Scarlet Flint gets a mixed reaction as she emerged, although her partner Nina Stokes – wearing more than a couple of sticking plasters courtesy of PWP’s Queen of the Deathmatch tournament – gets big cheers, to Scarlet’s bemusement. Nina takes the mic and thanks the Cardiff fans, promises that she’ll be healed up and back in action next time, then wishes her girl luck tonight. Unfortunately for Scarlet, her scattered support diminishes still further when “No Good Advice” hits the speakers. Leanne Evangelista looks all business tonight, and memories of Silas World screwing herself and Laurel Anne Hardy out of their World Tag Team Championship last time out can’t be far from her mind.
Evangelista vs Scarlet Flint
The diminutive wrestlers go into high gear right away, criss-crossing as they look for running strikes and takedowns. It’s Scarlet with a monkey flip first and she floats over looking for an armlock, but Evangelista reverses into one of her own. Scarlet re-reverses, and the two spend some time on the mat trading holds before breaking apart to a round of applause. Evangelista’s experience comes into play when she counters a spinning heel kick with an electric chair lift, inviting the rana attempt. When Scarlet goes for it, Evangelista answers with a ring-shaking wheelbarrow facebuster for a near fall. An even closer fall comes a minute later, when Evangelista counters a flying seated senton into a sheerdrop powerbomb. Evangelista lifts Flint up from behind in a dragon sleeper, no doubt looking for the Lime Street Loop. But Scarlet kicks back, connecting a heel to the inside of Leanne’s thigh. As Leanne doubles over, Scarlet spins one-eighty and catches her with an uppercut. Evangelista sags back, then returns fire with a European of her own, pushing Flint’s head down at the same time to make it the signature strike of Shane Tallin’s Battlegrounds academy.
Flint stumbles to one knee – then comes back with a knuckle jab to the side of the forehead! Evangelista clearly wasn’t anticipating the dirty move, and is stunned. Scarlet snaps Evangelista to the mat with a DDT, then goes for an Indian deathlock. But Evangelista manages to kick her away. As they begin trading holds and counter-holds on the mat again, Evangelista’s experience again factors in as she uses her broad frame – an inch shorter than her opponent, yet forty pounds heavier – to pin down key mobility points on Scarlet’ slight body. But Scarlet impresses the fans when she finds a textbook handstand escape from a headscissors, and catches the sitting Evangelista with a fast dropkick to the chin. She drops a knee across the collarbone and digs down hard. When the ref warns her, she drags Evangelista up by the hair and throws her backwards in a beautiful bridging northern lights suplex. It’s all the winded Evangelista can do to push sideways to break the bridge.
Scarlet punishes her opponent with a mixture of quick strikes, impactful suplexes and running takedowns. After a couple of minutes she connects with a stiff Power Shift combo, the palm thrust into the STO, then shows off with a deadlift German suplex to her heavier opponent. After taking a moment to flex her, ahem, “muscles”, Scarlet drops down ready for the lightning fast tornado kick she calls A Beautiful Death. Evangelista rises, and Flint strikes. Evangelista ducks the first kick… ducks the follow through! Scarlet’s left facing away from her, wondering what happened – until she feels Evangelista grab her from behind for the Headbreaker!
NO! Scarlet with a second low blow mule kick, this time hitting somewhere much worse than the inner thigh, and then she turns and leaps into an enzuigiri! Evangelista’s dropped to her hands and knees and A Beautiful Death comes for her again. She ducks the first kick… takes the follow through full on! Scarlet scrambles over her for the pin, and braces a foot against the bottom rope for good measure. One, two… three!
Your winner, Scarlet Flint!
After the match Stokes – who, from her place at ringside, missed certain questionable elements of the ending – slides in and proudly raises Flint’s hand, but also helps up and congratulates her friend Evangelista, which doesn’t seem to sit amazingly well with Scarlet. Still, Scarlet hops up on the turnbuckles to celebrate her big win.