Athena Wonders vs. Stone - Heroine Worship

Getting to the ropes was, needless to say, a serious pain in the ass, with Athena making Stone fight for every single inch she claimed. The woman really knew how to work her advantage, and even though there was no way she’d be losing with a submission here, it almost didn’t matter - she was taking damage that would slow her down for the whole match, no question.

She reached the ropes. She got the release. And she also got a pat on the back, which she didn’t expect...or care for, to be completely honest.

Stone planted her fist on the match as she pushed up, rising to her feet and facing off against Athena again, this time looking at her with narrowed eyes. ”Mind games, huh? Okay.”

She moved in again with raised arms, looking like she was going for another grapple - only this time, she shot her legs out the moment she was close, trying to hit with a snap kick to the gut to catch her off guard.

Athena watched as her opponent picked herself up. The crowd was still cheering for the blonde veteran, and she would carefully watch Stone as she prepared herself for her next clash with her. With her legs widened, she had settled into a stance as she readied herself for what would come next.

Seeing Stone raising her arms, as if trying to get into another grapple, Athena would react in kind, raising her own hands as well so that she could lock up with her. But, instead of locking up, Stone then decided to catch her off-guard with a kick aimed to the blonde veteran's stomach, causing her to gasp out in pain.

Hoping to salvage her own situation, Athena would try to grab onto Stone's leg by her ankle, hoping that she could stop her opponent from continuing with her motion. Still, with her breathing heavily, she would not be able to do more than that to stop her opponent, and all she could do was to look at her opponent to see what she would do next.

Stone had to say, she was surprised that Athena managed to grab her by the ankle after she connected. It was a good show of reflexes that many women younger than her wouldn’t have been able to pull off so well, especially after taking a flush hit in the stomach like that. Good on her.

But being impressed by the move didn’t mean Stone wouldn’t punish her for it, and as she hopped on one leg to keep her balance, she intended to do just that. She was by no means a lightweight, but Stone had worked to incorporate some flightier moves into her repertoire, just for occasions like this. She was intended to show them off.

Her choice? An enziguiri. She brought her other leg around, swung it high, and attempted to clock her in the face with the kick, nailing her upside the head, a swift strike from one of her most powerful muscles.

Now securing her grip on Stone's ankle after taking a kick to her stomach, Athena planned to take her down, though she had to take a moment to regain her breath. This gave Stone the opportunity to use this situation against the blonde veteran as she brought her other foot up and hit Athena upside her head with an enzuigiri!

"AUGH!!"

The kick rattled her head, and she released her opponent's leg as she fell down onto the mat. Slumping against the canvas, she clutched onto her aching head that was struck by the kick, and she was left in a precarious position. Athena groaned, things seemed dire for her at the moment.

The crowd wasn’t a big fan of Stone’s, but they gave her a little pop when she hit the enzuigiri, landing it flush on the side of Athena’s head. They tended to be pretty impressed when she pulled out anything athletic, even when it was something that wouldn’t bat an eye with a smaller woman. Not that she minded, but it was something they were going to need to get used to - she had plenty more where that came from.

For now, though, she wanted to go back to the old reliables. She whipped around after falling from the kick and moved forward with an open arm, seizing Athena in a front headlock, pulling her in tight and getting a secure grip. That alone wouldn’t have been a bad move, getting a hold on the veteran and wearing her down, but she had something a bit more impactful in mind than a simple facelock.

”Here we…” She dipped down, draped Athena’s arm over her shoulder, and lifted her up in the air with a sudden burst of power, holding her up vertically for a tense moment...before she kicked out her legs, fell back, and dropped Athena’s back to the mat, hammering her with a resounding vertical suplex.

Athena was left disoriented after taking the enzuigiri from Stone, and she groaned on the mat, trying to nurse her head that was struck by her opponent's kick. Still, it seemed that Stone wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away from her as she then pulled Athena back up onto her feet, trapping her in a front facelock. Grunting, Athena tried to shake off the headache that she got thanks to the enzuigiri, and she began planning on how to fight back.

Unfortunately for her, Stone wasn't stopping in her plan as she then brought Athena up, lifting her up in the air, putting her into a vertical position. Athena was held upside down by her opponent before she was brought down into the mat as Stone fell backwards, landing onto the canvas back first. The vertical suplex was beautifully done, but the impact of Athena crashing onto the mat seemed to have taken quite a lot out of her.

"UGHHH!!!" Athena was left rattled on the canvas, pain spreading all over her back. She gritted her teeth as she scrunched up her brow, trying to force herself to recover as quickly as possible. Her current state prevented her from doing anything, and Stone would certainly take advantage of this. Hopefully, Athena would be able to see what her opponent would do next so that she could come up with a solution to her current predicament.

Between the two of them, there had to be at least four hundred pounds of force hitting the mat. Needless to say, it made a noise.

The impact was so great that it made both of them bounce after, and while Athena no doubt took the brunt of the impact, there was a little pain left over for Stone, too. She wound up flopping over to her side as the tingle went through her spine, a nasty shock.

But she was okay. She was good. The same could not be said for Athena, which made Stone think it might be worthwhile to apply some pressure.

She doubted it would work, but she rolled over and draped her body over her opponent’s chest, grabbing a leg and going for the pin. The referee came over an instant later, starting up the count. ”1…!”

Athena was brought down onto the mat by Stone's vertical suplex, and she wheezed as she tried to regain her bearing. She could feel pain all over her back after being brought down by her opponent earlier, and she knew that her opponent would try to take advantage of her current situation.

Sure enough, Stone decided to go for a pinfall attempt, placing herself on top of Athena as she hooked one of her legs up. Athena grunted slightly as she felt her opponent's weight on top of her, and she could hear the sound of the referee counting for the pin. She had to be quick, or the match would be over.

"TWO!"

Athena bucked her legs, kicking out of the pin. To ensure that she was indeed breaking the pin, she would also lift one of her arms up to ensure that her shoulder wasn't touching the mat. The referee saw this and stopped the count. Still struggling to regain her bearing, Athena would try to shove Stone off of her so that she could recover.

That Athena kicked out wasn’t a surprise.

That Athena kicked out after two, however, was.

Stone had only expected the suplex to get her a one-count, if that, with the match still in its infancy and her opponent being such a legend. That she could get that far this early and with such a simple move was a good sign that she was already making headway, and she had every intention of keeping this rare kind of momentum going.

Athena shoved her off to the side, but she didn’t let that separation last too long. Reaching over, Stone wrapped her arms around her opponent’s neck from behind as she sat, pulling her tight into a chokehold. ”Old age slowing you down a little, hm?”

Stone said it, but almost regretted the words after they escaped her lips, hoping the veteran wouldn’t take them too harshly. Just a little taunt.

While Athena might be strong enough for someone her age, it was undeniable that growing old did affect her in some capacity. Hearing that comment from Stone, she let out a chuckle, not offended by the implication. There was no use pretending otherwise, because it was true that her age did slow her down.

"Haa... w-we're not getting any younger, are we?" Athena responded back as she was put into a chokehold by her opponent. She tried to regain her bearing as she found herself being put into the hold, and as Stone placed herself in a seated position, the blonde veteran decided that she might as well make use of this.

As Stone continued choking her, Athena would forcefully try to fall backwards, bringing Stone with her so that her opponent's back would be touching the mat. And then, she would try to bridge her own body up, setting an improvised bridging pin. Depending on whether Stone's shoulders were touching the mat or not, she would have to do something to prevent herself from being pinned in such a way.