Ryan Knight vs Cicilia De'Reignhardt - Dawn of the Conquest

Ryan wouldn't have been a title holder if he couldn't take a few hits for sure, indeed back then one of the things often praised about him and his fellows was their valour. Sure they lost but Ryan made it a matter of principle to being renowned for his endurance, taking it like a champ as the saying went. It was all for the sake of when eventually, his opponent would get sloppy and that would be all he'd need to get a chance to counter. In that brief moment Cicilia had been perhaps too spiky for her own good, bringing herself in close like that. With one fluid motion Ryan would punish her for that overexertion.

They crashed to the mat with a heavy thud, Ryan had breathed in. Then breathed out. Still one swift counter wasn't going to be enough to make Cicilia stay down when she was fresh, the Rebelling Paragon was inwardly aware of this. She'd be scrappy, reminding Ryan of one he had clashed with in the past. Cicilia shot out with one of her legs, aimed square at Ryan's head. In an instant Ryan yelled and quickly rolled to the left, images of that pint glass shattering on his head back in Britain flashing into his mind. Already he swore there was a phantom pain in his eyepatch, but to handle such things the best cure was to confront the fear.

The Rebelling Paragon thumbed his nose, that was too damn close. Already Cicilia was attempting to gather distance between the two, Ryan shuffled to one side as he crouched to try and help close the distance to her before edging forward to try and cinch her into a collar and elbow tie up attempt.

Cicilia's kick would ultimately do as it was intended, forcing Ryan to back off even though her boot had missed its mark. Even as her foot SHOT into the air where the man's head had once resided, the German's sanguine eyes flashed with recognition... as if noticing the twinge of fear that arched across her opponent's face... a ghost-of-a-fear... memory. Cicilia knew that face well fore it was one she saw in herself more often than not, the look of someone who, for a brief moment, had dipped back into their past... reliving a stubborn and ugly piece of their history. Her gaze then flicked back to that eye of his... wondering if it was actually as much of a cosmetic piece as she thought it was... She could almost imagine the scar that had cut into his face, slicing down across his eye... as one had upon the Juggernaut's. Unlike that slice, however, Cicilia's eye was saved... Could it be that this man had truly lost his?

With Ryan's retreat, Cicilia would flip backwards onto her feet once again, backing off... only for Ryan to keep the distance between them consistent as he moved forwards. The irony was not lost on Cicilia, how she was the one being pursued in this fight, how she was now on the defensive and him on the offensive. It would've been funny had she been up there in the stands watching it. Again, Ryan would reach out for Cicilia like a ghost from beyond, his arms extended slowly like the feelers of an insect, cautiously aiming to make-contact with their target, Ryan having learned from his carelessness last time!

"...Screw it..." Cicilia grumbled, realizing a few steps ago that retreating wasn't going to get her anywhere. Where was she EVEN going to run to, anyway? This ring was small, the outside was smaller and her own pride wouldn't let her become the prey in this battle! She was stronger than this... and she would only get better as the fight went on! Cicilia again glanced up at that one, covered eye of Ryan's, staring as if contemplating something... before halting her back-step and instead, marching forward to meet him! Again, Ryan would lift up his arms, as if intending a grapple.

Cicilia would step in to meet him, her arms lifting up... before SHOOTING up to grab either side of his head AND JERK it in her own skull FLYING forward as her forehead would SLAM at his nose! If this blow connected, the German would attempt to GRAB Ryan's head again and tuck it under her arm... before THROWING herself back and CRASHING his head into the ground in a brutal DDT!

Ryan truth be told had emerged back into the ring changed, in more ways than one. As if his now harshly dishevelled demeanour and attire wasn't enough, you could just look into his one eye and see the depths of his soul. The main reason he came back to Tension and the ring was to simply fight now, nothing else mattered. The question on the minds of fans was likely what lurked behind that eye patch, only those close knew the full truth and it wasn't a pretty one to say the least......

Still he carried on, now Cici was on the defence. Ryan was inwardly curious as to how she'd react when placed on the backfoot, Ryan's approach on that end was to usually wait for the key moment then slip himself into their guard. But it would seem that the Rebelling Paragon would soon have his answer as Cici lunged into him before Ryan could grab her into a firm grip she would collide her head with his and send him into a staggered state. Ryan was no stranger to headbutts, but the sudden attack caught him off guard. Allowing for the DDT followup, sending the Rebelling Paragon crashing hard to the mat with a thud!

Mr Knight grunted once, then lay there unmoving. It was enough to actually prompt the ref to begin counting it seemed from how much of a stunned heap Ryan seemed to be right now, it was a ten count. The ref would count one, Ryan's fingers twitched in response.....