Sayumi Arai vs. Valley Doll - Turn the Page

Match Type: Standard
Victory Conditions:Victory by pinfall, submission, of knockout.


Valley Doll stood in her corner, finishing up her entrance routine as her music faded out. Doing some light stretching, getting nice and limber, getting the kinks out. Basic stuff, but as she went, she made sure to take a good, long look at the arena. This was, in all likelihood, the last time she’d be in this particular ring. For a good while, at least.

Her mind was already made up: she was joining Tension. It was the change she needed, the chance to start fresh and test her skills against new opponents. Work out her problems, find new solution, reinvent herself. This was an interesting little detour.

Ever since Mariah and Bubbles made their way into the AFW, Valley had kept them at a comfortable distance. Not that she didn’t like the two of them. They were good people. Old friends. Kind. Loving. Nurturing. Respectable. She was especially glad that Kaylee had her around as a friend, someone she could relate to as a hentai wrestler. But, at the end of the day, neither of the women were all that good about respecting personal space, and after the whole thing with Kaylee…

Yeah. Yeah, it was probably better to keep them at a comfortable distance, more often than not. That wasn’t to say that Valley avoided her fellow Slamazons, though. Mariah was a constant presence on Twitter, always sending her little pictures and memes. So, when the time came for Mariah to call in a favor - what for, Valley was still trying to figure out - she decided to go for it. A match. That was all she wanted.

She ran the ropes as she waited for Sayumi’s music to start up, not knowing too much about the rookie beyond the basics she’d looked up online. She was good, from what Valley could surmise. Maybe future Entropy material, though it was a little too early to ring that particular bell. This would be a good way to find out, though. A good way for a younger wrestler to get some exposure, even if Valley no longer had title shots to offer. And, if she were being 100% honest, a good way to prove that she wasn’t done competitively just because she was getting closer to 40 after losing a belt.

Everybody won. Sort of.

It had been months since Sayumi last set foot into a Friction ring, competitively. After she and Cicilia has become an official item, she expressed extreme trepidation about potentially being booked in more hentai matches with anyone other than her girlfriend. She hadn't really asked if Cicilia would have minded, but personally she was not comfortably with trying to make a life with someone else while being forced to be intimate with strangers for sport. She thought at first it had been her upbringing, but that was an easy excuse., Truth be told, she wasn't even sure if she could confess to her parents she had a girlfriend. Would they accept that their daughter was with another woman? She wasn't about to test that and opted to keep the two parts of her life separate.

Procuring Mariah Burste had been her first real step in the right direction. Her manager was able to pull strings and aggressively renegotiate her contract. Not only did it enable to to get a sizable bump in her appearance payout but returned creative control over some of the matches she would appear in. This allowed her to prevent booking from throwing her into matches that made use of hentai, keeping her conscious clear. From there it had been all about generating hype for her return to the ring. There had been public appearances, interviews, the works. It was funny... growing up this wasn't too much unlike what being an Idol would have been like really and here she was.

Then Cicilia nearly died. Found in some dirty back alley left to bleed out by a bunch of thugs. Her return had been postponed indefinitely as she spent weeks not only at her girlfriends bedside, but at their apartment taking care of her lover. The entire experience had been so draining both mentally and physically that even once Cicilia had bounced back, Sayumi had been left feeling hollow and without motivation. It wasn't until Mariah had contacted her a few times about part of an early deal they had made that she had worked herself back into returning to wrestling. It had been a few weeks now, training hard at the gym to get herself back into shape and knock off some of her ring rust. Now it was time to compete again...

Valley Doll, practically a household name. At the time of signing with Mariah, the woman had been the Entropy Champion. It had been a huge draw to even land a match with her, regardless of it being for the belt. It seemed since then, both women had fallen far from where they started. The title didn't mean much to her, not really. It was about the woman who had been behind the title. The name, the recognition, and the experience. The woman was on a list of people that could easily provide dream matches in Friction... for someone able to hang with her anyway. There was always the risk she wasn't up to snuff really... up until now she had gone undefeated in the ring, but most of those bouts were to attribute to her prowess in hentai matches. She had yet to be truly tested in the fires of Frictions wrestling division when it came to straight wrestling.

Tonight was a brand new start. "Lets go Sayu."

Brand New Theme:

Cherry Bomb Sayumi:

Unfamiliar music hit the arena, drawing heads as they tended to do, reactions understandably held. Talent came and went from AFW all the time, no matter how much of a veteran Valley Doll was, you could never put it past booking to throw her fresh meat just to put on a show. Sayumi burst through the curtain as the ramp was illuminated with vibrant lights of orange and pink swirling throughout the normal lighting which pulsed with each beat of the bass of her music. She came marching to the edge of the stage, throwing up the V sign to a crowd that seemed confused up until this point. She was met with an uproar of applause! While her formal stint in the league had been short, her sense of style, flare, and the many many hours of hits her matches with Cicilia had gotten earned her a degree of notoriety. Mariah had put a huge spin on that, teasing her eventual return and it seemingly paid off.

She had always had the stage name Cherry Bomb, ever since her debut, but never really made use of it. Part of her rebranding was turning that into a household name, something catchy that could be put up on posters, wedged into commercials, and give just the right amount of curiosity that someone unfamiliar with her might just look her up based on the name alone. She was ready to explode onto the scene, as her name suggested.

She made her way down the ramp, zigzagging from one side to the other, giving out high fives to fans who were bouncing to the beat of her music. She even had someone waving her over who threw an arm around her for the two to take a selfie together! "Tweet that to me okay?" She had to shout over the boom of her music and the roar of the crowd but a nod from the fan let her know she was likely to do just that. She hit her last few strides running, jumping up to roll herself under the bottom rope. Sayumi sprang to her feet, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The ring was a bit stiffer than the one at the gym... Was that new? It had been so long since she had been in this one.

Any last moment fears she had melted away when she had left gorilla position, remembering that overwhelming excitement from being in front of this many cheering people on a stage this grand. It made her heart race again, hardly able to control her excitement. She pranced to the center of the ring, hardly able to keep still as she smiled across at Valley.

"Kon'nichiwa!" She paused in place, clasping her hands before her before dipping in a deep bow. "I'm Ar- Mnn! I'm ♥Cherry Bomb♥!" She was such to strike a cutesy pose, holding up a sideways V sigh right in front of her face with a heart melting wink. "It's an honor to finally meet you! I'm going to try to keep up with you best I can, so don't go easy, alright?"

Valley decided she liked Sayumi right away. Before the woman even came out of the curtain, really, from the first second that her music hit. It was a cute diddy. Not Valley’s style, she could never get with the J-Pop scene despite being in country so long, but she could appreciate the guitar riffs, if nothing else. And there was no denying that the music fit the woman it heralded.

Sayumi was a walking ray of sunshine, strutting down the aisle with a beaming smile on her face. All smiles. All energy. The crowd blossomed wherever she went, turning her way like she was the center of their universe. Cameras flashes, phones roses to capture her every move, fans leaned so far over the rails for a high-five that a few of them had to be held back by security.

”Huh, nice job, Mariah.” Valley chuckled under her breath, with a quick glance to the backstage area. She could say many, many things about her old friend, and not all of them would be pleasant, but the woman was dedicated at what she did, no taking that away from her. She’d worked her client up so well, hyped the match up so much, you wouldn’t have known it wasn’t a title match.

Sayumi came in the ring, and now that Valley had a better view of her, she could see the excitement, the giddiness, the cavity-inducing sugar that came off with every step. It might’ve just been another routine match for the Slamazon, but her opponent was looking at this more like a milestone. It was all too easy to forget that, even though Valley’d been in the same position quite a few times at Sayumi’s age.

Valley looked Sayumi’s way with a soft smile for a moment, before taking a deep breath and stepping out of the corner. She returned her blossoming foe’s bow with one of her own. ”My favorite Runaways song.” A quick quip, curious to see if Sayumi would pick up on it. ”But you want my top gear, huh? Okay.” She pulled her gloves in tighter with a mischievous wink, and started stepping back. ”We’ll see how you do.”

She moved into position as the referee came between them, doing a quick check to make sure they were both good to go. A nod later and the bell rang, giving Valley the cue to immediately move into her fighting stance - arms up, knees bent. Nice and classic. Start with the basics.

Wanting to see how Sayumi was going to play this, Valley moved towards her with methodical steps, hands outstretched and fingers wiggling, looking for a Test of Strength. Valley had a slight - slight - height advantage over Sayumi, one so small that you’d have to bring out the ruler to really notice it, and they were fairly close in terms of build. Tests of strength weren’t her forte, but she curious to see if she could come out on top with this one.

“Good taste.” The lavender hair girl chirped in response with a wink. Sayumi was well aware of the reference, it had in fact been the inspiration behind the stage name. She didn't quite feel the music itself would make for a fitting theme for her. She wasn't exactly a rough and tough figure that looked like she was capable of throwing down at the drop of a hat. Too many smiles, not enough hard looks.

“Anything less than your best and I couldn't be proud of whatever happens tonight.” She took a few small steps back, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She never seemed to stop moving, keeping her blood pumping at all times. The truth was her heart was racing. This was slightly terrifying to be here against the former champion, she just hoped she could actually hang with her.

Her stance slipped low, arms raised and ready to intercept. Her eyes flicked between Valley and the referee until the bell finally sounded. It was go time.

Sayumi had already started to inch in when Valley's hands came up, offering a test of strength. She had to accept it, there was no way around that. Standing up a bit straighter, she shook out her wrists as she neared, attempting to press her palms to the veterans. She knew her way around these exchanges well enough, had even trained Cicilia specifically in this in how to get around being overpowered by making use of joints and leverage. She was confident, but Valley had been at this for ages. Was there a calculated reason for this over a tie up?

Her fingers wiggles, slipping themselves between Valley's at the two women locked in one another in iron grips. Despite the silent agreement of professional courtesy, there second hands joining up was slower, more played out for the crowd. Her boots shifted on the mat as she prepared… as soon as Valley tense up to begin, she would meet her, muscles hardening as they struggled for dominance.

She made a strong showing, making use of the hold too actually gauge her opponent. No tricks just yet, just raw strength. Despite her slightly slower start though, both women seemed to be fairly well matched. Her fingers flexed, recapturing her grip as she fought on, trying to at least keep them locked into a stalemate.

Valley couldn’t resist a quick laugh at Sayumi’s response, pleasantly surprised that the younger woman picked up on the reference. It was an older song, and in her experience, the only reason people even knew about it was because it showed up on Guardians of the Galaxy. Even then, few of them ever bothered to check and see who made it.

It was refreshing to meet such a young woman with nice taste. She was looking forward to this more and more by the second, growing more eager to lock horns with this cute new talent.

Okay, enough geeking out. Time for school to begin.

Valley went into the classic pose for the Test of Strength, and Sayumi, naturally, answered her call. She might’ve been a little surprised by it, and that was understandable - it was something you saw in modern matches, especially not in the AFW. That was sort of the point, an attempt to see how well her opponent did with something more old-school right off the bat. So far, so good, but…

Valley locked fingers and horns with Sayumi, pouring her power into the test, using a solid stance to keep her anchored. While she wasn’t known for being a powerhouse at the best of time, that wasn’t to say she was a weakling, either - she had power to offer, especially in her legs and she did a decent enough job of keeping Sayumi at a standstill. For a few moments, they seemed evenly matched, like they could’ve been in a deadlock for minutes.

But Sayumi had youth on her side and the stamina that came with it, and when they were so close, even a small difference was too much to bear. She pushed Valley back, inch by inch, until the Slamazon had to take a step back to keep her stance up. Another step followed soon after that, and Valley had to slam her foot down hard to halt any more progress. The crowd clapped, clearly impressed with Sayumi’s advance.

”Not bad.” Valley leaned in, pressed her forehead against Sayumi’s, digging in as best she could. ”Not bad at all.”

In terms of music out now in the states, Sayumi was clueless. It would have to become an internet sensation to catch her Ttetnion these days as she wasn't terribly dependant on looking around for music or entertainment. Old American songs, especially from the 80s and 90s however? She knew a bunch of those. It wasn't that she even knew the era they were from, many were simply catchy tunes with simple lyrics. As someone who did karaoke on the weekends all the time, that was all she needed. Mariah could attest to her sampled singing.

She had been asked about the name a lot when she started, so much so that she stopped using it as much. It wasn't until her manangee and her talked about it that the confusion was a good way to get people to look at her. It's why they had kept it. It didn't matter why she named herself it or where it came from, if someone asked these days she would simply smile and ask what they think it meant. There was no wrong answers.

Joining hand with Valley was a stressful affair. It had nothing to do with how the women fought for a more dominant position, but a battle of impression. She came here to win, she wanted to win, but she wasn't sure if that was going to be possible.

Barring victory, she aimed to leave a good impression in hope the two women could work again in the future. Another match, a training session, heck, just being able to pick her brain a bit would be a huge boon. Not that she didn't respect Mariah and Bubbles’ opinions about wrestling matters, but they had vastly different perspectives. Valley had been in the trenches all this time while Mariah was an overseer and Bubbles was… well, very far removed from the professional part of the AFW landscape.

Her arms quaked as she dug in her boot heels, giving it everything she had at this point, trying to match muscle with Valley. Slowly, she gained some ground but only by clawing tooth and nail before being stopped again. Valley leaned in as did she, the two woman meeting heads as they struggled for control.

“Heh! Thanks!” A faint bit of color rose in her cheeks, having to take a bracing step backwards as she was forced in retreat, perhaps distracted by the very brief exchange. She twisted her ankle, turning her boot sideways to lock in her leg to put a step to the counter push. Neither woman was likely to get a good foothold past this, it was time for something else.

Sayumi squinted, cheeks puffing up cutely as she slowly moved her hands, twisting their grip and trying to bent back Valley's wrists against the grain. She would abuse any weakness presented to try and bring their raised arms down until they were at their sides, trying to crank the other woman joints every step of the way in an attempt to drive her back more.

Valley wasn’t just giving Sayumi a complement to puff her up and get a smile out of her - though, admittedly, that was a part of it. The girl was cute as a button, reminding her more than a little of her girlfriend, Silver Ace. Pretty, vibrant, energetic, clearly in this just for the love of the support and to test her skill against worthy opponents. The AFW could’ve used more women like that, frankly. A lot more.

”You’re, ah…” Valley groaned, applying more pressure and pushing forward, throwing more power into the effort. ”You’re welcome. Phew!” She had another quick laugh as the two of them jockeyed for position, struggling to keep their stances up. The struggle transfered all the way into the audience, as cheers rang up, throwing their support into the ring. Valley was getting her fair share as the more established veteran, but there was a healthy well of support for the blossoming Sayumi, too. More than a few hoping that a torch could be taken straight out of the Slamazon’s hands.

It seemed like Sayumi was siphoning that energy, or maybe it was just the stamina of youth coming into play. Either way, the tide started turning in her favor, as she bent Valley’s wrists back and started leaning in, twisting her about.

Impressive. Also distressing. Valley was quickly finding herself heading to the point of no return, and that’s where she’d stay if she didn’t make a change or two.

Gritting her teeth, she slammed her foot down and pushed forward with a sudden burst of strength, making some space between them. It wasn’t too much force, Sayumi would close the gap quick, but that was sort of the point. As soon as the gap was made, Valley jumped up, tucked her legs in tight, and pulled Sayumi with her as she fell backwards, trying to make the younger wrestler’s chest slam into her knees - a variation on the Codebreaker, if she could pull it off.

Sayumi could feel the strain as she slowly gained ground, every inch she was permitted to take was progress in the right direction and she had no intention on letting it be taken back. She was coming out on top, arguably at a snail's pace, but it would pay off in spades if she could get Valley down this early and keep her on the mat with a hold or two. She was cheering for herself in her mind, soaking in the crowd regardless of who their love was directed at and making it hers. Just a bit further and she would have her…

The lavender haired girl let out a small Yelp at the sudden surge of strength coming from Valley. Pushed back, she quickly overcompensated for the aggressive move with a hard brace of her own, leaning her weight forward. In an instant she gained back what was lost, even more actually. Was that the last desperate move of Valley? Her brow further in determination as she threw everything she had into forcing her opponent down, sure of her victory.

The push became too easy… she wasn't pushing anymore, she was being pulled! Sayumi had been played, falling right into the other woman's trap. Attempting to pull back was fruitless, unable to fight being dragged down on top of Valley. She hit hard, letting out a cry of pain as she collided with two awaiting knees that pierced her chest to send a shooting pain through her body.

Sayumi snapped back after impact, flopping over onto her back with a heavy thud. Her arms came up, wrapping them over her breasts to protect them from the agony already having been planted into them. She stomped her boots on the mat, half rolling from side to side to cope with the pain as she flailed a bit with eyes closed tight. “Ow ow ow ow ow!”

It was all too easy to feel sympathy for Sayumi, having been in this spot herself so many times. Valley was getting up there in age, nearing the twilight, but she wasn’t so far gone that she’d wholly forgotten what it was like to have a chip on your shoulder. Hadn’t forgotten how much it could weigh you down. That drive, that energy, the force was all in Sayumi’s eyes, and it was giving her a big boost in other areas. If this lockup followed its natural course, the Slamazon had no doubts on it going against her favor.

But there were other options. Better options. More intriguing options. Unfortunately for Sayumi, she had one in mind.

”Sorry.” Valley gave her foe a quick wink as they fell back and gravity did the rest, drilling the younger woman’s chest into her breasts. Having had a rather impressive bust of herself at one time, she could certainly sympathize with having a lot of pain in that particular area. Didn’t mean she wasn’t going to take advantage, though.

Sayumi was on the floor, groaning and rolling around, but Valley on stopped to watch that for half a second as she rolled away. In the next moment, she was up on her feet and running, dashing towards the ropes at full speed, making her way to the far side of the ring in a flash. She hit the ropes and came bouncing back towards Sayumi, picking up as much momentum as she could find.

The moment she was close enough, Valley leaped up, flipped back as she flew and attempted to come down on her foe with a standing Shooting Star Press, looking to flatten her and go for a pin before she could really react.

This hadn't exactly been the start she had wanted, which was understandable. Brought down due to her own eagerness to get things rolling, leaving her laid out on the mat. It wasn't a good look for her, especially after the rebrand. Too hungry to action after being gone for so long, she really needed to play cautious against a veteran like Valley.

Her stamping boots came to a stop, a single eye opening to glance around at where her for had gone. The crowd was electric, a rolling chat had started from a soft whisper to a building shout over something that was coming. Sayumi lifted her head, finally catching sight of Valley when the ring shook with her weight snapping against the ropes. The blond was rocketing back at her, so very very fast. She grimaced, trying to push herself up.

It was too late though, Valley kicked off the canvas with a practiced ease, twisting mid air in a way that only came with natural talent or hard work…She image both in this case. Her awe turned to pain as the other woman crash d down on top of her, wlamming he back to the mat once again as she let out a squeak.

She didn't have to he time to lessen the blow, but seeing it coming had been a Godsend. She had breathed out just before impact and saved herself the staggering recovery that came with expelling one's breath by force. That didn't make it much better though as she was still down under Valley who was taking no prisoners.

“One!”

Sayumi twisted her body, trying to throw up a shoulder but to no avail. She had still been clutching herself when the press came down, pinning her arms underneath Valley. She couldn't get them free… Was she about to be squashed within a minute of her big rebrand debut?!

“Two!”

Panic took hold as she kicked her legs, trying to wiggle something, anything free but it just wouldn't budge. She internally screamed at herself to push harder, be stronger, do something creative… that's was it! She leaned her head back to the mat, tensing her body as her boot soles pressed hard to the canvas. With a great strain he let out a grunt, arching her back to bridge her body, using her head instead of her arms to leverage to shoulders up off the mat.

The referee stopped just before the final count, having to lay herself flat to look underneath the two to check the match wasn't about to be over. Sure enough, Sayumi had managed to break the pin. Leaning back, the official called for a continuation and the crowd erupted in cheers and sounds of surprise, clapping surrounding the ring.

Sayumi's body quaked, finding it difficult to hold the pose with the strain on her neck. Dropping back down to the mat she used the sudden clearance she had to throw her arms up to shove Valley off of her before moving to roll to the side, already needing time to recover a near fall.