SS22 Friction World Championship - Alaina Sanders (c) vs Julia Rogers

Alaina held an arm up and pumped it thinking she got the three count when she realized the referee called for a rope break! Alaina swayed her hips a tiny bit as she smothered Julia as the five count reached four before she stood up. "I had ya beat right there." Alaina said with a wink before standing up. She pulled Julia up and planted her with a couple body punches and a hard knee shot before shoving her head between her legs. If Alaina didn't finish Julia with that she was going to amabomb her into oblivion!

The extra hip swaying brought cheers and whistles from the crowd as Alaina remained seated on Julia's face through almost the entirety of the ref's warning count. And the masked blonde let out a big gasp before taking heavy intakes of breath once the Amazon finally got off of her. Though relieved to have avoided a sudden pin, Julia was still too winded to offer much resistance while she was being pulled up.

"Didn't... hear a bell-UGH!!!" she gasped out as a few intense impacts hammered into her midsection, doubling her over before she found her head right back between Alaina's thighs again. Fortunately this time it didn't involve being used as the Amazon's seat, but she recognized what it did mean, and the alternative was likely even more dangerous. Hooking her arms around the back of the champ's powerful legs, Julia dropped to a knee and let her body become dead weight. She might be too winded to look for a more technical means of escape at the moment, but if Alaina wanted to hoist her up for that Amabomb, she was gonna have to fight for it!

Alaina grunted and groaned as Julia just dropped. Alaina dropped her but kept hold, taking a deep breath. "Come on.... COME ON!" Alaina shouted as she trembled, her body shaking. Alaina let out a scream as she thrust up, lifting and trying to break Julia's grip with the lift and power through the dead weight. Alaina had to win this and she could feel it coming. The amazon as hefting the challenger up into the air no matter what it took!

Alaina was going to get Julia up and stumble a few steps, hobbling and exhausted. However she had Julia up and she knew precisely what to do next....

Julia fought as hard as she could, but the Amazon’s strength was too much for her to resist for long. And suddenly the cowgirl was hoisted up onto Alaina’s shoulders!

The one saving grace was that her efforts had caused the champ to stumble once she finally had Julia up. It only bought her an extra second or two, but it was just enough. Clamping her legs down trap her foe’s head firmly between her thighs, the luchadora glanced back over her shoulder to take aim, before swinging her upper body down and to the side. Her legs followed, and with their momentum she aimed to catch Alaina with a sudden hurricanrana, and whip her headfirst into the nearest turnbuckle in the process!

Alaina was ready to finish this and retain her title, but Julia had other ideas! Alaina felt Julia's legs clamp down as she threw her forward sending an off balance Alaina forward with a hurricanrana using the strength of the amazon against her! Alaina smashed head first into the turnbuckle at breakneck speed! The amazon crashed and stumbled back before slumping down to the ground in a heap! She let out a low moan as she cradled her head in her arms and weakly kicked the mat in agony as Julia had prevented her imminent defeat.

Julia felt immense relief as she sent Alaina crashing into the corner, narrowly avoiding once more becoming the victim of the very move that had put the cowgirl away in their first bout years ago. And more than that, she saw a golden opportunity in front of her.

Fueled by a fresh rush of adrenaline at the sight before her, the luchadora picked herself up and moved quickly, stumbling a bit over her own steps as she hurried into the corner closest to her downed foe. The crowd began to rise in anticipation as Julia gripped the top ropes and began to climb with her back to Alaina, seemingly ready to go for another Stardust Press! But once she was on the top rope, she suddenly stopped, reconsidering. That hadn’t been enough to put Alaina away before. Would Julia have enough gas in the tank to keep this up if she tried and failed with it again?

No, there wasn’t any room to take chances like that at this point. She had one clear shot here and now, and she needed to make it count. And she had just the idea. Turning on the top rope to face Alaina, she waited for the downed woman to start picking herself back up. Rising to stand on the turnbuckle, Julia would wait until her target was just up past her knees, and then she’d launch herself forward through the air! During her flight she kicked a leg up as high as she could, before aiming to bring it down right on the back of Alaina’s head and neck with a diving axe kick! This special move was Julia’s ace in the hole, the Death Penalty! She had only used it once in this league, and it had brought her instant victory against Valley Doll. And now she prayed it would prove just as successful in the single most crucial moment of her career…

Alaina was in a daze from her head crashing into the corner and she was trying to stand back up hoping to keep going at Julia to finish off her challenger. However that would not happen. Alaina took a hard, absolutely thunderously devastating hammer blow to the back of her head and neck. She let out a moan and collapsed in a lifeless, motionless heap to the canvas. The champion looked unconscious and completely out as she hit the mat at an awkward angle. Certainly for Alaina she felt a pure explosion of pain from the finisher but nothing from landing on the mat as she was knocked out.

Julia’s shot hit right on the mark, dropping the Amazon to the mat and bringing the crowd to its feet in a thunderous frenzy! Masked in the explosion of voices was Julia’s own sharp cry as intense pain flared in the same leg that had struck Alaina. The masked blonde collapsed right by her foe, clutching at her knee and wincing in visible pain.

But the opening was still there. This was her chance! Recognizing the urgency of the moment, she forced herself to quickly crawl over to Alaina’s body, then groaned while rolling the larger woman onto her back. Then she dropped once more, her torso simply falling over the champ’s. Exhausted, she could only lay there on top of her rival, praying she had done enough as the ref’s hand struck the mat.

“ONE…!”

“TWO…!”

This seemed purely academic as Alaina let out a moan and groaned realizing she was pinned. The count reached one before she knew what was going on and her free leg raised up high and weakly flopped to the mat at the two count. Two more weak but faster kicks to the mat were all that happened after as she was practically out.

"THREE!"

The bell rang, and Alaina heard the crowd erupt. However for the first time in a long time it wasn't the defending champion they were cheering. It hadn't fully registered yet as her head was still in a daze and the kick absolutely devastated her. The ringing in her ears along with double vision meant that Alaina probably wouldn't be in the ring again for a while but when she was.... she would no longer be the Friction Champion.