Dethroning the King: Bella King vs Karen Gale

[Underdoggo]

No holds barred match
Falls count anywhere
Victory by pinfall, knockout or submission

It was late in the day for the current LAW show. So far, a lot of good headline matches had come and gone, and a lot of fan favourites had gotten their chance to shine. Near the end of tonight's card, though, was a hardcore match-- a battle of endurance, tenacity, and ferocity between two members of the women's roster. The audience, needless to say, was more than a little excited at the upcoming match.

They did not have to wait long for the first competitor to show up.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Karen was met by a chorus of cheers from the crowds as she stood on the walkway, wearing a New Zealand All Blacks t-shirt over her ring gear while Nagual’s signature haka trap remix blared around her. Hopping down the ring, she enthusiastically hi-fived her fans, all the while eagerly lip-syncing the blared haka lyrics. Though she had only had a few matches so far here in LAW, she was already accruing a not inconsiderable fanbase, and was overjoyed that people were this excited over her and over one of her matches.

“Our first competitor, standing at five-foot-six and weighing one hundred and fifty pounds…from Dunedin, New Zealand…KAREN GAAAAALE!”

Striding into the ring, Karen eagerly hopped up onto the ring and dropped to her knees, arching back to raise her arms to the crowd, basking in their cheers. Finally, she stood back up and, peeling her shirt off, stepped back to the center of the ring, waiting to see who she would be brawling with tonight...

[pikazard]

As Bella stood backstage waiting for her match to begin the redhead would be found in a rare good mood before a match. This was the brit's first bout in a solid while and it was a match type that greatly appealed to her; No Holds Barred. Long before becoming a pro wrestler Bella had honed her skills in brutal street fights that had no rules at all, and while Bella had nothing against standard wrestling matches she always loved a chance to return to her roots and really let loose on whatever poor bitch she'd been matched up against. This thought put a smile on her face, and it wasn't a pleasant smile based on the way the backstage worker flinched when she came in to tell Bella she was up. Bella straightened up and made a last minute adjustment to her leotard before beginning to make her way to the Gorilla position, feeling energy course through her body as she did so.

Bella

Once Bella made her way to the top of the entrance ramp it would become clear who the favourite in the match was as the crowd's energy immediately switched up and they started booing and cursing the redhead. Bella however only scoffed at the hostility being thrown her way, shaking her head as if in amusement at a child trying to outsmart an adult. The opinion of the faceless masses didn't bother Bella one bit, and as she strutted her stuff down the ramp she seemed to even feel at home amongst the negativity surrounding her. All she really cared about was the fun she was about to have at her opponents expense.

As Bella entered the ring she would get her first look at said opponent, Karen Gale. The woman was shorter than Bella but had more muscle mass to her, as Bella looked the New Zealander up and down she concluded that Karen likely had her beat in raw power but otherwise didn't threaten the redhead at all. Karen looked no different to all the pretty girl babyfaces that Bella had made a career out of knocking out back in Britain, and though LAW was a higher level of competition she couldn't imagine Karen possibly being a threat to her in a hardcore match of all things. As Bella finished making her assumptions of her opponent she would finally speak up "Hello Karen, welcome to my ring" Bella's words dripped with condescension as she started Karen down, a grin seemingly plastered to her face "I've not seen any action in a while, so do try not to lose too quickly"

[Underdoggo]

And just like that, to a thunderous chorus of boos, everyone's favourite deathmatch veteran arrived.

Karen leaned forward intently against the ropes as she saw who was entering. She had, of course, heard of Bella King: she had never faced the woman up until now, but she had seen more than one of her matches. The fiery Brit had a well earned reputation for taking on any challenge, no matter how big or how daunting, and for being particularly strong in hardcore matches. She was terrifyingly competent martial artist who enjoyed fighting dirty, and who seemed perfectly happy to get into a bloody, knock-em down brawl.

Given that those were the type of fights Karen loved, this suited her just fine.

Soon the two of them were face to face, and Bella was wasting no time in showing Karen how little she thought of her. In response, Karen nonchalantly folded her arms and made a show of being similarly unimpressed. "Making excuses for your upcoming loss already, huh?" she snorted. "Fine by me. I'll try not to humiliate you too badly."

And with that, the ref came between the two ladies, Karen continuing to glare at Bella as she waited for the bell...

[pikazard]

As Bella and Karen first came face to face it would quickly become clear that neither of them were all too fond of the other as Karen matched the energy of Bella's taunts with a similar retort, prompting a scoff from the redhead "Oh I'm looking forward to this" she chuckled darkly, staring Karen down even as the referee risked her life by getting between the fighters. Despite the tension that was building between the two Karen and the referee seemed to want to wait for the bell to ring, which seemed odd to Bella given that this was meant to be a hardcore bout; both fighters were here and were clearly ready to rumble, so it didn't really matter what anyone else wanted.

Bella decided she would take the initiative and start the match off on her own terms. Before the bell rang Bella would suddenly lunge forwards and roughly shove the referee, pushing the smaller girl straight into Karen! Then if Karen stopped to catch the referee or was sent stumbling by the sudden impact Bella would raise her foot and thrust it straight at Karen's chest, setting the tone for the match by attempting to blindside her opponent right out the gate!

[Underdoggo]

As the ref girl came between them, Karen was reluctant to take her eyes off of Bella. She had run into the Brit's type before: arrogant ring bullies who were desperately in need of someone to give them a proper clobbering in the ring. And Karen was more than happy to be that person: Bella wouldn't be talking so much shit after Karen--

Bella lunged forward. The bell hadn't even rung yet.

Everything happened so fast, as Bella unceremoniously shoved the ref girl into Karen. Startled, Karen was forced to bring her arms up to catch the ref and prevent an impact...leaving her vulnerable to a heavy boot from Bella kicking her hard in the abs. She gasped loudly from the impact, doubling over, clutching her abs.

"Nnnrgh...bitch..."

And then, like the punchline to a cruel joke, the bell finally rang.

[pikazard]

With a self satisfied grin on her face Bella would kick the match off by using the referee as a weapon against Karen, forcing the New Zealander to lower her guard to catch the woman and giving Bella an opening to smash her gut with a swift front kick! The kick winded Karen and forced the white-haired woman to double over, leaving Bella looking down on her just as she had been doing this entire time, only much more literally. Seeing no other choice as the fight had already begun the staff would ring the bell to announce the official start of the match, and Bella would follow suit by attempting to ring Karen's bell with an elbow to the back of her head!

"You look pretty good from this angle!"

[Underdoggo]

Karen was coughing now as she was doubled over. Using the ref as weapon against her had been a cheap shot, one that she should have seen coming, given Bella King's reputation. Karen grimaced as she tried to catch her breath, silently vowing that she was going to make this bitch pay for tha--

THUNK

That was the sound Karen heard reverberating through her skull as Bella introduced her elbow to it. The blow sent Karen sprawling down onto her front, colours exploding across her vision. She groaned, trying to blink away the blurriness as she tried to push herself up to her hands and knees. It was not looking good for her so far...

[pikazard]

With Karen getting knocked down by Bella's elbow the redhead would take the opportunity to sneer down at her (comparatively) babyface opponent, mocking the New Zealander while she struggled to get back up to her feet. Bella stepped back a few feet as Karen got up to her hands and knees, then she would lurch forward and cock her leg back to swing it like a pendulum for a Soccer Kick aimed at Karen's side. If Bella had her way she would just keep on knocking Karen down, not letting her rest or recover for even a second until she couldn't take anymore. Would it make for an entertaining wrestling match? Not at all. Did Bella give a damn? What do you think?

[Underdoggo]

Karen's vision was blurry; she was trying her hardest to blink out the cobwebs and fight back, to get back into this fight. Unfortunately, her vision was still blurry enough that she didn't see what Bella was doing in the corner of her vision-- not, that was, until Bella's boot came crunching hard into her side with a brutal soccer kick!

"UAAAGH!" The blow sent Karen sprawling, rolling away from Bella towards the ropes. Instinctively, she hooked her arm over the lower rope, and dry heaved air, clenching her teeth as she tried to pull herself up to the middle rope. So far, though, this was not a great start...