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

Suzumi crushed and pressed as hard as she could. When the referee checked A.J twice and the hand went down she fully expected it to fall a third time. However, A.J was full of surprises and her lunge worked as she got to the ropes! Suzumi let go and rolled backwards, rising to her feet and standing in the center of the ring to ready herself. A.J was going to get whatever time she needed for a reprieve and Suzumi was smiling. The kid was tough, there was no doubt about that one at all. Suzumi entered with the fans adoring her, but she was pretty sure that when A.J left a lot of the fans present in the crowd would love her by the end of the match if they hadn't already.

Suzumi clapped a couple times and crouched, she was thuroughly impressed with A.J's show of technical ability and her grit. It was going to take more to put her down. Suzumi had just the hold in mind, but she was stuck with thinking of a way to lock it in. She had to hit A.J with something to stun her or soften her up. A.J already proved that was going to be harder to pull off than Suzumi planned.

As Alexa was released from the hospital, she just sort of oozed out of it to lay on her side. She was still clinging to the the rope, even now. She needed time to recover, more time than she could reasonably take on the ground in an active match. She was having trouble blinking proper sight back into her eyes, waiting on her rushing blood to reach every part of her that had been denied it during the choke.

Slowly she pushed up, beginning the labored climb up the ropes which carried her weight far more than her own legs at this point. She knew she needed to get it all together, but her body wasn't responding to her mind's pleas at this point, a crucial disconnect somewhere along the way that had her moving sluggishly.

Finding her footing, she eased herself around to face Suzumi down as if the woman was a firing squad. Each step away from the ropes was heavy and we'll defined, a small wobble accompanied each as she took a moment to steady herself. She dragged her forearm across her face, brushing back trickling sweat from running down into her eyes as she panted for breath.

Suzumi had done a number on A.J, but as long as A.J was still in the fight she was a dangerous opponent. Suzumi moved in slowly and knew she had to keep A.J moving, keep her tired and keep her guessing.

Suzumi stepped up, reaching in to grab one of A.J's arms. Suzumi let out a yell as she tried to spin arpund and send A.J into the ropes with an Irish whip! If Suzumi could keep her moving she would set herself up to try to spring up and plant the returning A.J with a dropkick to the chest!

As Suzumi closed in and grabbed her by the arm, she had been ready... She knew exactly what she wanted to do to counter the woman and lock her into another hold. Her hands fumbled trying to grab hold of the Wrestle Angel, her normally dexterous hands just wouldn't cooperate. As the veteran threw in her weight, sending her to the ropes Alexa's plans crumbled around her. Her steps her lumbering and slow as she was sent to the ropes.

She didn't even managed to get herself turned around in time, her chest pressed to the ropes before they sprang her back. She stumbled, trying to maintain her balance as she backpedaled helplessly towards Suzumi. The drop kick while not intended for her back originally, hit her squarely, throwing her face down to the mat with a hard thud. She let out a soft groan as she lay there, barely moving.

Suzumi sent A.J flying and the way she bounced off the ropes, the way she moved and the way she took the dropkick all signaled to Suzumi that it was time to go for it. It was time to unleash the tsunami sleeper! Suzumi grabbed onto A.J's leg and dragged her to the center of the ring, then grabbed hold of her shoulders to prop her up into a sitting position. Suzumi held a fist up and let out a cheer. "All right guys this is it! It's time to pull out the big guns!" Suzumi said as she blew a kiss to the crowd.

Suzumi then wrapped an arm around the front of A.J's throat, pulling her head back and sitting down herself, her legs wrapping around A.J's torso as she tried to lock in her nastiest hold, the tsunami sleeper! The tsunami sleeper was a modified dragon sleep and one that Suzumi had earned many a victory with both in Wrestle Angels as well as here in friction. Suzumi wasn't using it to punish A.J or make her experience necessary pain. Instead Suzumi was using it because she truly saw A.J as a threat and one that Suzumi had to go all out to defeat in a battle of submission holds. A.J was good, with room to be even better. Suzumi had to nip this in the bud before A.J could turn it around on her!

Alexa groaned softly as she felt her legs lifted. She managed to squirm, which was all she seemed capable of mustering. As she was dragged to the middle of the ring, her palms dragged as she tried to somehow stop the woman from bringing her to what she knew was her execution site. She couldn't compete with the woman's strength, even when she was at her full potential, now? She was fighting a hopeless battle to slow her down which wasn't working at all.

Jerked up into the sitting position, if not for Suzumi's grip on her shoulder she may have simply fallen back over. It almost felt as if she was having an out of body experience, forced to witness her body be manipulated but have. No in the matter. The veteran was shouting, the crowd was roaring.

She whined softly as Suzumi's arm wrapped around her neck, easing her head backwards towards it's final.resting place. Her body was malleable and easily handled by the Wrestle Angel, it seemed she had no energy left to resist. Her body leaned back as her head was cinched in by Suzumi's flexing arm just as the woman's legs coiled around her finding nothing to stop them.

Alexa writhed in the hold weakly. She knew this one rather well, actually though had never been put in it. Her own finisher was more or less the same thing. A torturous hold of which she had no reversal, no escape route. In the middle of the ring she knew it was over. She thought she had been so close at one point, if only she had been able to catch the woman one or two more times it might have been her applying this hold and not trapped in it.

She choked back a cry of pain as she for some reason hadn't tapped immediately. Her hands came up to pass at the arm wrapped around her neck, her legs kicked feebly. It was becoming hard to breath, hard to think. The blood flow to her brain finding it hard to sneak past Suzumi's powerful grip of her neck. Her vision began to fade, ushering in a closing boarder of darkness around her sight...

With a long soft exhale she deflated slightly, her fingertips slipped from Suzumi's arm and fell to the canvas. The referee rounded on the two women, kneeling beside them to inquire if Alexa gave up. When no response was given, she asked again. With only more silence, she took hold of the rookie's limp arm and raised it up before letting it fall to the mat. She lifted it again, letting it hit the mat a second time. She raised it a third time and let it fall...

Alexa's hand hit the mat a final time. She had passed out fighting the hold. Some would debate why, when it was clearly such a lost cause. Part of her was holding out for a miracle or a sudden act of mercy that wouldn't come. She hadn't wanted it to end like this. As referee called for the bell to declare Suzumi the Victor, she wasn't even conscious to register she had lost.

Suzumi let go and as soon as the bell sounded and stood up, raising her hand in victory. She huffed for breath, feeling exhausted. When she looked down at A.J she was worried initially. Suzumi knelt down and wanted to wait to see if A.J was all right.

She needed to rest, and she needed to ensure that A.J was all right. Suzumi remembered the intensity she had in her youth and how losses bugged her. She wanted to at least try to encourage A.J, as she showed a great deal of promise and talent ceiling. It was the least she could do for the young lady who pushed her way harder than she had been pushed in a long time.

As she was released from the hold, Alexa's lifeless body rolled over onto the canvas where it slumped against the ring. In defeat, she looked rather peaceful, though that clearly wasn't by choice. Her well being had been of the concern of the referee as well who had checked for breathing and pulse after declaring the winner. Once it was clear she was alright, the referee would try to rouse her with a gentle shake of the shoulder and a pat on the cheek.

As her eyes slowly opened and vision came into focus, she looked up at the official and Suzumi looking over her. She had to squint, the lighting from above seemed suddenly to intense for her waking eyes. They had both looked concerned... Was it that bad? A bit of color rose in her cheeks which got a chuckle from the referee. At least it was clear blood was flowing correctly. "I guess I didn't somehow manage to pin you, huh?" She weakly smiled up at Suzumi with a soft sigh. Another loss huh? Add it to the pile.

Like her match with Black Fang, this hadn't been a bitter defeat. In truth, losing to Tomoko in their spar had hit her the hardest out of any wrestling matches she had since coming here. Having square off with someone far more experienced than her and actually managing to hold her own, for a bit at least, felt good. Not as good as overcoming the odds, but enough to lessen the blow of defeat a bit.

She leaned forward to try to sit herself up but found at the moment she couldn't even muster the energy to do that before leaning back to the canvas, utterly spent. All she wanted right now was some sleep... Maybe some juice... And a meal. She wanted a lot of things in actuality. Getting up was a key factor in all of them though.

"Ms. Ishakawa?" God she hoped she was pronouncing that correctly. "If you have the time, could I pick your brain about some wrestling stuff?" She didn't mean right here and now, obviously. It was clear to her she could learn quite a lot from Suzumi though, as the woman seemed to have a similiar style to her own. What interested her most was the woman's finisher however. She managed to lock it in far faster than Alexa could ever manage to get her own. Having some pointers at the very least would go a long way.

Suzumi looked down and offered a hand to A.J. "Like anytime! I would be totally down to talk to you about whatever!" Suzumi said with a smile. She was beyond happy to try to help out a respectful, upbeat woman like A.J. "Just tell me where to be and I will be there." Suzumi said with a wink.

Once A.J was up Suzumi tried to grab her hand and hold it up, attempting to share the spot light with the upcoming rookie with a bright future.

Alexa took the offered hand, grateful to have some assistance for rising to her feet. Her footing was poor, accidently bumping Suzumi once she had been lifted upright. She hoped the woman didn't mind that she had to lean into her a bit to keep from falling at first. Wobbly, she managed to maintain her footing. "Thanks... Maybe sometime later this week? We can work out the details over the phone or something."

As her arm was raised she was moved to silence at the round of applause and cheers from the audeince. Realistically most of those were for Suzumi and her show of good sportsmanship, but she liked to imagine they were for her. It was everything she wanted from her wrestling career really. A nice gesture from the Wrestle Angel to share the moment with her, something she was sure to remember. It was bittersweet though, she felt happy to know what this was like, but saddened by the fact she hadn't really earned it the way she wanted. Someday though, she would.

She sniffed softly, rubbing her eyes with the back of her forearm. She didn't know if she would ever make it in the AFW, but she had given up far too much to be here to not give it her best shot. She was always taught that if she worked hard and persevered through the rough times, there was a light at the end of the tunnel waiting for her. She wanted that light so bad. She just didn't know how to get there.

As her arm lowered she leaned into Suzumi giving her a small hug, like a old friend reunited. Another small thank you from her to the veteran. With that, she slowly pulled back with a faint smile to make her way to the back, determined to do it without the assistance of anyone else. She needed to go home and evaluate some things, and likely would do that after exchanging contact info with Suzumi in the back.