Angel Spotting

“It wouldn't necessarily have to be flippy stuff. I just want to be more dynamic… get the crowd excited you know? Have you seen the girls who can do moves off the ropes or do those cool mid air recoveries when they get thrown? I want to do that sort of thing. Make people “Oooo” and “Ahhh”. I think what I do now is… well, mostly plain. I know a few cool moves, but most of my strength is in submissions. I don't think I am technical enough to make that fun for people.” She raised her bowl to shovel some noodles into her mouth, chewing fast so she could keep talking.

“Any help from you, or people you know would be appreciated. I am a one woman band at the moment, so I am pretty sure I could be training way better than I do now with some coaching.” Alex eyed the paltry remains of her bowl, deciding to sip the last of noodle bits and broth from the side. When it was all gone she held it in one hand, tossing her chopsticks in. That had been pretty good save for how frustrating it was to eat.

Suzumi rubbed her chin, deep in thought again. At least, as deep in thought as Suzumi could be. "Like, moves are nice but I don't think that is why the crowd gets into a lot of the wrestlers we have. I mean, my move set isn't as flashy as a lot of others are. I totally feel like it is all personality and presentation. I will be flirty a bit on my way to the ring, strike a few poses and just kinda play to the crowd and involved them. I think that totally will be a thing you could try?" Suzumi said as she stopped to gulp down the last of her food, feeling very satisfied afterwards. "I do get that might not be your style though. I mean based on what you told me I could try to help? I think we should just pick a few specific things that I can do that you want help with though. Otherwise I might be doing more harm than good."

Alexa furrowed her brow a bit, it was hard to imagine being flirty with anyone let alone an arena full of people. Something like that was so far out of her comfort zone it might as well have just landed on the moon. She knew it was a tactic some used, after all sex sells as they said. For her however, it was a big part of what she wanted to get away from. She wasn't here to be ogled, she was here to wrestle.

She knew though she needed a better way to interact with the fans. I'm pressing them seemed like the best bet at the moment, as her record certainly wasn't doing her any favors in that department. She thoughtfully recalled her match with The Black Fang and how easy it had been while she secretly was being a heel. She had even seen a few signs in the arena she was sure were for her alter ego… it was a bit odd living in the shadow of herself, especially when it was something she didn't want to be outside that one time.

“I don't know.” She said quietly with a small shrug, a bit hesitant to challenge the advice of a wrestler who was already successful. “I just need to find what works for me I guess, to help me connect with them. I am excited about wrestling, I want to share that and just give back a bit with how I perform I guess.” She peered sidelong at Suzumi, nodding gently at her suggestion. “Well, since you have seen me wrestle, what are a few moves you think I could benefit from that you could help me with?”

Suzumi had to think about this one. Moves could benefit anyone. A.J had submissions down pat. "Girl, you could totally benefit from a couple solid kicks. Master a couple, know them inside and out. Also like, big women will want to throw you around so being able to counter that would totally be good!" Suzumi cheerfully answered after a long pause. She hoped A.J didn't think she zoned out. Given her airhead rep a lot of people accused her of that on a regular basis.

Alexa blinked, reaching a hand back to rub the side of her neck. Kicks weren't really ever her thing, save for maybe a drop kick. Staying grounded was really a fundamental of how she wrestled when it wasn't down to groundwork. There was no real denying her striking as a whole was fairly lackluster though. She could certainly see the benefit to kicks... she had lost to Black Fang due to one after all, though she doubted she was quite that flexible. "That sounds like a good start." There was nothing wrong with expanding her moveset out away from her comfort zone. Being versatile was important in the ring after all, she just wasn't sure what would be a good jump off point for that. With any luck Suzumi, or someone else she knew could lend a hand in that department.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking... about the being thrown around thing. I haven't really wrestled someone like that, yet, but I figured some more defensive stuff would be nice. I know how to block a few grounded suplexes and lifts, but I'm not sure what to do if they actually get me up." One thing she had down was taking bumps, at least from her practice. She had become pretty decent at landing right in a test environment. Those had been some rough self taught lessons, ones she was more than happy to put in use to not live them out again in real time. Her early days in the apartment with a futon had no been kind to her for that. Now that she had a real bed, somewhat, it had gotten easier.

"Oh, I have used momentum in my favor before, like you can totally use their lift against them and fall behind them. I have set up quite a few neck breakers, back stabbers, reverse DDTs and that sort of thing by using a vertical suplex of slam in my favor. It takes a ton of practice but when you are good at it you can help turn the tide of a match with a key counter! Like, it is awesome!" Suzumi said happily as she looked over at A.J.

"I know I talk a lot, I am not boring you or anything like that am I?" Suzumi asked, sounding very worried and afraid that she as offending A.J with her gift for chatting. Suzumi had that effect on people sometimes and right now of all times she really hoped she wasn't bugging A.J with her suggestions. Suzumi looked at A.J and the clock, fearing the answer. "If I ever talk too much just like, say so I won't get mad I promise! I know how I can get."

She kept her attention focused on Suzumi as she stepped away, leaning over to discard the disposable bowl in a nearby trash can. Once that was done she turned fully back to the Wrestle Angle, idly toying with her bangs as she listened.

Training solo didn't allow for much practice with countering… maybe that was one of her major problems. She had a few shining moments with reversals with her two official matches but maybe she could be doing much more. She sighed softly. That was something she hadn't ever considered.

“Huh? Bore me?” She blinked in confusion. She had been soaking all of this in like a sponge. It wasn't every day she got advice from a seasoned veteran after all. “Not at all. This has been pretty helpful… I appreciate it.” She gave Suzumi a curious look. Between the airhead thing and the talking to much stuff, did she normally rub people the wrong way? She seemed super friendly and polite. Alexa was prone to zoning out from time to time, so maybe on some level she sympathized.

"Awesome! It was cool to come out and talk to ya. Like, a ton of women on the roster are total bitches ya know? It is nice to meet someone normal." Suzumi said with a chuckle. "I like helping people out I guess. I mean I used to let my pride kinda take over and I still hate losing but I handle it way better than I used to ya know? I guess that is a problem when you have to learn from mistakes but are stuck in a business that can bury you, so you end up super intense and all that." Suzumi said, finishing up her food and looking over at A.J. "So, like what is up next A.J? I am down for whatever you are!" Suzumi said. IF A.J wanted more food Suzumi was down for that. If she wanted to go train somewhere she was down to do that too. Really, Suzumi was just happy to have normal wrestling company, something she hadn't had since her Mikoto went back to her shrine and away from wrestling.

"Oh yeah, don't I ever..." She nodded, rubbing her neck awkwardly. She wasn't sure why she just went along with that, she had been fortunate enough to not really have come into contact with two many bad elements in AFW yet. Ryoko had given her a few helpful pointers on some women to avoid, so while she knew they existed, she hadn't be unfortunate enough to have faced any of them, yet. She had smiled faintly, not sure how much of a compliment being called normal was. It was clear Suzumi hadn't said it to offend her, but the choice of words was rather telling all the same.

"I'm still learning to lose gracefully." She gave a small shrug. It was true though. In her amateur wrestling days she actually had a great deal of success, had she stayed with the profession she may have been able to make a real name for herself. That however,w asn't the family business nor her dream. Ever since making the switch she had been met with mostly misfortune and failure... the only thing that was keeping her going out here was the friends she had been making. Back home she didn't really have many who shared her interests fully. The fact none of them had stayed in touch with her when she moved to Japan was quite telling about how valuable their friendship had really been though.

"I... well... I hadn't really made plans past meeting you here to chat. I wasn't sure how busy you'd be at the time. Was a bit too good to pass up, having you to myself for a bit to pick your brain." She slipped her hands into her jacket pockets, idly wiggling a finger through one of the holes in the interior. She hadn't really prepared for jumping back into training, still a bit sore from their match. But when would she get that chance again? She wasn't sure. "Well, I'm free for the day so..." She shrugged lightly. Arranging for an actual spar or training would be... a hassle. They both would need a change of clothes. While her apartment was just around the corner, she felt odd about offering Suzumi some of her gym gear for the purposes of wrestling about.

Suzumi smiled and giglged. "Awesome, we can totally do something! I mean, I can drive us wherever and there is a gym not too far. I always keep a gym bag in the trunk ya know? So like we can hit the gym for a workout or if ya want to look over film instead we can head back to my place? I have a lot of matches saved up so you can scout out practically anybody." Suzumi said, looking excited to be doing something with someone she liked being around. Film wasn't bad, but Suzumi tended to get lost in it and isolate herself. She hadn't had a film buddy since Mikoto. Beaming she kept looking over at A.J, excited at the prospect of continuing their day!

A workout, a spar, match tape.... today was shaping up to be perfect in Suzumi's eyes. She was also trying to take herself to the next level, to get back to her Wrestle Angel level of success. She felt on the way, but not quite there yet. She had more work to do. Maybe she wouldn't have to do it alone anymore.