Heavyweight Championship Match: Astrid Ostberg (c) vs. Dana Ashford

[CaptainL]

Astrid knew the consequences of letting Dana run free for too long. The Smiling Demon had certainly earned her reputation as a fearsome foe, and if she gave her the opportunity to take control, she surely would stop at nothing to punish her opponent for it. Dana might have broken her hold on her, but Astrid wouldn't let any time pass by before she was in another one!

The Norwegian had gone to her side, but just as quickly she would reach out to grab Dana by the throat, pulling her against her chest before she rolled to her back to lock in a sleeperhold. Her hand balled tightly into a clenched fist to steady herself, and the muscles in her arms bulged, pushing up harder against Dana's throat. All the while, Astrid grinned wider with confidence. She might well have had the fearsome Dana Ashford under control!

However, Dana wasn't going to go down without a fight. With her back to Astrid's front, she was in position to lash out with a strike behind her, and Astrid was right in the way to take it! As the first elbow landed with a crack against her ribs, Astrid shuddered, shivering as her hold on Dana began to slip ever so slightly. With the next, she was shaken further, her teeth clenching into a pained grimace. A bruise was beginning to spread along her side beneath her leotard, and each blow that landed was only making that ache grow more and more. Astrid knew that she couldn't keep this up forever. Yet, at the same time, she had sworn never to surrender - and she wouldn't do that here, either!

Astrid swept her arm off of Dana's neck, only to swing it underneath the arm she was using to elbow her, attempting to get it restrained before she grabbed onto Dana's neck to hook her into a half nelson on the mat! Hopefully, it wouldn't just deal damage, but prevent Dana from pressing her assault any further. Of course, Astrid was still hurting - she still winced as the pain of her foe's elbows rippled through her side. She didn't expect this to finish Dana off, but it just might buy her more time!

[Arjuna]

Hitting at Astrid's side a few times with her elbow, Dana was finally freed from the sleeper hold. Even so, before she could get herself out of her opponent's grasp, Dana was captured into a half nelson, and she cried out in pain as the heavyweight champion subjected her to the hold on the mat. Her brow scrunched up as she tried to endure the hold.

"NGGHHHHHH!!!"

For now, Dana would try to struggle and shake her body, hoping to make it difficult for Astrid to maintain the hold. She knew what her opponent was trying to accomplish here, where she was trying to weaken her with the half nelson. Dana was hoping to outlast the hold as she continued her struggling, though she also knew that she would be weakened upon being released.

[CaptainL]

Astrid grit her teeth and furrowed her brow, squeezing her fist tightly enough to dig her nails into her palm as she tried to resist the pain building in her side with each elbow strike Dana landed against her. The veteran definitely packed a punch, and no manner of years did anything to blunt her force. But she knew that she had Dana held down, and the consequences of releasing the pressure would be too great to even consider. Astrid needed to hang on in any way she could - and even when she took her arm off her throat for one moment to release the sleeperhold, it was back around the Smiling Demon's side just a moment later as she went to apply a half nelson!

Astrid pulled harder at Dana's arm, keeping it locked in place as she arched her body backward to pull her opponent's back up against her chest. Even as Dana struggled, Astrid did her best to last it out - her muscles flexed even tighter, causing them to bulge against her skin and press into Dana's own form. She tried to mirror every motion the challenger made with one of her own, preventing her from going too far. Still, Astrid knew that with Dana fighting back this much, her hold couldn't last forever. She needed to start thinking about changing things up before her opponent found a way out.

The Norwegian had plenty of experience in wrestling, and she knew her way around how to utilize her moves to control her opponent's motions. She knew plenty about what she could get out of a half nelson! First, she attempted to roll her weight over to bring Dana face-down, pressing her knee into her spine to do so. Then, leaning in closer to Dana's back, Astrid moved perpendicular to Dana as she pressed down on her neck, attempting to weigh her down. She would use her grip around her arm to push upward in an attempt to roll Dana to her back while she stayed on top. If that worked, Astrid would reach behind her to hook her leg, attempting to pull it up for a pin!

Spoiler

[Arjuna]

Held in the half nelson, Dana would continue resisting the hold, gritting her teeth as she mustered her endurance so that she could outlast it. Her skin was slick from perspiration, and she could feel that exhaustion starting to set in. Dana was no longer the young woman she was years ago, but that didn't mean she had grown weaker as she became older.

And then, Astrid started changing her tactic, and Dana realized that she might in trouble if she couldn't react to this accordingly. She couldn't see what Astrid was planning, but it sure looked like the champion knew what she was doing. And before she knew it, Dana got rolled onto her back as Astrid went for a pinfall attempt!

"ONE!"

Realizing what Astrid was trying to do, Dana's mind went overdrive as she tried to shift gears so that she could focus on kicking out. At the same time, the referee continued with the counts, and if the counts were unimpeded, the match would surely end with the champion's victory. Dana refused to lose in such manner.

"TWO!"

"THR-!"

It took some adjustments, but before the referee could finish the count, Dana kicked out at the very last moment, and the crowd went wild from the near fall. She grunted as she would try to shake herself off Astrid's hold so that she could free herself and slump to her side, gasping and panting for air. She needed to catch her breath and recover first before she could fight back.

[CaptainL]

There was no mistake about it, Astrid was a powerhouse through and through. The bulk of her arsenal revolved around leveraging her size and strength in order to deliver devastating blows against her opponents, and she took that in stride. But Astrid knew that she couldn't succeed in wrestling if she focused all her efforts in a single discipline, and she had a respectable amount of technical knowledge, too. She was no submission specialist, but she knew how holds worked, and she knew how to position her opponents to take advantage of transitions from one move to the next and to set up counters. When she had Dana in a half-nelson on the mat, it didn't take long for Astrid to realize that with the right amount of force in the right direction, she could roll Dana right into a pin!

The Norsewoman held her weight down against Dana's, pressing her hefty bust against the veteran's own as she pushed her hips inward to anchor herself and hold her opponent in place. She panted for breath, but her teeth were clenched in focus - and the referee was moving into place, beginning the count. As the count reached two, and then came close to the three, the crowd's chants grew louder and louder, eager to see Astrid take the lead - but just before that dream could come true, Dana kicked up a leg, breaking out of the pin!

With her hold at last broken, Astrid let go, slipping back from Dana and rising to her knees to regroup. When she looked up at the Smiling Demon, her eyes narrowed in a glare - but still, she wouldn't let this keep her down. She just needed to make sure that her next move would stick - and, as she got a foot underneath her to push herself back to her feet, she rolled her shoulders out, limbering herself up for when the two women would next collide.

[Arjuna]

Narrowly kicking out of the pinfall attempt from Astrid, Dana was on her side, panting. She tried her best to retain her focus in this match, though her exhaustion was starting to slow her down. Of course, she wouldn't allow such thing to keep her down as she would get herself on all four before she pushed herself back up. Her muscles ached from exertion, but the veteran refused to stay down, because she needed to show it to everyone that she would not let herself beaten so easily.

As she rose back up, Dana's eyes were on Astrid's. Their eyes met, and Dana narrowed her eyes before she wiped the beads of perspiration off her brow. Once she rose up to her full height, Dana puffed out as she staggered towards the heavyweight champion. Once she was close enough, Dana would rear her right arm back before throwing a forearm smash right across Astrid's chest. The mighty blow of Dana was akin to a sledgehammer strike that could instantly crumple a lesser woman, but Dana had no doubt that the champion could take it without crumbling instantly.

[CaptainL]

The match was beginning to show its toll on the two competitors. As Astrid straightened herself back up to her knees, then her feet, her chest and shoulders were moving in and out with every breath she took. Sweat dripped from her brow, even as she tried to shake it loose. But still, as she settled her eyes on Dana's, they too narrowed into a glare just as pointed and piercing as that which the veteran showed her. Astrid couldn't let things slip now. She was fighting not only to hold onto her title, but to prove that it still held the respect it was owed. This was one match she knew she couldn't lose, and it was that motivation that was pushing her the extra mile; her teeth clenched and her muscles tensed as she balled her fists, preparing for Dana's next move.

It seemed as though an eternity had passed in which the two held their staredown, neither looking away from the other for a moment. Neither wanted to back down, or to look like they couldn't stand up to a challenge that meant as much to them as this one did. But soon enough, Dana struck. She moved in slowly and purposefully toward Astrid - and once in range, she cracked a forearm straight across the Norsewoman's chest with the force of an oncoming train!

A loud smack rang out, and Astrid was steered to the side against the force of the blow. The crowd let out an "Ooooh" of sympathy for Astrid, tempered by how impressed they were at how hard Dana could hit. Astrid was forced to take a few steps away, her arms reeling at her sides as sweat was thrown off her body in all directions with the wet smack of Dana's arm against her chest. But the stakes here were far too high for Astrid to back down. She couldn't falter, she couldn't fall; she needed to show Dana what she was really made of! Astrid wasn't like any other opponent Dana had faced - she was the Heavyweight Champion with her back against the wall, determined more than ever to succeed!

Astrid dug her heels into the mat, steadying herself. She balled her fists tighter, causing the muscles to ripple up her arms, and she hissed under her breath as she locked her eyes back on Dana. If she was going to hit her, Astrid would just hit her back just as hard! She took a long stride forward to close the distance, and she swung out with a heavy forearm of her own to strike Dana in return, punctuating the strike with a battle cry as her arm cut through the air!

[Arjuna]

It was undeniable that Dana's prodigious strength was something that people would always talk about, and here, it was in full display as she struck Astrid in her chest with her forearm. Dana allowed herself to smile upon landing the hit. Many said that any lesser women would crumble before her might, and she had made it very clear from her past matches that she could easily incapacitate rookies and less-seasoned wrestlers with a single strike. But Astrid was no rookie as she was a champion, and despite the damage inflicted from the forearm smash, Astrid still remained on her feet before she launched a forearm smash of her own.

"UGHHH!!"

Dana winced when she took Astrid's forearm smash to her chest. Astrid had proven herself to be a very capable wrestler and a fighting champion. It was obvious now how she managed to retain the title despite the adversity that she had to face. Dana had to plant her feet on the mat to prevent herself from staggering back, and she breathed out heavily. Scrunching up her brow, she looked at the champion's face. So much potential. Still so young. Dana knew that Astrid would certainly climb higher in the future. Of course, Dana planned to bring her down in this match, and for that, she would throw her next attack, in which she would try to hit Astrid with another forearm smash, this time targeting the side of her face.

[CaptainL]

The impact of Dana's forearm hurt. No one was going to deny that. It left a stinging sensation across Astrid's chest even after the two of them broke away from each other, and a red mark began to spread across the Norsewoman's fair skin beneath her leotard. But she wasn't going to let that hold her back for long. Even as she looked up at Dana with eyes that were narrowed in a wince, her teeth clenched into a grimace, Astrid shot back a glare of determination and refusal to bow to her foe! No matter what Dana had to throw at her, Astrid was ready to take it. She knew she needed to - she had to defend her honor, her title, and her title's honor, and she would take on anything she needed to bear for that!

She began to shrink back against the force of the blow, her foot skidding across the mat as her knees buckled to sustain the weight of her body. But it was only seconds later that Astrid shot herself straight back at Dana, looking to trade her forearm with one of her own! Dana cracked back with a groan, and the fans cheered as the smack of the collision rang out through the arena. But she soon righted herself to prepare her next move. This had turned into a back-and-forth duel of forearms, with both women trying to one-up and surpass the other with each move they made, and for Dana, this would be no exception. Once again, she aimed a forearm at Astrid - but this one was aimed for her head, rather than her chest!

Seeing where the blow was heading, Astrid gasped, trying to bring up her arms to block. But it was too late. Before she could mount her defenses, Dana's arm crashed into the side of her head, throwing it in an arc that caused her body to pivot in place. Suddenly, the world around her was drowned out by an incessant ringing noise, causing her to clutch at her temples as she staggered back, her fingers buried in her hair. Astrid had tried to fight through it, but she couldn't run from it forever - the strain she'd put her body through in her previous match with Rose Gold was catching up to her. She'd taken a few hits to the head in that match, and she hadn't given herself time to recover from them. Now, in just one move, Dana had caught Astrid in just the right place. She reawakened that pain, sending a throbbing sensation through the champion's skull!

Against such a sensation, Astrid was forced to take a step back. She let out a groan, bending lower at the knees as she took a few haggard pants for breath. It was going to slow her down as she nursed such pain - but Astrid knew all the same that she couldn't afford to slow down now!

[Arjuna]

Dana didn't know that Astrid was still hurting from her last match against Rose Gold, but it looked like she had struck gold here as the forearm smash to her opponent's face seemed to have dealt a tremendous damage on her. Seeing Astrid reeling from the blow, Dana would use this opportunity to continue dismantling the younger woman, weakening her even further before finally defeating her, taking the belt from her to become the new heavyweight champion.

Seeing that Astrid was bending lower on her knees, Dana would approach the champion from the front, preparing to throw her next attack. Once she was close enough, she would try to hit Astrid with an European uppercut, which should be able to agitate the damage even further. And she wasn't even stopping with just the uppercut because the moment Astrid was left reeling from the blow, Dana would then try to hit her opponent with a short-arm lariat, targeting her neck with her arm.