwed tight with pain, as a low hissing noise seeped through her teeth.

”Oooooooooooooow.”

Yeah. Not going well.

That one sounded like it hurt.

Julia couldn't help but wince a bit herself when she heard the smack of Valley's back against the lightly padded floor. That thin layer of protection wasn't going to save her foe from too much pain. Still she knew something like this wouldn't be nearly enough to put away a woman as tough as the Slamazon. It'd wind her and hurt her, but it wouldn't make much difference in the long run if Julia didn't capitalize on the opening she'd created for herself. She was off to a big head start here, and intended to stay ahead as long as she could help it.

Rolling to her feet right after delivering the suplex, Julia moved to grab her rival by an arm and drag her up just high enough that she could wrap an arm around the woman's head again. "In ya go," she muttered as she pulled Valley back up and rolled her into the ring under the bottom rope.

A couple fans, wearing replica Julia Rogers masks in the front row were calling out to the cowgirl and reaching their hands out toward her. With a smile she took a step toward them and reached out to give them each a quick high five. She knew she didn't have a ton of time to waste, but this just took a second. Plus, her time with the people here was limited. Had to make the most of it while she still could.

After that she hopped back up onto the apron, grabbed onto the top rope, and crouched a bit. Her eyes followed Valley like a lion stalking its prey. She was just waiting for her foe to start getting up, the cue for Julia to spring up onto the top rope and take fight again...

Valley would be feeling that snap suplex in the morning, and the morning after that, and likely the morning after that, too. Amazing how even the simplest of moves became twice as devastating when you just did them on a less than forgiving floor, really.

Julia, wisely, didn’t give Valley long to languish, moving in quick to pick her off the floor - though she didn’t grab her hair in the process, a fact she was eternally grateful for. Keeping her moving, the cowgirl wasted no time in tossing her back into the ring, before the referee could even get the count going. A good thing, too, because this match ending in countout was liable to create a riot.

In she went, rolling over a few feet away from the ropes. Knowing she had to get up, she started to push on the canvas, rising in short order, her feet a little wobbly, swaying, out of it…

...but not so out of it that she didn’t realize the danger she was in. Julia hadn’t attacked her while she was down, which meant she was preparing something, which meant she had to be vigilant, which meant that she needed to look out the corner of her eye, waiting for what was surely coming.

It was unrealistic to think Julia could put Valley away this early, but then again, she wasn't trying to. The masked blonde was enjoying the early advantaged she'd established, and wanted to keep building on that as much as she could. Small victories were going to make all the difference tonight.

Julia had her shot lined up, her target right in her sights, now she just needed to pull the trigger.

The moment Valley was up high enough, the cowgirl luchadora sprang up and landed onto the top rope. And if all went according to plan from there, she'd leap high into the air and turn her body while throwing her arms and legs out, so that her body could come crashing into Valley's with a springboard cross body!

Wait for it. Wait for it…

There was an art to countering moves from the turnbuckle. Valley had seen many newer wrestlers mess it up, thinking that, if they saw the move coming, then avoiding it should be a simple matter. It wasn’t. Sure, just rolling away was easy enough, but to get the most out of it, you needed timing. Good timing.

When Julia leapt into the air, Valley could have simply stepped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the attack, sparing her the pain. But it wouldn’t come close to evening them up. For that, she had something much better.

As Julia came in, Valley leaped straight into the air to meet her, turning her body to the side as she flew. Instead of a vulnerable, waiting body, Julia was met with two boots to the chest, as the Slamazon shot her legs out to hit her with a dropkick.

A lot of things happened in the span of the next second. For starters, Julia almost immediately realized she’d made a big mistake. Right after she sprang from the rope she noticed Valley was whirling around to face her. It was clear Valley knew where she was, and was ready for it.

Julia saw the boots flying up to meet her. But with the cowgirl’s limbs sprawled out as she flew, there wasn’t nearly enough time to correct herself and try to stop the oncoming blow. Her rival’s soles slammed right into her ribs, blasting her right out of the sky! The masked blonde crashed to the mat and immediately rolled under the bottom rope, letting herself drop lightly onto the ringside floor, where she cringed in pain while one arm hugged at her now aching midsection.

She knew she wasn’t truly “safe” out here - hell, she’d just demonstrated that reality not even a minute ago. But at the very least, Valley couldn’t try to pin her out here. And with any luck, she might be able to buy enough time to recover from that explosive dropkick.

The move wasn’t all cookies and cream for Valley, either. While Julia was the one taking the bulk of that damage, gravity wasn’t about to be forgiving on her for trying to defy it. She came crashing down on her shoulder, as nasty spill, one that didn’t make the damage Julia had dealt any better.

But it was worth it. More than worth it. You could almost feel the momentum shift in the arena, as the hunter and hunted switched places. Now Julia was on the outside, hanging in the danger zone, and it wasn’t a question of if Valley would take advantage, but how.

Valley felt she had the answer.

She grabbed the nearby rope and pulled her way up, looking down on Julia as she started to do the same below. Valley took a moment to gauge the damage and asses the risk, before she committed to it full stop - she grabbed the top rope and yanked it hard, spinning in mid-air, so she’d come down and sit on the top rope for an instant. When that instant passed, she bounced off, threw her body backwards, and came down on Julia from above with an Arabian Press Moonsault, looking to take her foe down with an assault from the heavens.