Meeting Your Idols: Astrid Ostberg (c) vs. Tina Kelley

[SimplyWoo]

Tina grunted out as Astrid fell back, it wasn't quite the fall Tina was looking for, but she accepted what she could get. She couldn't even get a pinning predicament as Astrid was already bucking and retaliated with a punch to the ribs. Tina yelped out in pain and gritted her teeth as since she still had her arms around Astrid's neck she would grunt and pull Astrid up into a sitting position only to release with her arms and pull one arm back and around to swing upward to make her forearm uppercut into Astrid's chest European style to try to force into laying back down.

Assuming that worked, Tina would stand up and bring her hands up to make her thumbs touch her index fingers of her opposite hands to form a rectangle, letting the crowd know it was photo opportunity time. She then harkened back to her modeling career as she did three consecutive poses, the third pose was usually a special one and paid tribute to her opponent, and sure enough on her final pose she flexed her arms like Astrid would do before going into a flip, trying to splash down on Astrid's body with a moonsault from her signature move...Sash-ay Splash-ay!

[CaptainL]

Astrid might have gone down, but she had no intention of staying there for long. Even if she was being pressed down against Tina's weight, and even when she had been rattled from the landing she'd made, she wanted to throw herself right back into action - she needed to show both the challenger and the world that it was going to take more than this to stop her! Gritting her teeth, she swung a fist straight for her opponent's ribs, causing Tina to fall back from her. But when she had her arms wrapped around Astrid's head, when she went back to her knees the Norsewoman was pulled along after her - and when Astrid found herself upright, her head was spinning as she tried to adjust, leaving her open for Tina to slam an uppercut into her chest!

Letting out a groan, Astrid was thrown backward by the force of the blow. She landed against the mat with a thud, her arms falling slack at her sides as the canvas rumbled beneath her. Now that she was dazed, Tina saw the perfect opportunity to strike a few poses, falling into each with a sense of natural grace - and each pose she struck was punctuated by a cheer from the fans and a volley of snaps and flashes from the cameras of those looking on. Even if she had elevated herself to the level of a heavyweight champion, Tina still kept the lessons she'd learned from her modeling days alive - and, from the reception she was getting, she hadn't slipped one bit in what made her a fan-favorite!

However, what Tina didn't realize was that in mugging for the crowd, she was giving Astrid more time to catch her breath and recover. Soon, the blonde looked up from the mat to see Tina bend lower, flexing her legs as she prepared to flip herself backward. She knew that she was setting up a hard-hitting move, and that she would be in trouble if she took it...but now that she'd collected herself, she had her chance to get out of the way, too! Just as Tina was about to come crashing down on top of Astrid, the Norsewoman rolled to the side so that she would slam directly into the mat!

[SimplyWoo]

As Tina splashed down to the mat with no one below her she groaned out as she shifted her knees underneath her and folded her arms over her stomach. "Oooooof, that's it...I give up on that move." she half joked, seeing as that move has only connected 10 percent of the time in all of her matches, which is amusing when you take into consideration that it's the exact same amount of time as it would take for The Rock to bounce back and forth on the ropes to nail his people's elbow or for John Cena to do his you can't see me five knuckle shuffle, but people stay down for those moves.

Even with Tina's hopes dashed of having her own electrifying move, Tina pushed on. She gritted her teeth, fighting through the pain to get up at the same time as Astrid and when Astrid turned to face her she would try to cup her hand to the back of Astrid's neck and shift her body sideways to bring her thigh up to ram into Astrid's gut. If that was successful she would then attempt to whip Astrid to the ropes so when Astrid would return to her, she would cross her arms to make her opposite arms curve around Astrid's hips and pull Astrid up and twirl her arms back into the regular position, which would flip Astrid into being in a horizontal position to where Tina would bring Astrid down onto her knee in an attempted tilt-a-whirl backbreaker!

[CaptainL]

Many a wrestler had been taken down long enough for their opponent to afford the time to showboat a little. But Astrid was made of tougher stuff than they were, and that was on display as she rolled aside, getting out of the way of Tina's moonsault just before it hit! Her endurance was one of her most famous attributes, and she wanted Tina to get a taste of that tonight - though she was sure she was well aware of what the Norsewoman could do, now was her chance to witness it face to face! Astrid rolled onto her stomach, where she began to get her hands and knees underneath her, straightening herself back up. When she raised her head to look up at Tina, it was with a smirk that showed her pride in her own abilities. "Now, now...did you really think that would be enough to keep me down?"

Astrid was beginning to make her way back up - but she wasn't the only person here who could take such a blow and keep on going. Tina had surprised her too with how quickly she jumped back to her feet, and Astrid let out a gasp as she looked back with wide eyes - just before the blue-haired girl slammed a kick straight up into her stomach! She doubled over forward, sputtering and wheezing as she found the air knocked out of her lungs. From there, she could only go running along as Tina set her into motion, yanking her across the ring on a collision course toward the ropes. Astrid ran right into the ropes before she could remember what her legs were doing, stretching them against her weight - and moments later she was catapulted back at Tina, just in time for the challenger to snatch her up into the air!

The crowd gasped at the sight of Tina effortlessly turning the momentum to her advantage, sweeping even Astrid Ostberg off her feet. Astrid herself couldn't help but let her jaw fall slack as she was suddenly hoisted high above the surface of the ring. Moments later, Tina dropped down, twirling Astrid through the air in the process - and leaving her to land right on top of her raised knee, sending out a crack that rang through Astrid's spine as she threw her head back in a scream!

Once again, the crowd cheered such a display from Tina, though just as many winced in sympathy for Astrid. As the aches began to die down, she felt herself slump lower over Tina's knee, panting to reclaim her breath - but when she looked back up at her foe, a smile came to her face. "Not...bad..." she huffed. After Astrid had hit a backbreaker earlier in the match, now Tina was paying her back in kind - and it didn't hurt any less. But she couldn't help but be impressed with how masterfully she had carried it out!

[SimplyWoo]

As Astrid sort of complimented her tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, she looked down at Astrid's face with a wink. "Wait until you experience what's next." She mentioned as while Astrid was still arched, she mentioned as she then bent herself down and to the side to make her breasts press against Astrid's own momentarily as she curved her arms around Astrid's body to pull her up off of her knee and rise back up. When she did that, she then locked her arms around Astrid's middle back as she then let out a grunt as she would pull Astrid off of her feet and twirl her upper body up and around to make Astrid's body twirl with her to fall back to the ground in a belly-to-belly suplex.

If that worked Tina would be panting a little as she kept her arms locked around Astrid's body to pull her up to her feet and repeat the process to slam her in another belly-to-belly suplex, and if that worked she would try to complete her signature Kelly Kombo by slowly pulling Astrid up once more, feeling the burn in her muscles as she growled out, taking herself to the limits as she would jerk Astrid off of her feet one more time. This time switching one arm around her thigh and falling forward to complete her Kelly Kombo with the third move being a good old fashioned spinebuster as Tina panting from the exertion would crawl up Astrid's body to lay on her stomach beside her and drape an arm over her chest for an exhausted pin attempt.

[CaptainL]

Even as she winced from the pain, the aches in her spine from where it had struck Tina's knee still fresh in her thoughts, and even as she panted for breath, Astrid couldn't help but look on with a smile at the well-practiced backbreaker she had just witnessed. But Tina had even more in store - and that only stoked the Norsewoman's curiosity further. The challenger bent down to loop her arms around her, pulling her back up alongside her as she rose to her feet - and with Astrid still winded from her landing, there was little she could do to resist. All she could do was go along for the ride as Tina spun around to face her, and as she slung her backward to slam her back against the mat!

Astrid landed with a thud that kicked her legs up into the air, the canvas rumbling beneath the force of the impact. She coughed and gagged, and a few fans in the crowd winced at the thought of how much that had to hurt. But Tina still wasn't done - but as quickly as she'd done the first time, she hauled Astrid back up for another suplex! The Norsewoman was being thrown from one side to the other, shaking the ring every time she came down hard. And when she was being thrown so violently from side to side, without even a moment to adjust, she was growing dizzy; the whole arena around her had started to spin! The next thing she knew, Tina had brought her up again - but this time, when she threw Astrid back down, it was straight into the canvas, causing her to land on her back!

The champion's spine buckled from the impact. She curled into a C shape before she came back down, her arms and legs hitting the mat like lead weights and her her teeth clenched in a grimace of pain as her face reddened. Her spine had already been softened up from Tina's backbreaker, and when the next move hit, it was as though a searing pain had taken over her body! She tried to rub at her back to try and dull the sensation - but Tina had already fallen forward, hooking her leg, and the referee got down for the count!

"ONE!!" The crowd let out a cheer - it seemed as though Tina might just have a chance!

[SimplyWoo]

Tina looked over at Astrid as the ref began to count. She kept her closest arm draped over Astrid's chest as she reached over with her farthest hand to rest it on Astrid's closest shoulder and rest her face on top of that, facing Astrid as she panted, hoping to hear the ref slap the mat two more times as her fans rose to their feet and shouted out the one count with the ref. The Kelley combo was always a damaging combination, but never one that she relied out for a finisher and it usually took a lot of endurance to pull her opponent up two consecutive times after the initial lift of the first belly-to-belly suplex, but the opportunity was there, so she took it. She closed her eyes and imagined how excited Katrina and Oscar must be watching from the television and hoped Grace was watching also, and other friends like April, Moria, Rylie, and so on. She was also focusing on taking controlled breaths, trying to prepare herself for the next move if Astrid managed to kick out.

[CaptainL]

"TWO!!" As the referee struck the mat a second time, the tension in the air was palpable. Half of the fans were cheering wildly, sure they were about to witness the title change hands tonight. After all, Astrid was down, and the offense she'd taken from Tina had been devastating. She still didn't show any signs of recovery, laying out flat and staring up at the lights as her chest softly rose and fell with each breath in and out. The other half, though, watched in silence, leaning in at the edges of their seats. They were afraid to look away, lest they miss a moment of the match. This could be it - but, at the same time, Astrid had shown herself to hold her fair share of surprises in the past. Anything could happen, and they all knew it!

"THR-NO!!"

Sure enough, just as the ref raised a hand a third time, Astrid's eyes fluttered back to life. A second later, she kicked her leg up from the ground, breaking the pin - and when she did, the arena burst into cheers, witnessing the champion's endurance first-hand! Tina had hit her hard, but when Astrid had this much on the line, she wasn't about to lay down any time soon - no matter how much it hurt, or what it cost her, she was going to fight it to the end!

Still, when she lifted her head off the mat, still catching her breath, Astrid smiled to Tina with a nod. "Almost had me there, heh..." she muttered. Slowly, the strength began to return to her, and she started to crawl backwards on all fours, looking to get some distance between her and Tina. "Keep this up...and you might just have this won..." Astrid winked to the challenger. She wanted to face Tina at her best, and she knew that such words would encourage her more than anything else could!

[SimplyWoo]

As Astrid kicked out at the very last moment it pushed Tina to the side of Astrid and onto her knees. She panted and slapped the mat with her hands in frustration, but she had a smile on her face as she rose up to resting her hands on her lap, enjoying hearing the pop that Astrid received and nodding her head in agreement with the crowd. She then rose up to her feet and walked over to the backpedaling Astrid, winking back at her. "You say that like I am not going to." She mentioned as she then bent over to pull Astrid up to her feet, she then tucked her upper body to one side of Astrid as she would then attempt to lock her arms around Astrid's waist. If that worked, she would then grunt as she would pull Astrid up and begin to squeeze her in Tina's finisher, the Kinetic Krush!

If she was able to lock it in, she would lift Astrid up off of her feet to have Astrid's upper body shifted to being over one shoulder as she would flex and pull in with her arms, occasionally adding a bounce with her squeeze to not only give the fans a little bit of eye candy with Astrid jiggling in her grip, but also each bounce would make Tina discover some slack to close her arms even tighter around the Champ's figure as she tried to squeeze Astrid's torso to press more into her shoulder.

[CaptainL]

When Astrid looked back up at Tina, she saw that - even if she had just escaped from the challenger's clutches and foiled her attempt at winning her title - Tina was still smiling with a confident grin. Rather than lose hope, she was being encouraged even more by Astrid's praise, determined to take things even further if that was what it would take to bring her to victory! And so too, when Astrid looked back at her to see her not skipping a beat, she could only nod her head with a smile in return. Some wrestlers might have seen their opponent shrug off losing control as though it didn't even bother them and take it as a reason to be afraid of what they might have in store - but not Astrid. She wanted Tina to give it her best shot, and to prove to her that she was worthy of being called the number-one contender for the Heavyweight Championship. So far, Tina was delivering on that, and Astrid could only well up with pride! The thought of what could come next could only excite her further - Tina was truly challenging Astrid, which was just how she liked it!

Tina soon moved in for the kill, grabbing onto Astrid to hoist her to her feet. The Norsewoman grit her teeth, twisting and turning and kicking her legs in the air to try and keep control, but on some level, she was curious - she wanted to see what Tina was capable of when she had to put down such a threat!

Despite all her struggles, Tina had Astrid locked down tightly, too tightly for her to hope to break her grasp. Soon enough, the blue-haired girl's arms were pressing inward against her sides, squeezing tight around her ribs. She sputtered and gagged, with each passing moment draining more and more air out of her lungs against the encroaching pressure - and it didn't help that Tina was bobbing her up and down in place; every second Astrid thought she had caught her bearings, Tina disrupted her focus again with another hop and bounce that left her rattled, and allowed her to squeeze in tighter still, her ironclad grip pinching off Astrid's swiftly narrowing waist! The champion's groans grew more and more hoarse and hushed, and her spine began to shudder against all the force she took on, causing her body to bend inward as her teeth clenched tightly. Astrid was caught in a bear hug - a move that she knew well about how devastating it could be, given that it was one of her finishers, and a trademark of the Ostberg family! But now, that same force was being turned back on her!

If anything, it only brought to mind one thing that had become aptly apparent in this match - that Astrid and Tina were on equal footing. They were alike in size and strength, and even their styles matched each others' closely. That was clear in how they had caught each other in a lockup that both of them struggled to break, and in how they had traded backbreakers. They had met each other with the same moves, and they delivered them with just as much force. And now, Astrid was being forced to contend with the power of her own finisher!

But for Tina, this would be a double-edged sword. She had Astrid held down under the pressure of a bear hug...but the blonde's own arms were free, and when the two of them were equally well-known for the power they could put behind their grip strength, Astrid could only take this as a challenge! If Tina wanted to try her with a bear hug, Astrid could play at that game, too. It seemed that the only way to break Tina's grasp was with an equal amount of force in the opposite direction, much as she had witnessed from one another in their lockup before!

Astrid had to grit her teeth, the veins in her throat bulging under the pressure she put herself through. She needed to do it, just to bear through the pain and fatigue that was settling into her muscles. But she would get enough of that strength back into her to raise her arms from her sides - and there, she threw them around Tina's waist as well, looking to squeeze her back just as hard as her biceps went taut, clamping down with a bear hug of her own!