SS22 Friction World Championship - Alaina Sanders (c) vs Julia Rogers

Alaina felt Julia kick out forcefully and she was not surprised by that whatsoever. Alaina stood up and pulled Julia up by the arm stepping towards the ropes. The amazon seemed like she wanted to whip Julia but instead of letting go she would yank Julia right back towards herself and extend her free arm looking to plant Julia with a quick clothesline to keep her on the defensive, at least that was the plan unless Julia managed to pull off one of her surprise counters...

Heavy, labored breaths forced their way from Julia's lips as she was pulled back to her feet. Her body cooperated somewhat in following as it was guided, but Alaina was responsible for most of the effort in getting her back up. She was still trying to replenish the oxygen that had just been blasted from her lungs when Alaina started to whip her across the ring, which would've been a big mistake. Winded as the cowgirl currently was, accelerating to a speed she could really turn into a weapon would've been a daunting task on her own. But Alaina's throw would be a nice little assist she could work with, and her mind already was going through a couple of those surprise counters to try out when she reached the other side of the ring.

...Except, she didn't. Unexpectedly, instead of being launched into a sprint, her momentum was suddenly stopped and she was spun right back around. Alaina still had a hold of her wrist, and that powerful arm was already hurling toward her! "Fuck-!" was all she had time for in response before the impact of the short-arm clothesline blasted through her, sending her body into a complete backflip where she stood before gravity pulled her down to a rough crash front-first on the mat!

Alaina sent Julia to the mat and pumped a fist, looking down at Julia and deciding what to do next to keep rolling. Alaina turned away from Julia and tried to jump up, flipping as she attempted to splash down on Julia with a standing moonsault before hooking a leg to attempt a pin against her friend/challenger! Alaina knew she had to keep up the pressure. If this hit and she could attempt the pin she knew it would continue to sap Julia something that was central to Alaina's game plan.

Pain flared through Julia's head and torso, and her vision needed a moment to refocus after that brutal clothesline. The cowgirl put her hands to the mat and had just started attempting to push herself up when Alaina suddenly crashed down across her back!

"UGH!!" she cried out at the unexpected impact as it forced her right back down to the mat. Immediately rolled over, she once more felt Alaina's frame cover her while the ref moved to count the pin.

"ONE! TWO!"

Again Julia loudly grunted while thrusting a shoulder off the mat right after the two count, breaking the pin. Then she immediately tried to roll herself away from Alaina and as close to the ropes as she could possibly get. There was nothing guaranteeing she'd be able to get far, but any separation at all would be better than letting herself continue to be a sitting duck.

Alaina saw Julia rolling towards the ropes. Alaina took a breath and reset herself crouching low and waiting for Julia to start pulling herself up. The amazon would charge in and look to crash into the challenger hoping to topple Julia right over the top for a crash landing on the outside! Alaina had an idea for what to do after if she was successful.....

....she would show Julia that the cowgirl wasn't the only high flyer in this match!

At first relieved she was able to make it to the ropes, surprise and suspicion quickly replaced the feeling. Nice as it was to get somewhere safer, Alaina was perfectly capable of preventing it, and likely wouldn't have allowed it unless she had something up her sleeve. Taking hold of the ropes, Julia slowly pulled herself up, cautionary warnings ringing in her mind as she turned. Sure enough, Alaina was rushing straight at her! But this time, the cowgirl was ready.

Hands already gripping the top rope by this point, the masked blonde suddenly dropped right back down again while pulling the rope down. With any luck, the timing and Alaina's forward momentum would leave the Amazon without a target to hit, and nothing stopping her from taking an unfortunate tumble of her own right over the ropes and out of the ring!

Alaina's gamble didn't just fail, it completely backfired! Alaina ran in as Julia ducked, sending the charging amazon over the top rope! She smashed her shoulder on the ring apron, spinning and landing hard on her head, shoulders as well as her neck on the outside! Alaina kicked and groaned, rolling onto her back as her own miscue had taken her right out of the fight! Worse still was Julia was on her feet with the freedom to do whatever came to mind. That was the absolute worst situation to be in against any wrestler but especially one of the level of Julia!

As Alaina spilled out of the ring, Julia released pulled herself back to her feet with the aid of the rope she was holding, then panted lightly while walking toward one of the far corners. To most it seemed apparent the challenger was content to simply maximize her distance from Alaina and buy some more recovery time. True, Julia was taking advantage of the chance to catch her breath, but fans eager to see more action wouldn't have to wait long.

The cowgirl kept an eye on Alaina, watching for the moment she started getting up off the ground. As soon as the Amazon was close to standing again, Julia took off in a sprint across the ring before leaping into a high vault, pulling her legs in as her jump sent her soaring over the top rope! And on her way down she thrust her boots out, aiming to blast Alaina right in the chest with the mother of all missile dropkicks!

Alaina was staggering up as she heard the crowd cheer. She knew Julia was up to something and it couldn't be good! Alaina stood up and looked just in time to see feet in the air rocketing right at her! Things turned out to be a worst-case scenario for the amazon as instead of knocking Julia out of the ring and trying to fly herself the amazon ended up getting blasted right in the jaw with the dropkick!

"UUUUGGGGHHHHHHHH!" Alaina howled as she crumpled to the mat in a heap on her back! She covered her throbbing face in her hands, as the dazed amazon could only lay there flat on her back weakly kicking the ground in the aftermath of Julia crushing her.

It's difficult to aim a kick like that while flying as high and fast as Julia was, and it caused her to miss her target slightly. Fortunately for her it worked out for the better, as her boots smashed into the champ's face rather than her chest, sending the crowd into a frenzy of thunderous and excited cries at the acrobatic display. Much as she appreciated their enthusiasm, however, it did little to lessen her own pain as she crashed roughly to the thinly-padded floor after delivering the dropkick. Gritting her teeth and grunting with the strained effort, she rolled over and pulled herself to her feet.

"ONE!" came the sudden call from the ref inside the ring, who had either rushed to start the count without trying to usher them into the ring first, or had done so but was simply drowned out by the raucous crowd. Either way, Julia moved to Alaina and reached down, cupping her hands around the back of the Amazon's neck. Using the grip to start guiding her to her feet, she'd take the first chance to roll her foe back in the ring under the bottom ropes if she could, before climbing back up to stand on the apron.

But rather than get back into the ring, the luchadora quickly moved to the corner and climbed up to the top rope, once more waiting for Alaina to rise. And once she was mostly standing and turning toward her, Julia would then leap from her elevated perch and bring her legs in, this time aiming to smash her knees and shins into the top of Alaina's chest with a Meteora!