Hiromi Rondo vs. Astrid Ostberg - Power Blitz!

[Arjuna]

Still nursing her stomach after being elbowed earlier, Hiromi would try to recover so that she could get herself back into the fight. But, before she could regain her bearing, Astrid suddenly charged towards her, seemingly looking to drive her shoulder into her body. Having no time to avoid, Hiromi took the charge, and Astrid's shoulder hit her right into her midsection.

"Gouughhh!!!"

The collision expelled quite a huge amount of air from her lungs, and Hiromi was taken off of her feet, falling down onto her back. Now left breathless, Hiromi didn't seem to be in a good spot at the moment, with Astrid being free to do whatever she wanted next. At this point, Hiromi needed to recover as quickly as possible if she ever wanted to fight back.

[CaptainL]

Astrid had hoped to ride forward on the momentum she gained from her hit, and sure enough, Hiromi wasn't prepared for her next move, as Astrid pounded into her already-sore stomach with the full brunt of her shoulder, sending her to the ground. The Norwegian stood above her, taking a moment to pose and show off to the crowd - putting one hand on her hip and lifting the other to flex her bicep in a show of strength. A cheer rose from the audience at the sight of Astrid's power, and it brought a smile to the blonde's face to know just how much they could witness and appreciate her strength.

She wasn't quite done here, of course. While Hiromi was down, she was lined up for the next trick in Astrid's book, as she got down next to her downed opponent to lift her head, holding down a headlock in the crook of her arm and pressing Hiromi's head between her armpit and ribs. While she was going to keep her momentum going, Astrid also didn't want to just run roughshod over her opponent, and so far she had been dominating things - where was the fun in that? She looked over to Hiromi and whispered to her. "Let's see how long you last." After all, Astrid didn't intend to finish her off with this hold, and she had no intention of winning with it. Rather, she wanted to test Hiromi's limits and see how long it would take her to break free, to give her an extra challenge and get a feel for her strength.

[Arjuna]

Gasping out for air, Hiromi was on the mat after having her opponent's shoulder driven into her belly. It was clear now how strong the Norwegian was, and she needed to fight harder in order to show her opponent what she was made of. As she tried to regain her breath and recover, she was picked up by Astrid, who then put her in a headlock. Grunting as she felt her head being pressed against Astrid's side, Hiromi gritted her teeth, trying to focus on her recovery before she decided that she needed to be rougher than usual.

"Rrghh..."

So, clenching her fist, she would then try to deliver a few punches into Astrid's belly, hoping that all those punches would cause her to slacken her hold, allowing her to shake herself free from the headlock. She was planning to deliver a spinning backfist if she managed to break free from the hold, hoping to deal some damage on her opponent with the strike.

[CaptainL]

Continuing to apply pressure to Hiromi's temples, Astrid clenched her teeth, squeezing as hard as she could. She just hoped that Hiromi would find the strength to pull out of this; it would be a shame for such a promising matchup to end so soon.

Luckily for both women, however, Hiromi still had the fight in her she needed to even the score. Astrid's focus was suddenly shaken when Hiromi slammed her fist into her toned stomach, drawing a cough from her. Although Astrid's abs absorbed the initial impact, Hiromi wasn't deterred, and she kept on going. The punches built up in force, and eventually her efforts proved sufficient to force Astrid to let go of her, letting her drop to the mat. From there Hiromi carried the momentum forward with a backhand that struck Astrid upside the face, knocking the blonde backwards as she went reeling from the blow. Astrid fell backwards, the ropes managing to catch her before she landed on her back and leaving her slumped there.

[Arjuna]

After driving her fist repeatedly into Astrid's belly, Hiromi finally managed to break free after her opponent was forced to let her go. Shaking her head, Hiromi could see Astrid stumbling back towards the ropes. Seeing her opportunity, Hiromi decided to make her move as she would force herself towards Astrid, extending her arm out in preparation to deliver a lariat right into her upper chest!

Hopefully, this move would cause so much damage on the Norwegian, and she was hoping that it would send her tumbling over the top rope and outside the ring.

[CaptainL]

Still coming off of her winded state from her clash with Hiromi, Astrid was starting to push herself to her feet, still using the ropes behind her to stabilize herself as she hung onto the middle rope as a brace. She shook her head, her blonde hair swaying from side to side as she took the moment to clear her head in preparation for the next move. She might still have felt the ache from her opponent's last hit, but Astrid wasn't going to let that hold her back for too long. She was still in this to win it.

However, Hiromi had surprising speed and agility behind her to match her size! Before Astrid could fully ready herself, Hiromi came in hard - and she wasn't prepared to take the lariat to her chest. With a cough, Astrid fell back over the ropes, her feet swept off the ground, and she came crashing down on the other side of them with a thud, landing on her back on the cold, unforgiving floor outside. A groan leaving her throat, Astrid moved her hands up to clutch her aching head. She had been dazed before, so between the chest pain and the landing she'd taken she wasn't getting up from this easily.

[Arjuna]

Hitting Astrid with a lariat, Hiromi managed to send the Norwegian over the top rope and outside the ring. The crowd cheered from the sheer display of strength from the rookie, and Hiromi let out a triumphant yell, raising both her arms before flexing those muscular arms of theirs, rousing the crowd some more to get more cheers from them.

Now that Astrid was outside, Hiromi would wait for her to reenter the ring, and at the same time, the referee would start counting her out.

"ONE!"

[CaptainL]

"TWO! THREE!"

Astrid may have been tough, but Hiromi hit hard - their two specialties almost perfectly balancing each other out.Even with the blonde's endurance, she wouldn't be getting up any time soon, and she was left coming off of her groggy state as she writhed on her back, still trying to get the soreness out of her head.

"THREE! FOUR!"

But Astrid couldn't just give up here. She had to fight on - this was still early in the match, and she wouldn't let herself be defeated so easily. As the crowd began to erupt in cheers, growing in intensity with each moment that passed, Astrid let the strength return to her. Slowly but surely, she lifted herself up from where she lay. She sat up, then rolled to her feet, wobbling a moment on an uneasy footing.

"FIVE!"

But after she had done what she needed to, Astrid was back in action - and soon she would be going at it once more, as though nothing had happened! With a sudden burst of speed, Astrid lunged in under the bottom rope, rolling a short distance to get back into the ring before she sprung back into a stance.

"You're a hard hitter, all right," she said to Hiromi with a nod. "I'll take what you've got, though!"

[Arjuna]

Rather than pursuing Astrid to outside the ring, Hiromi waited for her in the ring, taking this chance to recover as well. Then, when Astrid finally made her way back into the ring, Hiromi smiled as she would prepare herself for her next clash with her. She knew that the hit earlier didn't seem to do much on the Norwegian girl, but she still had plenty of moves to be used against her.

"Don't worry... I have lots of moves I have in store for you!" Hiromi said before she launched herself forward, extending her right arm to her side, as if looking to smash it right into Astrid's upper chest for a running clothesline. She knew that if the clothesline managed to hit her opponent, the result would be catastrophic for the Norwegian girl.

[CaptainL]

Hiromi rode forward on the momentum she had been leading with a moment ago, charging straight in her direction. Meeting her challenge, the Norwegian prepared herself - she spread her legs and lowered herself, putting her fists up in front of her to ready her next move.

Hiromi was going for a clothesline, but Astrid had a defense readied. She knew that an attack like this would have devastating consequences - if it landed. But Astrid wasn't going to let it happen so easily. Hoping that she'd be able to act fast enough to pull off a counter, she kicked out with her leg in the hopes that she could slam it into Hiromi with a big boot before she made contact.