Best 2/3 Falls Endurace Battle - Clyde Gastin Vs. Crista Zhang

"Hah!" Clyde exclaimed from his hands and knees as he flung Crista up and over onto the mat with the hurricanrana! Hearing the crash of her head and arm as she struck the mat fiercely before rolling and flopping onto her side following the hard impact that left her rattled and nursing her head!

Wasting little time, Clyde scrambled to his feet and ran to the ropes adjacent from Crista's body before leaping forward! Planting his feet on the middle rope before bouncing right off of them and flipping in mid air, coming right back to his voluptuous opponent as he sailed in the air before attempting to come down hard, abs to abs with a springboard moonsault!

She had known he was athletic, and he was proving it.

Crista took her time on the mat, where he had thrown her, to get her bearings again. Slowly, she rolled onto her back, blinking away the searing arena lights to take stock of where he had positioned himself now that he had her down. The hand rubbing her jostled head lowered when she heard heavy footsteps on the mat, and she got a look at him in a dead run, flying past her downed body and towards the ropes.

Athletic he was, and her study of him helped her know what it was she needed to do while his feet left the mat and sailed towards the middle rope.

Crista threw herself out of the way to rob him of his target, ending up on her stomach a few short feet from where the flying champion would land.

Sailing through the air in a fantastic and skilled display of agility, Clyde bounced off those ropes and flew through the air... Only to come crashing down hard onto the mat without a Crista to cushion his fall!

He never saw Crista move. It was practically a leap of faith until Clyde was upside down. He saw Crista roll and his eyes widened, but he traveled too fast in the air to protect himself and ended crashing hard at full sped into the mat!

"BWUGH!!" Clyde's front hit the mat and he bounced and flopped like a fish before he settled on the canvas, groaning as his cheek lay against the mat, softly writhing as he felt the hard landing. "Guhh..."

Crista would have breathed a sigh of relief to see Clyde thud against the mat in front of her if she had given herself the time. When he didn't get up from how hard he hit without catching himself, she was moving immediately, having gotten her head mostly back in order.

She shoved off of all fours and made her way to Clyde's downed body, and a thought occurred to her. If he was going to use his athleticism this match as much as he had already, she needed to work on doing something to keep him grounded. Her brown eyes settled on his legs and feet.

Wrapping her hands around one of his legs, Crista decided to go for the simple again, and pursed her lips in concentration. She dragged the leg up and against her, lifting his hips partially as she did, and worked to apply a simple ankle lock to his left foot with her strong right arm as the trap.

Having flopped on the mat, Clyde was kind of out of it. He groaned against the canvas, clutching his abs and chest after the hard fall. They didn't call it high risk for nothing!

He was already set to try and get up but was stopped as he felt Crista's tough, firm hands grab his leg. His eyes instantly shot wide as his lighter body was easily lifted!

"Nhh...! Aaaahh!!" Clyde howled, hips being raced before he felt the twist on his ankle, making him cry out as he shook his head, forced to endure the hold that tore into his ankle, feeling the twisting torque in his bones before he tried to hastily roll forward and attempt to break free. The match was still so early and he hoped to save himself!

Crista could tell that her ankle lock was as intended just by the way Clyde roared out when she got it locked in. With a straightened back and feet planted, Crista worked to heave him up, high as possible, to make his position more awkward. Her palm pressed hard against his foot for the bend.

This would have to be how she fought this match, she knew. She must keep it slow and find opportunities to use her power. If he kept up at his high-flying pace, they would both be worn down by the end of the match, and that presented too many unknowns for a woman who thrived on ensuring things went according to a premeditated plan.

He shifted forward, forcing her to pitch in that direction as well, and his leg slipped partially from her grip. With a gasp, Crista shifted her grip to hold on for longer. "Nope..." He had freed himself from the worst of the lock, but...slow. The longer she held him in place, the better.

"G-Gaahh!! Aaauuhhh!!" Howled the cowboy as he felt his hips raised higher up off the mat while his ankle was seized and twisted! He practically from Crista's grip as he flailed and pawed at the mat while his ankle was torqued so painfully that he gritted his teeth and pulled at his own hair!

"AAUUHH!!" He cried out again and tried to roll and got sort of free but Crista held on, prompting a mostly upside down cowboy to try paw for the ropes, doing his best to escape the hold as he stretchd as far as he could before his ankle was rendered useless!

She wouldn't have him much longer. His attempts to escape were wild, and admirable, and effective, with Crista having to strain her shoulder to keep the hold locked. Her teeth clenched every time he yanked further from her, and it became clear that the effort to hold him was not worth the payoff. No champion would surrender to one ankle lock, whether it was painful to him or not, and Crista had long ago learned to take small victories and run with them at a high level of competition.

It pained her to do, but her lock was released when he yanked his body away from her once again. She refused to let him escape for free, however. With what little grip she still had and her lift on his lower body, she flung his leg down towards the mat. If he wanted to get away, she would help him along on his short journey.

Twisted and torqued by the ankle, Clyde fought and thrashed with ever fiber of his being while the crowd roared for him to get loose! Somehow someway, he got loose, or was released. He didn't know or care but the lock was over and he wanted to bring his leg up close to him to cradle the ankle.

But he couldn't as the strong-as-an-ox Crista held on and lifted his lower body so hard that even Clyde's hips and lower waist left the mat as his eyes bulged before his leg struck the mat!

"Gaahuhh!!" Clyde hit the mat and his body bounced before he hugged his leg, rolling flat onto his back as he held his aching ankle gritting his teeth as he struggled to straighten his foot. His ankle felt like it was on fire... This was not good for a flyer as he was at the risk of being grounded for the whole fight! So far, no one Clyde fought had ever thought to do this.

Very impressive and it hurt like hell. Clyde would give her props if he didn't think an ass-whooping was coming.

It probably wasn't a good thing that Crista felt satisfaction at seeing the downed champion curl up and grab at his leg, but from a competitive standpoint, this was exactly what she had wanted to do coming into this match, and it was so nice to see it working so far. If he had all of his movement and creativity, that was when he was most dangerous. A Clyde Gastin on the ground was a Clyde Gastin who would not be delivering those blows to the head or climbing her like a human stepladder.

And as for the satisfaction, if most wrestlers here were anything like the ones Crista had felt over the past week, she would fit right in with everyone else in the company, she supposed.

To revel in her early success would be silly, however. He was free from the pain inflicted by her hold, but she needed to keep to the script. She gave herself the opportunity to catch her breath after straining through his wild escape attempts before she, like a gator with downed prey, took rapid steps towards him to thrust herself into the range necessary to continue on the offense. It was all of her weight that descended towards him when she got in close, while she sought to slam her hips down against his chest and straddle him there.