L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

Match Type: Standard Match
Rules: Victory by pinfall, submission, or knockout
Marzia was nervous, going into her next match. This feeling was hardly anything new for her - far from it. No matter how many matches she took part in, or how many victories she achieved, she could never quite get used to the attention, and whenever she found herself in the locker room, ready to be called to the Gorilla position, she always found herself with her heart racing and her mind running through all the frightful possibilities of how everything could go wrong - if she could get hurt, or if she'd make herself look weak and hopeless in front of thousands of viewers. When her opponent was Skylar Jones, a woman who had become well-known in LAW for the lengths she was willing to go in her depravities, with numerous matches going down in infamy for the horrors she'd unleashed on her foes, Marzia's worries were only amplified tenfold - it seemed as though a wrong move in this match could mean disaster.

But she still clenched her fists tighter, leaning in to rest her forehead against the cold steel of the locker beside her. She reminded herself of what she told herself every time she prepared for a match - all of her failures, all of her past weaknesses, none of that mattered now. She had turned a new page in her life; Gail had helped her get tougher, stronger, and ready to realize her true destiny. Anyone who still doubted her...well, their questions would be answered tonight. Because if Marzia was going to take on Skylar Jones, she was going to use this as her opportunity to prove to the world she wasn't the same old Marzia any more when she could take Skylar down!

"Coming first to the ring, from Rome, Italy! At 5'2, weighing 140 pounds, MARZIAAAAA SERVELLI!!!"

Spoiler

Once again, Marzia was greeted by a few boos as she appeared on the entrance ramp. While she might have grown stronger, it came from her refusing to care any longer about what other people thought of her; she wouldn't even bother to try and do the right thing, if cheating was what it took to get her ahead. Not everyone approved, of course. She never quite got used to that, either - and she bit her lip as she stepped down the ramp, one fist squeezing tighter as she tried to look away in order to hide her reaction from the crowd. But it didn't matter what anyone thought - she was out to salvage her own dignity tonight, and she wasn't going to let any boos get in the way of that! As Marzia took a step up onto the ring apron, she fixed a determined glare ahead of her, clasping her hands together and bringing them up to raise a pair of clenched fists above her head before she slid through the ropes and into the ring.

Across the ring, however, a voice spoke up from the commentary table - a voice quite different from what loyal LAW viewers had come to expect. A special guest commentator was present for tonight's show - none other than LAW Magazine's senior editor Eiji Matsumoto. The viewers at home would hear what he had to say about the new Marzia loud and clear. "Folks, Marzia here thinks that she can turn around her lackluster career by dropping the nice girl business and starting to bust some heads...or at least, that's what she says. The only people that's gonna endear her to are the sorts of braindead alcohol sponges that think two women beating each other over the heads with metal furniture is high art, so that should call those goals into question right away! And unfortunately..."

Eiji let out a sigh, leaning forward over his desk. He and Skylar Jones went back a fair bit, and though they had never been physically present in the same room before, it didn't mean he was dreading having to do this any less.

"...Mrs. Servelli could go this entire match without using a single hold, and she'd still be the most talented woman in this match."

It was rather unusual for Skylar Jones to be nervous before a match. The girl was as confident and fearless as they came, arrogant even. But tonight, someone special to her would be watching, one of very, very few people who's opinion was worth a damn to her. No, of course it's not Eiji fucking Matsumoto. Frankly, Sky was annoyed they even gave that man the honor of calling a Skylar Jones match. No no no, she was worried about someone far more important. Impressing them meant the world to her, and she intended to beat down and humiliate Marzia Servelli to do that.

Meanwhile at the commentary desk, this special someone pulled up a chair. She wore a a red leather jacket, and had long, flowing blonde hair tied into a pony tail. "Mr. Matsumoto, right? Amanda Sterling." The woman introduced herself with a smile, taking a seat beside Eiji at the commentator's desk. "I suppose I'm not the only one on guest commentary tonight." She chuckled. She'd volunteered to commentate on this particular match due to the presence of an old protege of her's: Skylar Jones. After introducing herself to Eiji, she put on her headset, and introduced heself to the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the voice of Amanda Sterling. I'll have the pleasure of joining Eiji in commentating on this match."

"And her opponent, from Perry, Iowa, weighing in at 162 pounds, the Brawling Puppet, SKYLARRR JOOONES!!!!"

Music

Skylar

Skylar came down the ramp to a mixed, but thunderous reaction, chugging chocolate milk as she came to the ring. She wore a grin as she tossed the finished carton away, high fiving the fans. Amanda watched with a motherly smile. "Good ol' Skylar Jones. By far one of the greatest combatants I've trained. I've been watching her ever since she joined LAW, and christ, she's lived up to her potential. But I won't discount the talents of Ms. Marzia Servelli. Both these competitors know how to get violent. This'll be one for the books." Amanda grinned, just as excited to watch this match as the audience was.

Skylar clutched the top rope, and jumped into the ring, now face to face with Marzia. "Howdy, bitch. Ready to lose some blood?" She grinned, cracking her knuckles.

Eiji allowed Amanda to seat herself next to him, nodding his head and moving his chair aside a few inches to give her space. That part was fine; he could respect an accomplished and experienced wrestler like her taking their place at the commentary table, and to share in her company would ordinarily be an honor. But when Amanda referred to Skylar as "one of the greatest combatants she'd ever trained," that she had "lived up to her potential" - Eiji whipped the glasses off his face with a dramatic flourish as he spun back around to face her, eyes wide and mouth agape. This was what she thought was the pinnacle of her training? As far as Eiji knew Skylar, she knew little in the way of proper wrestling moves beyond brutalizing her opponents, and she seemed more concerned with being shocking than with trying to live up to the ideals of the sport. Eiji was ready to launch into an angry tirade about how Amanda definitely didn't know what she was talking about, or else Skylar was even worse if she was wasting all that potential she had by actually knowing how to wrestle and then not even doing it - but he cleared his throat, sitting up straighter. This wasn't the time, he knew. People listened to his podcast if they wanted to hear him scream at things, not his commentary.

"Folks, it's, uh...it's a pleasure to be seated next to Ms. Amanda Sterling this fine evening! Back in the day I was sitting at ringside covering her matches, and it's wonderful to see she's still going strong in the business. I might have...my opinions about Skylar Jones, and how much she could've done to reign in some of her more...destructive impulses, but I've got nothing but respect for Amanda herself. But enough about us - let's turn it over to the two ladies in the ring."

Back in the ring, Marzia stood straighter and stiffer, keeping her eyes locked on Skylar. Her eyelid twitched, and she bit at her lip, while she squeezed her hands tighter to try and steady the urge to let a shiver run through her body. She had seen plenty of what Skylar Jones was capable of, and she was in no mood to have any of that happen to her. But she couldn't let that get to her, she told herself. This was her chance to prove to the world she wasn't going to run away - and if it meant standing up to someone with Skylar's reputation, Marzia would do it.

"Hey, er...eat shit," Marzia grumbled, hissing the words through her teeth as she kept her eyes locked on Skylar. "I'm not gonna lose to you, so don't even try to scare me!" It still felt odd to her to talk trash like this, but against a foe like Sky, Marzia simply couldn't afford to hold back. She needed to bring forth her best efforts against the brunette, if even to keep her head above the water - and to do that, she could show no mercy!

*DING DING DING*

From the start of the match, Marzia was going to open things strong. She wouldn't even bother to lock up or grapple with Skylar - instead, right at the sound of the bell, she lunged forward to grab for her shoulder to reel her in closer, as she drew back a fist and threw it toward her head!

As Amanda heard what Eiji had to say about Skylar, she raised an eyebrow, giving a snicker. "Should a professional wrestler not be destructive?" She asked. "This is a combat sport, after all. Surely someone who's analyzed this business as long as yourself can see how effective someone as violent as Skylar is. Reigning in a student's aggression wasn't my mentor Shaun Douglas' philosophy, and it's not mine either."

In the ring, Skylar and Marzia were sizing each other up, talking trash. "Yeah? Well one of us has to lose, bitch, and it ain't gonna be me when my trainer's on watching." Sky said, staring Marzia down. "You're gonna be on your back sooner than you think."

The bell rang, and the first thing Marzia did was swing a hard punch to Sky's head! "Gragh! Hoe!" She growled, quickly paying Marzia back with a hard punch right below the eye! "Servelli starting the match off strong with a good blow to Jones' head, and Sky pays it back in ful!" Amanda said into her headset.

"Listen, it's a combat sport all right, but that still makes it a sport, and not just a couple of hooligans beating the shit out of each other! That's what makes it professional wrestling. People like Skylar just get in there and injure people - they're not trying to win a contest as much as they're just trying to cause bloodshed! And I don't know about you, but I have some respect for the good name of our business..." Eiji grumbled to himself, sucking in a breath. He gripped the edge of the table, trying to focus - now was not the time to get caught up in one of his rants about the state of the wrestling industry. They still had a match at hand, and he had to do it justice.

Marzia, meanwhile, was sizing Skylar up and down as she prepared for the match. She bit at her lip and sucked in a breath - she could tell, right from the start, that Skylar was determined. Even more so knowing that Amanda was watching her. She could tell that Skylar wasn't going to make this easy, and the thought intimidated her. Skylar had, after all, well earned her reputation as one of the most feared women in LAW through a series of brutal matches and beatdowns, and tonight, she wouldn't be holding back. For a brief moment, Marzia could feel the sweat beading on her brow at the thought of what Sky could do to her. But she clenched her teeth, and she balled a fist tight to focus herself. She couldn't afford to show any weakness. And if she could take down someone as ruthless as Skylar Jones, that would send an even greater message - it would prove she wouldn't let her fear rule her.

As soon as the bell rang, Marzia was off, swinging a punch straight for Skylar's head and knocking her aside. She heard the crack of her fist landing, and she saw Skylar's head snap to the side. But barely a second passed before Sky shot back with a punch of her own, clocking the Italian in the face! Marzia took a step back, reeling backward in an arc; the force of the shot threatened to throw her off her feet. She needed to grab at her head to try and dull the pain, and she groaned under her breath. But soon, the fingers that covered her eye parted - and that eye, though bruised, was staring back at Skylar with a glare of pure hatred! Marzia wasn't going to let Skylar get away with this. Not without paying her back in turn!

"YOU THINK IT'S THAT EASY!?" Marzia bellowed, suddenly throwing herself back at Skylar - she pushed her feet off the ground, hurling herself straight toward the brunette to try and tackle her with a spear! And if that worked, she would try to clambor on top of Skylar to rain down punches aimed squarely at her head!"

"Well, I see one thing these ladies have in common tonight," Eiji recounted, "pure aggression! This is more assertive than we tend to see Servelli, but I'd say Skylar's set the tone for this match well - and she sees how it is!"