Mariko Ishii vs. Armando 'Army' Rodriguez - Bow Down

The funny thing was that Army had on idea on how to get out of this.

It wasn't a good idea. In fact, it was a legendarily bad idea. But it was an idea, and it was better than begging in front of an audience of thousands and having his Man Card revoked. Army had seen what Mariko could do to some of the weaker guys in the league, and there was no way he was getting put in that same category.

Army took a deep breath, steeled his body, then began to lift up his upper body, raising up with Mariko on top of him. Even with her light weight, that simple act was a serious struggle, as was getting his legs under him as he rose. It pushed his body to the limit, summoned muscles even he rarely used.

But he did it. Army stood up, straightened out, then fell back, trying to crash down with Mariko right beneath him. It wouldn’t be all that pretty to watch, but he’d settle for it simply working.

Mariko didn't exactly expect a man as strong and proud as Army to just start kissing her feet and begging for mercy. Well, at least not yet, though there was still plenty of time to get to that point. For now she just wanted to tease him and weaken his morale a bit.

Mariko's amusement came to a quick halt, however, when Army started to rise up off the mat. She immediately began to regret her choice of a hold. Sure, it damaged his most valuable weapons and let her have some quality fun at his expense. But Mariko wasn't sure it was worth what was about to happen as a result.

Before she could do anything about it, she was brought down to the mat with a heavy crash, crying out in pain at the impact, which was no doubt made even worse by Army sandwiching her between his muscular frame and the mat.

Army was just started to recovered from his counter when he heard the strangest sound. At first, he thought it was raining, but no, the sky had been clear when he’d come into the arena. This was slower than that, and closer, louder, more sporadic. In fact, it almost sounded like…

...applause. Huh.

He looked up and sure enough the crowd was giving him some props for the way he’d escaped. Not many, sure, but considering who he was up against, it was far more than he’d ever hoped to get. Almost made the numbness in his arms worth it.

With a hint of a smile, he rolled over, pushed Mariko onto her chest, then reached under her and wrapped her arms around her stomach as he began to stand up, lifting her along as he rose. His arms still ached, but thankfully, Mariko was light, even lighter than he would’ve guessed when they first met. Or, maybe that was just the adrenaline helping. Either way.

He hauled her up until he was standing tall, then pulled her up, up, up, as high as he could go...before hurling her back to the mat with a shattering gutwrench suplex.