Royal Thunderstorm vs TealTastic - Royal Blues

[winner3]

Although heel wrestlers were more well known for bending and breaking rules, wrestlers of all alignments and ideologies were known to break a convincing pin or submission finisher in tag matches. It was one of the many things that differentiated a 2-on-2 tag match from two concurrent singles matches. Sam had no time to mull over what type of tag partner she'd be if she just watched from the sidelines as Ishtar did Lexy in while she had the means to stop it. Her desire to move and interfere, even if it drew some dismay from the referee, came from her belief in herself and her team- from her competence as a wrestler that was bent on saving her tag partner and her friend!

"Wait, no!" Roberts would cry as she moved on instinct alone!

She had read Royal Thunderstorm's body language! Every part of the bluenette was sure she has caught both team members by surprise! Samantha was able to confirm for herself that Noelle was caught unawares when she made it halfway across the ring to Ishtar before Noelle could even leave the ring apron! But unfortunately for Roberts and Lexy, Ishtar proved to be a much more resourceful wrestler than either of them suspected!

Ishtar adjusted her grip on Lexy quickly and efficiently! The silver-haired beauty wasted no motion when she pushed the green-haired gal's face into the path of Sam's white boot, forcing Lexy to endure even more punishment when she was already on the brink of defeat!

The sound of the Superkick connecting with Lexy's face echoed throughout the arena! The crowd reacted as Ishtar skillfully used Lexy's face to block the blow! A look of dread came over Sam's face as she realized she was countered! As Ishtar rolled onto her back, Sam stepped forward, but she was stopped in her track by Noelle, who had burst onto the scene!

"No! Crap!" Sam protested as she reached for Noelle's shoulders and steeled herself to try and avoid being tackled to the ground!

Noelle had come at her with a full head of steam! Silva made the call for Ishtar to go for the pin right away! Sam had reacted by holding out her hands and catching the silver-haired lightweight by the shoulders! She dug her heels into the canvas with visible effort and stayed on her feet! But none of that effort would change the fact that Noelle did indeed make the right call! Lexy was a motionless heap! The ref did protest Noelle and Sam's involvement, but once Ishtar folded Lexy into a tight Jackknife Pin, counting it took priority for the official!

Sam had her horns locked with Noelle! The first count came when the referee slapped the canvas! There was no visible effort from Lexy as far as kicking out was concerned! The crowd counted along as Ishtar began to seal Lexy's fate in this elimination contest!

"ONE!!!"
"ONE....!!!"

Samantha began to panic! It took all the combat sense and strength she could muster to even think of a way out of this! She locked eyes with Noelle as a look for sheer determination formed on her expression! Because she was on her feet still, she felt she still had options! Sam turned to circle with Noelle! She'd do everything she could to make it such that Noelle's back was to Ishtar and Lexy!

"TWO!!!!"
"TWO......!!!"

The crowd and the referee called out the second count! Sam knew it was now or never! With all the strength her lightweight frame could muster, Roberts would push forward and try to force Noelle into Ishtar and Lexy to break the pin and save her partner in this match up! Even if Lexy was undoubtedly the weakest among the two teams, a 2 v 1 situation was unideal! But more than any strategical advantage, what mattered most to Sam was saving her friend!

Regardless of whether or not Sam had the strength to pull it off, even if she did, it would be just a second too late, if it even worked at all!

"THREE!"
"THREEEEE!!!!" The referee called out!

The referee's hand came down a third time! Whether or not there was a body pile of wrestlers or whether or not Noelle and Sam were still engaged in a stalemate, the striped shirt woman officiating the match would approach the ropes and signal the timekeeper and the announcer! The announcer's call would confirm the events that had played out, and Sam would crawl and dig past whoever she needed to in order to retrieve her TealTastic partner, Lexy!

"Lexy Alan....has been eliminated!" The announcer would call out! And cheers for Royal Thunderstorm would follow! Sam would hold her partner and place Lexy's head on her lap!

"Lex! Tell me you're okay!" Sam would say with concern. Lexy would answer with a thumbs up.

"Sam...you've got...this..." Lexy would answer weakly. The referee would alert them that Lexy would need to be removed from the ring and sent to the back in order for things to continue. Sam would take Lexy's arm over her shoulder and help Lexy to the ropes, where officials at ringside would see the interviewer/wrestler and help her to the backstage area where she could get looked at. After all the formalities were out of the way, the match would resume. And with Ishtar still being the legal woman, the odds were stacked heavily against the last line of defense for the Teals in Samantha Roberts!

"People usually go easy on her, you know....They usually give her a chance." Sam would ball her fist as she said this.

"I guess this means I should stop taking it easy on you guys!" Sam would roar to her opponents as the contest resumed as a handicap match in Royal Thunderstorm's favor!

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Ishtar respected the effort that Samantha was putting in to try to save her partner, but the Russian would have none of it. The fact that the Thunder Dragon Sleeper allowed Ishtar to use the victim as a human shield in doubles matches had never actually occurred to her before. But when she saw the lightweight rushing in with no restraint, shifting Lexy into the path of her own partner's attack seemed only natural.

Noelle on the other hand, was not nearly as pleased with herself. Though Ishtar fended off Samantha, it was her own blunder that necessitated that she do so in the first place. Of course Samantha would try to save Lexy from otherwise certain elimination. It was heelish for her to do so, it was common sense. Noelle took the anger she felt at herself and threw it into Samantha with her shoulder charge.

Noelle's charge came short of toppling Samantha outright, but it drove her back a few steps and squarely placed the princess herself as an obstacle between the bluenette and any further interference. From there, Noelle didn't need to beat Samantha. She just needed to keep her walled off from the two active wrestlers. So Noelle made sure to grab onto Samantha's body tightly, so even if the bluenette toppled the silver haired girl, she still wouldn't be able to get past Noelle outright.

As Ishtar laid down on top of Lexy, and the first count of the pin was made, the Russian knew that the chef had no hope of escaping on her own. The only hope she had was her partner. And for that, Ishtar just had to have faith in Noelle, which she did. And for the princess's part, she was holding her ground. She and Samantha were lined straight up with Ishtar and Lexy, and as such, Samantha was trying to get to them by going straight through Noelle. Trying to either force her way past, or failing that, to force Noelle back into Ishtar to disrupt her.

But the Wall of Silva held strong. Noelle knew that Samantha didn't have time to attack her to get through, so Noelle didn't worry about defending herself. She just focused on keeping Samantha wrapped up, and pushing her body forward and pressing it up into Samantha's body to halt any forward momentum that she tried to generate to get through to her partner.

And together, Ishtar and Noelle succeeded. Lexy was eliminated from the match with the third slap of the referee's hand on the mat. With the first step of the job done, and a pause put on the match with the elimination of a combatant, Ishtar got up, and Noelle let Samantha past. But both members of Royal Thunderstorm took issue with Samantha's words towards them.

"If that's the case, then that just means people thought your partner wasn't worth taking seriously," said Ishtar.

"And frankly, I'm offended you thought there was any reason to take us lightly and go easy," followed Noelle with a glare. The lightweight then held out her hand to Ishtar, which the middleweight tagged. Noelle believed that Ishtar could've simply taken Samantha 1v1 as is, but it was still safer for the princess to weaken and tire her as much as possible before the Russian came back in to clean up the match.

[winner3]

A valiant effort from Sam to bail her tag partner Lexy out of the predicament that Ishtar had put her in ensued in a struggle that saw both members of Royal Thunderstorm work in tandem to hold the lightweight back so that their legal/active member could pin Lexy and put her away! Cheers and reactions filled the arena as the first elimination was announced for all to hear! Words were briefly exchanged between both TealTastic members. And following that, words were exchanged between the remaining competitors of both teams.

"What?!" Sam reacted with visible anger and frustration on her face, clearly taking just as much issue with the opposing team's words as they did with her own!

Despite the fact that energy and tensions had risen with Lexy's elimination, the atmosphere in the arena would only continue to thicken as this televised match continued!

The audience had reacted with a range of emotions to the words of Noelle and Ishtar. Samantha Roberts balled her fist as a scowl formed on her face. A single tear of frustration swam down her cheek as she clenched her teeth and quickly rose to turn toward the silver-haired pair! Tag team rules were often bent by wrestlers of all alignments and walks of life, but the dismissive words of the Thunderstorm stang with a tangible remorselessness that saw many fans in attendance and even fans watching worldwide let out very audible boos!

"What a callous, rude, insensitive, unfeeling thing to say about anyone that's willing to put their body on the line and make an honest effort in the pro ring!" Little Sam would roar at both women. The fans in attendance began to rally behind Sam and her righteous indignation!

"This is a wrestling ring! Not a warzone! If you want to give no mercy and expect none in return then you shouldn't call yourselves pro wrestlers!" As Sam continued getting fired up, The Royals tagged once more, poising themselves to pit Noelle against Sam so that they could keep Ishtar fresh and ready to end things when needed. Their strategy was sound. But the didn't seem to deter Roberts at all. The bluenette went on!

"You're just hitmen! Goons!"

"There's nothing "royal" or becoming about either of you! And when I get my hands on you both, I'll prove it!"

Sam chants and claps reverberated throughout the arena as the lightweight TealTastic members spurred both herself and the crowd on! Samantha had always wrestled with a light, mirthful heart and energy! But all that seemed to go out the window in the face of the ruthless efficiency that was the up-and-coming Royal Thunderstorm tag team!

Samantha would look to circle the ring with Noelle at a brisk pace! Armed with little more than a partner to avenge and the support of the crowd, Roberts would quicken her pace abruptly and lunge at Silva from the side! Sam would attempt to slide in and drop to one knee as she looked to grab hold of her legal opponent's ankle and attempt to drop her by pulling it up off the ground and leaning her weight into her foe to attempt a single-leg takedown! If Sam managed to take initiative and take control, she'd attempt to mount her foe and rain down some simple but effective forearms and punches!

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Noelle was more focused on Samantha as an opponent to worry about her as a verbal detractor, or about the sway of the crowd. Ishtar on the other hand, from her spot outside the ring, where all she had to do was watch and wait, took a bit more offense. "It's seems that you, Samantha, have deluded yourself into thinking that just because your partner isn't on the same level as the rest of us, that you're entitled to some sort of handicap or leniency. And by the sound of it, you've convinced the crowd of that as well. To that I say..." Ishtar would make sure as many people as possible heard the next words out of her mouth.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Ishtar shouted. "This is a professional fight. It is our and your job to do everything within your power and within the rules to win! We were respecting Lexy as a wrestler by doing exactly that! If you've come to expect anything else from your opponents, then that's your problem. Not ours." Then Ishtar turned away from Samantha to address the crowd specifically. "And to you all, why are you backing her up?! You all paid and came here to see a fight! Why would you want any of us to hold back or go easy on the match that you paid to see?" The Russian fighter then sighed. "Well, I've said my piece. Come on Noelle, you got this!"

And so the mob mentality swayed once more. As with Samantha, people heard a loud angry voice making points that sounded reasonable, so they started to shift towards it. Some stuck in their anger towards Royal Thunderstorm, and some came to their side. And of course there were those who had chosen either side well before this and had never changed. After all was said and done, the crowd was back to about even.

As for the match, Samantha's anger gave her a boost that put Noelle on the backfoot. The bluenette had lifted up her leg, and the princess hopped back a couple times before going down. Noelle pulled back her free leg, planning to use it to help defend herself. She would kick and push her foot into Samantha's hip, trying to push her back and off. And while that was happening, Noelle would manage a decent blocking defense against her enraged enemy's punches. A few slipped through, but she kept herself pretty okay.

[winner3]

Not being the active woman in the match afforded the chance to give a mini promo of her own. One in which she defended her team's actions and stood up for her beliefs, even before the skeptical crowd and the indignant last bastion of TealTastic!! The Russian stood firm in her resolve, even in front of the crowd with a rapidly increasing number of detractors!

The commentators at ringside and many of the fans in the crowd had gone from being siding squarely with Roberts to having more mixed opinions. Did professionalism in the ring have to come part and parcel with ruthlessness in the ring? The way Ishtar had described? Ishtar herself had made the call to give Sam the breathing room she needed in order to make a tag to Lexy earlier.

Or was the ability to exercise restraint for the sake of putting on a great match the mark of a model wrestler? The ability to encourage a lesser opponent to compete with you and work their way up to your level, the way Samantha seemed to be alluding to? Questions like these teemed in the minds of viewers as the action in the ring continued! Mixed reactions from fans continued to fill the arena!

No matter the case, the show had to go on. And with Noelle in the ring with Sam ready to give Roberts all she could handle to try and close this out 2-0 in Royal Thunderstorm's favor, Sam couldn't afford to bark words back at Ishtar, no matter how grating she thought the silver-haired middleweight's sermon was!

"Raaaagh!" Roberts had cried as she angrily threw alternating fists and forearms, raining them down on Noelle relentlessly!

The crowd roared as Sam tried to lay her strikes in! But Noelle was far from defenseless! The active member of Royal Thunderstorm reclaimed her leg and situated it against Sam's hip and lower body to eventually force the bluenette off of her! And when she did, Sam found herself being pushed away!

"Grrrrr....!" Sam would grunt as she used the momentum from Noelle's push to roll backwards onto all fours! Sam would assume a kneeling position! She'd measure Silva as she would no doubt begin to rise! The crowd reacted with anticipation as Sam looked Noelle's way expectantly! And when the silver-haired lightweight made it up to her knees, Samantha would dash at her and look to jump towards her! Sam would look to interlock her fingers behind Noelle's head and bring her knees up towards Noelle's head before falling down onto her back to try and take Noelle with her as she looked to hit a Double Knee Facebreaker, AKA The Codebreaker!

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Noelle struggled against Samantha and her mounted onslaught, but the princess was eventually successful at getting her leg inside her opponent's body and pushing Samantha away to halt the attack. But the bluenette was absolutely relentless in her anger. Samantha was already coming back in on the attack as Noelle was just getting up. Something that only could've been possible had she managed to land in a battle stance after Noelle pushed her away.

"Woah!" reacted Noelle as Samantha blitzed her. The princess got her hands up, but the bluenette had already gotten her own behind Noelle's silver haired head. Now Samantha had the princess in a 50/50 situation, and Noelle had to guess. Samantha would either pull Noelle's head forward into a knee strike, or she would take the princess down and use her grip to transition into a chokehold, or another head submission.

Noelle crossed her arms in front her face to block. She was right. Both of Samantha's knees crashed into Noelle's arms, the sheer force of the impact driving the princess' arms back into her own face still, and knocked Noelle onto her back. But she had still managed to successfully defend against what would've otherwise been an absolutely massive strike.

But Noelle still had a very aggressive Samantha hanging over her to deal with. Above anything else, she just needed the bluenette to slow down right now. Samantha had been blitzing Noelle with constant offense since the moment Lexy was eliminated. So Noelle would try to reach up and grab Samantha around her body to drag her down to the mat in an attempt to limit her offensive capability.

[winner3]

Sam had been firing off on all cylinders! She had been coming at Noelle and she had hoped to come at Ishtar with all the fire and energy of a woman who had just gotten a hit tag! Of course, she combined might and talent between both members of Royal Thunderstorm saw to it that a hot tag was never made! Poor Lexy was done in before she ever got the chance to tag her partner in! At this point, Sam and the many fans in attendance that were behind her fighting and cheering four the chance to see TealTastic make some headway in this match! And for a chance to see Royal Thunderstorm's relentless dismantling of Sam repaid in kind!

Samantha had created an advantage for herself peppering Noelle with all the strikes she could muster before trying to secure her advantage in momentum with a big move!

"Yeah!" Sam cheered to herself as her love connected! Noelle had blocked having seen the Facebuster knock the girl onto her back gave her confidence that Silva would be stunned!

Sam banged the canvas and rose up before letting out a battle cry! Once again, the audience cheered, filling the bluenette lightweight with vigor! She approached a floored Noelle for a follow-up, but when she did, Noelle was quick to act! Quicker than Roberts expected!

"Woah!" Sam would exclaim as she was pulled down, seemingly by the arm!

Sam would lean into it and look to drop down onto her shoulder, past Noelle's person! Roberts would hope to avoid being taken down by doing a shoulder roll and ending up in a kneeling position near the ropes! If Sam managed to escape, she'd pant and use the ropes to rise! The reality of the situation was finally starting to set in. Despite the fact that she did have a short breather in her team's corner, Sam had been doing almost all the wrestling for her team. And Lexy hadn't lasted very long at all before she was done in by Ishtar! Sam was running on adrenaline and righteous fury. But she had limits. And sooner or later, she was going to hit them!

And in the hopes of getting Noelle to hit her limits first, Sam would watch her legal opponent carefully. She resisted the opportunity she had to give Noelle the stinkeye and she leaned against the ropes in the hopes of bouncing off of them and timing a dash such that she could catch Silva with a Running Dropkick as she was rising up off the canvas!

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Noelle was able to successfully stem the tide tide of Samantha's offensive by getting a hold on her arm and dragging the bluenette down. Even if nothing really came of it, simply forcing her attack to stop was a good thing for the silver haired wrestler. Noelle saw that Samantha also got up slowly, tiredly. The burst of energy from her emotions had faded, and all she had to show for it was a couple of hits.

Noelle smirked. Even if she fell, she'd have done her job. There was no way that Samantha would be able to have the energy at this point to finish off Noelle, and then follow it up by taking out Ishtar. A woman who would likely beat Samantha 1 on 1 even if she weren't fatigued. Ishtar knew this too, and made no attempt to interfere with the Lightweight even though she was pulling herself up with ropes well within arm's reach of the Russian. Because Ishtar recognized that getting penalized by the referee was the only realistic way that Royal Thunderstorm could throw the match at this point.

Ishtar's conservative non-interference left Noelle to handle Samantha alone. And as she stood up, the bluenette was on the attack. It was clear that she wanted to get her attack off before Noelle could stand, but her fatigue betrayed her, as Noelle was up by the time Samantha took off from the ropes. But that didn't mean that the Spaniard would have an easy time defending.

Samantha was looking to hit a Noelle who was still down on the ground. Thus, her dropkick came in very low. Too low for Noelle, who was also tired herself, to shift back down and defend in time. The dropkick flew clean into Noelle's knees, upending the princess and sending her falling forward into her own corner. Noelle stayed down in the corner on her back, offering herself up to be pinned. Because if Samantha, desperate to finish Noelle off as quickly as possible took the bait, then guess who would be waiting just on the other side of the ropes for the moment her partner was counted out to pounce? It would be Ishtar of course. And the result would not be pretty for Samantha.

[winner3]

Where Sam fought with a fiery passion and a desire to avenge her tag partner, Noelle and Ishtar fought with the sole goal of achieving victory. If you were to ask Samantha what was going to happen tonight following Lexy's elimination, the little bluenette would get fired up and tell you that she was about to run right through Noelle and then Ishtar! And in very short order! The craziest part about that was the fact that her energy became infectious and the fans in attendance were behind her! With Roberts doing everything she could to continuously take it to Silva over and over again, sticking to the silver-haired lightweight like white on rice, even the commentators calling the match slowly began to buy into the idea that Samantha might actually pull this off for TealTastic! When Sam's dropkick connected, the momentum and the cheers in the arena saw her push herself up to her feet almost immediately! Sam would look to grab Noelle by her feet, taking one boot in each hand as she looked to turn her legal opponent over onto her back and pull her a few feet away from the corner! If all went her way, Roberts would signal her next move, playing it up for the crowd!

Roberts pointed at a downed Noelle with both index fingers, telegraphing the fact that she intended to set up for something big! But slowly her arms drifted, not from fatigue, but so that she might bring everyone's attention to Ishtar on the apron to point at her next!

"You're next, Ishtar!" Sam would call out the non-legal woman, indicating that she was set on running through Ishtar after putting away Noelle!

A savvier fighter might have realized that Noelle was bait. But in the heat of the moment, no one considered the idea that Royal Thunderstorm might offer up one fall for the sake of putting the last remaining opponent on the opposing team at a disadvantage! Sam saw this chance to come at Noelle and she jumped on it quite literally!

"Hup!" The lightweight called out as she looked to dash towards the ropes on the far side of the ring! Reactions could be heard from the crowd as Sam picked up speed and sped back towards Noelle, leaping over her before jumping onto the middle rope near Royal Thunderstorm's corner and winking at Ishtar before throwing her weight backwards and jumping off the ropes to attempt a Lionsault on Noelle Silva!

If Samantha managed to connect, her lightweight frame would land perpendicular to Noelle's! She'd land right on top of the legal woman and hook both her legs to try and secure her in a pin and earn a fall to avenge Lexy! The referee would drop down and to check Noelle's shoulders before she began counting!

"ONE.....!!!"

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Noelle was knocked down onto the floor after having her legs taken out by Samantha's dropkick. But the bluenette didn't go for the pin. Not right away at least. Instead Samantha pulled Noelle a slight bit out of the corner, which actually was rather concerning for the princess. If she got pinned right now, Ishtar would be too far away to get her hands on Samantha right away. There'd have to be a delay, giving the bluenette time to react.

But as quickly as Samantha created this issue for Noelle, she also resolved it. Showboating aside, Samantha ran in the opposite direction to pick up some steam. And with the bluenette's back turned, Noelle creeped her way back into the corner. The princess doubted Samantha would notice the difference. She'd just attack Noelle where she laid. "Careful," said Ishtar. "This is going to sting."

"Eh," was Noelle's reply. "I'll live, and you'll win." Even on the comeback, Samantha didn't go for her attack quite yet. Instead jumping over Noelle onto the ropes, throwing a wink at Ishtar that got a chuckle and an eye roll out of the Russian. Despite her cavalier attitude, Noelle did still brace herself for Samantha, whose body was plummeting through the air down at her.

"UFF!" grunted Noelle on impact. All was going to plan. Noelle just had to lay there for the three count. And once she was pinned, Ishtar became the active wrestler. And the moment that happened, Samantha would be position right there for the Russian to lay a match ending beating on. Ishtar already had a foot up on the ropes in anticipation and preparation.

2!

3!

"Enjoy Mjolnir," said Noelle, a smile on her face despite having been pinned. The echo of the bell's ring would still be travelling through the arena when Ishtar, now the active wrestler with Noelle's defeat, leaped over the ring post and grabbed Samantha, pulling her up off of her partner and holding her upside down. For her part, Noelle rolled out of the ring as soon as the bluenette was off of her. Both to satisfy the rules and to get the hell out of Ishtar's way. The crowd, once going ballistic when Samantha evened the score, went nearly dead as they realized the folly of their champion's success.

But the crowd picked back up as the recognized Ishtar about to bring the thunder to end this. Samantha in her grip, Ishtar would climb back up onto the ropes. Balancing herself with the ringpost as she stood on the middle rope. The Russian then pushed off, jumping from the ropes to bury Samantha hopes of victory six feet under with an Avalanche Tombstone Piledriver dubbed Mjolnir after the mighty Hammer of Norse legend.

Mjolnir

If this went off with no issues, then all that would be left for Ishtar was the pin. With Samantha almost assuredly unmoving, if not unconscious on her back, the Russian wouldn't bother with a hook. She'd sit her toned glutes down on Samantha's chest and pin the bluenette's shoulders down with her knees; a schoolgirl pin. Then Ishtar would start flexing her arms for the crowd as she waited for three seconds to pass,

1!

2!