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

Alaina was staggering up to her feet when she heard the footsteps. She looked up and saw Julia already in mid-air flying at her all too late to stop anything. "ARGH!" Alaina howled as she crashed to the mat in a dazed heap! Alaina cradled her head in her arms kicking the mat in pain as Julia was taking control of the match! This was the last thing Alaina wanted to see and she knew that Julia with momentum was nigh unstoppable.

Connecting right on target, Julia took the Amazon down once again! The crowd excitedly roared their approval, the air filling with a mixture of thousands of voices cheering her on, telling her to go for the pin! The cowgirl did just that, lunging right for Alaina's prone form and laying across her torso, hands reaching out to hold her far arm and shoulder down while the ref struck the mat to start the count!

"ONE...!"

"TWO!"

Alaina howled and thrust up just after two, breaking the count as she bucked her hips, thrusting to the side.  Alaina was groaning and gasping for breath trying to shove Julia away so she could stagger up to her feet.  However Alaina knew that Julia was rolling and this was not going to be easy to deal with...

While a part of Julia groaned as Alaina kicked out, another noticed the Amazon didn’t have the strength to throw her off so forcefully as she had earlier. She was making progress and had a clear path ahead!

Embracing that, the cowgirl laid down and rolled out under the nearest ropes onto the apron, then used those ropes to pull herself to her feet. She kept her focus on the champ, watching her slowly rise. Taking hold of the top rope, she waited until her target was almost to a standing position once more before pulling on the top rope to help herself leap up onto it. The luchadora would then spring off of it, twisting and swinging her leg as she rocketed through the air, aiming to slam that leg into the back of Alaina’s head with her signature Pistol Whip!

Alaina was rising and thought Julia would be running to her. She was wrong, as Julia was already in mid-air! Julia's leg smashed the back of Alaina's head and the amazon let out a low moan as her head shot forward with the rest of her body following. She collapsed to the mat and let out a long moan as she weakly kicked the mat while her heads cradled the back of her head. Alaina was down again and the way she hit the mat she looked like a limp, weakly flopping heap on the canvas!

Her kick landed right on the mark, bringing the champion down! The crowd was on its feet, their nearly deafening shouts and cheers filling the air as the cowgirl slowly picked herself up, their energy fueling her adrenaline!

Moving to Alaina, she grunted while pushing against the Amazon's body to try to roll her over onto her back, but didn't try to cover her for a pin. Instead Julia's eyes went straight toward the nearest corner. She advanced that way as quickly as she could, though the leg that had just struck her foe moved with a faint but just noticeable limp.

Gripping the top ropes at either side of the turnbuckles, Julia scaled up until she was standing on the top rope. She stood then glanced behind her, taking a quick measure of the distance between herself and her target. A voice in her mind cautioned that it still might be too early for this, but she ignored it. This was no time to be conservative, especially against an opponent like Alaina. Resigning to her course, the luchadora grimaced while throwing herself off the top rope into a corkscrew moonsault, aiming to crash down onto the champ with her famous Stardust Press!

Alaina was down and dazed hearing the crowd murmur then roar. Her vision came too just in time to see a spinning, flipping high flying Julia rocketing right at her like an acrobatic meteor! Alaina braced as best she could, unable to move as her body tensed up. The impact was devastating knocking the wind out of her despite her trying to brace for impact. Alaina's limbs flopped up and hit the mat listless and the seemingly lifeless champion was down with Julia on top of her after her devastating finisher connected!

An explosion of shouts and cheers echoed through the building as the luchadora connected right on the mark with her acrobatic finisher! This was it, the moment she had been fighting for ever since she’d come to Japan! Seizing the opportunity, she reached out to hook Alaina’s far leg with her arms, while coiling her legs around the other of the Amazon’s, securing both while leaning back against her foe’s torso!

The ref struck the mat to start the count.

”ONE…!”

Alaina was wrapped up, held down and motionless providing no resistance as Julia had the champion pinned! Alaina let out a long, low moan as she was indeed stuck to the mat!

"TWO!"

How did this happen? How could it happen? Alaina opened up with such promise only for Julia to surge back and destroy the champion amazon. With a loud shout as the referee's hand descended a third time at a 2.9 the amazon thrust her legs up and kicked the mat, bucking her hips while thrusting a shoulder up to break the pin just before three!

The sudden jolt of force as Alaina kicked out prompted a shocked gasp that rang out nearly unanimously from every spectator in the arena, and even with her mask on Julia's own stunned expression was an exact mirror of their feelings. If that hadn't been enough to keep the Amazon down...what would?

Stop thinking. Just keep moving!

Unsure if her urgency was born more from eagerness or anxiety, she nonetheless tried to follow her own advice. In truth Julia wasn't even quite sure what her next move would be as she grabbed Alaina by the wrist and started trying to drag her back to her feet. There wasn't a plan for what to do if the Stardust Press failed her. Her mind was racing to come up with something. She could only hope the solution wouldn't come too late..