Sanae Saitou vs Kennedy Lee — Standard Match

[Pegasus]

Good news: Sanae was now at Kennedy’s mercy again. Bad news sorta: Kennedy’s arm had hurt like hell after delivering the chokeslam. It seems Sanae did in fact give a little pain back to Kennedy as Kennedy rubbed her sore arm and Sanae did stretch it and wrench harder than expected as Kennedy’s grunts and groans gave away her vulnerability as her muscles ached with each rub over them. She wasn’t hurt too badly, but the idol had a tight vice grip and knew the pressure points to elicit a hard method for paying Kennedy back. Sanae might have been compromised taking a hard shot to the back as she hit the canvas, but Kennedy had to lay on her side and take a breather herself. Regardless, this prompted the referee to step in and count since both women were down for now.

“1! 2!”

[CaptainL]

No matter how much damage Sanae had managed to inflict on Kennedy's arm, it still hadn't been enough to take her out - nor to stop her from delivering retribution, when she grabbed hold of Sanae by the throat and lifted her into a chokeslam! Now, the idol had splatted onto the canvas, her arms and legs splayed out around her and her breaths slow and shallow from the air that was driven out of her lungs. If that wasn't bad enough, she also felt the throbbing sensation of Kennedy's tight grip around her throat - even after she had let go, she could feel the soreness lingering in her neck, with her opponent having left red marks on her skin from how firmly she had clenched her fingers. But at least Sanae wasn't alone - Kennedy hadn't gotten out of that predicament unscathed herself! The green-haired girl panted and wheezed to try to draw the air back into her lungs, but when she looked over, she could see where her opponent had fallen, just as weighed down with fatigue. A tired smile crossed Sanae's face, but a smile nonetheless. If Kennedy's stamina was flagging, then she still had a chance to win this!

"Three! Four!"

There was only one problem - Sanae had to get back up. And that was no easy task when she had been rattled as she was! Gritting her teeth to try and force herself forward through the aches and pains in her body, Sanae tried to plant her elbows against the canvas and hoist herself higher, only for her to let out a yelp and fall back down partway through when her own body gave out on her.

"Five! Six!"

But no. That couldn't be the end! Sanae clenched her teeth, shaking her head - she refused to go down that easily! The fans had begun to cheer for her now, encouraging her to fight on and to never give up. But Sanae wasn't in this match for them - she was in it for herself! With a pained groan, Sanae clenched her fists tight; all of her muscles were tense as she tried a second time to force herself up to her feet. And this time, with a sharp jerk forward of her full weight, she was able to lift herself up!

The fans cheered at the sight, even as Sanae wavered from side to side, and her weary legs buckled under her own weight. Still, she was up and Kennedy wasn't, and that was all that mattered! Slowly finding the feeling slip back into her numb muscles, Sanae took a step forward and planted her foot against the mat. Then, the other. She doubled over forward, but managed to catch herself before she could fall. And then, she took another step to throw herself against the ropes - stretching them against her so they would bounce her backward, where she crashed down on top of the fallen Kennedy for a senton!

[Pegasus]

To say Kennedy had expected a strong showing from this little woman is a bit of an overstatement. Her ego wanted to believe that Sanae was really timid and weak. Just a pathetic lightweight wrestler that probably fluked her way towards the finals of Apex. It baffled her seeing Sanae wrestle when it seemed like she was more focused on playing to the crowd than she was ready to give her heart to the squared circle. Kennedy still respected professional wrestling and made her mark from her debut year all the way till now. She is a prominent name in lucha libre back in Mexico and a household name in intergender wrestling on the indies. Kennedy also spent just under a year in developmental of the biggest wrestling promotion and went undefeated before being called up. Sanae really got into wrestling just so she could potentially jumpstart her Japanese idol and singing career. Kennedy had taken some voice acting side gigs and only now embraced the hold Hollywood had on her.

But the fans thought differently and Sanae proved herself as more than a one hit wonder. She took wrestling seriously to her very core. Maybe she wasn’t as strong and buff as Kennedy, but she’s risen as one of the top lightweights in the company and it would be baffling if she didn’t launch out a challenge to Annie Clark in the near future. Even if Kennedy locked out Sanae from acknowledging her fans, Sanae would still hear them praise her to the ends of the Earth. Sanae heard them and acknowledged them in her mind. They were with her all the way. Sanae used that momentum to climb to her feet and fight through the hardships so far.

Sanae ran the ropes and stretched them back before running to jump in the air. Sanae hit a hard Senton Bomb right on Kennedy as the Glamorous One coughed out saliva and held her stomach wheezing badly! Kennedy was feeling the repercussions of underestimating someone and that’s the last thing you want to do before Sanae really gets going! She’s no joke at all!

[CaptainL]

Sure, Sanae had gotten her start in wrestling to get her foot in the door, hoping that she could get enough eyes on her to pursue her real dream of becoming a pop idol sensation. But even if excellence in the squared circle had been secondary to her true goal, Sanae knew she wouldn't get anywhere by only putting half her heart into it. She had been so motivated by her dream of stardom that she had trained and honed her body to its peak potential, and the results had been proven time and time again when the green-haired girl took LAW by storm during Apex, not only rising to the challenge that had been placed in front of her, but beating Toshimi Minami herself at her own game. Her success as an idol fed off of the following she had attained for her success as a wrestler. And when it became clear to her that she needed to put just as much passion into one as she did with the other, she wasn't afraid to do just that!

Now, the results were paying off - considering that she was able to bounce off the ropes and back into the downed Kennedy with enough force to crush the air out of her lungs, it certainly seemed that way! As Sanae came down hard on top of her foe, the crowd burst out into cheers. Wiping some sweat from her brow, Sanae needed a moment to catch her breath after that, but it wouldn't stop her for long. She was well aware that she had Kennedy at her mercy - and her face grew serious and her muscles tensed as she prepared to take advantage of that fact!

Leaning down, Sanae went to hook one of Kennedy's legs and pull it back, going for the pin! "One!" the ref counted, falling down at her side. Sanae knew that she'd need to pin Kennedy longer than usual to make this pin count, but she was undeterred. If the blonde was already reeling, she might as well try!

[Pegasus]

“2! 3!” But just as the ref counted 3, Kennedy kicked out to major boos. Normally, that sacred number would’ve signified Sanae’s victory and their precious idol would have gotten one of the biggest victories of her career since Apex. However, under Kennedy’s rules, Sanae needed a five count to secure the win so the count to three might as well been a longer one count. Kennedy rolled away from the idol as she needed some time to recover and her arm was still killing her especially after unleashing all that pressure with the Chokeslam! Sanae may have not gotten the win right here, but she at least handicapped Kennedy to make things more fair.

Kennedy got to her feet and wheezed huffing out hot breath as she gave herself time. She had to fight back. Kennedy was still powerful than Sanae and even with one arm limping, Kennedy could still use her other body parts to get the job done. Kennedy sprinted for Sanae as the idol got up going for a hard big boot with her left foot to the face of Sanae wanting to smash the pretty face of her opponent in!

[CaptainL]

The moment Kennedy kicked out of the pin, a scowl flashed across Sanae's face. As she sat up, she punched at the canvas in frustration - after all, she had come all too close to taking Kennedy down. She should have gotten the pin here - she had Kennedy down for the three-count! But the blonde had prepared for that, and she had engineered the rules of this match such that Sanae was going to need to hold the pin for longer than usual to make it count. Were it not for her meddling, Sanae would have already won! But things wouldn't be so simple now.

Still, Sanae reminded herself of one thing - she had managed to bring Kennedy down for a three-count, and early into the match at that. That proved it was possible! For a moment, Sanae asked herself if that had really happened. It seemed almost too easy, from what she knew about her foe. Had Kennedy stayed down all that time on purpose, just to lull her into a sense of false hope so that she could snatch it away from her at the last minute? No, no - Sanae shook that thought from her head. She couldn't believe that. She had to believe that she really had it in her to win this match - she needed to put faith in herself!

And not a moment too soon, because when Sanae looked up, it would be to see Kennedy coming charging straight toward her! The idol's eyes went wide, and her body tensed in anticipation of the strike. But she had managed to stall for time, giving her a few more precious seconds to catch her breath, and the damage she had done had slowed Kennedy down - she still had an opening here! As Kennedy's leg kicked up from the ground, Sanae would attempt to throw herself to her back, hoping to dodge the path of the big boot! If that worked, she'd throw her legs around Kennedy's ankle and roll herself over to the side, hoping to pull her off-balance!

[Pegasus]

Kennedy felt her leg go up, but unfortunately for her, Sanae had calculated to duck back and not let Kennedy’s boot touch even one lick of her face. Kennedy gasped as the crowd cheered louder seeing Sanae really hold her own and Sanae was quick enough to wrap her legs around Kennedy’s unoccupied leg standing firmly on the ground. Sanae twisted on her side and disrupted Kennedy’s balance which toppled the heavyweight landing her once again on the canvas! Kennedy had been bested again and no one could really believe the sight. Even in a match where the odds were stacked completely against her, Sanae did her best to work around all the loopholes Kennedy crafted for herself.

Kennedy grabbed her back as she grimaced and grunted sitting up. She couldn’t believe that Sanae was walking her in circles and she didn’t want to start admitting she underestimated this twerp. Maybe she’s not useless and easy to beat, but like hell she was beating Kennedy! Kennedy tried launching her right foot into Sanae’s face to prevent another counter!

[CaptainL]

Sanae knew she wasn't going to fare very well against Kennedy in a straight-up contest of strength. So if she was going to try and keep up with her, she'd use whatever she could to even the odds! Seeing the kick come toward her, Sanae knew that if it hit, its power would have been devastating - but she also knew that if Kennedy used one of her limbs to strike, her balance would be compromised on the other. Using leverage and quick thinking, she was able to bring Kennedy's footing out from under her - and, as she went down with a thud, another burst of cheers went up from the crowd. Sanae was beating the odds!

When she rolled over onto her back, Sanae looked back up with a smile, shaking some hair out of her eyes. No matter how much Kennedy had tried to rig this match against her, she was still holding on - the very fact she had lasted this long was proof she wasn't going to go down easy! However, Kennedy had little tolerance for being shown up like this - and she was about to let Sanae know it! As she sat back up, she quickly kicked out with her other foot - ramming it right into Sanae's face!

Sanae might've been quick, but this time she wasn't quite quick enough. Her head snapped back as Kennedy's boot met it with a crack, and she dropped down, clutching at her temples with both hands. Still, Sanae was sure there was hell to pay if Kennedy kept up with her, and she had no intentions of staying vulnerable in front of her for long. She tried to roll her weight to the side, looking to get as far from Kennedy as she could.

[Pegasus]

Kennedy’s foot hit the mark as the cute idol’s face got bashed in and Sanae was sent rolling away from her opponent. Kennedy sat up wheezing as she was getting beaten badly by this smaller woman and she was finding it way too embarrassing for her liking. She needed to tip the scales back in her favor and with one of her arms stretched to the bone tight hurting her badly, she was compromised using her normal power moves or even risking an aerial move. Kennedy had to go searching in her bag of tricks and motioned to the stage with her better hand as she got to her feet. Three cameramen came running down the aisle as boos arose from the crowd and they each carried a flash camera with them usually reserved for beautiful shots of stars on the red carpet of movie premieres. Too bad for Sanae that she was in the perfect position to get some unwanted paparazzi. The men saw Kennedy nod and they turned their flashes on starting to spam pictures of Sanae and blind her with the camera lights!

[CaptainL]

Reeling from the impact, Sanae's entire face had gone numb where Kennedy's foot had drilled straight into her nose. She couldn't feel it even as she flopped backward against the mat. But even still, Sanae would throw all her weight over to the side, trying to get away from Kennedy as quickly as she could. She knew full well that her opponent likely wouldn't leave it at that - now that she had been stunned, she would've made for the perfect target for Kennedy to focus her offense on. She needed to get out of the way before she could do that - and with strength born of the determination in her heart no matter how sore her body was, Sanae found it in her to roll herself across the mat, getting to the other side of the ring!

There, she rose up to one knee, panting for breath. She stopped to shake herself out, wringing the cobwebs from her head and rolling her shoulders to try and limber herself up. She was still weary from the breakneck pace of this match, and the pain in her head had become a low throbbing soreness, but she knew that around Kennedy, she couldn't afford to let down her guard. Her hand clenched around the rope behind her, and she began to stand back up...

But right then, when she least expected it, Sanae was rushed by Kennedy's photographers! Hearing the commotion, she turned and looked back at them with a bewildered gasp - what were they doing here? And why now? But in her confusion, she had ended up staring right at them - that, as she was about to find out, was a mistake! Just then, a camera flash went off - and Sanae's face was engulfed with a blinding white light!

"GAH-!!" Sanae dropped back, falling off her feet as she clutched at her face. She couldn't see a thing - and that meant that, for now, she was wide open!