Flora's Big Break?!

She had toiled in the small, independent wrestling promotions on the East Coast for a number of years, making a living, but not much more. For Flora, wrestling was a passion, but after all of these years, she had not yet figured out how to turn it into a career. From time to time new promotions would pop up, promising to promote women's wrestling like no one had before, but they would soon fade away, as would Flora's hopes for achieving anything more than very modest and limited success.

She had been wrestling since she was in her mid 20's, and now that she was in her early 30's, she was considered a veteran, even an old timer by many. Never able to generate a great deal of sustained crowd heat and thus, never having been offered the opportunity to travel too far from home, she was destined to be nothing more than a local jobber, though she wished for more. But even though she not achieved stardom, Flora's enthusiasm and passion for wrestling had not subsided. Her technical skills were also fairly strong, which made up for her lack of great physical size and strength. All of those qualities combined to make her the perfect local heel, and promoters were always looking for capable jobbers for their stars to face. So even though Flora was never considered one of the stars, she still kept fairly busy. She was well respected by most of the other wrestlers and many of the promoters in her area, and that allowed her to be "in the loop" with several organizations in the women's wrestling community, thereby enabling her the opportunity to continue to get bookings.

She did not have a great fan base, even locally, but amongst her friends, she was considered a bit of a celebrity. Though not well known outside of wrestling circles, a few of her friends considered her as their own personal, professional wrestler, and treated her like a celebrity. Whenever Flora was able to book a match within a reasonable distance from her home, several of them would try to go out and support her. They would show up at the local high school gyms, the small town Knights of Columbus Halls, the dingy bars or wherever Flora's matches were held and cheer her on. Though they were typically in the minority, that didn't bother them much.

Flora was often cast in the role of heel, facing a more popular and many times larger, stronger opponent. But Flora usually held her own, winning about as many matches as she lost. But to her, the losses were tolerable, as were the bumps and bruises. The younger kids taking shots at her was acceptable to, as long as she kept her thoughts on her goal. What motivated her was the dream of stardom…. success… celebrity. The opportunity to make it to the big time. It didn't matter that the she was the only person in the world who thought she had a shot at it. Well.. maybe her and one other.

The friend who followed Flora's wrestling endeavors the most closely was her good friend Christine. The two had been friends since they were kids, and were very close. Christine was the more attractive and popular of the two, while Flora was always the more brazen and daring. Their personalities melded well together however, with Flora often assuming the role of the protective motherly type to the sociable and popular though typically naive Christine.

Christine would always be the one who would attract the attention of the guys, while Flora protectively scrutinized them, sending the undesirables on their way in no uncertain terms. It was a role Flora had no problem with, especially since Christine was never brave enough to be so forthright. She appreciated that Flora was there to do it for her though. The same was true of wrestling. Though Christine was a good athlete and loved to compete in sports when she was younger, she did not have the courage to get up in that ring and compete as a wrestler when Flora pursued it professionally. She did not have the nerve, instead choosing to live her fictional wrestling career vicariously through Flora. She would often try to work out with her friend and get to as many of Flora's matches as she could, feeling a rush as she watched her friend wrestle. But even though she had the desire, the looks and the conditioning to compete, she never had the courage to actually try it for herself.

Flora's next scheduled match was to take place in a high school gym in the neighboring state from her home. Her plan was to drive to the high school gymnasium earlier in the day, and then drive home after the match, but her car had broken down earlier that week and wasn't yet fixed. It was an important match for Flora, a match which had the potential to bring her one step closer to the notoriety she so desperately sought. So rather than cancel, she asked Christine to borrow Christine's car. But her friend did her one better, offering to drive her there and back. It would be chance for Christine to spend a good deal of time with Flora before a match, see what was going on in her head, understand how she prepared for it. So the two friends agreed, and before long, the day had arrived.

On the drive, Christine could sense that her friend was even more excited than usual. Flora was very quiet at first, not speaking much. But eventually Christine got her to loosen up and they spoke about the match on the way. Flora's scheduled opponent was a younger, very popular wrestler who was being groomed for a world tour with a large, national federation. Christine had seen the girls' picture in one of the wrestling magazines at the newsstand and was impressed that Flora would actually soon be facing her.

Flora explained that against these types of opponents, she was all too often asked to let the younger, up and coming wrestler showcase her skills, which was a nice way of asking Flora to lose. But for this match, Flora had received assurances that she would be given every opportunity to showcase her own skills. Nothing would be pre-determined. That was especially important since Flora knew that there would be several media types at the match, presenting an opportunity for her to make a lasting impression and get some much needed publicity for herself. In addition, there would be a television crew on site, taping the match for possible broadcast at a later date. Flora explained to Christine how excited she was to have this opportunity, and how these seemed to be so few and far between. She had worked hard to be ready, and felt confident that she would put on a good show.

Pulling into the empty parking lot, Flora hopped out of Christine's car, anxious to get ready for the match. They were several hours early, but that suited Flora just fine. And since Christine had arrived so early too, Flora was able to bring her back into the dressing area to see things close up. Christine got to meet several of the other women and watch them prepare for their matches. She watched intently as everyone scurried around, getting ready for the night's festivities. But what Christine watched most closely was her friend Flora.

Flora was the epitome' of concentration as she stretched, lifted some weights and meditated briefly before slipping into her wrestling attire which consisted of a pair of undersized, yellow bike shorts, matching sports bra and yellow wrestling boots. She also got to see the other wrestlers prepare as well, and it was exhilarating for her. Christine noticed that while some of the other wrestlers took some time to pretty themselves up a bit, Flora was too engrossed with her physical and mental preparations to worry about that. That was typical for her too, never one to spend much time worrying about what she looked like.

But then Flora's opponent walked into the room and Christine began to get nervous for her friend. Though she was several inches taller and physically more sturdy looking than Flora, that was only part of it. The youngster had a presence, a way about her which made her seem almost…. well… invincible. She looked young, self assured, even arrogant. And seeing her stand a few feet away from Flora made Christine gulp. She could tell why this young women was one her way to being a star, while Flora was still struggling to make a living.

As the time for the start of the matches drew near, the promoter finally walked in, causing Flora to immediately perk up. He made his way around the room, and then signaled for Flora to come over and see him in one corner. Christine watched as her friend bopped over to talk, a smile stretched across her face. Though she couldn't hear the conversation, she could tell that Flora was assuring him that he would see her at her best. He nodded his head before non-chalantly taking a puff on his cigar. He then placed his arm around her shoulders and walked her towards the other side of the room. Christine still couldn't hear what they were talking about, but watched as the enthusiasm slowly drained from her friends' face. Once the conversation was done and the promoter left the room, she could see that Flora's mood had changed considerably.

As Flora walked away, a scowl replaced her smile… angry mumbling replaced her peppy humming and she took every opportunity to slam various objects around the room. Christine knew not to get involved, but she could tell that something had gone terribly wrong. Nevertheless, as her friend came over, Christine gave her a kiss for luck before wandering back into the gym to take her seat at ringside.

Flora's match was scheduled for the third of the evening, the lead in match directly before the final match of the evening for the local championship. The crowd was large enough, about 600 people, and they were very supportive of their favorite wrestlers. Christine watched the first two matches, both featuring good, solid wrestling between well trained, tough women. She enjoyed herself immensely, as did the rest of the audience, but she anxiously awaited Flora's match.

Finally, with the earlier matches out of the way, Flora was introduced. The crowd gave her an apathetic welcome, as many boos mixed with cheers as she made her way to the ring quickly, her earlier scowl now replaced with a repugnant smile. It was obvious to see which wrestler the crowd had come to see in this match as her opponent was introduced to a rousing, standing ovation. Flora stood in her corner, once again forced to play the heel as she taunted her pretty, young challenger from across the ring. The youngster seemed to have easily captivated the crowd, and whatever supporters Flora had at her introduction had quickly changed allegiances to her young opponent.

Christine looked on, enthralled by the showmanship and theatrics of her friend, but somewhat dismayed at the way the crowd was booing her. She knew that it was part of the show, but she had never seen a wrestler so easily win the crowd to her side as Flora's opponent had on this night. She also knew how important this match was important to Flora and was surprised to see her act in such a way as to further incite an already hostile crowd. But nonetheless the bell soon rang and the match was underway.

The first couple of minutes featured some quick, but evenly matched action. Both wrestlers gained and lost the advantage until Flora finally took control. She kept her opponent at bay with a series of arm locks, hair pulls and potently placed knees, throwing in the occasional choke to get the crowd going. It seemed to work as the fans really began getting on Flora's case, prompting her to sneer and taunt the ones who were making the most noise.

Christine watched as her friend moved fluently from one hold to another. Though nervous at first, as she watched Flora breeze through her holds, she had calmed considerably. Christine was amazed at how easily Flora strung moves together, going from an Irish whip to a hip toss, to a hair pull to a carefully placed knee to a bulldog all in one calculated series of moves. Flora obviously knew what she was doing in the ring, making her opponent look overmatched and even a bit inept. For several more minutes Flora retained control, overwhelming the future star. Christine knew that part of professional wrestling was for show, but she also knew that these two had never worked together, and in fact had never even spoken, making Flora's early dominance that much more impressive.

The crowd really got on Flora though, many seemingly close to acting out on their anger towards her. But then, in a thinly veiled turnaround, Flora whipped her opponent across the ring and waited for her return to deliver a clothesline. The young women however ducked beneath it awkwardly as Flora stood with her arm stretched out to her side. It was obvious to Christine that she had missed on purpose, allowing her adversary to grab her from behind in a reverse bearhug.

The young woman lodged her closed fist beneath Flora's ribcage, pulling her arms tightly around Flora's waist and compressing her midsection. Christine watched as Flora's face began to turn red, her legs, which had been kicking wildly at first, slowly began to loose their verve. But then the young star dropped to one knee, ramming Flora's crotch into her other outstretched leg in what appeared to be a painful atomic drop. Christine was sure that move wasn't staged as she heard the smacking sound of bone striking bone before Flora's face cringed while the crowd erupted into cheers at the turn of events.

The pretty young wrestler came alive, quickly pulling Flora up to her feet using her short, black hair. As Flora was pulled upright, she grimaced from the hairpull as her body was stretched upright. Christine could see the outline of Flora's ribcage through her shimmering skin just as her opponent lifted her knee and thrust it into the outline of Flora's ribcage, again causing a loud smacking sound. Flora tried to double over but her opponent whipped her across the ring, only to scoop her thin body up into the air after it bounced from the ropes. Upending her, she whirled Flora around before slamming her to the mat in a vicious body slam. The crowd went nuts, cheering the young wrestler who beamed with excitement.

She scooped Flora up by the hair once again, this time charging across the ring and slamming Flora's face into the turnbuckle. Flora collapsed into the corner, her right arm falling over the top rope to keep her upright. But not for long as she was plucked up by her wrist and whipped into the far ropes. Flora began to look tired as she rebounded off of the ropes, only to be met with a powerful flying dropkick into the side of her face.

Christine winced at the site of it, another loud SMACK reverberating in her head as Flora crashed painfully to the canvas. Next Flora was flipped onto her back as her popular attacker then locked her leg in a step over toe hold, causing Flora to scream in agony. Christine listened to her friend, unable to help but think how the scream of pain sounded much too authentic to be faked. Flora smacked at the mat animatedly, rolling her head from side to side as she screamed in protest. But when the leg hold was finally released, the shrieks of pain were replaced with a sickening, loud gurgle as the young protégé quickly dropped down right between Flora's spread legs, landing her knee into the pit of Flora's stomach.

Flora tried to roll onto her side, but was pinned to the mat by the leg of her foe, which was firmly imbedded into her belly. The crowd went crazy, jumping to their feet as they cheered the staged comeback. As Christine looked on, she could see that something didn't seem right. It was obvious that Flora was in some pain, but what was even more obvious to her was the surprised expression on her friend's face when the youngster finally got back up to her feet. It seemed to Christine that Flora had almost expected the match to end at this point, and was shocked when it hadn't. Flora was an easy pin at that point, almost too easy, but the youngster didn't take advantage of that. Looking into the eyes of her friend as she was yanked onto her feet by a hairpull, Christine began to make a few assumptions.

The turning point of the match, Flora's missed clothesline, was much too fake not to have been agreed in advance. In fact, Christine was pretty sure that Flora had been asked by the promoter to help, "make her opponent look good", exactly what she had been promised would not happen. Flora would be allowed a few minutes of control, but then had to turn the match over, which is what she did. But Christine also then assumed that this would be the point where the youngster would pin Flora to end the match, which was what Flora was expecting. And when that did not happen, Flora looked surprised.

Looking up into the ring, Flora's expression seemed to have changed form one of surprise, in fact she even looked a bit worried. As Flora was pulled straight up so that they were both facing each other, the youngster seemed to growl into Flora's face before resuming. She then delivered a quick knee into Flora's already throbbing midsection, causing her to body jerk forward. That gave her the opportunity to wrap her arms around Flora's waist and hoist her upended body into the air. Flora's eyes opened widely as her young opponent held her above the mat, Flora's arms dangling toward the canvas as the crowd cheered boisterously. Christine watched in fear, wondering if her friend was really in trouble, or if this were simply part of the show.

The ovation grew louder as the crowd anticipated the next move. Would Flora be slammed into a tombstone piledriver, possibly snapping her neck. Or perhaps she would be thrown down into a power slam, jarring her spine. But before Christine… or the crowd could speculate… or worry …. any further, Flora's body was jostled further up into the air and pressed onto the young woman's shoulder, Flora's back laying across it.

Christine stood up along with everyone else, trying to get a look into her friend's eyes, but unable to from her angle. Flora's head was dipped down in front of the youngster, but facing away from Christine who was unable to see the fearful expression on her friends' face. Christine guessed that Flora was in trouble now however, but there was little she could do but watch. It didn't take long to see what was coming next however as the woman dropped to one knee, jarring Flora's body until it bent in half upon impact. It looked like Flora's spine was made of rubber the way it bowed as far as it did, and that was the final proof for Christine that her friend was suffering a terrific beating, for real. No one's back could bend that way without being accompanied by a great deal of pain, the devastating over the shoulder back-breaker not faked at all.

Everyone jumped to their feet as Flora rolled off of the woman and fell limply to the canvas before she rolled over onto her stomach. The young woman got to her feet and celebrated the successful execution of the devastating power move as the crowd adorned her with praise, while Flora lay at her feet suffering. But the beating was not yet over, though Flora showed little signs of fighting back. Reaching down, she grabbed hold of Flora's right wrist with one hand and her right ankle with the other. She then pulled Flora up so that her right side was off of the mat all together before she began top circle. Moving her feet quickly, she spun in a circle, pulling Flora around her as her body lifted higher into the air. The revolutions continued until Flora's body was spinning parallel to the mat, though several feet above it. Flora's eyes seemed to roll back into her head as she was spun rapidly into orbit before finally being tossed free to sail across the ring. Flora's slick body slid across the mat freely, soaring across the ring before sliding beneath the ropes and falling painfully out of the ring. Her body crashed into the fans in the first row of seat in the section adjacent to where Christine was sitting. Flora's head struck the shin of one of the fans as she collapsed at his feet, rolling onto her side and grabbing her head with both arms.

The young star then hopped over the top rope, jumping out of the ring and landing alongside the fallen Flora. She then placed her feet so that they straddled Flora, standing ominously over her as she then lifted her arms to show off her muscles. Flora was out of it at this point, but her young opponent's adrenaline was flowing so freely that she seemed to lose her senses as she continued the attack. She reached down and violently snatched a handful of Flora's hair, plucking her from the floor and yanking her onto her feet. She then walked her toward one of the ringposts before backing away further and further from the ring and walking up one of the aisles, dragging the dazed Flora with her.

Christine could not believe what she was seeing. She had been to dozens of Flora's matches, but never seen the action as violent as this. She tried to see the look in her friends' eyes, the expression on her face, but could not get close enough. Flora's thin, wavering body was being pulled and yanked by the younger, more powerful woman, with no signs of letting up. Finally, having walked halfway up the aisle, the youngster began to jerk Flora closer tot he crowd, almost as if to show her off. She enjoyed this for a few seconds before pushing her back toward the center of the aisle. She pulled Flora upright at this point, holding onto her hair with one hand as she pumped the other arm into the air, motioning as if to be pulling a train whistle. With that she began to race back down toward the ring, dragging Flora alongside her as they rapidly approached ringside.

The crowd leaped to their feet as the momentum carried the two women toward the ringpost. The cheers grew louder as they approached, the youngster slowly sliding her body to the side as she heaved Flora's head backward at first, but then hurled it forward. Flora was unable to protect herself as her arms waved helplessly out at her sides while she rocketed forward. Finally the front of her forehead struck the metal Shaft. Christine looked on as everything seemed to move in slow motion. She watched her friends' body glide toward the pole before her head struck it. A loud CLANG echoed in the first few rows as Flora's head snapped away from the corner, her leg lifting in the air and behind away from her body as her arms tried to move forward, but never quite seemed to get there.

Perhaps the most amazing thing however, was that Flora did not fall. Her head bounded violently off of the pole and her body seemed to go limp, but instead of falling she simply did a graceful pirouette, her arms falling to her sides as her feet kept moving just enough to keep them beneath her. Her eyes were open wide, though complete devoid of coherence, the only sound which filled her head was the loud sounds of church bells ringing. The youngster quickly moved in and grabbed Flora with both hands, pressing her body up and over her head before hoisting her onto the ring apron and rolling her beneath the ropes and back into the ring. Flora's arms floundered at her sides as she was rolled onto her back, her powerful opponent now climbing back up and into the ring. She stomped over toward Flora, though it made no difference since Flora had no idea where she was or who was there with her.

But Christine felt her blood boil as the youngster continued to showboat, even though she had obviously beaten Flora thoroughly. She stood over her, placing her foot down onto Flora's chest and shoving her arm into the air in a sign of dominance. Christine felt her face turn bright red as the crowd cheered the action before finally the youngster kneeled down next to Flora, shoving one of her hands into Flora's face while pressing the other into the center of her chest.

With Flora pinned to the floor, and showing no signs of fighting it, the ref slid alongside her and quickly counted to three, ending the match. The woman got to her feet and celebrated her victory to the cheers as Flora rolled onto her side in pain. No one seemed to care that Flora was truly suffering, instead the celebration went on all around her. A couple of minutes later, after the winner had been announced to the cheers, Flora was helped back to the locker room, where she was met by Christine. Flora was okay, sore… but okay. It took her quite awhile to shower and change, but finally she did before limping slowly back out to Christine's car for the ride home.

On the way home Christine went into a tirade about how unfair the match had been… how angry she was with the young woman… and how upset she was in general. Flora listened quietly, not saying a word as she slumped back in her seat. Christine then pelted her with questions about what went on in the ring, Flora was reluctant to answer at first, but finally opened up. Though at first the match was supposed to be a fair fight, there was a promoter from the West Coast who had shown up to see her opponent wrestle. So as a favor, the promoter asked Flora to let the youngster, "showcase her skills".

Flora was angry at first, but then reluctantly agreed, knowing that she really had no choice anyway. If she wanted to keep working for that promoter, she knew that she had to what he asked. But Flora didn't let it go so easily. She knew that she had to miss the clothesline and then turn the match over to the youngster, but not before she got a few of her own shots in during the early stages of the match. In fact she was so upset that she attacked the youngster hard in the beginning of the match, perhaps giving her a few more bruises than were necessary. But what Flora found out later was that that only seemed to incite her opponent, who paid it all back later in the match… and then some. In fact, as Flora put it… "she showcased her skills all over my body!".

Christine then asked about the last couple of minutes in the match when it looked like Flora was nervous. Flora admitted that she had expected everything up until the point where she was pinned and her opponent had her knee in her belly. Even though some of the holds were much harder than she expected, and a few of the body blows more powerful than she had prepared for, nothing was unusual. It had been agreed with the promoter that the match would end with the knee drop to the belly. So when her opponent kept going and did not pin her, Flora got nervous. She was already hurt and knew that she would have trouble fighting back. After all, the youngster was strong and in great shape!

But when Flora was lifted into the air, she was truly afraid that something bad was going to happen. The only explanation she could come up with was that the young girl was pissed off at Flora for fighting so hard in the early stages of the match and that she paid her back in the end. There was probably a little showing off going on too. But the back-breaker was very much real, Flora assured her friend, and one that she would be feeling for days to come. And the headslam into the pole was very much real too… and required a doctor to medically clear her before she left the gym. The loud ringing sounds still filled her head too, as did the gnawing pain. She also told her friend that while she suffered a pretty bad beating, she would love to get another shot at the youngster and teach her a few wrestling lessons herself.

They finally arrived home and Christine walked Flora into her apartment before driving off. As she drove home, Christine decided that it was time she took some action herself. Seeing her friend get beaten so badly in the ring like that, and feeling completely helpless… somehow seemed to incite Christine's passions. Ever since watching Flora wrestle for the first time, she had been dreaming of herself as a wrestler. She had thought about Flora's last match, putting herself in Flora's position and fantasizing about how she would have done. If Flora could teach her how to wrestle, then maybe they could be a tag team together. Maybe Christine could finally have the courage to follow her heart and become a wrestler herself!

THE END

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