SS22 Tension Pre-Show Bonus Match: Aiden Bolt vs Jasper Rhys

"... Breath, Arthur, you've got this." Said a certain Welsh-accented voice.

If there are a few things that always surprised Jasper... First was just how beloved he seemed to be by the Tension audiences, That of all the talents that the AFW faithful loved and placed their faith in, it was the funny little farm boy from rural Wales that had endeared himself to them all, capturing the hearts and minds of thousands of fans... Secondly, was how 'big' this felt compared to his last PPV Appearance... somehow Summer Splash made Showdown feel quite small indeed.

"The Americans really don't lie when they say everything is bigger in Texas, huh?" the boy thought to himself as he paced around the backstage gorilla position, It was his first time in the states and so-far he was somewhat impressed with the state and how different it was from both Britain and Japan, But that didn't matter as of the present moment for tonight was the night and despite having done a series of last-minute warm-ups in the past 2-3 minutes and done a series of deep calming inhales to settle his somewhat rather frazzled nerves, A strong bout of sheepishness and slight  having over-taken the Welsh boy's better senses. Besides being pitted against a newcomer in a debut match in the midst of a PPV-Event and the fact that it was taking place in a country that Jasper had never ONCE set foot in during the entire course of his life, What really got him were those same pre-match jitters that plagued him since his earliest days in the Welsh indie scene, the simple fear of making himself look like a pillock in front of his friends and family and the world stage, but now amplified given the circumstances of the event.

However, as he always did. Jasper took in one last deep breath and plucked up courage, flashing a confident smile to a stage-hand as his music began to play... Though it wasn't his usual theme this time, rather being a rather strong cover...

STAND UP TO THE VICTORY! (Ichirou Mizuki cover.):

With that same resounding rising upbeat J-Rock tune but now with a bit of a stronger rocker flair, the excitement rose in the arena as the lights in the arena began to dance around the audience before eventually coalescing around one of the two entrance-ways as the music built up in its excitement and intensity before, just as the song reached its apex just before the first utterance of its iconic chorus, all the spot-lights shut-off briefly as finally... "STAND UP TO THE VICTORY!"
With the flashing of various light pyrotechnics, the little Welsh Tomcat came running out with all the multicolored spot-lights following him as he ran down, high-fiving and saluting fans as he went, finally stopping at steel steps of the ring as the lights within the arena returned to normal and the crowd finally got a good look at young Jasper, clad in that same red-white-yellow jacket he wore during his Showdown appearance, this time with a few old RAF, US Navy and even one or two Gundam themed Patches sown on to give it more of a personalized flair, underneath it however Jasper simply wore his iconic two-piece Welsh-flag themed tricolored outfit, Oh did the little lad mean business tonight.

Summer Splash 2022 - Jasper A. Rhys, Sortieing out!:

Smiling at the surrounding crowd with that trademark look of cheeky yet good-natured confidence. Jasper gently grabbed a Mic that was left on the floor of the ring for him by a stagehand and spoke two words. "Shwmae Austin!" and with that, the small Welsh lad was replied to by a surprisingly loud and excited pop of approval from the American crowd, one that left him feeling better, his doubts lessened and confidence rising as he saluted the crowd, the instant playback of it on the Titantron causing yet another (Albiet quieter) pop to reverberate around the arena.  

"Lovely people here." He whispered to himself as he made his way to his corner of the ring to await his opponent, leaning back and crossing his arms with that cheeky, lovable grin still on his face.

Let whoever is debuting against the little Welsh Tomcat come, Jasper was ready for them.

The Welsh boy would tilt his head curiously at the redheaded interloper before him, regarding him with a playful curiosity the way a playful cat regarded a new toy... "Well, He seems nice." Jasper mumbled silently to himself with a tilt of his head, paying attention closely to his entrance and thinking to himself on how to introduce himself to this boy before just shrugging and saluting his portion of the crowd before stepping forward and offering the American boy a warm and friendly smile as he walked over to greet him.

"Shwmae, or 'Hello-There' as we say in Wales." Said the blue-haired boy suddenly to the totally-lost-in-thought Redhead, maintaining that easy-going smile on his face as he tilted his head at him, standing on the tippy-toes of his gauze-tape covered feet, amused at how equal in height they appeared to be. "I'm Jasper... Jasper Rhys, at your service!" The Welsh boy said, offering his hand out to the redhead for a friendly shake, Something that was rapidly becoming a tradition for the little Blue Tomcat before the start of every match.

"Well, I hope you're up for a fun evening, Because I'm looking forward to a great match tonight." Jasper said as he extended out his left hand, his tone playful but affable, wanting to make the best of impressions to this newcomer.

Besides, He seemed to be much nicer than the last rookie he welcomed into the league...

Well!... Two things immediately crossed Jasper's mind as he shook hands with the American redheaded boy... The first one being that this boy was cute. The second meanwhile was that this boy seemed quite friendly as the two had their awkwardly long handshake... Totally not staring at this Aiden boy's cute face and handsomely sculpted body... "No! No! Remain Focused!" Jasper thought to himself as he shook his head to wash away those peculiar thoughts he had, It was a bit hard though given that this Yank seemed to tick all the Welsh boy's boxes... Regardless, Jasper replied to Aiden with a rather subtle pink blush across his face as he regained composure.

"W-Well, Mr. Aiden Bolt." Jasper said with a smile as he pulled his hand away. "You seem like a lovely lad, I hope you don't mind giving this crowd a good match, O-Oh, and I hope you don't mind getting thrashed about in the ring, cos I'll be giving you my all." He said as he stepped back from Aiden, crossing his arms and smiling confidently as he basked in the Texas crowd's excitement for the coming bout as he stepped further back to lean against the ropes whilst awaiting the bell to ring.



"There we go." He whispered to himself as he stepped forward with a deep breath, shaking his head to drive away any intrusive thoughts and self-doubts that might distract him from the matter at hand, the Welsh boy was determined to score himself another win at a Pay-Per-View event, as minor as a pre-show match is, He still took pride in his appearances and was (as stated before) hellbent on winning again...

However, just as he stepped forward. The Blue-haired lad pulled his red-and-white jacket off and threw it aside to reveal his classic red-white-green top before rolling his shoulders and lightly cracking his neck and getting into a simple but effective little grappling stance as he offered himself up to his opponent, wanting to see if this Cute, handsome, totally not crush-worthy American boy had what it takes to go head-to-head with Tension's beloved Welsh Tomcat!

"Let's Dance~"

This Aiden boy was cute, Very cute... the Welsh lad picking up on the American boy's seemingly (admittedly rather subtly) flustered expression as the two moved closer to each other slowly for their grapple... The test of strength between the two young men, with their lightly dressed bodies pressing togeth- "-What are you doing, Arthur! You're getting distracted again!" He screamed at himself mentally as he felt himself get flustered by the cute redhead before him as he stopped, briefly shook his head and breathed in deeply. Then resumed closing the distance between himself and this Aiden lad with right arm-outstretched and left-arm sticking close to his flank, ready for the coming grapple, a determined yet cheerful look on Jasper's face.



"Alright... This is going to be fun." Jasper thought to himself as they made contact, the Welsh lad placing his hands on the American boy's shoulders and gripping them with some force as he dug his heels into the smooth canvas mat of the ring, taking one more deep breath before putting his all into the clinch the two lads found themselves in. "...C'mon Aiden show me what you've got!" The Welsh boy taunted with a playful tone as the two struggled for dominance in the center of the ring in the midst of their lockup, hellbent on showing the Texas crowd what Tension's favorite little Tomcat can do!

Well, that's a pleasant surprise. Jasper thought to himself as he grappled with the American redhead. This Aiden lad was strong, seemingly just as much as he was it seemed, creating an interesting little stalemate between the two with the Welsh lad taking several steps back before digging his feet into the mat for increased traction and applying pressure back to regain lost ground, the two seeming to settle into their stalemate in the centre of the ring where Jasper would spot a cheeky grin on his opponent's face, causing the Welsh boy to raise an eyebrow queerly

"... What's got you so Smug-" Oh, that Cheeky Prat.
The Welsh boy's eyes were wide with surprised pain as he felt Aiden's booted foot not so much as step on, but rather more aptly 'lightly' stomp down on the practically bare foot with only his stirruped socks providing only the most meagre protection possible for his foot, the suddenness of it causing Jasper to yelp as the pain shot up his body, felt like having a teacup drop on his foot.

However, the Welsh boy had more pressing matters to concern himself with as he suddenly found himself locked into a sudden headlock with his American opponent, who seemed quite pleased with himself. No matter! he mused as he formulated his counterattack, quickly moving his right hand around Aiden's back whilst his left was snuck under Aiden's arms as he held the headlock, when the two hands met the Bluenette countered his Redheaded opponent by quickly using the leverage around Aiden's neck to yank the cocky speedster over and then downwards to quickly reverse his fortunes into his own headlock!

"Gotcha!" Jasper snickered cheekily.