"Silver Ace" Haley Cote vs "La Parca" Maria Castillo - The March of Time

Haley had to admit...she hadn't actually expected to face Maria Castillo again.

Not that she had anything against the woman or anything, just that their previous match had been so long ago, literally the very first match of Silver Ace's career in Mexico, that she had nearly forgotten about it. It was only because she had realized the anniversary of her first match was coming up that got Ace to find video footage of it online, and only then did she realize that the opponent who had spanked her young rookie butt was, in fact, a current AFW fighter herself.

This might not have mattered much normally...but given how much her lover, Valley Doll, had laughed when she saw the video of Ace getting spanked like that...it may have motivated her to finally put that injustice to right. So she went on twitter, and called Maria out. All friendly and above board, just a simple challenge. A rematch, nearly 14 years in the making.

14 years...what a crazy career. From dropping out of high school at just 16, getting her inheritance early, training in Mexico under Silver King, coming to Japan, meeting Valley, dozens upon dozens of matches, titles runs, and arena's around the world, entering AFW at just 20 years old. Now, nearing her 28th birthday, all of those memories continued to light a fire under the Canadian woman, motivated her to keep going, keep fighting, and finally claim her hands on the Friction World Title.

The lights went out in the arena, as Silver Ace's new theme, "Undefeatable" began to play, the short intro hyping the crowd up.

Backstage, Haley double checked her facepaint, gave Valley a kiss, put on the mask given to her by her beloved trainer, Silver King, and came out onto the ramp just as the guitars hit, to a massive reception from a packed Tokyo arena.

The silver-dyed haired woman made her way down the ramp, reaching out and high fiving fans, throwing her body against the guardrail to let them pat her on the back, embracing the crowds respect and love for her, a far cry from the boos she had gotten early on when first joining the company. It took showing her fighting spirit and skill to finally earn these peoples trust and love, and she never planned on losing that.

She rolled under the ropes and into the ring, climbing the turnbuckle and taking Silver King's mask off, raising it above her head while looking upwards towards the heavens, her now-standard tribute to her now deceased mentor. Wouldn't he have gotten a kick out of this match.

Hopping down from the turnbuckle, she took off her vest, handing both gently to the time keeper at ringside, and moved to her corner, doing some light shadow boxing and bouncing on the balls of her feet as she awaited her opponent for a rematch 14 years in the making!

Silver Ace attire:

Maria gave a small grunt as her hands worked about tightening her mask around her head. The days and fights had taken their toll on the veteran, despite her success. Even as wins began stacking up for the luchadora, her body was getting slower. She had been taking more offense in her matches since her start at AFW, but considering her position, she could rarely afford the chance to rest.

Now she found herself being called out by a face she had not seen in....gods was it 14 years? If that didn't make the veteran feel more ancient than ever, she didn't know what would. The "Silver Ace" had made a name for herself during her stellar career, much in the same way Maria had dominated the Mexican scene under her own persona of La Parca. But it seemed that no matter how many years had passed, that win over Silver was a matter that the younger woman wanted to settle once and for all.

And who was she to deny her?



Maria's new music kicked in, a far more upbeat track than she had used previously, one that got the crowd EXTREMELY excited. There was a pleasant mix of singing, both spanish and japanese as the video and crowd melded together in a roar of adulation. The smile on her face never dulled, giving fans some high fives as she ascended the stairs, her storm grey eyes resting on the admittedly imposing form of her opponent. It seemed the years only fortified her body and mind, judging by the look on her face. Slipping into the ring, she strided up to her, giving her the smallest of smiles, "Well....this is certainly a surprise. I didn't expect to get a challenge from you...."

Silver Ace waited in the corner as Maria made her entrance, bouncing on the balls of her feet and doing some final stretching while the masked woman came down to the ring, taking note of how popular the woman was. Good. She deserved it.

Ace cracked a smile as Maria acknowledged her once she was in the ring, and walked out to meet the woman in the center of the ring, immediately extending a hand out to shake Maria's hand. "Heh. Maria Castillo, long time no see! Last time we were in the ring together, you kicked my butt good. How's life in Japan treating you? Keeping your skills sharp I hope?"

Maria's smile only widened when she saw the hand, grasping Ace's forearm and tugging her into a warm hug, much to the audiences delight. The veteran gave her opponent a firm slap to the back, grinning from ear to ear, "Last I remember, I saw a young woman with much talent and a promising future ahead of her. Glad to see I wasn't wrong. Japan is...different...though the people seem to appreciate my style, despite my old injuries."

Ace grinned, hugging Maria back tightly before stepping back and hopping on the balls of her feet a bit, excited for the bell to ring as Maria spoke.

"Well you've got plenty of skill, injuries aside, and the fans here always appreciate skill. Just show them the same ability that won you that Rising Star Title, and the fans here will pay you back with their support, ten fold!"

She exclaimed, nodding at Maria before heading back to her corner. They could wait till after to catch up on old times. For now, there was a match they had to deal with first. Ace did some final stretches, waiting for the bell to ring. Once it did, she'd come out of the corner, hands up, looking to grapple with the luchadora to start things off!

To say Maria was proud was an understatement. It was nice to be in an exhibition match with nothing on the line except the personal pride of herself as a competitor. No title, no risk. Just.....the thrill of wrestling. Strange.....it's been so long since she really got to have a match that was....fun.

The bell clanged out, knocking Maria out of her thoughts as Ace had come in for a sudden lock up! Her muscles flexed, feet digging into the canvas as she grimaced from the strain, "Nnnngh....m...much stronger than I remembered....gah...."

"Considering how much weaker I was when we first met, I'm glad to hear it!"

Ace quipped back, muscles starting to flex and show their definition as she pushed back against her masked opponent. She wasn't kidding either, in their last encounter over a decade ago, Maria had bodied up all over the entire ring, without breaking much of a sweat.

Well, now she would definitelysweat.

Pouring on the pressure, Ace tried to step forward, starting to work on pushing Maria back towards her corner, wanting to see if she could push her all the way back to the turnbuckle!

Maria was very quick to realize that Ace had her outmatched in terms of pure physical strength. She tried to valiantly stand her ground, but found that she was slowly being forced back across the ring!

Step after step, Maria tried to dig in deeper to halt her progress, until she found her spine ramming into the turnbuckle pad! The impact made her grunt slightly, crushed between her muscular foe and the unyielding corner post behind her!!!

She tried to aim low, lifting a foot to kick out at the inside of Ace's knee and buckle her, a desperate attempt to break up the clinch

Ace had to admit, it was a pretty good feeling, pushing Maria all the way back against the turnbuckle, pressing the woman against the padded corner. While nobody ever said Ace wasn't strong, they mostly focused on the strength of her legs, which she usually used to wreck her opponents with superkicks and such, people often forget or didn't realize that she had impressive upper body strength as well. Certainly a far cry from when she was 16 and couldn't budge a younger Maria even an inch in a lock up. Maybe she should work on her upper arm toning, or increase the muscle mass in her arms to make herself look more impressive?

That would have to be a thought for later, as Maria countered, kicking Ace directly in the inside of her knee, causing the limb to buckle and force Ace to drop to one knee with a yelp, breaking the cinch and leaving the former champion temporarily open!

Maria breathed a sigh of relief when Ace went down to a knee, and in an odd turn of events, it gave her a perfect avenue to put the hurt on her opponent! Grabbing the top rope on either side of her, the veteran hauled herself up above Ace, bringing a boot up and lining it square with Ace's skull!

Crying out, she let her body drop, bringing her foot down in a rope assisted STOMP right to the skull, ready to ride Ace down to a brutal encounter with the canvas!