Imai Cosmo vs Laila Nazari

Laila was breathing hard now: while Imai hadn't managed to lock in a full sleeper from behind, his hold was still managing to make it difficult to breathe. This close, she could feel Imai's warm breath on her neck, his perspiration against hers...she wasn't going to pretend that there was a nice sensual element to all of this, and certainly the crowd must have been getting a kick from watching these two attractive, sweaty wrestlers writhing and twisting against each other on the mat. Laila, however, was a little too focused right now on not being strangled.

Try as she might, she could not manage to twist in her grip, despite the slipperiness of their two bodies. Then for a brief moment, she thought she was making headway as Imai's grip around her throat relinquished...only for her blocking arm to suddenly be grabbed. Before she knew what was going on, Imai was dragging her own arm across her throat, executing a perfectly locked Japanese stranglehold. While before she had been fighting Imai through clenched teeth, now her mouth gaped open in an empty gasp as Imai suddenly and efficiently cut off her air supply. To make matters worse, he used his position to pull her head back under his armpit even as he strangled her, causing her slender yet fit midsection to arch back over him...leaving it as an open target for several closed fists from Imai's free hand.

Laila moaned despite herself under Imai's armpit, her other arm trapped against his leg as she was simultaneously stretched and choked in his grasp. Knowing that she had to do something, she pressed her feet against the mat, trying to push off the mat and roll the two of them over. She was hoping to manouver herself so that she could get a leg over the ropes and force Imai to release her. Her head was starting to feel light: as much as she hated to admit it, her opponent had gotten her good, trapping her in a tight and painful muscle prison.

Imai grinned as he managed to clinch in his new choke hold, though he couldn't help but note the bit of irony in now aiming to choke her out with her own arm. After all that was how he had lost in the Kengan Association tournament he had fought in before coming to AFW, that in itself being it's own kind of irony for the King of Stranglers to have been strangled into unconsciousness with his own arm. Still he kept the hold up as he delivered punch after punch to Laila's abs, trying to force more air out with each strike, to further empty her supply of oxygen and get her to pass out. However she certainly wasn't done yet as her struggling indicated to him, as he quickly picked up on her trying to push the two of them closer to the ropes, similar to how he had done so earlier on.

Gritting his teeth Imai planted his foot on the side that wasn't pinning down her other arm, trying to pivot his foot towards a direction back towards the middle of the ring, "No... you... don't...!" With that growl he would move to try and kick back, aiming to try and force Laila onto her stomach while he maintained the choke, now mounting her from the back. If he succeeded he would take the opportunity to yank her arm up and against her throat ever more, to try and strangle the last bit of strength from her, "I won't lose... I'm the King of Stranglers.... COSMO IMAI!!!" He would then declare. If his move didn't work he would instead try to slow her movements as much as he could to try and either choke her out or at least keep the hold up as long as he could before she reached the ropes.

As much as Laila hated to admit it, Imai had her good.

Ever-increasing pain was biting into her neck and back as Imai arched the dragon sleeper back, testing the flexibility of her spine as he cut off her air circulation with her own arm. With both of her arms trapped, she was left with only her legs, and she used them as best she could, stretching out towards the ropes even as her fit body was arched back painfully against Imai, her olive-skinned abs now glistening with sweat as she fought to stave off unconsciousness. The body blows he kept thudding against her abs weren't helping her breathing.

Imai wasn't having it, though. Before Laila really knew what was going on, she was suddenly rolled onto her front, with Imai now straddling her back. Her eyes widened as her body continued to be arched backwards, her own arm being compressed around her throat as it was pulled back. Pain lanced through her spine as her flexibility was tested, and the audience could get a good look at Laila's body being stretched taught, her chest heaving against her sports bra as her face was obscured by Imai's arm.

Except, in that roll, Imai had lost the grip of her other arm.

"Nnnnnh....mmmffff...." were the sounds that came from under Imai's arm as Laila fought off grey clouds of unconsciousness. Clenching a fist, Laila would drive an elbow back, once, twice, three times, into Imai's abs. This was all a distraction, though, as Laila tried to get her knees under her, even as Imai weighed her down. If she managed this, then she would grab a hold of one of Imai's legs, dig her knees into the mat, and, with all of her strength, try to propel herself backwards, hoping to drive Imai back-first into the turnbuckle!

Imai had to admit he didn't think his debut match would get his blood pumping to this level but Laila was good, she was damn good for his first opponent in Tension. It made him even more excited to see what other sources of competition awaited him in the league going forward. For now though he was focused on trying to bring an end to the match as he maintained his hold, trying to choke her out. At that moment however he could feel an elbow strike his abs, his eyes widening at the sudden pain as he realized in his move to keep up the stranglehold, maintaining his grip on her other arm as solidly as he could.

But he couldn't have predicted her next move as she would suddenly spring to life, moving to her knees while gripping one of his legs. He barely had time to curse before she suddenly sprung back as he was slammed back first into the nearby ring corner! He gagged as he felt his back impact with the turnbuckle, whatever padding it had didn't negate all of the impact of the metal corners underneath. Granted it wasn't AS painful as when he was in a similar situation against one of the wooden barricades back in the Kengan matches but the suddenness of the pain and impact was enough that his hold was loosened, not completely but enough that Laila's arm wasn't pressed up as tight against her own throat as it had been. But he still had the awareness to take his other fist and aim another shot at her abs, hoping that the blow might weaken her more as if it didn't he wasn't looking forward to her next move would be upon getting more of that all too important oxygen.

Grey spots were beginning to form across Laila's vision as Imai kept up the pressure of the Japanese stranglehold, keeping her own arm wrapped tightly across her throat. By this stage, her olive skin was starting to shine bronze with perspiration as she fought to free herself from the hold, contrasting against the paler muscles of her opponent as the two of them struggled tightly on the mat. Laila felt Imai's grip loosen a little after her elbow collided with his ribs-- slightly, but just enough to let her get her knees under her, push back hard, and let momentum do the rest.

She felt the tremendous crash of Imai colliding with the turnbuckle, and felt the grip around her own arm slacken, allowing her to breathe normally for a change as she now found herself standing up with Imai against the turnbuckle, feeling Imai's laboured breathing against her neck. Before she could start to free herself, however, Imai's elbow show down, hammering into her ribs, causing the breath to explode from her lungs just as she was sucking it in.

She felt herself sagging now, weak from exhaustion after enduring this strangle hold for so long. Feeling herself losing her balance, she tried a last ditch effort to free herself: she tilted her head forward, before suddenly snapping it back, hoping to smash the back of her head hard against Imai's face and stun him into finally releasing her....

Imai groaned as he tried to clear his vision as he felt his elbow hit home against Laila's ribs and even could tell she was sagging, she was getting weaker. However the Egyptian wrestler still seemed to have enough in the tank for one last attempt to break his hold as she suddenly sent her head back to try and slam the back of her head into his face. Whether it was due to the sudden nature of the attack, him still being disoriented from the slam into the ring corner, or both but whatever the case Imai was unable to avoid the desperate move as the back of her skull cracked into his face.

His vision swam for a moment as he almost slumped into the corner from the impact, that'd probably have knocked out most kinds of opponents especially after the intense match that had been fought thus far. Imai however was tough enough that that didn't happen, though he was certainly stunned from the blow, enough that his grip on her arm finally came undone. However his sheer determination to win was still pushing him even in this state and thus as his grip loosened his hands would move to try and grip either side of her head. If this succeeded he would move his head back before returning the favor by aiming to bring his own headbutt to the back of her head. If he was unable to grip her head he would at least use his legs to aim to try and push her away and towards the center of the ring as the past few moments surely would leave both wrestlers struggling to regain strength and get ready for the next part of the fight.

Laila winced as she felt the back of her skull slam against Imai's face, the impact causing a a brief ringing to flood her ears. She swayed unsteadily, her balance compromised......but all the same, she felt the grip that Imai had on her arm finally come loose. Her own arm came free from around her throat, and she dropped forward onto her hands and knees, sucking in air, sweat dripping down her olive skin as she hungrily caught her breath.

And then she felt a second, reverberating impact of Imai's skull smashing against the back of hers, and she was falling forward.

Laila toppled facedown onto the mat, her hair spreading around her head in a dark halo as Imai nailed her with a headbutt from behind. Her breathing was shallow, and the powerfully built Egyptian woman looked barely conscious. A shove from Imai's legs sent Laila flopping over to the centre of the ring, a her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling lightly. Around them, the audience was going wild as both Imai and Laila were barely able to stand, and the ref looked in concern between each of them, clearly wondering if she should call this match...

Imai gasped and panted as he leaned against the corner, looking up at the lights above the ring, his chest was rising and falling with each breath as the lights caught the sweat all across his toned body. His hair was getting damp with sweat and he was still disoriented from from the surprise attack from Laila. However even then he could tell the Egyptian woman was doing as bad, if not worse as he could make out her laying on the mat after his retaliatory headbutt.

That gave him time to collect himself, to breathe, and to get to a point where his legs weren't shaky. As he did so he noticed the referee and noted that she seemed increasingly nervous for both competitors. That led him to remember that unlike where he came from here refs had the ability to call a match even without input from either competitor if they felt that they needed to. Clenching his hands into fists Imai's expression became more focused. No matter what he did not want his first match on Tension to end in a no contest and he doubted that Laila would approve either.

Still neither of them had much more in the tank he was certain, something clear to the blond both from him only now being reoriented enough that he felt he could at least move in a straight line now without collapsing and with Laila still down on the mat. One way or another the match had to end and Imai felt he was the one to initiate the finale and thus after regaining enough stamina he would move. Approaching the still downed Egyptian Imai would move to roll Laila onto her back, if there was no resistance to this he would move to cover her, hooking one of her legs in the process to go for a pin.

Laila blinked rheumily, squinting up against the oppressive glare of the arena lights. Her head was still spinning after that last brutal headbutt from Imai, and her skull throbbed dully from where it had impacted not once, but twice, against Imai's. It was taking a lot of effort to force her eyes open, and a lot more to will herself to move. Lying on her back, her toned, sweat-streaked body on full display, she was painfully aware that she was a stationary target.

Assuming, that was, that Imai wasn't in just as bad a state as she was.

Before she even realized it, Imai was crawling on top of her, his sweaty body pressing down against hers as he hooked a leg for the pinfall. Around them the crowd was going wild, seeing a possible end to this brutal match, as the ref began the countdown.

"ONE...TWO..."

And then, unbelievably, Laila's body twisted sharply to the side, getting a shoulder off the mat. The arena erupted even further at this, amazed that Laila still had enough left in the tank to break the pin attempt. Although Laila was barely moving from underneath Imai, somehow she still had some fight left in her...

Imai, if he hadn't been shown time and again the sheer tenacity of his opponent through this match, might have expected her to stay down for the three count and not even considered the chance of her kicking out. As it stood however a part of him knew that she wasn't about to admit defeat just yet even as they were pressed to one another with him on top of her, even if another part had been hoping she would. So in the end when she just managed to get the shoulder up before the ref could get to three instead of shock or anger Imai just sat up and smiled, "You really are an amazing opponent Laila-san... I imagine a pro wrestler friend of mine would love to have you in his promotion." He said, voice filled with respect, amusement, and just a hint at how tiring the match was on him at this point.

Still he was determined to end the match and if she was going to break out of a pin he'd go for the tried and true method to him, before she had more time to regain her strength. Thus he moved to grip her by the hair with one hand and a wrist with the other and move her into a sitting position. If unhindered he would then move an arm around her throat once more and move to wrap his legs around her waist for a combination of a Sleeper Hold and a Body Scissor. If this succeeded he would squeeze tight with both his arms and legs, to once more squeeze the air out of her, hoping that this time she wouldn't have the strength left to pull off anymore stunts like before.

All the while the audience was growing ever more thunderous in their cheers with the cheering being almost evenly split between those rooting for Imai and those rooting for Laila. Beyond that all the audience were cheering for the determination and skill both of them were putting on display.