Avalanche 2023: Friction World Title Match: Rebecca Tomko (C) vs Lucia Lynch

Lucia's was a trainwreck and no amount of time in makeup would change that when she got back on set. The left side of her face was painted in a long streak of blood, shiny and slick, a macabre contrast of realism to be found beneath the bright arena lights. At first glance, it could have easily been mistaken for war paint if thick wet rivulets had not been dripping down to stain the canvas. Her body ached if not from the torturous submission hold and the beating that had preceded it, then the hyperextension of her arm in the struggle and the hard impact on the ring apron had left her battered and bruised, her senses dulled by the overwhelming onslaught that had been this match. She hadn't been fully aware of what was happening, only that she had been being helped up by someone for a brief moment, then it was gone and she was left clinging to the top rope under threat of slipping off the ring entirely again.

Just when she felt herself slipping, arms came around her to brace her from a fall and slowly ease her upright. Less brisk than before, a warmer cradle… she glanced over to see Bethany smiling at her, her whispers barely audible over the crowd. One would be forgiven for missing the redness on her cheeks given the more obvious dash of crimson that veiled half of her face, forcing an eye closed to keep the sting of blood from her eye.

“Beth…?” Lucia questioned wearily, trying to make sense of the chaos unfolding around her. She hadn't lost the match yet had she? Her open eye drifted to Adrian below as cogs began to whir within her cranium. Before she could utter her thanks, she was being pushed back.

She fumbled over her own boots, acting on instinct as she managed to walk the tightrope of the apron while holding onto the rope. She stood to witness when her friend took the full brunt of a charging Rebecca and was left sprawled out across the ground like a murder victim. She looked on in confusion and horror, unaware of her shaking fist as she clutched the rope with white-knuckled rage. Reaching up with her other hand she grasped the ropes and with a leap she hopped herself up to side vault herself back into the ring, her hip reminding her with a sharp sensation that she was moving faster than she should. She threw her leg up as high as it would go as she passed back over the ropes, bringing it back down in a vicious arc down at the back of Rebecca’s head with an ax kick her intent was clear: to issue an immediate and decisive retaliation.

Revenge was swift and painful as the collision between the co-star and the champ sent the wrestling dominatrix flying much further than she'd sent Adrian. Good. She had it coming getting flattened like that for what she did, in fact Beth was lucky that Rebecca didn't have time to rearrange her spine more! The idea that Adrian also deserved to be booted in the face for her shenanigans and ambushes didn't even cross Rebecca's mind but what did worry the amazon was that somewhere Lucia was on the move, her friend having taken the bullet for her.

Hanging over the middle rope was a bad spot, the only two other wrestlers she could see were her fallen friend and the self-sacrificing interloper, neither of which were the woman she needed to slam into the canvas. The big woman had to pull herself back carefully, keeping her head low to pass under the top rope before she could *THUNK!* Lucia's heel came down with terrifying precicion, slamming the back of her head and turning on the champion's ragdoll mode by the way Rebecca just collapsed in a heap from the blow. Face down, lights out, not moving from where she'd fallen close to the ropes. Revenge was swift and painful.

Lucia's kick sliced down cleanly, making its mark to the stunned astonishment of the pay per view crowd. She had managed to topple the Amazon for the second time, though this time the outside of the ring hadn't been the assisting factor. Her legs almost buckled as she hit the canvas, fighting to keep her balance asshe stand before the heap that was her monstrously large opponent. There was no moving her, no far… The movie star stepped over the body underfoot and dropped down onto her knees, grabbing hold of the big woman's shoulder.

With a heave, she poured her effort into rolling Rebecca over, trying to get her as far away from the ropes as she could manage with just getting her onto her back. Even this felt like a herculean task despite the fury and adrenaline pumping through her veins and some seeping out from her scalp in fresh red droplets. The sooner this was over, the sooner she could check on Bethany. What had her friend been thinking about taking that hit like that?

Lucia let herself collapse over top of Rebecca in the simplest of pins, not expending the effort or energy it would take to lift one of her meaty legs. She waited for a few moments for what seemed like longer than three seconds before weakly lifting her head to see the referee trying to rise as well after being wiped out, unaware she had inadvertently clobbered them.

“Over here…” Lucia croaked, not nearly as commanding as she had meant to sound. The strain of her struggles was open and audible as she lay across the champion, trying to rouse the official to count the pinfall.

With great effort the challenger rolled the champion onto her back, Rebecca's eyes still closed as Lucia climbed on top, ready to claim victory before everything that had happened overwhelmed her. With all the chaos that had happened, the surprise kick she'd taken, the bullshit behind her back, the official was as happy as anyone to count the pin "ONE!" The referee called, slapping her hand on the canvas to start the count.

As the referee crawled into position and slapped the mat, Lucia let her body limply droop back over top of Rebecca with a shuddered sigh. She tilted her head slightly, letting the trickle of red run down her cheek and away from her uncoated eye. She had fought as hard as she could manage up until now, was the fruits of all that labor going to pay off?

“TWO!”

The crowd was on the edge of their seats as they watched the shock of shocks happen in front of them: the bloodied Lucia, struggling against not just the amazon but her interfering ex-champion girlfriend, who before tonight wasn't a consideration for a championship run, looked to be on the verge of making history. All she needed was one more second of unconsciousness from Rebecca and everything would be so sweet.

And all it took was one shoulder to ruin it all.

Rebecca lurched to the side a fraction of a second before the third count came, twisting up onto her side and breathing heavy with her eyes still closed. The match was still on.

Lucia lay still and simply breathed, waiting for the final count. The sudden jostle beneath her as Rebecca shifted to break the pinfall took a moment to register as she glanced up to the referee in a haze wondering why they had stopped. The official gestured to the raised shoulder and signaled the near fall had only been a two count. So close but so far…

Lucia painfully pushed her body up, arms shaking at the effort as she murmured a soft “Fuuuuuuck.” Under her breath at how labored and sluggish her movements had become. Had she seen just how bloodied she was at this point, she likely would have been a bit more understanding of the failing efforts of her physical mobility in her current state.

There wasn't a chance she had the strength to get Rebecca back to her feet, so if she wanted to end this it would have to happen here on the mat. She leaned back onto her knees and grasped at one of her opponents tree trunk arms, the closest thing she could get her hands on. With a scoot she dropped onto her backside and extended her legs out. One to go over Rebecca's neck, the other her chest, to help her leverage the armbar she was trying to drag the champion into in a last ditch attempt to force a submission.

The massive arm was trapped in the Lone Wolf's clutches as Lucia moved to give the still giantess a nasty wakeup call, yanking back to try and rip apart the huge limb at the elbow "Gah-!" Rebecca gasped as the pain shocked her awake, the leg that hadn't been kicked into oblivion now stomping against the canvas as the Lone Wolf wrenched on the armbar. The crowd that had been so disappointed by the kickout re-awakened at the thought of the amazon tapping out.

Rebecca cried out in agony but the suffering wouldn't be nearly enough to stop the titan from doing something about her perilous situation as the massive woman moved up off the canvas and rolled toward Lucia, folding her up before clubbing the Lone Wolf with her free hand and hammering the bloody face of the challenger she rolled her on to her shoulders. Whatever grand plans she had coming in to this match, right now she just want Lucia to stop.

Drawn back into her clutches, Lucia poured every ounce of her remaining strength into her armbar. Legs locked quaked against the arc of her own back as she stretched the limb to its limits as she clung to it for dear life. While her ferocity had been dulled by her body breaking down, desperation and determination made for nearly just as dangerous a combination. She sucked air through her teeth, getting a taste of copper from her oozing wound.

When Rebecca lurched, the Lone Wolf tried to shift with her but found the larger woman rolling over her, compacting their bodies into one mass. She let out a wheeze as the weight bore down, making it hard for her to breath. She looked up and met the champion's eyes with the only one she had opened, brow furrowed in a rage like a wild animal, definitely growling up at her.

When blows rained down though, there was no means in which to defend. Her defiance couldnt last long under these conditions as Rebecca beat the last of her fight from her with blow after blow until her body when still and her grip eased to fall away. She was left breathed ragged breaths with a single dulled amber eye struggling to remain open in her battered state.

Rebecca's striking arm fell limp after one last shot and the bigger woman collapsed at the challenger's side, the champion left gasping for breath as Lucia uncurled from the sudden lack of pressure but without the grip on the champ's arm. She'd done the hard part and forced the armbar to break by bludgeoning Lucia into oblivion, now all she had to do was make this official and put a real stamp on the toughest challenger of her title run.

"I'm ending this..." she wheezed as she reached down to grab Lucia by the throat while she slowly made her way back to her feet. The amazon standing tall for one last feat of strength as she pulled upwards, grabbing the waistband of the Lone Wolf on the way up as she lifted her high into the air ready for a devastating Chokeslam. What went up had to come down and it was time for Lucia to stay down.