Clyde Gastin vs Carmen Rodriguez - The Quick and the Dead

Okay, she'd lost some control of the match, at some point. This was manageable. Annoying, but she could work with it.

"Get the fuck up!" Army's advice was, like always, extremely useful, but she didn't have the energy to get up just yet - she could see Clyde was setting up for something, though, and she had no intention taking it flat out.

When Clyde took flight, she brought her arms up in a Peek-A-Boo, using her arms to cover up her chest and face - typically, the stance was for defensive fighting and not used while on one's back, but it fit the situation all the same. Clyde landed hard with his leg on her balled fists; he slammed her hard into the mat, hurt like blazes, but wasn't as bad as it would have been if he hit her face without the cushion.

She pushed up and turned to the side after he hit, trying to throw him off while she rolled to her front.

Landing on Carmen's arms of all things, Clyde clicked his tongue as the boxer managed to defend herself and protect her head from the brunt of the leg-drop that would have hurt a lot more than what he had just done. Getting swiftly pushed up off the woman had Clyde stumble backwards against the ropes, watching as Carmen rolled onto her front.

Clyde kept his eyes locked on her, waiting for her to stand as he leaned against the ropes.

Carmen expected some followup - maybe getting pulled into some kind of submission hold, maybe another try with the ropes, maybe just a good old fashioned stomp in the stomach - she got none of these. Instead, Clyde seemed to back off and give her some space to get back up - much appreciated. She wouldn't hold back on her end for it, but appreciated, all the same.

"You're good." She moved back into her stance and started to circle him, skirting the outside of his range, daring him to make a move. "Bullshit, you losing the 24/7 to those brats. Think the title would be better with you."

"Less talking, more fighting!" Army clapped a few times, trying to rally the crowd.

Carmen just glanced off the side and groaned. "Sorry about him. He means well."

Leaning against the ropes in a readied, cautious state, Clyde could only smirk at Carmen's comment, forced to move along with her as she began to circle him. Her next comment though brought up something in the past that was a bit sour but he had long gotten over it. Somewhat.

"Maaan..." He started. "I lost in a fight to a biker chick who ambushed me. All them Brats did was jump me again after I got my head planted on the floor of the dang grocery store! It WAS bullshit!" Clyde exclaimed, though he was flattered that Carmen thought so highly of him. It made him consider tracking down those brats just to win back the title. He mulled over this hearing Army and then Carmen again.

"Heh. I understand." He had a sister in this company as well... No longer Tension active sadly, so he couldn't keep as much tabs on her like he would want. He just hoped Army didn't bash his brains in with a chair like Makie Akumatsu's brother, Toshio, did.

"But he's right! Less talkin' and more action!" Declared the cowboy, bouncing on his toes, shifting his weight from his right to left foot before suddenly leaping at her, trying to slam flying forearm onto the side of her forehead.

Yeah, holding a regret over a past fight was something she could relate to, especially one that ended like that. She'd never tasted gold before, but if she had, losing it like that would haunt her till the dying days. Losing was one thing. She could handle losing. That was just plain theft.

The little intermission was nice - Clyde seemed like a decent guy; more like the Domino or Steven, the relative rookies, and less like the jackass veterans in Tension - Killer King came to mind. Maybe after this, they could talk a little.

But that was later. As Clyde moved into position, ready to start back up, Carmen tightened up and raised her fists - it was time to enter phase 2 - the switch. She had only used punches so far, sticking with strikes to bludgeon him...and, more importantly, try to make Clyde think he understood her style. Now she planned to switch it up, rely on wrestling moves instead. A gamble, sure - she'd been training, getting enough moves under her belt to be viable, but if it came down to it, his superior experience would trump her. She needed the element of surprise, and there was no guarantee it would be enough - only one way to know.

He came at her high with a flying forearm and she ducked under, keeping her boxing stance up like she was going to blast him with a hard right - and she almost did, on pure reflex. But she fought it, and instead opened up and rose suddenly, placing her arm over his chest and his neck and her other arm on his back. She'd rise up and try to body slam him straight into the mat, using her arm's raw power in a brand new way - a sidewalk slam, the Rock's signature move.

Clyde went in with a full head of steam towards Carmen, lashing out with his forearm to strike the boxer, but as he did this, he would watch as she suddenly ducked! His eyes widening as his arm went over his target, he would be falling right towrds her with his great momentum which came to a sudden a abrupt halt as he felt Carmen's arm catch him across the chest.

"Oof!" His legs kicked forward as Carmen held him still and halted his momentum as she rose up and lifted him off the mat, his legs kicking in mid air as he was brought down to the mat with a solid slam. "Guugh!" He grunted upon impact, arching his back and gritting his teeth as he felt the sting on his body, turning over onto his side as he endured the slam.

Now, typically, the Rock would follow up with the People's Elbow - rile up the crowd, go from rope to rope, then drop on his opponent with an elbow drop. Flashy, yes - and extremely fucking stupid. Carmen was no expert, but giving your opponent about half a minute to recover while you prance around the ring seemed like an extraordinarily bad idea. How the Rock ever managed to hit anyone with it, she couldn't imagine. Honestly, sometimes you might even think wrestling was faked, or something crazy like that.

Carmen just skipped all that, gave Clyde a quick kick to put him all the way on his chest, then dropped straight down, using her elbow for something other than backing up her punches and blocking shots, for once - driving it down hard into Clyde's back with all her weight behind it.

Clyde had already felt some oxygen leave him following the side slam. He didn't know what to expect from Carmen after this. A submission hold? A hail of punches? No. Rather, Carmen took her time to give the cowboy a swift kick that put him on his stomach, with Carmen looming above him before suddenly dropping straight down for a powerful elbow drop that smashed into Clyde's back.

"Aghh!" Clyde arched up and howled before his body lowered, gritting his teeth tightly as he heaved frustrated breaths. Meanwhile, the crowd gave the act a decent amount of applause at seeing the silver medalist incorporate more wrestling based tactics. She clearly showed that not only was she an accomplished boxer, but she knew a thing or two about wrestling as well.

Army gave some applause and the crowd joined in - the sudden change was winning them over, things looked like, and Carmen couldn't deny how handy the moves were. If this sort of fighting worked out all right, she might try it in a more brutal setting next - her first hardcore match hadn't worked too well, but she'd approached it as a pure boxer. With the switch on her side...

She shoved the thoughts off and focused back on Clyde. She had him reeling, on his stomach, on top of him - she had a lot of options. It was tempting - very tempting - to try a submission hold. Her toolkit was still pretty low with them, though. She knew some basic ones - the Camel Clutch, the Single Leg Crab - nothing too crazy, but effective enough. Still, she didn't like her chances on the mat; even with her new wrestling training, she was more comfortable on her feet. And the longer she stayed down here, the more she risked getting put in a hold herself, like Clyde's sharpshooter.

She rolled to the side and knelled in front of Clyde's, wrapping her hands around his skull and pulling him under her arms for a headlock as she started to rise up and bring him along. Solid hold with a lot of options...

Clyde was sore all over, his face, ribs hurt the worst and while his back wasn't too battered, it was still throbbing at the moment. He really didn't want to stay on the ground, he wasn't a mat based wrestler, most of what Clyde did involved standing and actually moving. Cassie Elliot he was not.

But as Carmen got her hands around his head and began to pull him up with that tight front headlock, Clyde however was ready to act as he shot his hands out tried to grab the back of Carmen's ankles after reaching under her legs, trying to yank her foot out from under her and put her on her back.

If that worked, Clyde would try to grab the other ankle and tuck her legs underneath his arms and quickly lean back, attempting to slingshot Carmen right towards the turnbuckle.