Josey Wales vs. Athena Wonder

As Josey sent the kick in, there was no doubt in her mind that it was going to hit home. Athena did not do enough to get out of the way in time, which meant that the Outlaw could burst forward with another attack, then another. Only, that did not turn out to be the case. Athena had prepared in her own right, which meant that she had tensed up and prepared herself to deal with the blow. The Eighth Wonder must have recognized how much this would hurt, and took it anyways. Josey respected that grit.

But that was not to say that she liked it. The sudden movement jerked Josey off balance, and the knee all but confirmed that Josey was going to go down like a sack of hammers. Josey fell to the mat in a pile. Now she was really starting to regret the fact that she went after Athena with the same leg that had just been tortured...

After sending Josey down while still holding her by her ankle, Athena initially planned to use the ankle lock again, but then, she decided against it as she thought that she had something that she might as well try, now that the chance had presented itself for her to seize it. Still keeping her grip on the Outlaw's ankle, the Eighth Wonder would reach down for Josey's another foot, holding both of her legs and lifting them up. She would then bend one of the legs so that the shin would be behind the knee of the straight leg before placing the ankle of the straight leg in her armpit.

Then, using the same arm, Athena would reach around the ankle and through the opening formed by the legs before locking her hands together. Right after that, she would step over the cowgirl, looking to turn her around to put her on her stomach as she would proceed to squat and lean back, applying pressure in the Texas cloverleaf submission hold!

Athena thought that with her opponent being a cowgirl, this hold might be fitting, at least in ironic sense. Still, it was a move that she rarely used, but she figured that she might try it out to see what would happen to her opponent.

Well, this was annoying. Athena moved quickly, and Josey was still recovering from the fact that she had been oh so rudely seated following the swift yet devastating counter by Athena. The moment she realized what Athena was doing, it was too late - her legs had already been crossed, so the only thing left to do was to be stepped over, and then have the living hell bent out of her.

Josey's body was now being pushed to its limits, and the pain and frustration was plain to see on her face. Her white teeth were now showing to the world as the Outlaw grimaced hard. Her long blonde hair fell in front of her face the moment afterwards, and truth be told Josey was grateful that such a thing took place. After all, it meant that the world could not see her visage, red as it was with anger and pain and frustration.

The cowgirl let out a low, angry groan. Yeah, she knew the name of the submission. No, that did not make it hurt any less. As a matter of fact, it made it hurt considerably more - it was as if Athena were using part of her own identity against her.

Athena knew that things went well as the Texas cloverleaf submission hold seemed to work. But Josey hadn't submitted yet, and the Eighth Wonder was looking to see the cowgirl tap out from this submission hold. Applying more pressure in the hold, Athena would scoot back, bending the Outlaw's body even more. She even gritted her teeth, wrenching Josey's legs back as hard as she could, showing no sign of letting her go.

"C'mon, kiddo! Submit now!" Athena urged her opponent that the wisest choice for her in this situation was to tap out and admit defeat. She knew that she couldn't keep the hold forever, so she would milk it for all it was worth, hoping that it would end up with Josey finally admitting defeat and submitting to her.

Josey was not having it. Her legs and her feet had already had heaping doses of pressure applied to them, but Josey was not ready to give up yet. Yes, her predicament was dire, but Josey still had that fighting spirit. The pressure on her back was immense, but Josey was going to fight through it. Her back was exploding with pain, and she was weary, beaten down, and hurting.

But she was still fighting. Josey did her best to claw her way forward. It would be a little ways before she got to the rope, but the Outlaw was going to be damned if she did not at least try. The cowgirl did her utmost to claw, scrape, and drag herself forwards, towards the ropes. Josey was a free girl, and Athena did not get to ruin that.

Despite Josey being her opponent, Athena couldn't help but admire her tenacity and determination even as she was subjected to such a brutal submission hold. The Outlaw kept on fighting despite the overwhelming odds, and the Eighth Wonder decided that a defeat via submission was unfitting for someone like her. After keeping Josey in the Texas cloverleaf for a while, Athena decided that she would need to finish her opponent off with her finisher instead. So, she would let go of Josey's legs as she would get herself off of her.

"You're pretty tough, kiddo," Athena said as she would step off of Josey before grabbing her body in preparation for her finisher. "You deserve this one, I suppose..." First, Athena would hook her legs with her arms and tuck her head in next to Josey's before getting up, lifting her opponent up in an upside down position, displaying her tremendous strength in the process. After making sure that Josey was in position, Athena would quickly drop into a sitout position, using the impact of the drop to deal tremendous damage on the Outlaw before releasing her down onto the mat. She hoped that by using the Kinniku Buster, Josey would finally be finished, securing her victory in this match.

Josey crawled, and scraped, and did everything she could to get closer and closer to the ropes. She made little progress, and there was little progress to be made. Athena was standing firm, applying more and more pressure. Josey felt that she was nearly at her breaking point when all of the pain came to an abrupt halt. Athena was saying something, but Josey was in no state to pay attention. The only thing that she could figure out was that the blonde woman was talking, but the words were indistinct. Josey was just happy the pain was over.

But she was very wrong about that. The pain had only just begun. The two submission moves back to back meant that Josey was a sitting duck, and it looked like Athena was wasting no time. Had she been in a more cognizant state, Josey would have been impressed by the raw strength that Athena was displaying. But for the time being, she was just along for the ride. She hated the position she was in - upside down and totally helpless - but there was little that she could do about it at this point.

And the impact of the move was unlike anything that Josey had ever felt before. Josey flopped down to the mat, totally immobile. That had been a hell of a ride.

Still in sitting position, Athena released Josey's body, letting her flop onto the mat. The Kinniku Buster was certainly a devastating move, and Athena was certain that after taking such a move, the cowgirl would be left in a condition where she could no longer fight back. Right after using the move on her opponent, Athena decided that it's about time for her to seize her win as she would make sure that the cowgirl was on her back.

Putting herself on top of Josey, pulling one of her legs up, Athena would go for the cover, and the ref would come over next to them, counting for the pin. Josey had proved herself to be quite a formidable opponent, but in the end, it would be Athena to stand triumphant and victorious.

"ONE!"

"TWO!"

Josey was awake, but she was not really a fan of that particular fact. Pain was coursing through her entire body now, and her red eyes could only look up at the lights dimly. She recognized what had happened. It was over. It was all over. The two beats were indistinct, but Josey knew what they must have meant.

THREE!!!

And with that, all of the rage and strength and desire she bore was washed away. The bell rung, and that was that.

When the count reached up to three, the match was over, ending with Athena's victory. Releasing Josey's leg, she would get herself off of her, getting back on her feet to celebrate her well-earned victory. She raised her arms in triumph as the referee held one of her arms up to declare her the winner of the match.

Athena would give Josey one last look before she decided to turn around in order to leave the ring. She had won this match, and she would like to take some time to rest and recover.

Winner via pinfall: Athena Wonder!