L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

"Ughhh..." Kayla's eyes rolled up into the back of her head as she slumped against the canvas, stunned. She wanted nothing more than to get up and keep fighting back. It wasn't even too early into the match, she told herself; she could still stand a chance! She wanted to, at any rate. This meant too much for her to simply lay down and let Ryuko cover her this easily.

But she had still taken a muscle buster directly to an already damaged head, and she would have considered herself lucky to still be conscious if her mind wasn't preoccupied with the match she should still be winning. But some things were too much for even her determination to push through - as the referee's hand fell again, and then a third time. "TWO! THREE!!"

As the bell was ringing, only then did Kayla start to pick herself up, her head spinning and her eyes glazed over with exhaustion. She took a few ragged breaths before she looked across at her opponent - and there, she froze. The absolute worst case scenario had come true. She had only wanted to prove herself worthy of being taken seriously, and she had let Ryuko walk all over her.

Ryuko heard the bell ring as she stood tall over Kayla. Some of the crowd booed her while many cheered as they liked both women as well as had the pleasure of seeing a good, hard fought matchup. Ryuko held her arms out and strut about the ring to bask in her victory before standing over Kayla with her hands on her hips. "You aren't bad, don't get me wrong. You just need to realize that you foreign women coming in to our ring are pretenders compared to the best of the best in the world of womens wrestling. It isn't personal, but you won't ever be at my level." Ryuko said before making her way towards the ropes.

Things were going well for Ryuko who smiled and pointed up towards a banner for the World Openweight Title, the newest belt in LAW and one that had yet to be claimed by a champion. Ryuko grinned as she nodded up to it, starting to climb through the ropes and hopping down to the ground beginning her walk up the ramp towards the back triumphant as expected.

With Ryuko looming tall above her, Kayla gulped. She might have given it her best shot, but there was no point before tonight where she felt as low as she did now. Her opponent seemed like a titan by comparison with how seemingly easily she had won, even to a woman as proud and as dedicated as Kayla was. Even when Ryuko did say she wasn't bad...somehow, that didn't bring Kayla any sense of relief. She still felt like she just hadn't done enough.

But for Ryuko to talk down to her, and say it was all because she was foreign? Now that was starting to get on her nerves. The Californian clenched her teeth, staring back at Ryuko as she watched her exit. Even as the veteran pointed to the banner for the World Openweight Title - a championship that, in all fairness, Kayla had no doubts that she would deserve after a showing like this - Kayla only had her mind on one thing. This wasn't about winning any titles for her. This was just about proving she had what it took, no matter what anyone else said.

At last pushing herself back up to her full height, Kayla jabbed a finger towards her parting opponent. "You might think you've won now," she said, "But this isn't over! Once I get through a little more training...then I'll be at your level, if not beyond it! And then I'll prove it to you that I deserve a place at the table!"

With that being said, Kayla turned to start heading out of the ring herself. This had only just begun.

Winner by Pinfall: Thunder Ryuko