8 Years Ago: Renee Steinhauser VS. Bengal

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Seeing the intensity in Renee's face, the referee wisely backed away, leaving the two fighters to face off once more. Bengal's injuries limited her options; while she usually favored more explosive moves, she simply didn't have the strength to pull those off right now. But Renee is injured too, she thought to herself. It was time to take advantage of that. She closed in and locked a Bear Hug around Renee's exposed midriff, trying to squeeze the breath out of her. It wasn't a move that the Tiger had much experience with. But maybe, given the Renegade's exhausted state, it would be enough to finish the match. At least, that's what Bengal was hoping.

[ReneeCockyUndercard]

Renee and Bengal circled the ring like tigers (what a clever analogy). Renee then charged at Bengal before getting caught in a bear hug by Bengal. Her windpipe was slowly being crushed by the strength of Bengal. However, Renee was safe to assume that her head was more injured than her back and she couldn’t say the same for her former best friend. She then decided to return the favor as she would plant her feet to the ground before wrapping her arms around Bengal, giving Bengal a bear hug of her own.

It was now a battle of who’ll break first between the two. Their chests pressed up against each other as Renee intensely stared down Bengal. There would be some trash talking between the two but the audio guy didn’t quite get that on the mic.

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Bengal kept squeezing, trying to ignore the pain in her back. She could feel Renee's hot breath in her ear. Neither fighter was giving an inch.

"You're...nothing...without me," she hissed through clenched teeth, trying to psych her opponent out. "Nothing..." But the pressure Renee was putting on her ribs was making trash talk difficult. While the two seemed evenly matched for now, Bengal knew she couldn't last much longer. Desperate, she began stomping on Renee's booted foot, trying to force the Renegade to loosen her hold. The crowd booed; while foot stomps weren't technically forbidden by the rules, they were seen as unsportsmanlike. But Bengal couldn't care less about that right now. She wanted to win, and she didn't care how many fans she lost doing it. They were never fans of me anyway, she thought to herself bitterly. They only cared about Renee...

[ReneeCockyUndercard]

Renee would shake her head as the pain on her back was finally setting in for her. She continued the squeeze the life out of Bengal in the bearhug as she fired back some trash talking in spurts.

“You… are such… a… bad… tag team partner.”

Renee then felt her foot being stomped on by Bengal, a disrespectful tactic in this battle of bear hugs and that would make Renee really angry now. She would then use all her strength to lift up Bengal and slam her crotch down onto her knee with an inverted atomic drop. She would keep Bengal sitting there in pain as Renee had fury in her eyes. She wanted Bengal to feel how hurt Renee was for this betrayal of friendship. She then mustered up her strength again for a release belly to belly suplex that sent Bengal flying down to the mat. Both stars were down.

To make tensions more thick with Bengal, the crowd would be pumping up Renee of all people. It has now been official for Bengal. The fans cared more about Renee than her. Renee was the star girl of their tag team. Bengal was the second banana to the Rogue Tigers, the team that Bengal started with her former best friend Renee.

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Bengal cried out in pain as Renee's knee drove into her crotch. Before she could recover, she felt herself being whipped through the air in a belly to belly suplex. She collided with the canvas a split-second later, dizzy and disoriented. Pain was radiating out from between her legs, but hearing the crowd chant Renee's name hurt even worse. Through her half-closed eyes, she could see the Renegade beginning to rise. Bengal was tired of always being second. I have to get up, before she does...I have to... She steeled herself and tried to stand as well, even though moving her legs was agony now.

[ReneeCockyUndercard]

The release belly to belly suplex didn’t do Renee any favors for her aching head. She was slow to get up but her opponent would be getting up at the same rate as she was. Renee put her hands up for more punishment. And so, Renee began the punch battle with Bengal with the crowd cheering for Renee for every punch and booing Bengal for her punch.

Crowd: “YEAH! … Boo! … YEAH! … Boo! … YEAH! Boo! YEAH! Boo! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! Booooooo!”

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Bengal battered Renee's head and chest with savage strikes, but she was getting hit even harder in return. She no longer had the agility to dodge any of her opponent's punches. Every time the Renegade's fist smashed into her, stars swam in front of her vision. She had to do something to throw off her opponent's aim. As the referee glanced away for a moment, distracted by a noise from the crowd, Bengal saw her chance. She quickly darted out her hand, raking Renee's face with her nails! The crowd erupted with boos, but the referee hadn't seen what happened, and the match continued.

[ReneeCockyUndercard]

Renee would be going for the final punch before Bengal raked her in the eyes. She would be holding her face in pain as she took one knee. The referee unfortunately didn’t see it so Renee would be pleading a case about nothing, both figuratively and literally. She rubbed her eyes but also left her vulnerable to what Bengal was gonna do next.

[BengalTheBlazeTiger]

Renee's eye injury threw off her aim, just as Bengal had hoped for. Her next punch went wide, and Bengal was able to twist to the side and dodge it. As Renee stumbled forward, carried by the momentum of her punch, Bengal suddenly snapped her leg up, and delivered a stunning Super Kick to the back of the Renegade's head! Normally, this was a move that the Tiger used while facing her opponent, but against an opponent as dangerous as Renee, she wasn't taking that chance. The Renegade's eyes rolled back in her head as she teetered unsteadily, then collapsed onto the canvas face-first. Bengal grinned as more boos rained down. The heat she'd gotten from the crowd had thrown her off at the start of the match, but now, she was beginning to like it. She decided to taunt them back, making a crying gesture with her hands.

But Bengal couldn't afford to get distracted. Renee was down, but not out, and the only way to finish the match was by submission. Even as she taunted the crowd, she could see the Renegade regaining her senses, struggling to stand. I have to finish this, now.

Bengal dropped smoothly onto the mat, next to Renee. She drew her left knee in close to her chest, then used her hands to trap Renee's head against her inner thigh. She began squeezing, twisting and crushing Renee's head, cutting off her air supply. It was the Fearful Symmetry - Bengal's nickname for her own variant of the Koji Clutch. The Tiger had been looking for a chance to use this hold all night, but Renee had foiled her at every turn. Now, she finally had it locked in!

"Yeah, you know what this is," she whispered mockingly into Renee's ear. "Better tap out, before I break your neck!"

[ReneeCockyUndercard]

Renee would be taken down with the kick to the back of the head. She would be coming in and out of consciousness as she heard snippets of the crowd’s distaste for Bengal’s new attitude. She still didn’t understand why Bengal was acting like this. She changed up all of a sudden and she couldn’t understand where it originated from.

It wouldn’t get any better for Renee as she was then placed in Bengal’s Fearful Symmetry as her opponent’s legs squeezed the life out of her. It was pretty much curtains for Renee as she didn’t have an ounce of energy to fight back. Her red eyes were closed as the referee went to check to see if she wanted to give up. She then had her hand fall freely to the mat three times before the referee called for the bell. And to the shock and distaste of everyone in the crowd, Bengal had beaten Renee via Technical Submission.