BlazeWave vs. ??? - Feels Like The First Time

Wrestling Tactic #124: The Memorable Debut

Theo had been waiting for months to have this moment, getting all the little pieces in place for BlazeWave’s big AFW debut. It had started out as nothing more than a novel idea - a metal band that wrestled, bringing their unique sound to Tension, and getting the AFW behind it hadn’t been the easiest thing. But, thanks to the magic of social media, he’d been able to get some real support around the idea. Instagram posts teasing what it would be like, Youtube videos that cut their music against some of the league’s best matches, tweets and hashtags and trending. He’d even managed to get Willy’s lazy ass into things, getting him to promote the band on his Twitch stream and do a wrestling game marathon.

It was a blitz, it was tiring, but it was all worth it - BlazeWave was in the AFW, ready for their first match.

He and Willy stood in the middle of the ring as cameras flashed all around them, the crowd cheering and egging them on. The ring announcer gave them a quick nod at ringside, a sign that they were on live, and just like that, their moment arrived. ”Tensiooooooooooon! He screamed and gave his guitar a long drag, letting its piercing wail echo across the stadium. ”Are you ready?”

The crowd gave them a loud roar in response, but Willy just shook his head and took the center of the ring. ”I don’t think they heard you, bro.” He went wild on his bass for a moment, strumming out a thumping tune with quick fingers, deep and low and pulsing. ”He asked: Are. You. Reaaaaaaaaaaady?!”

That got more of a response, a booming cry that came all the way from the cheap seats and made the ring shake. Wrestling fans had good energy, no denying that. It was good to know they were working with something solid.

”We are BlazeWaze! And we have come to take over the Tension Tag division!” Theo pumped his fist in the air like a conquering hero, trying to feel the moment. ”Make no mistake, people - today, you’re watching history.”

”That’s right!” Willy strode across the ring with his cocky smirk, letting his jacket flapped in the wind to expose the abs he was so proud of. A few of the ladies in the front row seemed quite appreciative. ”We are destined for greatness wherever we go. On the stage, in the ring, in the bed…” He winked at a particularly cute girl nearby. ”Doesn’t matter!”

Theo had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, but he couldn’t be too mad with Willy going a bit off script. It got a good reaction, at least, and this was the AFW - sex sold, that was obvious. ”And to prove that, we’re taking down anyone the back can throw at us today. So, whoever’s in the back, looking for a fight? Come on out! It’s time for you to ride the wave!”

The two of them gave a final riff from their guitars, one last burst of energy, then moved to the side and handed them off to the attendents. Theo had been promised a good amount of time for this debut match, so that wouldn’t be concerned. He just hoped they got put up with a good team for their debut - somebody they could really show off against and, preferably, beat.

The debuting tag team’s charisma had worked the crowd up well, but they quieted down after the challenge had been issued. All eyes turned to the entrance stage again, everyone eager to see who would emerge to answer the call. Several seconds of silence passed, enough that people began to wonder if anyone would accept the challenge at all.

And that’s when the music hit.

The familiar theme hadn’t been heard in quite a long time, but the opening notes sent the Tension audience into a deafening frenzy that nearly even drowned out the blaring music. And then Mariko Ishii finally stepped through the curtain and emerged on the stage!

Mariko:

In the past she had rarely given much thought or attention to the crowd, but Mariko couldn’t help but smile at the ovation she received. She looked through the sea of spectators and took in their jubilant excitement, before her eyes locked onto the two men in the ring. Lips stretching from a simple smile into an eager grin, Mariko strode confidently down the aisle, hips swaying just enough to accentuate her “assets” without coming off as unnatural. No one accompanied Mariko as she ascended the steel steps and entered the ring through the ropes.

This debuting duo had issued an open challenge probably expecting another tag team to take them on. Yet Mariko stood across from them alone, and didn’t seem bothered at all by the fact she was outnumbered. She went over to the end of the ring nearest to the announcers’ table, and motioned for someone to give her a microphone. Once one was handed to her, she sauntered back to the middle of the ring to face the two “rock stars.” When she spoke, she kept it short and sweet.

“Two-on-one, handicap elimination match. Right here, right now. What do you say?”

If Theo had been given a million years, he would never have guessed that, of all the people to show up for their challenge, it would be Mariko ‘Fricking Ishii.

Maybe they’d get the Takeuchi’s. They seemed to show up allo over the place.

Or someone from Red Nation. That could’ve been fun, play up the good guy/bad girl thing.

Heck, you knew, the tag champs could always stop by, hungry for competition.

The UK Elite, Rose and Thorn, PDSM, these would’ve topped the list. But Mariko Ishii? And just her, alone? No, that wouldn’t have been one of his guesses. But no, there she was. Just standing there. Theo had to bite his lip hard to keep it from dropping. He was, needless to say, familiar with her works. The woman had never held a belt in the company, but she had still been one of the most respected wrestlers in Tension in her time, taking out opponents of both genders, many of them with little problem. One of the most experienced, most skilled, most dangerous women on the Tension roster, and someone he knew neither of them could beat individually. Combined, they had only a couple months of real wrestling experience. Enough to make a decent showing, he was sure, but there was a risk here - yes, they had the numbers advantage, but if they went against her and still lost, two on one…

Nope. No, he didn’t like. The crowd would be a little pissed, but they could make it up to them-

”You’re on, babe!”

Theo couldn’t stop his hand from hitting his face, as Willy stepped forward and took the challenge, all-too eager to jump into the trap that was staring them right in the face. It was the sort of thing that he’d come to expect from his partner, but that didn’t make it any less annoying. ”Dude,” He waved him over. ”Sidebar.”

Willy gave Mariko a quick wink and skipped back to Theo, leaning over to whisper his way. ”Duuuuuuude. This is not the time to be a wet blanket.”

”This is exactly the time to be a wet blanket!” The crowd was starting to get restless, but that worked to his favor, masking the whispers. ”If we win this, we’re a couple of jerks who beat up Mariko Ishii. If we lose-”

Willy put a hand on Theo’s shoulder and gave him that calm, smoldering look that worked so well on the ladies but had zero effect on anyone who knew him. ”Chill, chill, chill. This is exactly what we need. We want to be stars? We got to take on stars. Right? Right. Just follow my lead, man.”

Theo threw back his head and groaned, knowing there was no point in arguing the matter. He took off his jacket and brought Willy’s along with him, as his partner got in a few stretches. He scanned Mariko up and down the whole time, clearly liking everything he saw. ”You got guts, pretty girl, gotta give you credit. Might be biting off a little more than you can chew, but don’t worry.”

He bounced from side to side and dropped down into a grappling stance, arms and legs wide. ”I’ll be gentle.”

Now this was extremely amusing to say the least, and quite interesting.

Mariko had a good feeling the duo would accept her challenge, but it quickly became apparent one had more sense than the other. Theo’s reluctance was easy to read. It wasn’t often guys in his position saw the wise move here, but surprisingly enough it seemed he did. But his partner didn’t. Theo took too long weighing his options, and Willy foolishly made the call for him.

“Wonderful~” Mariko replied immediately, stamping a sense of finality to Willy’s answer to make it all the more difficult for Theo to back them out now.

She giggled while watching them step aside for a little team meeting, no doubt Theo trying to get Willy to think logically, and Willy stubbornly refusing to do so. She didn’t need to hear a word of it to be certain of that. All the while, she casually leaned back against her corner, one leg crossed over the other while her arms rested over the ropes on either side of her. When the meeting was over, Theo clearly looked frustrated. Evidently he lost the debate. Her eyes stayed on him the entire time he was walking back to his corner, lips stretching into a predatory grin, like a hungry snake staring down a pair of mice and turning its attention on the one that shook a little more nervously than the other. She intended to devour both, but she wanted Theo to know she knew what he was thinking, and that it excited her.

Only when Willy addressed her directly did Mariko turn her gaze toward him, shifting only her eyes to look at him. Another giggle left her lips as she exited her corner, ever so slowly sauntering toward him, hips swaying seductively with each step just subtly enough to appear natural, as if she were dangling a watch in front of Willy to hypnotize him while pretending she didn’t even know she was doing it. When he said he’d be gentle, Mariko’s grin spread a bit, and a flash of that sadistic aura cast Theo’s way a moment ago was now directed at Willy.

“I won’t~”

Interestingly enough, Mariko had dabbled in Muay Thai lessons during her absence from Tension. And she was about to give the first demonstration of what she’d picked up. As soon as the words left her lips Mariko lashed out with her hands to try to wrap them around the back of the man’s head while shooting her right leg up, aiming to drive the point of her knee directly into the middle of Willy’s stomach with full force!

God, Theo did not like the look in Mariko’s eyes. Not one bit. It wasn’t the look of a woman who’d just come for a regular wrestling match to tune up, it wasn’t the look of someone who was trying her skill and wanted to test herself against fresh, new talent. No, it was the look of a cat who’d just seen a couple of juicy mice wander into the room.

And he really, really didn’t like the fact that she was looking at him and not Willy. That was doubly disturbing.

He tried his best not to let it get back to him, shooting her an unsure glance before he regain some calm and settled into the corner. Maybe he was worrying too much about the outcome. Mariko was good, he knew that, but she wasn’t some destroyer, wasn’t a tag-team destroying heavyweight. She’d probably get Willy, but he was reasonable certain his friend would give her a struggle before that happened and wear her down enough for him to pick up the pieces. It wouldn’t be the best look for their reputation, but there were ways to spin this. She’d been the one to take the challenge one-on-two, after all, so people couldn’t really blame them, right?

Yeah, because wrestling fans were such a sensible lot.

For his part, Willy was giving those matters precisely zero thought. He only knew two things - there was an incredible hot Japanese woman in front of him, and they were about to mix sweat. Neither of those notions were distressing, and judging from the way she responded, Mariko was on a similar thought path. ”Fucking A, let’s-”

Willy’s flirting attempt was cut tragically short when Mariko came rushing forward, closing the distance in a heartbeat. His meager training came out as his hands rose to take her in a collar-and-elbow, but that wasn’t her goal. No, instead, her knee came up and shot into his hardened abs, getting deeper than he’d ever felt before. It wasn’t enough to bring him down, all his crunches paid off, but it did send him staggering away while he recovered, gasping and sucking in air.

Not a good start. From the corner, Theo was already seeing the problems. ”Hands up, she’s going to keep coming!” Willy followed the advice and began to bring his guard up, hastily getting in position, hoping he would have the time to make a proper defense before she came his way once more.

Oooohh, that felt good~

Obviously not for Willy. But for Mariko’s part, burying her knee into the man’s abs was like taking her first bite of chocolate after two years of dieting. The impact of her strike, the sight of him gasping and wounded in front of her, and hell, even the feeling of the toned muscles along his neck and shoulders were simply delicious. While Willy staggered back and his partner called out to warn him she’d be coming for more, Mariko very quickly walked toward him, not giving him any extra time to collect himself.

“He’s right,” Mariko replied. The words coming from her lips were gentle, but what came next wouldn’t be.

The moment she was in range the Japanese vixen brought her right leg up before kicking out, aiming to slip the sole of her boot through the gap between Willy’s arms and smash it right into his ribcage. The intention was to forcefully push him against the ropes conveniently behind the rocker. If it worked then when the ropes brought him back toward her Mariko would sling an arm around his neck while pulling on his wrist with the other, pivot while throwing her hip into his waist, then use Willy’s momentum and weight against him to flip him onto his back with a judo toss.

Theo winced at all of this from the sidelines, watching as they’re debut started off on exactly the worst foot possible. Really, he should’ve seen this coming from the start. They were young, they were fresh, they were prime fodder for someone to make an example, he just didn’t think it would be happening so fast and in such an embarrassing fashion…

...gah. No, that was too negative. They hadn’t lost this match yet, they still had the advantage, he’d just taken one knee, it wasn’t the end of the world.

He was just beginning to force some calm into his system when Mariko moved in to press her attack, lashing out with a quick kick that sliced past Willy’s defenses. He went staggered back, hit the ropes, went forward and found himself in Mariko’s clutches. From there, it was all academic - up and over and down he went, flat on his back.

Willy was a lot of things, but weak wasn’t one of them - Theo knew his friend could take a good hit like that and keep going, especially when he was riled up, and that was clearly what was happening. He was getting to his feet only a scant second after the impact and spinning around, hair whipping about as he rose into a charge. ”My turn!”

Eyes narrowed, lips curled, he came at Mariko hard, storming her way at full steam and swinging his arm, attempting to take her down with a clubbing lariat.

Mariko’s foot slipped right through Willy’s guard with precision, throwing him into the ropes and giving her toss just the momentum it needed to throw the rocker down onto his back. For Mariko the opening seconds could hardly have gone any better. For Willy they couldn’t have gone a whole lot worse.

However, Mariko was a little surprised when he picked himself up off the mat almost right away, fully intent on continuing to fight. It sort of reminded her of her brother’s reckless fighting spirit. He wasn’t worried about the hits he’d taken so far, or about things like momentum. Willy had fight left in him, so he was going to fight, and that’s all there was to it. Admirable, but there was a reason Yamato lost so many matches. If Willy had rolled out of the ring, or at least tried to distance himself from Mariko, he could have bought himself some time, perhaps even lured her into a trap of some kind. But by throwing himself so fully into his charge, it eliminated a lot of Willy’s good options, and gave plenty to Mariko.

The vixen waited until the last second before dropping down and throwing her legs out, one going in front of Willy’s legs and the other going behind in an attempt to trip him with a simple drop toe hold. And perhaps more important, Mariko knew how close she was to the ropes behind her, and tried to time and aim her move to send Willy crashing right onto the middle rope. If it worked, then as the young man tumbled down the leg positioned at the back of his legs would move up to the small of his back as a brace to keep him from bouncing away after hitting the rope.

Mariko had something fun in mind, and needed him to stay put there to make it work.

A cooler head would’ve backed off after that opening. Mariko was toying with him already, that much was obvious to everyone, and it would’ve been a great move to put some distance between them. Retreat, regroup, rethink. That was what Theo would’ve done, anyway.

Willy, however, was not Theo. A fact that this match was likely to make obvious, in the most painful ways.

He was hot, he was brash, and he really didn’t like getting rocked like that, all factors that led him to making a mad charge straight towards Mariko. He wasn’t that mad, to be honest - not at her, at least. But this was getting embarrassing real fast, and he was in a hurry to flip that around, make everyone forget the bad start.

Mariko had other plans, however. Plans that involved him tripping up and falling forward in a drop toehold, coming down right on the middle rope, nearly flopping over. He would’ve, too, if not for Mariko holding him in place. In fact, she was keeping him there on purpose, it looked like, setting him up for-

”Crap, Willy!” Theo called out, 90% sure of what Mariko was about to do. ”Head’s up! Get out of there, roll out of the ring!”

Willy probably wouldn’t have done that if he’d heard him, but it was a moot point, since he was too groggy and the crowd was too loud, anyway. Gripping the ropes, he shook his head and started to push up, not at all mindful of what was going on behind him.

Mariko’s eyes flicked to Theo when he again called out to Willy in a failed effort to coach him to safety. Amusement filled her gaze, as well as curiosity. She wondered what the spectating rocker was expecting her to do next. But then the crowd became noticeably louder in anticipation. That combined with Willy’s position on the ropes told her everyone recognized this as a setup for one of the most famous moves in Lucha Libre history. They were quite far away from San Diego, but was Mariko about to make the long distance call anyway?

She played it up, turning to face the opposite ropes and getting herself ready to sprint off! And then…. She instead turned back to face Willy, stepping through the ropes to stand on the apron. Chuckling aloud as she simultaneously burst the bubbles of thousands of people at once, she ignored the few pockets of boos her tease brought about. The people may not have gotten to see the move they wanted, but they’d like what came next regardless.

Grabbing Willy by his hair, she pulled him out so his head and neck protruded out of the ring while the rest of his body remained inside. Mariko swung a leg over, positioning herself with a thigh by either side of his head. Then she’d crossed her ankles and began to squeeze, trapping him in a standing headscissor! Of course she’d only have a few moments to keep this hold on. But Mariko would savor them, casually resting her arms on the ropes while crushing the handsome man’s skull and neck between her thighs. At the same time, she flashed a grin Theo’s way again.

“Hey~”

It was so normal coming from her lips you’d think she didn’t even know about Willy between her legs. But of course she did, and the eager gleam in her eyes dared silently dared Theo to do something about it.