Maria Tempesta vs. The Black Fang - Behind the Masks

Good God, Maria could throw a punch. The woman hit like some crazy, hornheaeded truck, a blow that left . What, was this woman a boxer before she became a wrestler? Why were so many following that career path?

She was still in the fight, but the Black Fang needed a moment to recoup and recover, a  moment that Maria would wisely deny her. Before she could even think about going back on the attack, her neck was snapped up by two powerful legs, pulling her forward, lifting her up, and-

”Nonononon-” Up she went and down she came, crashing down hard on the mat, right on the small of her back. She sat upright immediately and arched her back, hissing as the shock ran its course through her bones.

---

Maria found herself moving along with her own momentum, flipping backwards and hitting the mat back-first. She gasped, trying her best to ignore the sting that shot through her spine from the impact. Okay, she had slightly fucked up that heavy move, she noted with irritation. But the heavy crash behind her told her that Fang had just taken the worst of it.

Groaning a little, she turned over onto her hands and knees, seeing Black Fang arching up in pain. Breathing hard, Maria crawled over to her, trying to ignore the every little ache and hurt in her back as she made her way to the Asian and shoved her onto her back again, before grabbing one of her legs for the pinfall.

"Stay down this time," she hissed, just as the ref girl dropped down next to them to start the countdown. "ONE..."

Huh. That was a pretty good hurricanrana. It wasn’t that easy to tell, sure, since the Black Fang was the one who’d actually taken the move, but she was familiar enough with it to recognize when she someone had the right amount of snap to it. A+ for Ms. Tempesta.

”2…!”

That didn’t mean it was enough to finish off the Black Fang, though. She still had plenty of fight left, and wasn’t about to give. Particularly not when her opponent was so rudely demanding it.

She kicked out hard as the referee rose her hand again, groaning and turning over to her side soon after. ”Didn’t say the magic word…”

Maria had thought that this would be it-- that this sudden turnaround would be enough to score her a victory. But instead, Black Fang kicked out once again, breaking the pinfall. Exasperated, Maria returned to her knees, running her hands through her white hair in frustration. Admittedly, she was very impressed with the good show Black Fang was putting on so far, but that didn't mean she was going to show that to the audience.

Standing back up, she stomped down hard on Fang's chest. ""Is this who you want as your hero?" she yelled to the audience. "Huh? Is this who you want to cheer for?" Even as the crowd broke out into boos, Maria would be ready to swipe her boot across Fang's face the moment she rolled over, tormenting her Asian opponent while she was still down.

The Black Fang, admittedly, wasn’t the best reader of emotions in the world, but she was getting the distinct impression that Maria was becoming displeased with her stubborn refusal to just roll over and be defeated.

Maybe it was the way she was grinding her face into the floor like a bug beneath her heel. Or the way she was clearly attempting to humiliate her in front of the audience. Whatever the case, she’d just about had all she could stand of this, and she wasn't about to stand anymore.

When Mariah tried to bring her boot down on her face, the Black Fang sprung into action. She reached up, wrapped an arm around her ankle, and gave it a vicious twist as flopped about on the mat, trying to bring the witch to the floor while she still held onto the limb. If that all worked out the way she hoped, it would be her turn to make some magic happen.

She had the crowd booing her now, because of course she did: after all, what kind of rudo would she be if she.didnt get the crowd well and truly pissed at her? She soaked up their anger and privately exalted in it, even as she strode towards Fang and launched her booth in a thuggish swipe at her face.

And found her foot caught, mere inches from Fang's face. "Que?" she gasped, just before her leg was twisted. Off balance, the Cubana went crashing onto her back with a curse. Feeling her leg still being held onto, Maria lashed out with a blind kick at her foe, though at this angle she wasn't sure how much damage it would do...

And down she went. The Black Fang was starting to notice a certain pattern with Maria, a flaw that she had little interest in correcting: she was a villain, and it seemed like she reveled in that fact, perhaps, a little too much. That left her open, vulnerable in some circumstances, and the Black Fang intended to make use of them.

She had the leg now, but Maria wasn’t without her defenses, as she shot a leg out, trying to strike the Black Fang on any random spot. A good attempt that might’ve worked, if only she hadn’t been expecting that sort of thing. She had, as it turned out.

She grabbed Maria’s foot as it came in and twisted it about, rolling the luchador over to her chest. She slid over to sit on her foe’s back and started to pull her legs up. ”Guess what comes next!”

Maria really didn't appreciate being countered like this, especially when she had all too recently been winning! As she lashed out with another savage kick at Black Fang, though, her opponent once again proved how canny she was, catching Maria's booted heel under her arm, before twisting it sharply. Gasping, Maria found herself twisted over onto her front, her breasts pancaking against the mat as she was twisted over.

She knew what was coming next, even before Fang taunted her. "NONONONO-!" she gasped, kicking frantically with her free leg to prevent Fang from grabbing it. She was too late-- Fang grabbed her other leg, pressing her upper body down further against the mat and smooshing her boobs and face further against the floor, before arching her body in a painful boston crab. Maria screamed at that point, pounding the mat with her fists as she was stretched painfully by her foe.

The Boston Crab was a move that showed up in a lot of AFW matches, and the fans sometimes complained about that, wanting their wrestlers to use more inventive move. Crazier moves. Dangerous moves. As much as she loved the crowd, they could be fickle sometimes, and it seemed like they appreciated the classics less and less with each passing year.

But it was a good move. Reliable. Easy to execute. Painful. Effective. Oh, and it was easy to transfer it into a new move. Such as…

The Black Fang released one of Maria’s legs, but it wasn’t out of mercy for opponent. Quite the opposite, in fact - she did it to trap Maria’s leg between her own. From there, she fell down to her opponent’s back, reached out to wrap her arms around her head, and attempted to yank it back with harsh fervor, attempting to put her in a tight STF. ”Is this any better?”

Despite being s high flyer, Fang surprised Maria by really knowing how to lock in that Boston crab, yanking back both booted legs and keeping Maria grounded despite her best efforts. The rudo found her face and chest flattened against the mat as she was bent, the curve of her body tested as Fang bent away at her. The crowd, naturally, loved it: any chance to see the villain in this fight punished, and bonus points if the move looked hot, (which undoubtedly it did)

"L-let go you puta!" Maria snarled. To her surprise, Fang accepted her request...only to then feel Fang lying against her back, pulling painfully on her chin as she transitioned to an STF. Maria soon found herself screaming again, her eyes starting to water from the sheer pain of it all.

Around her, she could hear the audience chanting "TAP! TAP! TAP!" over and over again. Fuck you too, she thought bitterly as she clenched her teeth, though the prospect of tapping now seemed increasingly attractive. Stifling her screams into a whimper, she used her free leg and one arm to try to slowly and stiffly pull herself and her foe closer to the ropes, while her other arm reached back, probing at Fang's face to either take her across the eyes or yank firmly on her hair!