SS21 - Adrian Kytes vs Maria Castillo

Maria had done this maneuver so many times in the past, to the point where she practically had it memorized. The correct launch position, the amount of force to put into the jump, the correct point to extend her limbs....

the boot rising up to meet her....wait...wha-

*CRACK*

The boot slammed right into her jaw, with enough force that people were shocked didn't result in a broken jawbone! The effect, however, was just as devastating. The luchadora crumpled beside Adrian, like a puppet who's strings were cut! Her body bounced once, landing face down and unmoving on the canvas while the volume was so loud, you'd be forgiven if you had to resort to ear plugs!

"Uggh!" Adrian let out as Maria's weight pressed down on her leg for a brief moment, compressing the limb in an instant of pain but probably nothing like Maria was going through, for one thing Adrian could safely let her boot drop back down to the canvas and be content to groan out the exhaustion for a while... if the referee wasn't doing the really annoying thing of counting both her and Maria out for being down on the canvas. Who cared if it was her job? This wasn't boxing! As long as the Reaper wasn't lying on top she could look up at the lights for as long as she damn well pleased! But no, she was forced to turn over like a turtle before she could start moving and make the long crawl to the corner, maybe she could just lie there up against the ropes for a bit.

Thankfully, it seemed Adrian was in no position to cover. Had she tried, she might very well have gotten a definitive three count, seeing at the poor veteran was all but out from the sudden kick to the skull! Her body barely moved, aside from the odd twitch of her fingers. Her breathing was labored, with the luchadora struggling to summon the strength to properly lift her head off the canvas, even as Adrian crawled away. Maybe she could get a few moments to rest out of this.....since the ref seemed content not to count the pair out for the double down

Adrian made it up to her feet and stopped the count at seven, taking her sweet time while the count told her Maria wasn't about to jump her but when she tuned back to the ring, still gasping for breath she saw that the Reaper hadn't moved from the general area the former cosplayer's desperate counter had dropped her in. At all. The former world champion could walk over and... do what exactly? She wasn't exactly feeling up to lifting her up off the ground for any big move, she wasn't about to make it 3 for 3 for top rope failures and by this time she'd have to have stalled for way too long to get a pin if the Ref wasn't checking for a stoppage. Well... one thing came to mind.

This was the Big Stage after all, she could make time for a little showmanship even if the crowd was mostly made out of ugh... Floridians. Dragging the luchadora's dead weight body along the canvas to the centre of the ring, Adrian stood tall above her masked face, dramatically pulling down the elbow pad as she made a big show of looking as if someone was going to get a special souvenir before lazily tossing it behind her making an anti-climactic thud as it landed on the canvas. Taking off running at a light jog, Adrian strided back and forth across the room, trying to re-pace herself and shake away some of the sluggishness before she came back to Maria for a second time, gracefully delivering a stalling elbow drop to the chest of The Reaper and making the cover. A People's Elbow from someone who was definitely not one of The People.

Maria's mind was at best in a haze, and at worst on the verge of a total blackout. She always took care to protect her jaw in fights, but no amount of training really helped when you had a bit of a glass jaw you're entire career. As a luchadora, most tend to go for her legs, thankfully overlooking this small weakness. But by sheer luck, Adrian had nailed her exactly the right way with enough force to knock her lights out for enough time to fully recover.

The champ let out a small groan, feeling the ring shift and shake as she was dragged into position, with the shadow of her challenger jogging by and hopping over, before a sharp pain slammed right into her chest, making the veteran spasm in pain while all the air was driven out of her, "GHUGH!!!"

Too overcome by pain, she barely noticed the limp leg being hooked up by the heel, Maria's body limp as a rag doll under her opponent!

Hot-dogging and Grandstanding now complete, Adrian quickly spun around on the mat rolling onto her front while she scrambled to hook the leg, smiling with the thought of having gold around her waist once again, and if anyone from Mexico wanted it back? They were going to have to come to her now.

"ONE!"

Maria lay limp under Adrian, her shapely leg being hooked up, hanging in her opponent's grip as the ref slid in for the count. On a count of one, Maria did not move....on a count of two....still she did not move.

But before the three count could be finished, Maria threw up her shoulder weakly, breaking the pin at the very last second with a gasp!

"Twoo..." Adrian breathed along with the count, looking at the ref's hand rise and fall for the third and final time until Maria's shoulder hit her square in the jaw. "Wha-come on!" Adrian let out as the brief surprise of being smacked in the face broke into the frustration of what just happened "I hit her with the damn spirit bomb! That beat uh... Freeza? No... um, that should have been three anyway!" She ranted in between heavy breaths as she pushed herself up onto her knees, brushing large chunks of sweat laden hair out of her face while she complained about a slow count. Or at least a count that was too slow for Adrian's liking.

Maria 's mind was kicking into panic mode. How she kicked out of that was anyone's guess, but it was a CHANCE to turn this around. While Adrian was having a mini freak out at the ref, the luchadora had rolled to the side, pushing herself up to her feet by way of sheer adrenaline. Gritting her teeth, she threw herself forward, aiming a nasty elbow strike right for the small of Adrian's back!!!

"It definitely beat Majin... Super Buu so that should have been Thre-eeeeeeeee!" Adrian half-yelped, half grimaced as the Reaper struck back with an elbow of her own, sending a shockwave running up her spine. None of the wind-up but a lot of the pain as the former champ was caught bitching instead of dealing with the business at hand "Dammit..." she wheezed as she tried to get moving again, slowly standing up but unable to turn to face Maria leaving her back exposed for whatever the Luchadora had planned next.