Joe Arlin vs. Shido "The fanboy"

Joe keep his arms around Shido's neck in order to keep applying more presure on him. Not only that his ankle will get some rest, he will also weaken up Shido a little and hopefully even the odds.

But Shido start slowly getting up on his feet. Joe was doing his best to keep him down, but he eventually managed to pull both of them up. While Joe still had him in headlock, their positioning got bit dangerous. He didn't want to risk any sneaky attack on his ankle, so Joe released his opponent and send an elbow in his back before pushing him away.

Shido struggled to get footing and work his way to a standing position. His efforts seemed to pay off as he was primed and ready to counter, or so it seemed. Shido would soon find that this wouldn't be the case and that getting off the ground didn't mean he was out of the woods.

"Urgh!" he would grunt as Joe sunk his elbow into Shido's back! Shido would arch his back and stagger, taking a few steps back, towards the corner. Trying to put some distance between them while he recovered.

Joe didn't even need to push Shido away from him, since he walked forward by his own. Joe tried to run after him, but soon gave up this plan. He could walk, but ankle was too damaged for running. Because of his ankle situation Joe probably won't be able to do any lifting or throws in todays match, so he'll have to relay on pure brawl, punches and submission holds.

Instead, Joe moved backward aswell and gave Shido some moments to catch a breath. However, he didn't wait for too long. Not only that this would completly reset the momentum, but crowd might get impatient as well. So Joe approached his opponent again and start slowly circling around him. He waited for attack and payed extra attention to any potentional strikes toward his ankle.

Shido would take a moment to rethink his situation. Joe had already proven himself to be rather scrappy and could throw a decent punch or two. Shido rested while leaning against the ropes to see what Joe would try next.

He would brace himself as Joe seemed to rush towards him, but once Joe's advance stopped, presumably due to his hurt ankle, Shido would breathe a sigh of relief. As Joe began to move towards him, seemingly ready to make a move, Shido would comment on the match so far. "You're good, Joe. This is fun!" he'd say with a smile on his face.

"Oh yes it is!" Joe smiled in return as he kept circling around his opponent. "Shame i'll have to beat you!" Joe continued and start closing the distance between two lightweight wrestlers.

When reaching him, Joe would reach for Shido's wrist in order to move around and start bending Shido's arm behind his back.

"Give it your best shot!" Shido would retort as Joe showed confidence in his ability to win. Shido wasn't one to talk himself up during a match. He just always strived to do his best, win or lose!

Joe seemed to quickly put Shido in what seemed to be a hammerlock by bending his arm behind his back. Shido would quickly and instinctively attempt a counter. He would reach behind with his free arm trying to wrap it around Joe's head. If successful, Shido would try to pull Joe's head onto his shoulder and drop down for an attempt at a stunner!

Although having slightly injured ankle, Joe still managed to close the distance between two of them. He was little worried wheter Shido is planning something or is just fighting defensivly. He reached toward his wrist anyway and was glad that he managed to catch it. Joe imidiately navigated his way around and start bending Shido's arm behind his back.

But simmilar to Shido, Joe made a silly mistake as well. He left opponents arm free and he payed for that. When noticing it moving toward his head, Joe tried to move away. He released Shido, but couldn't step away fast enough. They started to move down and Joe's chin connected with Shido's shoulder. Joe just fall down down on his back and just lay there for few seconds.

Shido hadn't planned an intricate reversal and he was honestly surprised at himself that he was able to connect with his move. There were probably other options for a follow up, but Shido weren't the simple route from here and just dived on top of Joe for a quick attempt at a pin, hoping for at least a two count!

The referee dashed over to them to begin the count.

Joe was stunned enough for enabling Shido to go for pinfall attempt. Match might end now if Joe would be bit more exhausted, but Shido was mostly working on Joe's ankle. Referee came down to them and start counting.

ONE...! Joe opened his eyes and looked around, noticing Shido hooking his leg and referee slapping the mat. TWO...! One more tap and everything would be over, but Joe gathered enough strength to kick out and roll away. He got on all fours, looking toward Shido before slowly proceeding up on his feet.

Shido didn't think he'd score a fall, there. But it only made sense to go for the pin. Joe was stunned and he'd have to exert energy to kick out and escape the pin. To Shido's surprise he got a two count. He would think that he just needed to go a little further to seal the deal and win the match!

Shido would rise to his feet quickly and approach Joe, trying to press his advantage. He'd attempt to help Joe up and grapple and lift him, aiming for a piledriver, or perhaps a powerbomb to the list of concerns Joe has had to deal with, on top of the hurt ankle!