Eternal Rivalry: Kennedy Lee vs. Astrid Ostberg (2-out-of-3 Falls Match)

[Pegasus]

Kennedy knew that people would boo her for stooping so low to use a Rose Gold submission, but she truly didn’t mean any ill will by it and she certainly wasn’t as desperate as Rose. Kennedy was older and more mature than she let on and made people believe. Yeah, she was pretty horny and acted like the party girl that never grew up from her college years, but if there is one thing she always took seriously, maybe more seriously that Astrid did, it was pro wrestling. Kennedy grew up watching this sport and attending events sacrificing her parents and their legacy to get this opportunity. A career that her father initially disapproved of and that started a horrible point in her life. Kennedy is a teacher as much as she is Astrid’s rival.

Astrid was panicking. She was trying to make Kennedy dizzy which was the wrong move. Astrid would waste her stamina and her oxygen would just be depleted faster as she would face history repeating itself. Astrid would be knocked out again and face embarrassment all over again-this time, no one would let her live it down if she fell to the same move twice. Hell, Thereisa might actually semi-respect Kennedy after pulling that move. Not that the jungle wrestler was keen on letting Thereisa have that satisfaction.

Kennedy pulled up Astrid’s face from her crotch as she looked down firmly.

“Astrid, listen to me and stop right now! Hon, you’re panicking. You’re going to lower your oxygen faster and be knocked out again. I know this defeat was hard for you, but snap the hell out of it! You’re still the wrestler that Rose wishes she could be. You are the heart and soul of LAW! But you’re acting like a damn fool! You’re overthinking this! Just fucking slam me already!” Kennedy yelled in Astrid’s face.

[CaptainL]

In that moment, Astrid had been shocked to her core. When she found herself with Kennedy's thighs clamping down around her head, and her face buried deep in her groin, the Norsewoman's muscle memory kicked in - she knew this feeling all too well. In an instant, she was back at We Are LAW 5, in the very position that had seen her infamous loss to Rose Gold. And at such a threat, Astrid had kicked into high alert. Whatever happened, she couldn't let history repeat itself. She couldn't lose to Kennedy now! Even knowing that this would only be the first fall of several, to Astrid, the very prospect of passing out to the same hold she had in the loss she lamented the most out of all in her career was simply unacceptable. She had to do better - she had to surpass the person she had been before; she had to show Kennedy, and the world, she had grown!

But she was taking the wrong lesson from that impulse. She had worked herself into a frenzy, putting all her energy into shaking and jostling Kennedy around in the desperate hope that it might make her hold on her loosen even by a little. She couldn't abide by being in this position for even a second more; she had to make a change! But Kennedy was right. Astrid was getting herself lost in her panic, and she was so desperate to escape the position she was in that she had neglected maintaining her stamina for the rest of the match. The more she struggled, the more of her oxygen she was burning - and oxygen was more precious now than ever when she barely had an inch of space between her airways and Kennedy's crotch. If she kept up with this, she could well make herself pass out before she had even gotten close to escaping.

When she heard Kennedy's words, she paused, turning them over in her head. Despite the haze that had surrounded her - her vision dark, her breath stifled, her thoughts abuzz with panic and terror - Kennedy's voice cut through clear to her deepest and innermost thoughts, and it was enough to give Astrid pause, her struggles abruptly coming to a halt. At first, she asked herself if she should take her advice. If she was going to take advice from someone else in order to escape, was that any different from accepting defeat - would it just be an admission she couldn't get out on her own? But no matter how much Astrid tried to justify it to herself, she couldn't disagree with Kennedy's logic. She was getting nowhere. And she had to made a change!

Sucking in a breath, both to swallow her pride and to collect herself with what little air she still had at her disposal, Astrid stiffened - her ankles dug into the ground as her muscles pulled taut, firming up her stance. She hoisted Kennedy as high as she could onto her shoulders - and then, she dropped her down, falling to her knees as she threw her weight forward and slammed Kennedy's back against the mat! Even if Kennedy let go, however, Astrid would stay there on her knees, panting for breath and trying to collect herself. She was grateful to be out - but she still had to bite at the inside of her cheek when she thought about how she had made such a glaring lapse in judgment, and how she'd needed her rival to bail her out. She should have been better than this...

[Pegasus]

Kennedy fell down and screamed in pain grabbing her back as she rolled around in so much pain! Kennedy winded up on her stomach breathing in and out trying to get some wind back in her lungs. She saw Astrid nearly on her last lungs as she had wasted most of her breath running around like a damn lunatic. Kennedy expected better, but she couldn’t coddle Astrid all match. With her back hurting like hell, Kennedy used her endurance to rise up step by step hoping to ram her left boot into Astrid’s face!

With Astrid out of breath like this, Kennedy could easily secure the first fall no problem it seemed. Kennedy grabbed Astrid by the throat and held back her left hand before jabbing her thumb into Astrid’s face! She hoped to hit the Amazon Spike and then just fall right on top of Astrid for an exhausted pin.

[CaptainL]

At the very least, Astrid had turned things around. She had brought Kennedy down, and now that she was out of the Midas Clutch and able to breathe freely, she had some much-needed time to clear her head. As her shoulders heaved up and down with each haggard breath she took, her face was red from embarrassment as much as it was from the exertion and lack of breath. She should have been better than this, she told herself. If she was going to panic like this, and if she was going to need to be bailed out by her own opponent just to stand a chance, then she was making mistakes she would have deemed unforgivable if she saw them in any of her trainees. If that was the case, she knew that she had deserved to lose her championship. And if she had let herself slip this far, it was enough to make her hiss through her teeth in frustration.

But if Astrid had anything to motivate her, it was her desire to prove that her title loss wasn't going to define her going forward, and that she still had it in her to turn things around; to elevate herself back to where she was at her peak. And she wasn't going to get there by sitting around doing nothing! Sucking in a breath and firming up her muscles, she looked back up - just in time to see Kennedy coming toward her!

At first the Norwegian let out a gasp when she saw Kennedy raise her foot. Then, she realized she would need to act fast in order to save herself - and her survival instincts kicked into gear. She threw her arms up, looking to block the shot with her forearms...but, unfortunately for Astrid, by that point it was too late. Kennedy was too quick - her kick had slipped past Astrid's guard, and it struck her full in the face. With the sound of a crack, her head was flung back in an arc, and she fell to her back a moment later.

That alone was enough to leave a mark on Astrid, who was beginning to feel her entire face go numb as she lay there panting with her arms splayed out around her. But Kennedy still wasn't done. She grabbed Astrid by the throat, causing her to sputter and gasp as she was hauled back up to her feet, and her teeth clenched in a pained grimace just in time for Kennedy to slam her thumb into her head! Astrid thought that the hit she'd taken had deadened all the sensation she could get, but she still felt this, sending a shudder along her spine. It had left Astrid stunned, causing her to sink lower at the knees as her muscles tensed up, and that would ensure she didn't have anything in her to stop Kennedy from dropping down on top of her, sending the two to the mat!

Astrid and Kennedy toppled like a stack of dominoes, with Astrid hitting the canvas with a thump. Kennedy was on top of her, and even without needing to hook her leg or get her hands on her shoulders, her body weight alone was proving well enough to keep the Norsewoman in place. Coupled with the fatigue setting into her bones, Astrid simply couldn't draw on the strength she needed to fight back. All she could do was lay there as the referee dropped down to start the count!

"One!!"

[Pegasus]

“2! 3! The first fall goes to Kennedy by pinfall!” The referee called out as it was all said and done right there.

The crowd was a little shocked at this. They were sure that Astrid could’ve easily had this first fall cooped up for safety and yet she failed. Astrid may have had some recent bad luck with losing her title, but seeing her eat this loss for the first fall was unbecoming of who she was. However, they would hold out hope as Kennedy slipped off Astrid mentally preparing for the next round and pulled herself up by the ropes.

[CaptainL]

The first round was over - and Astrid had lost. Even after Kennedy got off of her, it was still something that weighed on the Norsewoman's mind. When she pushed herself back up into a seated position, her teeth clenched tightly, and a shudder ran through her body as she tried to rub the soreness out of her shoulder. By all means, Astrid shouldn't have been this easy to defeat. Whether or not she still had her championship, her title run had cemented her as a pillar of the Heavyweight Division and as one of the top wrestlers in LAW. But she hadn't been able to live up to those lofty expectations now - and not only had the world seen another defeat in a too-long string of defeats for Astrid, so too had one of her most pitched rivals, someone who she couldn't afford to show any sign of weakness to. It made her let out a huff through her clenched teeth just thinking about it - Astrid should have been better than this. But once again, she was faced with another sign of her worst fears - that, just maybe, her luck was running out.

Still, Astrid reminded herself, it wasn't over yet. They still had two more falls to go, and that was plenty of time in which Astrid could still steal back a win! If anything, she would need to use that as the motivation she needed to push through the rest of the match. Her psyche couldn't afford another failure - so she'd just have to fight twice as hard to ensure that wouldn't happen! Kennedy wouldn't get the better of her. Not now, and not ever!

Already, Astrid could feel a second wind hitting her. Sucking in a breath, she pushed herself back to her feet, rubbing at her bicep to warm herself up before she stretched her sore muscles with some rolls of her shoulders. "Not bad," she muttered to Kennedy, "but I'm just getting started..." With that, Astrid bent at the knees and extended her hands, readying her stance for the next round!

[Pegasus]

Kennedy was exhausted beyond belief as she rose back to her feet and this was only the first fall. She hadn’t had a match this though in quite awhile, but Astrid was one person that could make her work for a win. Both women seemed battered and sore even after just a few minutes into this match. It sure told the crowd they didn’t play when it came to the ring and it wasn’t going to stop now. Kennedy just needed another fall to seal the deal and she had plenty left in her tank before it ran dry.

Astrid was plenty tired enough herself so she just needed to keep her grounded and maybe pull out a surprise pin to end this quickly. If she wrestled much more, her own fatigue would get the better of her and Kennedy knew how relentless Astrid was with her Bearhug. She would be too unconscious to even continue through towards the final fall. Keep herself from the arms and get Astrid on the ground was the plan moving forward.

“You just love being my bitch, don’t cha, Assy?” Kennedy tauntingly asked as she used an old nickname she used back when they dated.

[CaptainL]

Astrid felt she had a lot riding on a comeback right now. For the sake of her own image and her own self-esteem, she needed to win, just to show the world she even could. More importantly, though, she needed to show Kennedy that she could - when the Norsewoman had long compared herself to Kennedy and sought to surpass her, she couldn't bear the thought of ever coming in second to her. It was already bad enough that she had lost her belt. If she wasn't able to win out over her longest-standing rival, she would truly have proven that her glory days had passed her by.

And it was for this reason that Kennedy's taunts hit Astrid particularly hard. With her eyes locked on the Jungle Queen in a deathly glare, she let out a hiss, her muscles growing tense and her fists balling tightly at her sides as she took a few steps to storm closer. While Astrid and Kennedy were no strangers to teasing one another, the Norsewoman was in no mood to be mocked right now. "Not. Funny," she growled under her breath.

Once again, she would reach out to grab onto Kennedy's hands for a test of strength. But this time, she would put all her forward momentum into one hard push, trying to shove Kennedy back as hard as she could. It was her way of showing everyone she wasn't playing around!

[Pegasus]

Kennedy looked a little perturbed at seeing Astrid glare her down sending multiple metaphorical daggers right into her body. Truly if looks could kill, Kennedy’s grave would be prepared. Astrid had been angry before. She hated when someone disgraced the name of wrestling and used it to their own devices so she would see to it that they are dealt with properly. Hell, Astrid doesn’t even scream often and just gets particularly annoyed, but she’s pretty chill most of the time outside the ring and training. However, something didn’t fit right here. Astrid was looking as if Kennedy ran over her favorite pet with a city bus and then went back over it a few times for good measure.

This was more evident when Astrid forced Kennedy’s hands into her and then pushed hard as Kennedy tripped up scrambling back into the ropes. Was Kennedy afraid? Was Astrid even Astrid here? Kennedy used the ropes to get up and thought back on something Thereisa told her. Everyone knew about the war that Astrid and Thereisa had for the heavyweight title, but Thereisa felt she sensed a new force within Astrid. Astrid was the goody goody babyface that respected her opponents if they gave her a good match. Astrid always had that sense of pride…..all until her downfall against Rose. That’s when things got worse for Astrid and now, she lost her title soon after which didn’t help matters.

“So, this is what made Rose wet herself and run away. She poked and prodded every single corner of that mind of yours and got under your skin badly. So badly that there is an even more aggressive Astrid in there. And you know where that will lead you, Astrid? To being Thereisa. To being Selket. To being Rose. To being the very people you hate. I know rich coming from me considering what I do sometimes, but you don’t have to be me. You’re suppose to be better than me. I don’t want you to resort to being a bad girl to get that way. You do it on your own merits,” Kennedy chided the younger blonde.

[CaptainL]

Indeed, when Astrid went into this match, something was...different. When she put her all into her efforts, striving to showcase her strength and rise to the potential that only a well-matched opponent could bring out of her, it had always motivated her to do her best, and to climb to new heights. She'd always held herself to that, vowing to never give any match less than the full focus and determination she owed anything she took so seriously. But tonight, there was far more at stake than just Astrid's values. Even when Astrid had already lost her title, she felt like there was more hanging in the balance than ever before. Tonight, Astrid was faced with a rival she had pit herself against for years, and who she was determined to never fall behind. And now, more than ever before, Astrid felt like she stood the risk to fall behind - to lose it all, and to prove she was never worthy of all the honors she'd earned in her career. With every fiber of her being, she was going to fight against that!

She still had an angry glare settled on Kennedy as she shoved back at her as hard as she could, trying to steer the Jungle Queen into the ropes. Indeed, Astrid's determination had allowed her to find newfound strength - it was with unprecedented ease that Astrid was able to send her opponent staggering back, drawing a few cheers and gasps from the crowd. But for as strong a showing as she had made, it was what Kennedy said next that took the wind out of the Norsewoman's sails - and just as she was prepared to press the advantage, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes going wide.

Was it true? Was Astrid just giving into her aggression? Was she getting so lost in her pursuit of redemption that she would do anything to reclaim the status she once had - and in the process, going down the same path as some of her worst enemies? Even Rose Gold herself? If she followed down this road, this desperation to find the same heights she'd once enjoyed, was it all going to lead her to become just as ruthless, egotistical, and single-minded as the woman who had set her down this path to begin with?

For a moment, Astrid stood there in silence, pondering it all. It was a moment that felt like an eternity. But then, she shook her head. No. No, it couldn't be - she wouldn't allow it! No matter what happened or where she went, she wouldn't be like them. She was better. She knew that. She could never stoop to their level because she knew who they were and what they did, and she would always strive to avoid that! At last, she looked up toward Kennedy with her teeth locked into a grimace, and she snorted a burst of hot air through her nostrils. The more she looked at Kennedy, the more she felt herself heat up with that anger. If anything, she was offended that someone who knew her for as long as Kennedy had would even suggest such a thing!

"You're wrong. You're wrong!" Astrid bellowed in defiance. "I'm not going to be like them! Not ever!" With a roar of rage, she struck out while Kennedy was on the ropes, aiming a forearm square at her head!