James Wright vs. Carmen Rodriguez

Jessica sucked her teeth. Give Carmen some time, back off. She is an experienced woman, and she knew that a young guy like James was going to be coming with attack after attack. The Violent Violet watched as her older brother pressed his advantage. Something bad was about to happen, she knew it. It was just a question of what.

James was not really worried about his petulant younger sister. He was more worried about attacking Carmen until she could no longer attack back and then pinning her. His teeth were gritted as he went through with a baseball slide, looking to knock some sense into the striking ace. He prepared his body for boot to collide with bone. The purplehaired man slid and slid and slid, only for his leg to slam into nothing but air.

His purple eyes tracked up to find his opponent leaping into the air, avoiding his slide with a deft grace that James sort of appreciate. He found himself marvelling at her far less as she came plummeting down right on top of him. Immediately all of his air was ripped from his chest and the purple-haired man was flattened against the white canvas ring. All James could really do was look up at the lights and the large woman standing on top of him.

Finally.

Carmen had only been wrestling James for a short amount of time, but she was already starting to see the potential problems. That speed. That agility. There was an alternate reality where the man would’ve had a promising career in boxing, using his footwork to stay one step ahead of his heavier, flat-footed opponents.

She could appreciate the work that went into cultivating a body like that. Wouldn’t stop her from crushing it, though, and the Foot Stomp did wonders on that front, knocking all the air out of him and leaving him glassy eyed.

So much so that Carmen decided she might as well try and make the most of it. She split her leg, dropped down for a hard sit on his stomp, reached back to grab a leg and pressed down on his chest, looking for a pin. All the while, she kept her eyes locked on his, with an unwavering stare. ”Stay. Down.”

The referee dropped down beside them and started up the count. ”1…!”

James grunted. Carmen was not the largest woman he had ever faced, but when all of her weight was on top of him, well, there was something to that. He heard the little ref girl get down tot he canvas and slap the mat for a count of one. That wasn't a good sign. Neither was the fact that he could barely breathe thanks to the fact that Carmen had nearly caved his chest in with that stomp and that she was now lying on top of him.

TWO!

James would have sworn loudly had he been able to speak to the extent that he wanted to. All he was really able to do was grunt, though, which is precisely what he did. He didn't know if that was helping himself, but it felt good for a second. And that was more of what he needed. The ref's hand was still high in the air as he kicked out triumphantly from the pin attempt. As soon as he was able to, he was going to try and roll away and rise from the white expanse of canvas, keeping a wary eye on the boxer.

Jessica rose from her chair and started making her way to the arena. It was clear that James was not capable of holding things down on his own.

It might’ve come off like a taunt - and, maybe, in a manner of speaking, that’s what it was. But when Carmen told him to stay down, it wasn’t merely here trying to intimidate him. It was solid advice. She did not see this going well for him.

Her advice was ignored. Of course. No surprise there. But she did try, and that was worth something, right?

She doubted he’d see it that way. Regardless, she wasn’t about to let him go now, not when she’d finally managed to catch him and cut his momentum.

She let him stand up, rise up to one knee, but that was as much leeway as she was willing to give, and even then, it was only to get him into a good striking height. Fists raised, feet squared up, she moved in quick, ducked low, and rose to meet him with an uppercut, a sharp blow targeted right at the center of his breadbasket, designed to knock all the air clean out of him in one shot.

James had a situation now. He supposed that he had started off in a situation but at the moment things were getting particularly tense. The aerial ace had not gotten even halfway up when Carmen started barreling towards him, apparently unsatisfied with the massive damage that she had caused thus far in the evening. James knew that he was off balance and not in a position to counter with much, which meant that his only chance of getting out of this was to try and dodge it. His purple eyes tracked Carmen on her way in. He hoped that the pain he bore from the match so far would sharpen his senses, and not dull them.

At the precise moment that he thought Carmen was going for her blow, James flung himself backwards. Well, most of himself at any rate. His legs shot up, trying to wrap around Carmen's head and an arm if he were able to get it. It would be lunacy to go for a triangle choke after nearly having your lunch violently expelled from your body, but James did not know what else to do in the face of a stronger opponent. If he were quick enough, not only would he dodge the mighty blow but he would get his opponent in a powerful submission. But that was a big if.

The plan was a simple one - punch James until her either went unconscious, gave up, or was susceptible to a three-count. At this point, Carmen wasn’t too picky on which one.

James was proving to be tricky, though. More than Carmen had been expecting. And stubborn, too. A family trait, it seemed.

She’d thought she had him cornered, but he moved back with a deft maneuver, one that Carmen hadn’t seen coming, his legs coming around her arm and head. The sheer alacrity of the move and the randomness combined to take her wholly off guard, and the next thing she knew, it was locked in. Tight.

Frustrating? Embarrassing? Yes. But that was just fuel, and she used it as she tried to push her way up. She brought her free arm around and struck James hard in the ribs, giving him some tangible reason to let go, all while she death glared him.

James was pretty surprised when the submission was cinched in. He did not know which wrestling god he should thank for having pulled off such a move, but he would light some incense to all of them tonight just to be sure. Well, in his own special way at least. He would quickly adjust himself to make sure that the hold was in nice and tight, and that Carmen's airflow was significantly hampered.

But she was not making it easy on him. The Latina lifted him off the ground, and James' purple eyes went wide with fright. Compounding matters, a harsh punch slammed into his ribs, causing him to loosen his grip for just a second. He quickly tried to re-establish it, however, and after that would try to contort his body so that he was spinning Carmen down to the ground.

Jessica was getting nearer. Instead of coming down the ramp, she would be sneaky. She got into the crowd, her purple hair sticking out like a sore thumb. Some in the crowd started making noise, but her snarling at them ended that abruptly. She looked towards the ring. The only thing that mattered was that Carmen had not noticed her yet.

The punches worked, and they didn’t work. To James’ credit, he did an admirable job of taking the blows, showing more resilience than she would’ve ever guessed from the man - sure, she wasn’t able to throw her best punches like this, but they were far from weak blows, and he took them with decent stride. It was enough to make him loosen up a bit, allowing her to regain some much-needed oxygen, but not enough for the total freedom she craved. He was being stubborn about this.

But she could be stubborn, too.

Defiant, she continued to push up, planting one foot on the floor, then another, standing and supporting him from the back as she rose. It helped that James wasn’t all that heavy, really, sporting the lighter, lithe frame that a wrestler of his type needed. It wouldn’t make what came next easy, but it would make it easier.

As soon as she was all the way up, Carmen charged forward with all the speed she could muster, using James’ body as a battering ram and hammering him into the nearest turnbuckle, looking to smack his head into the top pad. A desperation move, but one that she hoped would make him regret certain life decisions. Like, for instance, stepping into this ring.

Carmen lifted James up from the floor. His mind started racing. He knew that wherever this was going, it was not going to be good for him in the slightest, and now the only question that remained was what exactly was going to happen to him. The aerial ace was panicking a little bit despite the fact that he was choking her, and had half a mind to release the hold before it got serious. Then he reconsidered. It was possible that this was the last gasp before Carmen went to la la land.

As Carmen picked up steam, he realized how wrong his assessment was, but was in too deep now. He only got a quick look back at where they were headed before the collision happened, and he ducked his head to try and mitigate some pain. Once he hit, he wasn't sure if ducking did much. He immediately released the hold thanks in no small part to the fact that his head was now ringing like a church bell, and collapsed down to the ground, moaning.

"Hey!" Jessica shouted from ringside. It wasn't enough to cause anything serious, but it may give James the berth he needed to get back up. Plus, the deathglare that Jessica was giving Carmen would show her intention in the best way.

It was impossible to see how James hit the turnbuckle, what with the way she was moving and the lack oxygen blurring out her vision, but if the impact was anything to go by, the way it felt on contact? It was a good, worthy hit, one that would leave his bell properly rung for a few moments. A good thing, too, because she desperately needed the breathing room.

She fell to her knees right after, taking in big gulps of air as she recovered, and she was almost too out of it to notice the swell in the audience, reacting to something that clearly wasn’t her most recent move. That was confusing enough, but her hairs rose when she heard an all-too familiar voice coming from nearby.

”You.”

Carmen looked over her shoulder, and sure enough, Jessica was standing nearby, glaring hard her way. She returned the venomous stare with one of her own, then pushed up to her feet and stomped over towards the Violent Violent, cracking her neck as she went. ”You have something to say?”