Looking Back with Eiji Matsumoto: Lars Ostberg vs. Alaina Sanders (2002)

[CaptainL]

Written by Eiji Matsumoto

I’ve gotten called a lot of things in my time writing for LAW Magazine. But one thing people can say for a fact is that I know a thing or two about wrestling. I’ve covered this business for longer than some of my coworkers have been alive, and to put things frankly, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to see wrestling back when wrestling mattered. Back when the wrestlers and the fans took it seriously, and not as the over-hyped strip club sideshow they’re peddling today. So I figured I might as well put that knowledge to good use and walk you through some of the greatest matches of yesteryear. Maybe then you kids will get to see all you’ve been missing out on - and maybe you’ll see where I’m coming from.

The first match I’d like to review comes from the Central European Wrestling Association, back in 2002. You know, what really makes me feel old is realizing that talking about matches from 2002 is “looking back” now, but I digress. What makes this one stand out is that it’s an intergender match. Yeah, you heard that right, an intergender match worth highlighting. When all LAW gives you is squash after squash, you start to forget what you can actually accomplish getting a talented, capable man and a talented, capable woman in the ring together. Frankly I don’t know why they bother; if people want to watch some third-string pretty boy who wasn’t good enough for singing or acting getting his crotch stepped on by a voluptuous lady in combat boots, there’s plenty of websites right up their alley. If you want to see real intergender wrestling, look no further than Lars Ostberg vs. Alaina Sanders.

If those names sound familiar, it’s for good reason. Alaina Sanders needs no introduction for those following LAW, and Lars is the father of Astrid Ostberg, before she was the LAW Heavyweight Champion we know today. Their legacy lives on to this day, and Alaina and Astrid have my respect as ladies who know their way around the ring and warrant every amount of pride they can take in their victories. But at the time of this match, Alaina was in the running for the top championship at the Womens Wrestling Alliance of Europe, and Astrid was an eight-year-old girl watching her father, one half of the former World Tag Team Champions that were the Ostberg Brothers and a second-generation star. Though his career peaked in the late 80s, Lars was still wrestling well into the 2000s back in Europe, and it’s here that his path crossed with a young Alaina, fresh off her career in the US and making a name for herself around the world.

You might be wondering how Alaina ended up facing Lars while she was in an all-girl promotion, and that’s because at the time, Lars was issuing an open challenge to anyone - in the CEWA or elsewhere - who could take him on. He’d had enough of folks saying he was past his prime, and he wanted to prove that he still had it by offering whoever wanted to face him to try their hand. Well, he proved a good few people wrong, if the path of hopeless overconfident rookies hoping to get their name out there by taking down a legend he left behind says anything. But that didn’t stop the takers from coming - and one of them was the Amazon herself. After CEWA and WWAE had cross-promoted their talent on a couple of cards, Alaina was well aware of what the situation was over with the men, and she knew of Lars’s offer. That’s what led her to jump in the ring for her chance the next time Lars showed up in Aachen, Germany and put his challenge out to anyone willing to answer it.

At the start of things, Lars tried to talk her out of it. In his time, you see, people had dignity, and he considered himself too much of a gentleman to hit women. But Alaina kept coming onto him - in more ways than one, if the way she was getting handsy with his muscles says anything, but Lars was a married man and he didn’t have time for dalliances. What he did have time for was a match, and when he saw that Alaina wasn’t going to back down, he had no choice but to take her up on her offer. If she wanted it that bad, she had to mean something by it. Either that, or she didn’t know what she was getting into. Luckily for Alaina, and for all of us watching, it was the former.

Alaina came out swinging as soon as the bell rang. They locked up in a test of strength, but it wasn’t long before the Amazon took control, wrestling Lars to his knees and opening things off with a headlock! Lars wasn’t prepared for his opponent to put up that much of a fight, but it soon became apparent that the 175-pound woman was made of stronger stuff than he’d bargained for. Getting his head into the game, he forced himself back to his feet, managing to reverse into a backdrop, but Alaina was quickly up to her feet. After taking him down with an Irish Whip into a Big Boot, she got on Lars’s back and twisted his arm around for the hammerlock. A rope break courtesy of a foot on the ropes saved the Norwegian, and he came back up with a few elbows to the head, but Alaina was able to block each one, coming back at the last one with an arm drag. Even after Lars got back up for another lockup, it was again Alaina who took control. After hitting a knee to the gut, she got her arms around him and threw him overhead for a German Suplex!

Already the crowd was going wild, seeing the veteran getting pummeled by the American upstart. With Lars down, Alaina made the first pinfall attempt of the night. But Lars was an old hand at this, and he was no slouch himself! He kicked out at one, and getting back on his feet, he took Alaina down with a DDT! To his surprise, though, she got back up before he could follow on that. Even after a Full Nelson, Alaina stood tall, wriggling her way free.

Lars was finding that not only was Alaina capable of dishing out a lot of punishment, she could take it as well! He would need to go all out if he wanted to break through her defenses. Now, it was Lars’s turn to start bringing the aggression. Boxing her in with some strikes and some shoulder blocks to control the momentum, Lars got his opponent in the corner, where he got off a few punches to the stomach that knocked the wind out of her. From there, he took her down with a bodyslam, still able to throw the Amazon around like a rag doll even at his age! After an elbow drop to keep her in place, Lars got a pin of his own, but Alaina kicked out at one. Undeterred, he scooped her back up.

As the two break into some chain action, we can see why both were already former champions. Both Lars and Alaina proved themselves capable of one-upping each other when it came to holds to maintain control and keep each other down - Lars got Alaina into a wristlock, only to be countered by an Irish Whip, but he came back at her with a clothesline, only for Alaina to grab him for a suplex! All the same, Lars was quick to roll out of the way and get back to his feet. The two locked up again, and this time it was Lars who got his hold around Alaina’s waist and landed a suplex of his own. Again, he went for the pin, but when Alaina kicked out at one, he got back on his feet. After some struggling in another test of strength, Lars, who had seen what Alaina was truly capable of and had no use for holding back, got the Amazon on the ropes for a forearm to the head, and that left her rattled enough for a hard-hitting German of his own! And if that wasn’t enough, he went for another! He’d seen how quickly Alaina could bounce back from what could flatten even some of the fellows in his league, and he wasn’t about to take his chances!

Lars covered Alaina for the pin once again, and this time, it looked like he almost had it. She was down and out, laying there motionless and in a daze. Or so it seemed. The ref counted one, and then a two. But just as he lifted his hand a third time, Alaina’s shoulders came off the mat - and the crowd went wild! Even if Lars had been a fan favorite, they were getting a taste for what Alaina could do, and she had more than proved herself capable of standing up to what made Lars Ostberg famous. I’m willing to bet a good few fans had never given any thought to womens’ wrestling before, but by the end of that night, I’m sure a good portion of them wanted to know more.

In any case, with both wrestlers on their feet, Lars was faced with a difficult prospect. He needed to put Alaina away, and he needed to do it definitively, if she’d managed to shrug off almost everything else he had thrown at her! The two circled around the ring now, both seeing one another as capable challengers, and both knew they would have to give it their all if they wanted to prevail. They moved slowly and cautiously, trying to save their strength for when they’d need it most. But as they came back together for another collar and elbow tieup, it was Lars who made his move. He needed to finish Alaina off once and for all - and he suddenly broke the hold and ducked low, ensnaring her arms and ribs at the same time to apply the famous Ostberg bear hug!

By now, many would be forgiven for thinking the match was over. Sure, Alaina had eaten a lot of hard-hitting moves thus far and still managed to get up from each. But there was only so much punishment one human being could take, even a woman like Alaina Sanders! What’s more, this was Lars’s finishing move - maybe you kids might not think it so special, but Lars was coming from a day when wrestlers still realized they didn’t need to do flashy 720 backflip springboard moonsault super death bomb drivers as long as what they were good at worked. There’s a reason Astrid still uses the move that her family perfected - and now that Lars had tried everything else, this was what he had to fall back on.

For a while, it looked like it was all he’d need, too. He had Alaina caught, and she was gagging and groaning, her struggles to free herself soon dwindling as she used up her energy. It looked like the only options the Amazon had were to signal her submission, or pass out. I’m sure that those same thoughts were going through her head, too - if her brain had enough oxygen for conscious thought, anyway! But Alaina’s salvation would come from an unlikely source.

You see, Lars was still on full-time duty, but he was no spring chicken any more. If Alaina was facing Lars Ostberg in his prime, she’d have already lost. But Lars could only keep things up for so long - and especially after facing a grueling match, there came a point where he simply couldn’t hold on any longer! At last, the Norseman’s arms gave out, and he dropped Alaina to the ground in a heap as he went staggering backward!

Even then, after the vise-like grip of Lars’s bear hug, everyone was on the edge of their seat to see if Alaina would make it back up. But she got one knee under her, and then the other, and soon she was rising back to her feet! The crowd was cheering, just waiting to see how Alaina was going to come back from this. And what a comeback it was! She was out to prove that she was just getting started, and she came in with a clothesline that threw Lars back against the ropes! The only thing keeping him upright was the ropes behind him, as Alaina laid into him with punches and elbows too fast for him to see where they were coming, let alone to block. Then, she got her arm around his head and took him down with a DDT, planting him face-first into the canvas.

For Alaina, though, this was only a warmup to tide her over while she was catching her breath! Now, she was on to the grand finale. With Lars down, she scooped him up, and though she needed to strain and push to get him onto her shoulders, the adrenaline rush she was feeling helped push her the extra mile to get there. Walking Lars back to the center of the ring, the Amazon came down with her trademark jackknife powerbomb, the Amabomb! By this point, the fans were cheering so loud you couldn’t hear the ref. But I’m sure everyone knew what the count would be! One...two...three! The bell rang, and Lars Ostberg’s open challenge had finally been answered!

After the match, Lars only had congratulations and warm words for the woman who had bested him. He’d gone into this match unsure if Alaina would be worth his time, but by the end of it he knew she had surpassed everyone’s expectations. The two of them shared a handshake in the center of the ring, Lars accepting defeat graciously against a worthy opponent. But this would only be the beginning - and with Alaina proving herself capable of standing at Lars’s side, he was eager to tag with her going forward, leading to a string of mixed tag bouts.

And there you have it! A thrilling even match between two talented, skilled, and well-respected athletes who just happened to be a man and a woman. Didn’t need any flips from the top rope, any run-ins or foreign objects, or any barely trained girls shoving their asses in the camera to get everyone’s attention, which is more than I can say about some of the main events I’ve seen in LAW. I’m thankful we have people like Alaina carrying on the tradition today, and legacy wrestlers like Astrid following in the footsteps of the greats that came before them. But take note, LAW - if a small regional promotion in Europe could do it, you’ve got no excuse.