Wrestle Angel and Rookie: Suzumi Ishikawa vs. AJ Shay!

MATCH TYPE: Standard
VICTORY CONDITIONS: Pinfall, Submission, Count Out, Knock Out, DQ

Suzumi felt good, knowing it had been a while since her last matches. She had some mixed results but didn't mind given she faced top notch talent, faring better than anyone expected against them. She was back, and maybe as good as before. At least she felt to be as good as she was before. The bubbly airhead whom was a bit of a wrestling savant (and typical valley girl elsewhere) was in her wrestling attire and bouncing around the backstage halls as she made her way towards the ramp.

As soon as her music hit, the cheers rang out and she made her appearance. Suzumi was hamming it up, energetic as ever. She blew kisses to the crowd, waving as she strut down the ramp, swaying her hips and running her hands through her hair, winking at a few guys as she made her way down. The newly single lady didn't feel bad playing to the crowd by way of flirtation these days and it showed. She climbed up onto the apron and through the ropes, standing in the middle of the ring holding her arms out as the cheers cascaded. Damn it felt good to be back.

Suzumi knew she was facing a relative newcomer, but she wasn't about to take anyone lightly. She owed it to anyone who stepped in between these ropes to take them seriously. Acting like an opponent was a laugher was the biggest insult for a wrestler. Suzumi wanted to win, and taunted to hype herself up for sure. However she never really wanted to demean anyone. In her early Wrestle Angel days people thought she was a big chested, curvy air-head who didn't belong in the ring until she won victory after victory against naysayers. She settled into her corner, eager to finally see this A.J Shay woman she had heard a bit about.

Alexa stared down at her tiny reflection in the water pooled within her cupped hands for a moment before leaning down to splash it in her face. The sudden cold liquid felt like it was almost solid by the way it momentarily numbed her features with the vast temperature shift. She had a match tonight. As herself. Her first and only showing in AFW had been, from what most sources had told her, an impressive one.

She had slipped into the role of a mad scientist gimmicked heel to combat her idol and while she had lost in the end she hadn't minded. The Black Fang had been so nice about it after the fact... Plus it was more fitting the heroine win. She had held back a bit, not wanting to make use of her groundwork in fear of securing a sudden win on her hero that would have ruined their entire dynamic. After the fact, she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty for holding back, it almost felt disrespectful. The likelihood of using her full range of moves likely wouldn't have changed the outcome, but it was impossible to tell.

She hadn't known who Suzumi was when she had first heard the woman would be her opponent tonight. She had done some impromptu research in the time leading up to their match, to see if she could get a feel for what she was up against. What she found was the woman had a legacy. A well known veteran who had made a name for herself in another promotion before coming to AFW. When she looked up one of the girls old matches, she felt as though she made a mistake.

While it had clued her into some of the range of the veterans moves, it left a pit in her stomach as she watched the woman she was about to face make dog chow out of her opponent in minutes. She wasn't sure who her opponent was, another name and face she didn't know in AFW, but the picture the match painted for her was a bit terrifying. She had retreated back to the bathroom to douse her face and refocus her thoughts.

She wasn't sure how out of her depth she really was, but the crushing pressure closing in on her made it feel like judgement day. She still hadn't come up with a gimmick or hook for the fans. She was just herself. That didn't amount to much of anything in her mind. The rookie had been ducking match booking for awhile out of nervousness of making a bad impression when coming out for the first time without the shield of anonymity, that may have been why she was set to face the former Wrestle Angel now as a means to discipline her.

She looked at herself in the mirror, pale face dripping with water. This was why she was here, to wrestle. To make a name for herself. To make her father proud one day. The weight of expectations proved to be far harder to lift than anything she could bench press at the gym. "Just do your best... You belong here." Words of encouragement felt hollow when they were spoken with her own voice. She tried to fool herself into feeling like they had changed something. Tugging a few paper towels free, she pat her face dry, fixed her hair, and got ready to walk headlong into a Tsunami.

---

AJ Shay:

Theme:

Alexa slowly made her wait out onto the stage, coming to a stop at the at the top of the ramp. She closed her eyes, head bobbing slowly with the music.  Her arms were down at her side, fingers flexing in and out of being closed fists. The crowd in general wasn't sure what to make of her, a fresh face unknown to just about everyone in attendance. As the music picked up to the chorus, she threw up an arm, pumping it to the two syllable breakdown of the word "action" within the lyrics. She sprang to life, trying to make a more energetic showing as she moved down the ramp. It felt strange with so many eyes on her, the actual her. She almost felt naked in her ring gear when thinking back to her other outfit. The crowd wasn't very into her, not when they already had their favorite to win in the ring. She garnered a few cheers, thought it may have been due to her music more than her.

Still, despite any self doubts she felt committed to at least presenting herself as confident. With a big smile and bounce to her step Alexa made her way down the ramp trying to keep herself in time with the music to a degree. She had been willing to give out high fives and hand touches along the way, but wasn't really offered much in the way of fan interaction. Why? Was she unlikable? Boring? Even if Suzumi was a bigger name than her, she hadn't expected this much lack of enthusiasm for her. It was hard not to be a bit dishearten, the cherry on top of it all.

She jogged the last bit of her way down the ramp, sliding down under the bottom rope to roll into the ring. Popping up, she gave Suzumi a small nod before heading to a turnbuckle. With a deep breath she climbed to the second rope, throwing up a fist to thankfully a bit more of a reaction and some pity clapping. At this point she could take anything she could get. Slowly climbing back down she finally head back mid ring to confront Suzumi. It was time for banter... Though she wasn't feeling very brazen given the mounting things stacking up against her.

It had been a surprise to see they were about the same size, completely eye level with one another. Suzumi was a great deal more shapely than her, not that it mattered to anyone beside the crowd. She personally liked her ring attire, simple yet effective. As she waited for the other woman to come join her, chants for Suzumi broke out again making the arena feel more alive. While she was a bit upset nobody seemed to be cheering for her, having the audience engaged like this still felt good, far better than silence. Alexa perked up slightly, shaking out her arms as she tried to hype herself into a better mindset for what was to come.

Suzumi watched A.J carefully as she approached. She was new, and Suzumi could make note of a few little things that clued her in. The way she carried herself. The way she moved. Small stuff. As she entered the ring, Suzumi smiled to her and soon found herself approaching the middle of the ring to stand in front of A.J.

Suzumi then held out her hand. "Hey! We are gonna totally blow the roof off this place!" Suzumi said, unaware that she sounded like a complete airhead when she spoke to people for the first time. Still oblivious, Suzumi continued. "Like good luck! I am gonna be going all out so give me your best shot and may the best wrestler win!" With that Suzumi bounced back and forth from foot to foot. She smiled confidently as she looked A.J over. She heard the chants calling to her and she waved to the crowd to appease them before the bell rang.

A.J had better be ready, as Suzumi was being truthful when she said she was going all out. She wanted to keep her comeback on the right path and wasn't going to make it easy inside these ropes for anyone that stood against her. However, she knew A.J was likely a dangerous foe. New wrestlers were hungry. They wanted it more than some women who had been around a while. There was no complacency with women like A.J.

Alexa was quick to take Suzumi's hand, smiling faintly at the other woman. Her grip was a bit loose, not exactly the best with formal introductions and handshakes in general. As the woman spoke to her, she couldn't help but smile a bit wider. While she hadn't been in the ring much, she had been around the sport all her life. As far as pre-match conversations went, this was proving to be among one of the better ones. It had been a bit surprising to get such a warm welcome from someone as experienced as Suzumi.

"Y-yeah." She nodded, a bit of visible excitement in her eyes warding off most of the small demons of doubt that had been gnawing at her. "Let's give them a good show." She hadn't put to much thought in how the other girl sounded. Alexa wasn't very judgemental by nature, not intentionally anyway. If she had given it any real thought, that style of talking almost like a valley girl coming from a native Japanese woman may have thrown her for a loop.

The casual friendly air Suzumi was putting out there for her was making her feel far better about this whole thing. It was similiar to how she felt with The Black Fang honestly. It was less about how she was going to overcome, and more about how she could impress her opponent to be a worthy adversary. That was a task of its own however. The woman opposite from her had been in the business long enough and faced some of the best out there. She knew for a fact most of the Wrestle Angels were considered to be pretty big deals in AFW.

"Yeah, good luck." She couldn't help but blush a bit, she was sure Suzumi wouldn't need luck. She had experience and skill after all. It was more of a force of habit to just wish good fortune back after having it thrust on her. "I'll try to keep up." She gave a small chuckle as she backed away just enough to get things started right. She staggered her stance, knees bent, body low, arms raised. The stance of a grappler, one she had had since her amateur wrestling days. The low center of gravity helped to guard as well as attack, normally centered around takedowns. She sucked gently on her upper lip, waiting patiently for the bell.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been on edge, waiting for a match start since the buzzer back in high school, where even a half second was the difference between who was going to take control. It wasn't quite that cutthroat in professional wrestling, but she was dead set on making a strong first impression with her foe, coming out of the gate strong seemed to be a good start to that. She perhaps was trying too hard though, going in hard with a basic collar and elbow tie up, but throwing her weight into the initial push into the other woman. Trying to push her back to assert early and quick dominance over the lockup in hopes of setting herself up to transition into something more damaging if she found herself in a favorable position.

Suzumi nodded to A.J as the bell rang, Suzumi crouching low and getting ready. However when A.J crashed into her she was caught off guard, being pushed back a few steps! Suzumi yelped in surprise and dug her legs in as she widened her stance, getting lower to halt A.J's momentum a few steps shy of being pressed back up into the corner! She was certainly stronger than she looked, and had an undeniable energy to her. Suzumi's quick thinking and adjustment on the fly was all that prevented her from being crushed against the turnbuckle.

Suzumi kept the two steady for a second, and this gave her an idea. As A.J pushed Suzumi was going to let A.J force her backwards and dedicate her own energy into twisting the two of them around at the last second, using A.J's momentum against her and pressing A.J into the corner instead! A.J would expend energy and take the impact allowing Suzumi to avoid any nasty pains this early. However, there was room for error in her plan that A.J could capitalize on and show the veteran what for!

Alexa was normally a rather conservative wrestler. Managing stamina was a key component of how she had to do things back in competitions. Getting gassed was a surefire way to put yourself at the mercy of your opponent. Most of that ingrained training had flown out the window when she had gotten the jump on the veteran. The surprised look, the ample ground she was able to make before the two came to a screeching halt, it all made her feel powerful.

Suzumi had managed to deadlock them though, her arms shaking with the strain. It was pretty clear she was going all in with this. She was still considering her options of how to convert this into something else to end the stalemate when she started to make headway again. Had she really overpowered Suzumi? Wow! The corner in sight, she bullied her way forward, trying to back her opponent into the ropes.

So proud of herself, she had fallen for the bait laid for her. When the blue haired beauty finally sprang the trap, she had no escape. The two women's boots scuffled along the canvas as she stumbled in the reversal. She had put so much weight and power into pushing, Suzumi didn't have to do much else besides redirect her. She fumbled backwards the final few steps before her back was pinned to the turnbuckles putting her in an unfavorable position against the veteran.

Suzumi now had A.J right where A.J had wanted her, and it would be remiss of Suzumi not to take advantage of this. She had to act fast otherwise her opponent was likely to take a new course of action all on her own. To that end, Suzumi sent two hard knee strikes into A.J's abdomen to try to jar her a bit and keep her off her toes! Suzumi then backed up holding A.J's head in a headlock as Suzumi herself was facing the center of the ring.

"Time to go for a ride! Woooooo!" Suzumi shouted as she had already begun to run forward, still holding A.J by the head. Suzumi held her free arm up in the air and knew exactly what she wanted to do. Suzumi intended to keep rushing forward, planning on jumping forward and diving down to plant A.J face-first on the mat with a running bulldog! Suzumi could only hope that the knee strikes softened A.J a bit and distracted her enough for the move to stick. Suzumi didn't want to be the one caught off guard and in turn taking surprise damage from any unexpected offense by a determined A.J!

She was panicking. Oh god she was panicking. Why did she try to get Suzumi in the corner?! She didn't even know of many moves she could do from here! Her mind was racing with all the possibilities of what she might have to defend, though that was cut short when none of them came, only a stiff knee. "Guh!" She leaned in from the impact of the blow, tucking her arms in to try to protect from another. She had no idea how many were coming. The second strike broke through her hasty guard, bending her forward to lean her weight up against her adversary.

She almost fell right into Suzumi's arm as it slipped easily around her neck. She winced as it flexed tight around her. She knew something else was coming. There was no way the veteran was going to apply a submission while they were at the ropes. She clutched at the arm around her neck, twisting her head to try and tug herself free to no avail. She couldn't muster the strength as she took labored breaths to try to recover from the knee strikes.

As Suzmui ran from the corner, Alexa was forced to follow, stumbling behind the woman to the point she was almost being dragged along helplessly. As her foe leapt forward, she finally lost her footing and was pulled off her feet to be planted onto the canvas with a picture perfect bulldog. She closed her eyes just before impact, the solid impact as her body fell flat with a heavy crash stung immensely, her head hitting so hard under the weight of Suzumi left her dazed and groaning.

The resounding sound of the impact was music to the ears of Suzumi.  She smiled and got back to a crouching position before turning and looming at A.J.  Suzumi had her down and many possibilities flooded into her mind.  A.J was energetic, a ball of kinetic force.  Suzumi wanted to attack that aspect of A.J as much as she could.  A hold, keeping A.J grounded that targeted her ability to be mobile.....

Suzumi quickly made her way towards A.J's feet bending down to grab an ankle in each hand, rolling A.J over before sitting down herself.  Suzumi had to be quick before A.J could recover her composure.  The tsunami began wrapping up A.J's legs and intertwining her own as she attempted to trap A.J in a painful figure four leg lock!

AJ initially pressed her forehead to the mat as she started to rise, regretting putting force on her face which had just been smashed into the mat. Her forearms planted themselves in either side of her as she propped herself up, trying to shake out the cobwebs. She didn't know where Suzumi was until she felt the girl grabbing hold of her.

A sense of dread washed over her, nearly paralyzing the poor girl as Suzumi twisted her legs into position and locked herself in. She knew it intimately, having been submitted by it by Tomoko in their gym spar. She had studied it extensively since that time, making sure she would be ready when they inevitably had a rematch. Here and now, in practice, she found herself almost terrified as her opponent slapped the hold on. " No... No... Please no..."

As Suzumi arched her back, applying pressure she tensed up, clenching her fists with gritted teeth. Her legs screamed in a familiar protest, though it somehow managed to feel even worse when performed by the veteran. Though that shouldn't have been surprising, in the moment she was having difficulty thinking logically.

Slamming her arms down on the mat she tried so hard to block out the pain, but every shift in her body only seemed to make it worse. Her palms pressed hard against the canvas, pushing down at the mat franticly as she tried to scoot them little by little towards the ropes. She didn't want to scream, she needed to seem strong. Tears were already welling up however at the biting pain.