[Standard Match] Astrid Arvidsson vs Miranda Tomi - When size doesn't matter (Apex Qualifier Match)

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The difference in size also strongly emphasized the difference in styles. Miranda was fast, too fast for Astrid. Therefore, the Golden Dragon was fully aware of the need to slow down the American woman. One heavy throw would be more than enough, she was sure of it. But to do this, she first had to catch her.

Therefore, taking advantage of Miranda's confusion after the knee strike, the blonde threw her hands to her opponent's head, hoping to catch Miranda in the hold and thereby limit her movements. It was a simple but reliable option that saved Astrid from unnecessary risks. At least that's what she thought.

But Miranda made it clear to the descendant of the great Vikings that she was mistaken in her judgments. Literally at that second, when Astrid's fingers touched her rival's hair, the American woman abruptly, like a fish, dived down, dodging the Golden Dragon's hands and leaving Astrid's viewing area.

Astrid hurried to turn in Miranda's direction, being sure that the American woman was about to send a kick to her head or something. But even before the blonde began to turn to her rival, she felt that the ground was leaving her from under her feet.

"Owooo!" Astrid yelled involuntarily as she suddenly began to fall forward.

She wasn't a scared little girl. And if there was just a mat in front of her, she wouldn't see much reason to worry. But the problem was that there was not a mat in front of her, there were ropes in front of her. The Golden Dragon tried to throw her hands up, but it was already too late. Her neck landed right on the middle rope.

"Guaaakkhh!!! Khaagg!! Khaaaggg!!!" Astrid coughed with undisguised pain in her voice.

Her neck was filled with terrible pain, because of which she literally could not breathe normally. She couldn't even find the strength to change her position, as a result of which her legs were lying on the mat, and her upper body remained hanging on the middle rope.

[Fairy Dragon]

Miranda was moving as quickly as she could knowing that every second was crucial, she slipped under Astrid's attempts to grab her and would get her legs around her foot and tugged her down to the mat. Miranda had only planned to bring her down so she could start maneuvering around her for an advantage on grappling afterwards, the results she got were unexpected but no less in her favor. Miranda had managed to throw Astrid down and made her hit the ropes, judging by the sound she made when she landed she actually fell on her neck. It was a shocking move that would stun the Golden Dragon and presented Miranda with an opportunity, the only question to ask was if Miranda was bold enough to take this moment and make it hers?

She answered that for everyone by jumping closer to it and landing on Astrid's back before using the ropes to her advantage, pulling on the top rope to press Astrid further down on the middle one and choke her out. She would keep this up until the ref told her enough was enough by reaching a count of 4, and after that Mira would just leap over the rope instead to drop her thigh down on top of Astrid's head!

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Miranda may not have counted on such a success, but her counterattack caused a real delight among the audience, who were certainly impressed by the skills of this dexterous lightweight. Yes, perhaps Lady luck helped the American woman a little, but no one cared at that moment.

The situation in which Astrid found herself opened up a lot of possibilities for Miranda, because the wild power of the blonde was practically useless at that moment due to the fact that she could not breathe normally. But at the same time, Miranda's options were somewhat limited, because the Golden Dragon was in contact with the ropes. Therefore, the audience was wondering how exactly Miranda would decide to continue the match.

When she started running in Astrid's direction, the crowd began to build up the noise in order to cheer her up. Even Astrid, despite the pain and dizziness, heard it. She even tried to force herself to push off the rope, but it was already too late. Miranda made a leap forward, and then her ass landed on the back of the Golden Dragon.

"UMMMMGGG!!!!" Something unintelligible sounded from the lips of the blonde.

Yes, she wanted to scream, but she literally couldn't do it, because after Miranda landed on her, the Golden Dragon's neck pressed so hard into the rope that her airways were completely blocked. The only bright moment for Astrid was that Miranda would get off her in a moment and then the descendant of the great Vikings would be able to breathe again. But...

Instead of leaving the Norwegian woman's back, Miranda grabbed the middle rope and, sparing no effort, began to pull it towards herself. Astrid's eyes widened so much that even a blind man could see her agony. She didn't expect this from her rival. No one did. In desperation, Astrid grabbed the rope in an attempt to pull it in the opposite direction. However, she was too weak at that moment, which made her unable to loosen Miranda's grip.

"MHHHHGGHHH!!!!!"

Tears involuntarily flowed from Astrid's eyes, while an annoying noise appeared in her head, signaling that the oxygen level in her blood had dropped to a critically low level. And, perhaps, it would be fair to say that the only thing that saved her from losing consciousness was the fact that the referee girl demanded that Miranda comply with the rules.

Fearing disqualification, the American woman finally got up from Astrid's back. The pressure on the blonde's neck disappeared and she was finally able to take a breath. Yes, she remained lying in the same place due to the fact that her body at that moment was more like cotton wool. At least she could breathe again. The worst was over. Right?

"PHGGAAA!!!!" Suddenly flew out of her mouth.

Even after all, Miranda decided to leave one more touch. She didn't just get off Astrid's back. She jumped over the ropes and attacked the Golden Dragon once again with some kind of a leg drop. The American woman's hip landed on the back of Astrid's head, once again pressing her neck into the rope. This time Astrid didn't stay there.

After Miranda's attack, Astrid's body literally bounced off the rope. The descendant of the great Vikings collapsed on the mat, but showed almost no signs of movement. Her blank gaze was directed at the ceiling. Her lush breasts rose and fell almost imperceptibly. What did she think about her rival and her actions at that moment? It was hard to say, because after all, the Golden Dragon was barely conscious. She didn't even hear how the audience reacted to the tactics chosen by her rival.

[Fairy Dragon]

Miranda's actions targeted Astrid's head and neck viciously, it was a shock to some and it was a sign that Miranda was serious about winning. A far cry from the way she usually did things, yet when she came crashing down on Astrid's head it was hard to deny that it was something that could at least get her somewhere. It still got a mixed reaction seeing as it was shocking to see and Miranda didn't stop to think on the fans reaction this time. Astrid wasn't an opponent she could forget about to pose or taunt in between attacks, if she wanted to win she had to act like it, looking down at Astrid while she stepped up on the ring apron and placed herself on the outside right in front of Astrid's body before she would pull back on the ropes and jump.

Using the ropes as a springboard she would pull herself up and over the ropes and roll her body so that she would turn in the air from it and come crashing down on Astrid's stomach, landing on her back. She wanted to knock the air out of Astrid and keep her deprived it long enough for Mira to move into a pin, pulling Astrid's legs up with her hands to go for a traditional pin that the ref would go down and follow up with.

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Did Astrid expect to find herself in such a situation? The honest answer would be yes, since she really had no doubts about her opponent's skills and courage. But at the same time, she did not expect that everything would go exactly this way. And she certainly didn't expect Miranda to decide to use of a gap in the rules in order to gain an advantage.

Of course, technically, the American woman did not break any rules at the moment when she used the rope to strangle the Golden Dragon. But the moral side of this action remained in question. As a fighter, Astrid did not approve of such things, but at the same time she fully understood the reasons why Miranda did that. She had to use everything possible to get the victory.

And it certainly worked very well. After she bounced off the rope and ended up on the mat, the blonde practically did not move. She had been without oxygen for too long. Due to such a long pressure on her throat, she couldn't even begin to take deep breaths. The fog in front of her eyes was dissipating slow. Too slow.

This was the reason why the Golden Dragon was unable to react to the next Miranda's attack. Using the top rope as a springboard, the lightweight soared into the air to the loud shouts of the audience. Yes, even through the fog in eyes, Astrid saw the silhouette of her rival. But she was too weak at that moment to stop Miranda.

The American woman rolled forward and fell on Astrid's stomach, attacking her with an outstanding senton splash. The body of the descendant of the great Vikings reacted completely involuntarily. Astrid's legs and upper body literally jumped up as if she wanted to fold in half. And if there was any left in her lungs, it left them with her painful groan.

"GUAH!"

The mist in her eyes was replaced by darkness, but even so, she felt pain in her stomach muscles. Yes, Astrid was really proud of her abs. But in a situation where she couldn't tense it, her abs were useless. Miranda picked up a truly amazing pace, to the surprise of many putting Astrid in a very dangerous position at the very beginning of the match. And, apparently, the lightweight decided to consolidate her success by hooking both Astrid's legs, thereby securely pressing her shoulder blades to the mat. The next second, the referee lay down next to the women, and then slapped the mat.

"ONE!"

[Fairy Dragon]

Miranda had never played a match smarter, and she'd never been given an opening like that to let her really show how far she could go when presented an opportunity. Astrid was no Piper or Rose Gold, someone Miranda would do that to and go as far and mean as she wanted to because they deserved it, and she could hear Rosie in her head telling her she made the right choice even if Astrid was nice to her. She might be making a mistake, making an enemy of the Golden Dragon assuming this gambit worked and screwed her out of a win. It was something she accepted before she made the first steps, while she wouldn't do anything to win due to keeping some standards a fight like this needed Miranda to be willing to work aggressive and use anything that wouldn't get her disqualified and when she landed on top of Astrid and felt her body go weak under hers from surprise she knew she hit that rare golden moment she was told never to waste. Her pin attempt was quick and the ref only took a second to adjust and get somewhere she could see Astrid's shoulder before she went for the pin.

"ONE!"

Miranda had her hands wrapped around Astrid's legs while she could lay on her body and feel the rise and fall of her chest, which seemed slow. It gave her hope that Astrid was out of it, or unable to kick out right now. Even if she got the 3 count by a millisecond it would still be a win and Miranda could say that she secured a quick and amazing victory over someone who was quickly making a name for themselves in LAW while also proving that she could beat heavyweights, and it all came down to a few seconds of time that seemed to drag on forever.

"TWO!"

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The audience very clearly described what was happening with a very loud wave of noise after the referee slapped the mat for the first time. During the time that Astrid spent in LAW, they learned one simple thing. If Astrid could, she always broke the pin after the first count. And the fact that after the first clap of the referee, the blonde remained motionless, best of all indicated that Miranda really knocked a lot out of the Golden Dragon.

And it was the truth. Despite the fact that there was darkness before Astrid's eyes, she heard and felt absolutely everything. And, being honest with herself, she admitted that she was not ready for the fact that she would find herself in such a situation at the very beginning of the match. Even when she heard a clap near her head, she couldn't bring herself to jerk to the side in order to break the pin.

"Too little oxygen..." she mentally told herself.

Indeed. No matter how strong a fighter is, you can't make the body work without basic resources. One of these resources was oxygen. Miranda hadn't let Astrid breathe properly for too long. So now the Norwegian woman's muscles were literally useless. No matter how much she wanted to push her opponent away, she just couldn't do it at that moment. Not so long ago, Charlotte put her in about the same situation during their sparring. So she remembered her friend's words…

"Calm down, you need to gain strength for just one move..." the blonde reminded herself.

"TWO!!"

There's almost no time left. Astrid knew that. She literally felt the referee raise her hand, preparing to slap the mat for the third time. And although it was difficult to describe the tension at that moment, the Golden Dragon threw absolutely all thoughts out of her head. Even her body seemed to relax as if she had accepted defeat. But that wasn't the point.

Trying not to pay attention to the pain in her neck, the descendant of the great Vikings inhaled the air as slowly as possible through her nostrils. Even her chest rose. But that wasn't the main thing. The main thing was that this slow inhalation was enough to give strength. It didn't help her fully recover. Not at all. But it was enough for one move. At that moment, Astrid didn't need anything more.

And when the referee's hand began to descend for the last time, the Golden Dragon's relaxed body tensed. It was like a bolt of lightning. It only lasted for an instant, but it was at that moment that Astrid jerked to the left, lifting her right arm up and straightening her legs. She did it so suddenly that the referee was forced to literally fall on the mat to change the trajectory of her hand. Most of the arena fell silent, they weren't sure what had just happened. However, the striped shirt quickly rose to one knee, and then raised her right hand above her head.

"Only two!" She said, showing her middle and index fingers.

2.95 maybe even 2.99. But not three. And this caused such a loud wave of noise that even the walls seemed to shake. Astrid, who was lying on her left side and gasping for air, smiled faintly.

[Fairy Dragon]

So little time had passed between Astrid hitting the ropes and Miranda pinning her, the pain and moments that felt like hours to the two of them were only a few seconds or minutes. Mira couldn't keep up, but she knew that she made the time short for a reason, she gave Astrid little time to recover, knowing that this girl liked to fight and having seen what she could do wanted to make sure she didn't kick into her next gear that came when she got the big fight feeling. The count continued with a deflated Astrid, the count reaching 2 and no signs of a struggle, her muscles were deflated and breathing was minimal. Mira let herself enjoy the sliver of hope for what it was, a sign that she had almost defeated one of the biggest upcoming stars in a few minutes...almost.

"THRE-"

On the cusp of her moment Astrid had forced herself to break out, her muscles tensed at the last second before she followed it by pushing her to the side and breaking up the pin. Mira looked up at the ref for confirmation but she felt her heart sink when the ref only raised 2 fingers, confirming that Astrid kicked out. A 2.9 was something you could be proud of eventually, but in the moment Mira could only hit the mat in frustration. "That close? Dammit..." Miranda muttered wondering if she could pull off anything like that again. Mira told herself that she had to keep going, If one thing didn't work, try something else. Miranda stood up and would look at Astrid, she lowered herself and would watch out for her to start rising up, and when she did she would go for a big kick to Astrid's rising head.

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Yeah, it wasn't a victory for Miranda, but judging things objectively, she had every right to be proud of herself. Astrid was an infinitely proud woman, and yet that never stopped her from respecting the skills of her rivals. Not every woman would have been able to throw her to the very edge of defeat, especially considering that Miranda had a very compact size.

Even the audience seemed to forget that the American woman had reached this point by methods that could raise questions. Now it was not important for them, because they were impressed that she literally touched the victory, gaining such a confident pace.

For Astrid, this was some kind of a prick into the heart area. No, she didn't feel humiliated because she almost lost to a lightweight. That wasn't the point at all. She was just angry at herself. She didn't care that Miranda used the rope to strangle her, because after all, it was Astrid who made the mistake that led to this.

The thought of this made the blonde clench her fists and bare her teeth. She still felt pain and weakness. However, she had no right to continue lying on the mat, not after she broke the pin. Trying to keep her breathing even, the Golden Dragon pushed herself up and got up on all fours. Miranda was already there, waiting for her.

Lifting her leg bent at the knee, the American woman, without any remorse, straightened this leg in the face of the descendant of the great Vikings. Her intentions were crystal clear. She wanted to take advantage of the fact that Astrid was still weakened, in order to literally prevent her from recovering.

Many, especially those who knew Astrid too little, thought that she was one of those who just goes ahead. Like a ram endlessly beating its head against the gate. It was partly true, Astrid really preferred to solve most issues with the help of her outstanding strength. However, the amount of her muscles never affected her ability to learn in any way. She had learned the lesson Miranda had taught her very well.

Together with a deep breath, the Golden Dragon Dragon put both hands in front of her, causing Miranda's foot to crash into her palms. A painful groan mixed with a growl escaped through the Norwegian woman's teeth. Blocking a kick in this way is far from the most pleasant thing in the world. The blonde's wrist joints seemed to crack due to the powerful impact of the kick. However, at the same moment, a smile appeared on Astrid's face, and a flame ran through her lavender eyes, which did not bode well for Miranda.

"Finally got you, huh." Astrid said with a note of obvious pleasure, straining her fingers and squeezing Miranda's foot with a death grip.

What did Astrid learn from the fact that she almost lost? Don't let Miranda dance around her. That's exactly what she did, grabbing her opponent's foot. The Golden Dragon intended to abruptly pull the captured leg towards her in order to bring the American woman closer and upset her balance.

If she had succeeded, she would have let go of Miranda's foot, but only in order to wrap her left arm around Miranda's leg in the knee area, and grab the lightweight by the throat with her right hand. The blonde intended to squeeze her fingers so hard, as if she wanted to crush her rival's larynx. However, all this was just a preparation. Astrid was going to get to her feet and at the same time lift Miranda above the mat, holding her right leg and throat. And with a confident smile, she was going to fall to her knees again, sending Miranda's body down with the help of a kneeling leg-trap chokeslam!

[Fairy Dragon]

Mira's first big chance was over, and she told herself it wasn't the best chance since that was loser talk and the big chance today was proving that she wasn't a loser. Mira knew the things she did were suspect but she also knew that she wouldn't let that define the match, she was here to fight and win not simply play dirty for the sake of angering anyone or pissing off her opponent. She knew her actions invited danger and accepted the consequences, she was still going to make sure there weren't any and knock Astrid back down. Her kicked sailed and would aim right for Astrid's head when she was rising up, wanting to knock her back down. Her foot connected and stopped dead in its tracks...because it was caught in Astrid's palm instead of her head. The blonde endured any pain and flawlessly held her foot there, keeping her from pulling it away and holding Mira in place which was not something Mira needed.

"Rnngh..Crap." Mira muttered, knowing the situation was bad, without her leg she was stuck and in range for pain from Astrid, who quickly acted on her time by pulling her closer, forcing Mira to hop towards her or fall over until Astrid was holding her leg completely, wrapping it close before going for her throat. "Ulph!" Miranda gagged. Her neck felt so fragile in Astrid's arms and she brought her hands up to pull on the blonde's arm before Astrid easily lifted her up, holding her close with her leg and neck before tossing her down with her amazing power for a chokeslam. "Uaahg!" Mira screamed when her back was slammed into the mat. Her head bounced from the fall while her back took the full brunt of the slam and pain traveled everywhere, leaving the dancer stunned and hurt on the mat.