Astrid Ostberg vs. Katsuragi Tanaka [D]

[CaptainL]

The blow connected with a crack, sending Katsuragi's head rolling backwards from the impact with Astrid's forearm. Landing such a hit felt like a rush to Astrid, who smiled wide, pleased with herself. As she watched Katsuragi fall backwards, she started to lower her guard, but stayed tentatively curious, just in case. She wouldn't put it past her opponent to get back into the thick of things, particularly when the match had just begun.

Sure enough, Katsuragi jumped back up before Astrid could do much. The Norwegian woman nodded to her opponent; she'd almost be disappointed if the match was really over so quickly. But Katsuragi was ready to get back into the fight, and she would be ready for her.

"I'd hope as much," Astrid said. But she wouldn't give Katsuragi much time to close in before she made her move. She lunged in towards her, moving to wrap her arms around her. If she got that grapple in place, Astrid would go straight for a suplex.

[Satoshi]

After taking a hit Katsuragi was quickly back on her feet ready to face Astrid again. Her foe seemed impressed but not too surprised. Both sides knew it will be a tough match with neither wrestler about to break quickly. Astrid however, didn't give much time for Katsuragi to think as she rushed in to grapple with the heavyweight. Katsuragi obliges, wrapping her own arms against Astrid and starting to push up against her, ready to test her strength against her foe, but instead of feeling Astrid push back she was slowly lifted off the ground.

Katsuragi didn't have time to counteract as Astrid lifted her up and over her head, throwing down on the mat behind her. Katsuragi let out a yelp as she fell down, hitting the mat with a thud. This was enough to keep her on the ground for a bit but she wasn't out of the fight. She landed on her back, behind Astrid, looking away from her, but if the girl tried going around Katsuragi was ready to attack her with a powerful kick. Otherwise, Astrid would have a decent opening to attack Katsuragi on the ground before she would start standing up.

[CaptainL]

Astrid strained to get Katsuragi off her feet, clenching her teeth and bearing through it as she drew on as much strength in her arms as she could manage. Katsuragi tried to wrap her arms back against Astrid to repel her, but the Scandinavian woman didn't appear to be slowed down much by it. Her face never registered, and she kept on exerting her own force against her opponent.

Soon after, Astrid performed the suplex she had prepared, sending Katsuragi crashing into the mat below. The canvas shook on the impact, but Astrid remained where she stood. Astrid began to circle back around to face Katsuragi, preparing her next move. But that would prove to be a mistake, as no sooner had she come to face with the Japanese woman that Katsuragi would kick out and strike her from on her back. Astrid sputtered in surprise, stumbling backward a few feet. She stayed standing, albeit dizzied, but in that time Katsuragi had created an opening for herself to act.

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi was taken to the ground in a hard suplex by her opponent, leaving a window open for an attack. However, instead of charging in Astrid began circling her opponent which gave Katsuragi her own chance to attack as she lifted her leg up to land a powerful kick on her opponent. The hit left her foe dizzied and created an opening for Katsuragi to attack.

After the hit Katsuragi would climb to her feet quickly, hoping to hit Astrid again before she could recover. She would rush over to her foe and as soon as she got close she would launch a punch right into Astrid's face to try and stun the girl for a move with some more setup. With her opponent stunned Katsuragi would try to get Astrid's head under her armpit, in a facelock before lifting the girl up and starting to fall on her back, to perform a brainbuster on her foe.

[CaptainL]

On her back, and trying to recover from the soreness she felt after Katsuragi's kick had connected, Astrid silently cursed herself for trying to bide her time and find a weakness in Katsuragi's stance rather than going straight in with an attack of her own. At least that way, she thought, she might have been able to bring the Japanese girl down before she had a chance to act in a retaliation of her own. Now, she was winded, and it looked like Katsuragi wouldn't be passing up an opportunity like this one.

Sure enough, Katsuragi was back on her feet, and soon she was closing in on Astrid, the distance between the two swiftly shortening until Astrid was right in range to take a blow to the face that sent her staggering back a couple of steps, with her head rolling back over her shoulder. Soon after, Katsuragi would snare Astrid's head under her arm. The Norwegian woman barely had much time to react before Katsuragi suddenly fell back as she swept her up, kicking off the mat. Soon after, Astrid was dropped straight onto her head, causing her to cry out in pain and shock before she rolled over onto her back, reaching upward to clutch her head and try to hold off the pain.

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi's brainbuster succeeded, sending her for straight into the mat, causing severe pain to the Norwegian wrestler. From the subsequent hits, Astrid could roll over to her stomach, nursing her head in pain. Katsuragi, on the other hand, was fired up from her success and ready to push and lock the stunned girl in a submission.

She would attempt to get one of Astrid's arms trapped between her legs as she extended them forward, next to the girl's head as Katsuragi was facing towards her head, laying on the mat but leaning up to loom over Astrid. With Astrid's arm secured between her thighs, she would extend her arms to grab the girl's chin and yank her upwards, applying a deadly Crippler Crossface to the wrestler.

[CaptainL]

Astrid was laid out flat, panting for breath as she tried to get the strength back into her, her head still aching. But she hardly had time, and while she was struggling to rub the soreness out of her temples, Katsuragi was able to get her arm trapped between her legs before wrenching Astrid's head back in a Crippler Crossface.

The Norwegian let out a muffled groan of pain, trying to shake her head from side to side in an attempt to loosen her foe's grasp, while her free arm groped blindly forward. Although Astrid wasn't entirely sure where the ropes were in relation to the two of them, she hopefully would be able to reach them from where she was, and even if she couldn't, she hoped that she might be able to jostle Katsuragi's hold well enough to give her a chance to escape regardless.

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi was quick to start yanking back at Astrid's neck, trying to work her down, possibly into a submission, though she doubted she could ear a victory against such a tough opponent that quickly. That didn't stop her from attempting her best though, completely focused on keeping the hold tight and powerful, as Astrid wriggled beneath her. Even so, she could slowly feel the girl's arm slipping free from between her legs, Katsuragi's thighs unable to hold the powerful wrestler in place. Before she could fully slip out however Astrid also went for a rope break, which Katsuragi only noticed when the ref started counting down on her due to how much focus she put on fighting Astrid's escape attempt.

"1.." The referee started counting down. "2." This was when Katsuragi fully realised what was going on but before she could completely release "3.." The countdown continued as Katsuragi finally let go of her opponent, just as her arm was already slipping free. She let go of Astrid completely, backing off from her. She was not going to punish the girl by the ropes, or try to drag her away forcefully but instead was aiming for a more fair encounter.

[CaptainL]

Though she was working on freeing her arm from where it was trapped between her opponent's legs, Astrid didn't have too much trouble forcing a rope break to get Katsuragi to release her. Though it took a few seconds, Astrid was soon free, leaving her to rise to her feet.

As she stretched a few times to get the soreness out of her muscles and brushed off the front of her leotard, Astrid looked back at Katsuragi with a bemused glance after the delayed effect of the rope break. Despite any initial apprehensions, though, the Japanese girl didn't seem to have any hard feelings, and it looked like it might as well be a simple misunderstanding. That was fair enough for Astrid, who shrugged, her face returning to a more neutral expression. She was ready for the next move, and while she was so close to the ropes, she would throw herself back against them to try and use their spring to carry herself towards Katsuragi, holding her elbow out in front of her to make impact at where she aimed for her opponent's sternum.

[Satoshi]

Katsuragi prepared for the next engagement, reasonably close to her opponent. She watched the girl stretch in front of her and was preparing for the attack and caught her glance. To explain herself she spoke with an awkward smile. "Sorry, I didn't notice when I was fighting." It was clear she wasn't happy about what she did but that wouldn't stop Katsuragi from fighting. She didn't expect however that Astrid would come charging right at her at full force. She was left unable to put up a proper defense and soon the girl's elbow hit her right in the sternum with a hard impact.

"Argh." Katsuragi gaped in pain as she was pushed back by the powerful hit. She would stumble back, stunned, one hand holding the hurt spot on her chest, the other one up in front of her as a weak defence. If Astrid pushed on it wouldn't be hard to break past it as Katsuragi needed some time to recover from the painful attack.