The Battle Royale
By Wrestling Lady,  http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Loge/5319



With the unexpected departure of Heather, the management team of the 
POWA was faced with their first crisis.   First of all they had 
envisioned Heather as being their marquee wrestler and star attraction, 
but even more importantly right now, they had planned to feature her in 
the next televise wrestling show which was only two weeks away.   The 
plan was to have Heather face Helen in what would have promised to be a 
very intriguing match.  But with Heather out of the picture, they needed 
to start from scratch. 

One thing was for sure however, and that was that Maggie would face 
Barbie Doll for the singles title.  But the rest of the show had to be 
re-constructed, and there was little time to do it.  To make matters 
worse, as only the second show of the new management, it needed to be 
something special.  The interest and ratings from the first show were 
promising, but they needed to keep the momentum going.  And so they sat 
in the offices until late at night, brainstorming.  Finally, after the 
last pot of coffee had been polished off, they came up with an idea.  

Maggie would face Barbie Doll, that much was given, but for the other 
two matches, they devised an interesting theme which would hopefully 
kill two birds with one stone.  On the one hand, with Heather leaving, 
Jo forced into retirement and Marisa showing little signs of life, they 
needed some new blood.  Kim, the newest wrestler, showed promise, but 
she was no star attraction.  So they needed some fresh faces. 

In anticipation of  that need they had held auditions at the arena over 
the past two weeks.  The plan was to schedule these auditions from time 
to time in order to put together a pool of applicants to choose from 
when the time came.  It was a long term plan and not expected to produce 
results for at least a few more months, but the auditions had drawn a 
fair amount of women, and a few even showed potential.  And so, they 
decided to pick the top six aspirants and put them in the ring together 
in a "Battle Royale".  It was a risky proposition, but could always be 
edited if it proved disastrous.  And so they decided to go ahead and 
give it a try. 

That would be the first match of the evening, with the Championship 
Match scheduled second, and expanding on the theme, the top eight 
wrestlers of the POWA would compete in another "Battle Royale", with the 
last woman left in the ring earning the next shot at the singles title.  
If nothing else, it promised to make for a very interesting evening. 

And so the staff had their work cut out for them.  They needed to 
contact all of the wrestlers, schedule the new applicants to come in and 
sign interim contracts and receive some brief training and make sure 
everything was ready.  It was a hectic couple of weeks, bit on the night 
of the show, everything seemed to fall in place. 

Because of the vast number of wrestlers competing on this night, locker 
rooms were in short supply.  In fact, all six of the newcomers were 
forced to share one locker room in order to prepare for their match, and 
that proved to be an interesting experience.  The tension was thick in 
that room, especially since they would be competing against each other 
in the ring in a very short while, but for now they were competing 
solely for space.    

It was a very diverse group, each unique in some way.  They seemed to 
split up, each half making their preparations on one side of the small 
room.  A cute girl with very fair skin, ultra blonde hair and a face 
full of freckles sat on a chair, tying her boots.  She looked like she 
had just come from cheerleading practice and was probably no older than 
19.  Though she did look athletic, she also looked very out of place.  A 
few feet away from her stood a tough looking woman named Tammy, probably 
in her mid 20's, with an angry snarl stretched across her face.  She 
looked like she was mad at the world, and about to take it out on anyone 
who got in her way.  Next to her was a thin Oriental woman named May, 
probably in her late 20's or early 30's, who looked like she had 
wrestled before.  She wore the attire of a wrestler with knee and elbow 
pads, and seemed the most professional in her preparations.      

Across the room were the other three women, again, all quite 
interesting.  The prettiest girl in the room was a tall, statuesque 
woman with a perfect body and gorgeous face named Renee.  She sat on a 
bench next to the dressing table and mirror.  Her caramel brown skin 
glistened as she stretched her long legs in front of her.  Standing next 
to her and checking herself over in the mirror was by far the most 
intimidating woman in the room.  Bertha stood approximately  6'2" and 
weighed at least 240 pounds, and probably more.  She had a fluffy, 
though short Afro, and her skin was very dark.  Sitting below her at the 
dressing table and combing her hair in the mirror was the last of the 6 
women.  She was very pretty too, but in a manner much too prissy to be a 
wrestler.  The way she combed her hair in the mirror was even further 
evidence of that, revealing a sort of elitist, high society personality 
.  But she had by far the most interesting story to tell, so rather than 
try to tell it, I'll let her. 

This was it.  From when I had first started thinking about wrestling 
over 3 months ago, this would be the result of all my hard work.  I sat 
there in front of the mirror brushing my hair, my mind completely blank.  
I was thinking about how and why I was here, and flash backed to the 
first conversation I had with my husband on the topic. 

My husband is a world class athlete, a football player.  No, I won't 
tell you who he is, but trust me, you've heard of him.  We attended 
college down south, where he was a legend.  I was an athlete too, and a 
pretty good one of I say so myself.  I ran track, and took third place 
in the 800 meters at the Nationals in my Junior year.  I met my husband 
as a result of my running track, we fell in love, and got married soon 
after.  

But even though he was a legend and I was a successful athlete, we had 
to deal with our share of adversity.  You see my husband is black and I 
am white, and in the South, that didn't go over too well back then.  But 
we overcame it and moved on.  He went on to play football for two 
different leagues and made millions and millions of dollars.  We never 
had children, so I kind of faded into the background. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but it is hard to go from being 
a recognized, national level athlete to being a housewife.  I still 
trained, I still ran, but I didn't "Compete", and that is what I missed 
most.  The years passed and I reached 30, and even a few more years 
before I couldn't take it anymore.  I needed to start competing again at 
something, anything. 

I couldn't run track anymore, nor did I want to.  I wasn't very good in 
team sports.  Golf was boring, tennis and me never meshed and so I 
searched for something.  My husband was completely supportive, in fact I 
think he loved the idea that I wanted to do something.  Somebody 
suggested boxing, and the thought intrigued me, so I went down to a gym 
and met a trainer my husband had made arrangements with. 

I worked with him for two weeks on technique, learning how to punch, all 
the things a boxer needs to learn.  And then he felt I was ready to 
spar.  I was ready, pumped, excited.  He had me go against another girl 
who was at least 4 or 5 inches shorter than me, so I was really pumped.  
I was ready to pummel her, but in the first 30 seconds, she hit me with 
three straight jabs right on my nose and made it bleed.  That ended my 
boxing career. 

I liked boxing, but I wasn't going to walk around with black eyes all 
the time.  Finally I read an article about wrestling.  There were a few 
small wrestling organizations popping up around the country, and even 
more training camps for women to attend.  So my husband hired someone to 
look into for me, and found the best wrestling camp in the country.  I 
had to live there for 6 weeks, which I did, but came out ready to become 
a wrestler. 

The next step was to find somewhere I could actually wrestler.  I didn't 
want to do it too close to home, and I didn't want to advertise it.  
Neither did my husband.  He was proud and supportive, but it is not the 
kind of undertaking that a star broadcasts about his wife.  But I found 
an ad in a local newspaper about an audition that was being held by a 
group which had just purchased a small women's wrestling outfit, and so 
I went. 

I sat in the first row in front of the ring for over an hour as a 
numerous other girls jumped up into the ring and showed what they had.  
I met another girl there, and we talked for awhile as we waited to be 
called.  She was nice, and very pretty.   In fact it was kind of funny, 
because even though she was black and I was white, we looked somewhat 
similar.  We were both about 5'9" and both had long black hair.  She 
probably weighed about 125 lbs, while I was about 135 or so.  We even 
had on similar attire.  I wore a pink, sleeveless leotard, while she had 
a matching pink, two piece outfit.  

Finally I was called, and to my surprise, she was called next.  We 
climbed into the ring and faced each other, each of us a bit nervous.  
Anyway, we wrestled for about 5 minutes, each of us doing reasonably 
well before they stopped us and asked us to fill out some forms.  

That was it until I was called last week and offered to come and wrestle 
here tonight, so here I am. 

I turned my attention back to my hair, but by now I think I had annoyed 
the other girls.  One of them looked like your typical trailer park 
white trash, and came up behind me before she pushed me out of the way.   

"Let's go bitch!  Outta my way!" 

I didn't want to make a big scene, especially since it was almost time 
to wrestle anyway, and so I stepped aside while giving her a dirty look.  
But as I walked away, I bumped into the big mountain of a woman.  She 
was none to happy either, and shoved me to the floor.  

"Watch where you're going, stupid!'  she remarked.  

I could tell none of them were very happy with me.  After all I was 
wearing a string bikini, my black hair down to my backside.  I had 
gotten a special Henna treatment for my hair, had a bikini wax, a full 
body massage and skin treatment all the day before.  So I guess I didn't 
look much like a wrestler.  But I figured that if I was going to do 
this, I was going to do it in style.  The problem was that even though 
the crowd would probably like me, the other wrestlers didn't.  Well, all 
except the girl I had met at the audition.  

She too was wearing a bikini, but not quite as skimpy as mine.  But she 
sat off to the side minding her own business.  She glanced across when I 
was shoved to the floor, but she didn't react.  She just took it all in. 

Finally we were called to enter the arena.  I could hear the crowd 
cheering as we waited to be introduced.  They lined us up so that we 
would enter according to height, so I next to last, just ahead of 
Bertha.  They all went in, the lights and noise were unbelievable each 
time they opened the door.  Finally my turn came and I heard him blurt 
out, "CINDY!" as I trotted down the aisle and climbed up into the ring.  

The announcer  went over the rules, which were basically that there were 
none.  Last girl left in the ring at the end would be the winner.  No 
referee in the ring, so anything went.   He finished up his speech and 
then climbed out as the crowd erupted.  It was almost like being at one 
of my husband's football games, only I was the one on the field, wearing 
considerably less padding than he wore. 

My heart began to race as I knew the start of the match was only seconds 
away.  I was standing in a corner with my arms up on the top rope , but 
only a few feet away to my right was Bertha.  I kept sight of her at all 
times, expecting to get out of her way once he bell rang.  Finally it 
did, and I stared at her intently. 

To my relief, she moved away from me and I felt my whole body release 
all of it's tension.  I relaxed a bit and prepared to move out into the 
ring when all of a sudden I felt a tremendous blast hit my stomach.  I 
had not been paying attention to my left, and so the white trash had 
snuck up on me and rammed her knee into my gut.   Since I didn't expect 
it, my stomach hurt even more.  It was throbbing with searing pain as I 
was bent forward, but before I knew what hit me, she rammed her knee 
upward into my face, knocking me back into the corner. 

I must have looked as bas as I felt, because she left me alone and went 
after someone else.  My arms sailed back over the top rope and my whole 
body drooped back against them.  It was almost like the Rocky movies 
where I heard nothing but that slow buzzing noise and everyone around me 
was moving in slow motion.  

I knew I had to pull myself together and so I shook my head and tried to 
focus my vision.  I stayed in the corner for a few more seconds, 
surveying the action.  Bertha had scooped up the blonde cheerleader and 
was carrying her over to  the side of the ring.  That girl looked even 
less like a wrestler than I did, so it was no surprise that she was the 
first to go.  But Bertha not only tossed her out of the ring, she tossed 
her body into the 4th row!     

I started to move out of the corner, only 4 other girls left now.  
Renee, the girl I had faced at the audition, was paired off against the 
Oriental girl, and they were going at each other pretty good.  Bertha 
seemed to have her sights set on the white trash, but I beat her to it.  

She was facing Bertha, with her back to me, and so I got her in a neck 
lock from behind, wrapping my arm around her throat.  I pulled my arm in 
toward my body as hard as I could, and since I was much taller than her, 
it was easy to keep the pressure on.  

But Bertha didn't seem too happy that I had stolen her target, and so 
she stormed over and with one complete revolution of her arm, slammed 
the bottom of her fist into the top of my head.  I felt my knees get 
weak and I immediately lost the hold.  The white trash girl jerked 
herself free and turned to grab me, but luckily Bertha had other plans.  

She grabbed her by the hair and tossed her toward the corner.  But as 
she raced toward the corner, along the way she collided with the 
Oriental girl, and the momentum sent the two of them slamming to the 
turnbuckle.  Though the force with which they had been thrown into the 
corner was scary to me, the crowd actually found it quite amusing.  

As Bertha made her way across the ring toward the two of them, I found 
myself faced with Renee.  With the tow of us now free of other 
opponents, we knew we had to face off against each other.  I started to 
move slowly toward her, and she did the same.  We finally locked arms in 
the center of the ring, and the struggle began.  I tried to push her 
backward and she tried to push me from side to side, neither of us 
gaining much ground.  

Finally I remembered a move I learned at camp, and twirled my body 
around, pulling her arm with me.  I yanked her arm over my shoulder as 
my back landed against her stomach, and then rammed my free elbow into 
her gut.  She groaned loudly, but I then tugged on her arm and pulled 
her over my shoulder, sending her flipping into the air.  The crowd 
cheered as I kept hold of her arm and twisted it, pulling it away from 
her body. 

It was my first real wrestling move in a real wrestling match, and it 
had been successful.  I could hear Renee groaning as I tugged on her 
arm, but the cheers of  the crowd were so gratifying that I didn't care 
about Renee.  That was what I had longed for.  Besides the feeling of 
competing, I missed the crowd cheering for me.  I missed that adulation 
that comes with being a successful athlete, and I was basking in it.  

Poor Renee was the victim of my search for praise, but I didn't care.  
In fact I immediately went for more.  As she was lying on her back, I 
moved on closer and planted my foot on the side of her chest, tugging on 
her arm even further.  I then twisted my body as to apply more pressure, 
yanking on her arm in the process.  The crowd was roaring, and I was in 
my glory.  I now had my back to Renee as she lay below me, twisting on 
her trapped arm.  

But the pain must have become too much and so she reached up and grabbed 
hold of the waistband on my bikini.  She yanked it with one quick, fast 
tug, and as it was forced away from my body, I fell over and onto my 
side.  The crowd continued to cheer, but this time not for me.  Bertha, 
meanwhile was in the corner, tossing one of the girls around in a circle 
by her arm and leg.  As I got to my feet, she let go of her, and she 
slammed into me, knocking us both over.  

I didn't even know who it was who hit me, all I know is that she hit me 
in the ribs, and it hurt!  I rolled onto my side and tired to get my 
legs out from under me.  I pushed myself up, but before I new what 
happened, I heard a horrible WHAP and then felt an incredible pain in my 
stomach.  I dropped to my knees and looked over to the side to see what 
had hit me. 

To my surprise, Tammy had been the one who Bertha had thrown into me, 
and she had gotten to her feet before me, kicking me in the gut again.  
I'll say one thing for her, she knows how to hit you in the stomach.  I 
was still on my knees when she came up next to me and grabbed a handful 
of my hair.  Then she started to yell at me, and that entertained 
Bertha, who was making her way over. 

Bertha seemed like she was about to grab hold of my attacker,  but her 
verbal assault on me seemed to put the skids to that as Bertha stopped 
in her tracks and watched. 

"Combing your hair in the mirror bitch!  Well let's see how that hair 
holds up to this!!" 

She had a hold of my hair with both hands, and was using it to pull me 
around her.  Since my hair is so long, she was able to make me run 
circles around her as she continued to taunt me.  

"Want a mirror pretty girl?  Don't feel so pretty now, do you?" 

I was really getting angry, but my hair felt as if it were about to be 
yanked out of my head by the roots.  As I continued to circle I couldn't 
help but notice Bertha standing there, watching.  And across the ring, 
Renee had the Oriental girl pinned against the ropes, and eventually was 
able to toss her out of the ring. 

So as I raced toward the corner, being thrown in that direction by the 
hair, Renee made her way over toward the white trash.  Renee put her 
hands up in a test of strength as I sank back into the corner, but the 
white trash would have none of that.  Instead she launched a kick, 
ramming the ball of her foot into Renee's gut. 

I would have felt bad for her, if not for the fact that my head was 
aching, my body throbbing and Big Bertha was heading in my direction.  

I knew I had to pull myself together, which I did, and I scurried out of 
the corner before Bertha could reach me.  Even though running away was 
not the noblest thing to do, right now it was the only smart thing to 
do.    Bertha was angered as I quickly moved away from her, but I found 
myself right in the middle of Renee and the white trash.    

I quickly put up my arm to block a forearm that the white trash was 
sending my way, and I did so effectively.  I then was able to counter 
with a quick leg whip, knocking her to the mat.  Renee was still a bit 
flustered by the hard kick she had taken, but she wasted no time in 
grabbing my wrist and yanking my arm behind my back. 

She jerked it up so that my wrist was laying right between my shoulder 
blades, and my shoulder was crying with pain.  To make matters worse, 
the other one got to her feet and landed a stiff punch right into my 
stomach.  

What the hell is it with her and my stomach, I though as I hunched 
forward, my stomach once again throbbing.  But Renee had no sympathy and 
simply jerked my arm back up again, reapplying  the pressure.  Luckily 
though, Bertha grabbed the other one and tossed her into the corner.  
She then followed her and began to work her over as Renee kept the 
pressure on my arm.     

I tried to struggle free, but the more I moved, the more the pressure on 
my joint became unbearable.  Finally though, we both heard loud 
screaming, and looked across the ring.  Bertha had picked the other on 
up, and was holding her over her head.  She then stomped around the 
ring, showing her off like some kind of prize.  As she approached, Renee 
backed away, still clutching onto my wrist, but moving both of us out of 
harms way. 

Finally Bertha stormed back to the center of the ring, and stood facing 
the side where Renee had my arm trapped behind my back.  She stared at 
the both of us, smiled wickedly and then threw the body of her victim in 
our direction. 

I was amazed as this screaming girl came hurdling towards us.  Renee and 
I both ducked, and her body sailed over our heads, over the top rope and 
landed hard in the second row of seats outside the ring. 

There was a brief pause as everyone grew quiet, before suddenly a loud, 
thunderous cheer lifted up from the crowd. Bertha smiled widely, fixing 
her eyes on both Renee and I.  She then began to storm towards us as the 
crowd cheered their encouragement. 

I was scared now.  This woman was a monster, and she was coming after 
me.  Again I retreated, as did Renee, and we ended up on separate sides 
of the ring.  Bertha stood in the middle, grunting and staring back and 
forth at the both of us.  I knew the only way we could beat her, was to 
work together, and I'm sure Renee knew that too.  I glanced across at 
her, and caught her eye, and we exchanged an unspoken agreement.  

I took a deep breath and then moved slowly out of my corner, as did 
Renee.  We knew we would have to stay on opposite sides in order to be 
effective, but if we could each get hold of an arm or a leg, maybe we 
could tie her up somehow.     We both moved cautiously, and Bertha 
smiled evilly at both of us the entire time.  Finally Renee jumped and 
grabbed hold of one of Bertha's wrists, and I did the same.  We each now 
had hold of a wrist and were trying to pull her arm away from her body 
on either side.  

The crowd was going nuts as both Renee and I tired to pull Bertha apart.  
She stood in the middle, a pained expression on her face as she grunted 
and groaned.  I pulled as hard as I could, but suddenly I heard a loud, 
vulgar scream, and I felt myself being tossed forward.  Bertha had 
gathered her strength and swung her arms forward, sending Renee and I on 
a collision course.  

We met directly in front of Bertha, the top of Renee's head ramming into 
the bottom of my chin as we made contact. I saw stars and immediately 
fell to the canvas, Renee landing on top of me.  

That's it, we're dead, I thought as I waited for her to finish us off.  
Though my jaw was squealing with pain,  all I could think about was how 
she was going to do it.  Would she throw us both out at the same time?  
Would she pluck Renee off first and save me for last?  What was coming? 

I didn't have long to wait as she reached down and grabbed a hold of 
Renee first, since she was on top.  She pulled her up by the back of 
bikini, and then tossed her into the corner like a ragdoll.  Then she 
reached down and grabbed me by the hair.  She pulled me up violently, my 
scalp aching in the process.  She then planted her feet, grabbed hold of 
my wrist and tossed me toward the ropes. 

I ran forward, not as if I had any choice, before my body ran straight 
into the ropes.  But as soon as I felt the ropes digging into my chest 
and stomach, Bertha came up from behind me and slammed into my back 
while grabbing hold of the top rope on either side of me. 

She forced my body against the ropes so hard that I thought the ropes 
would break from the strain.  My skin seemed to wrap around them as 
Bertha forced all of weight against me, trapping me.  I felt as if at 
any second the ropes were going to split in half and I was going to 
plunge to the floor outside of the ring.       

Bertha made sure that she kept pressing her weight forward, clutching 
the rope to insure that I could not escape.  After what seemed like an 
eternity, she finally released her hold on the ropes, but kept her 
weight up against me.  Then she sent a powerful Karate chop into the 
side of my neck while backing off of me, and I collapsed to the canvas, 
at her feet.  

My neck was in so much pain that I couldn't support my head, and it 
bobbed off to the side.  I looked down at the front of my body and 
noticed three deep, red indentations on my chest, stomach and legs from 
where the ropes had dug into my body.  But as I lay on the floor at 
Bertha's feet, she kicked me in the back, trying to force me out of the 
ring from beneath the ropes. 

Though I was in lots of pain, I wasn't ready to give up.  It was dumb to 
fight the inevitable, but that's exactly what I did.  I grabbed hold of 
the bottom rope and wrapped one of my legs around it so that I wouldn't 
fall.  Bertha was pissed, and sent another brutal kick into my back.  
That one really hurt, and I was debating whether or not to simply jump 
out of the ring myself now.  

My back was screaming, and Bertha showed no signs of letting up.  But 
then Renee came up from behind her and grabbed hold of her wrist, 
twisting her arm behind her back. She had caught Bertha by surprise, and 
having experienced the strength of that exact hold from Renee, I knew it 
would be effective.  

Renee forced her back away from me, for which I would be eternally 
grateful, and then turned her toward the corner.  She kept the pressure 
on Bertha's arm, and judging by the expression on Bertha's face and the 
grunts coming from her mouth, the hold was hurting her.  Then Renee did 
something which was probably not such a good idea.           

She released the hold and grabbed Bertha's  wrist, tossing the surprised 
behemoth across the ring.  Bertha bounced off of the ropes and came 
racing back toward Renee, who stood there waiting.  Bertha's eyes lit up 
as she approached, and she reached forward, ready to wrap her arms 
around Renee.  But Renee astutely ducked below her and flipped Bertha 
over her back, sending her tumbling into the air and crashing onto her 
back.   
  
The crowd roared their approval as Renee got to her feet while Bertha 
reached to comfort her aching back while still lying on the canvas.  I 
was impressed too, and though I had sat up to watch the action, I laid 
back on the canvas for a second to recuperate.  

To  my surprise though, Renee came charging over toward me and 
immediately stomped her foot down into my stomach.  I was completely 
surprised, and so it felt like her foot had sunk through the depths of 
my intestines and crushed them against the mat.  My legs shot into the 
air and my head shot up as well as Renee ground her foot deeper into my 
visceral cavity.    

The crowd was cheering, and it was obvious that Renee had become their 
hero.  She was relishing it too.  I looked up into her face, and I could 
see that she was smiling.  But soon Bertha would be back on her feet, 
and so Renee pulled her foot away, and then reached down and grabbed me 
by the hair, hauling me off of the canvas. 

I don't know what had happened, but she seemed determined to make me 
suffer.  I had thought we were going to work together, but all bets were 
off now.  

Across the ring, Bertha had gotten to one knee, and then gradually 
pushed herself up onto her feet.  But as she was about to stand 
straight, Renee grabbed my wrist and slingshot me right at her.  Bertha 
was none to happy about that, and so she stuck her arm out and wrapped 
it around my throat as I charged forward, stopping me dead in my tracks. 

Instantly, the flow of oxygen to any part of body stopped.  My face must 
have turned completely pale, because it sure like it did.  Bertha then 
scooped me up and pressed my body over her head as if I were a feather.  
She straightened her arms and carried me toward the side of the ring.  I 
looked down in horror as the crowd screamed their support.  My throat 
was still constricted, and I began to feel light-headed, but that soon 
about to end.  

Bertha held me at the side of the ring for several seconds, almost as if 
to work the crowd, but then she tossed me straight down, over the top 
rope.  I plunged toward the ground, feeling like I had just been pushed 
from an airplane and had not parachute.  The wind blew in my face and I 
almost wet myself before my body slammed against the cold, hard floor. 

Though things from that point on were a bit cloudy, I remember rolling 
onto my back and opening my eyes.  I was staring straight into Bertha's 
face as her body hung over the top rope.  But the look in her eyes was 
not that of arrogance or supremacy, which is what I had expected, but 
rather it was a look of fear. 

What I did not realize was that right after Bertha had tossed me out of 
the ring, Renee had snuck up behind her and grabbed hold of her legs.  
she was now forcing her over the top rope, right above where I had 
landed.  I continued to look up, though I was so dazed and confused that 
I couldn't comprehend what was going on.  But a few seconds later I saw 
Bertha's entire body roll over the top rope, and I knew that wasn't a 
good sign.  

She plummeted downward, the only thing separating her from crashing into 
the floor was my already devastated body.  But I could not move and so 
Bertha landed directly on top of me.  It was probably the most painful 
feeling I have ever experienced in my life, and it left me completely 
paralyzed. 

She laid on top of me for what seemed like hours, and the only thing I 
could hear was her heavy breathing and the cheers of the crowd in the 
background.  But it was almost like an out of body experience for me.  
Except for the pain, I felt as if I were watching someone else.  But 
then Bertha start4ed to use my body as her launching pad to push herself 
up off of me. 

She finally got to her feet, but I knew that I couldn't do the same.  I 
tried to move, but my body would not cooperate.  Eventually a few of the 
medics came over and stuck some ammonia caplets under my nose, and 
eventually got me to stand up, with their assistance. 

They placed my arms over their shoulders and helped me back to the 
locker room.  I don't remember much else, other than how Renee had 
turned on me. I wasn't angry about it, just completely shocked.  It was 
after all, a wrestling match, so she was in her rights.  I just didn't 
expect it.  

And so Renee won the Battle Royale, with Bertha second and me third.  I 
wasn't sure what that meant, if my wrestling career was over before it 
had started, or if I would live to wrestle another day, but right then, 
I just wanted a hot tub and a long massage.