As well as the return of the leagues, 2022 also saw the return of the senior wrestling tournament. This would be the 9th tournament since its inception in 2009. I had fought in six of those tournaments and I’m proud to say that won the title three times. This year I would not be taking part but I would be coaching two of the girls we were.
Only three of the six women who had contested the previous tournament, which took place under strange conditions during lockdown, would be taking part in this one. Judy, who won the title in 2020, had decided to seek fresh challenges elsewhere. Jen, who had a disappointing tournament, starting out as favourite but ending in fourth place, had resumed her travels. And Nikki, who came last, had declared that she had now retired completely from fighting.
Their places would be taken by former CLAWS league champion Kelly and two newcomers to the club that I was training; Lynne, who I had first met when she challenged me to a fight on the beach the previous summer, and her friend Sue, a veteran of the underground fighting scene who hadn’t fought for over twenty years.
The first round of the tournament was to take place on the 28th of January. I would be corner woman for the blue corner, supporting Sue, Lynne and Terri, before stepping into the ring myself (with the gloves on) to box my old rival Lesley for the last time.
I travelled to Marshall’s that evening with Lynne and Sue. I was looking forward to the chance to try and get even with Lesley. I’d taken a beating from the Irish woman in her fighting house the previous summer and was determined to pay her back. I’d been training my other protégé, 32-year-old Nat, and boxing and sparring with her and Terri had got me in good shape. I was on my home turf and probably the fittest I’d been in five years so I was quietly confident.
When we walked into the blue corner changing room, I was greeted by Terri with another surprise boost to my morale. She handed me a small bag and said:
“Ellen these are for you, a special present for your help on our London trip.”
I open the bag and found a pair of black cotton midi briefs with big white polka dots on. An exact replica of my lucky pants that been destroyed by that bitch Judy Cat. Lucky pants, lots of practice and the support of the crowd – I certainly felt I was in with a good chance on this one. Terri grinned when she saw my face light up:
“I found them in a little boutique in Knightsbridge.” She said as I gave her a big hug and thanked her, continuing: “You earned them babe, I wouldn’t have made it home without your help.”
To me the important thing was that Terri seemed completely recovered from the beating she’d received at the hands of Rose Dawson just three weeks before and was ready to take on Kelly tonight. Cassy had urged Terri to forfeit this fight just as, six years earlier; she had urged me to forfeit my fight with Jan. I ignored Cassy’s advice and I wasn’t surprised that Terri had done the same. In my case it cost me the chance to defend my title but, under the new simplified scoring system, Terri had nothing to lose. Even if Kelly knocked her out, she’d be in no worse position than if she took a forfeit.
The four of us chatted happily as we stripped and changed into our fighting gear, each of us confident of victory in the ring. This round of the tournament was the calm before the storm. All three of my girls were fighting different opponents. In the next two rounds Lynne would face both Terri and Sue before the pair of them faced each other in the final qualifying round.
With knickers and gowns on, we made our way into the ring room and took our seats next to the blue corner. As I was going to be corner woman for the others, I opted for a t-shirt rather than a gown, something I regretted as the tightness of the material had a rather unflattering effect on my unencumber boobs, pancaking them under my armpits.
Lynne did me the honour of carrying my white gloves and boots while I carried the towels and water bottles – a selection of buckets already having been placed by the corner.
We took our seats and watched the red corner team along with their corner woman, Marshall’s CEO Suzi, walk out to their side of the ring. And then there was a surprise as the referee entered. Instead of the person we were all expecting, CLAWS president Jay, a petite buxom woman with long blonde hair stepped into the ring wearing black knickers and a stripped polo shirt – Clare!
Clare Forbes had fought in the league for 15 years and won the title 18 times. After retiring from the league at 40 she had occasionally refereed matches before returning to the ring in the senior tournament. We had faced each other many times and, despite the fact I was a good six or seven inches taller than her, we were evenly matched. She stopped fighting at the age of 55 and now, at 63, was taking over refereeing duties from Jay. She looked fit and keen and, for a brief moment, I wondered if she’d be willing to wrestle me one last time.
A tradition has developed over the last few years for the first round of the senior tournaments. Each of the six participants enters the ring and introduces themselves, giving their name, age, weight and anything else they care to add. This year was no exception as one by one they filed into the ring. First to enter in the red corner was brunette Kelly:
“Hi, I’m Kelly and I’m 40 years old. I’m 5’6”, 140lbs and measure 36c-25-38. I was league champion before lockdown and I will be senior champion by the end of the year.”
Fighting talk from the former league champion as Lynne stepped into the blue corner wearing a white towelling robe that ended just above her knees:
“I’m Lynne. I’m a newbie, I’ve never fought before but that doesn’t mean I can’t. I’m 48 years old, 5’7”, 155lbs and measure 42E-30-44.”
Back to the red corner and Mair, the green eyed blonde from North Wales, who entered the ring wearing a long black velvet cloak:
“I’m Mair, unlike these two I have fought in this tournament before. Last time I came third, this time I intend to go two better. For the record I’m 44, 5’10”, weight 145lbs and measure 36D-27-38.”
Sue stepped into the ring in the blue corner alongside her friend. While not the tallest, she was certainly the biggest girl in the tournament and, although I’d never seen her fight in a real match, I sensed she was a serious contender for the title.
“Hi, I’m Sue. I’m 48, 5’5”, 165lbs and measure 44DD-32-46 – and it’s all muscle! I’ve been away a while but, back in the day, I fought with, and beat, some of the best women in the country.
Stacey entered the red corner. The buxom blonde Marshall’s employee was a former wrestling and boxing league champion who had risen from receptionist at Marshall’s to succeed Erica as secretary of CLAWS. Unlike the four women already in the ring, who were all wearing gowns or robes of some kind to cover their fighting attire, Stacey was dressed in a while blouse and black A-line skirt, just as she had been when she made her CLAWS debut some 17 years ago. Despite her experience in the ring, she seemed somewhat daunted by the four women already in the ring:
“I’m Stacey, I’m 43 and 150lbs, I’m 5’5” and measure 40D-30-42. I’ve fought in this tournament before but I didn’t distinguish myself. This year I intend to do better.”
Finally, Terri stepped into the blue corner.
“I’m Terri, I’m 54, 5’10”, 38B-29-42 and weigh 155lbs. I used to be senior champion and I intended to be again.”
Introductions over, four of the fighters left the ring, leaving only the two contesting the first bout of the evening. In our corner it was rookie Lynne, fighting against club secretary Stacey. Both women are highly sexually charged and Stacey had confided in me that she was desperate to get to grips with Lynne, both in a physical and a sexual sense. It was pretty obvious from the outset that this was going to be a very sensual bout and it would almost be certainly be decided by who came first.
Somewhat unnecessarily in my opinion, Clare announced that the first bout of the evening would be between Stacey and Lynne. Lynne watched impassively from our corner as Stacey slipped off her blouse, unzipped her skirt and shimmied out of it and, finally, unclipped her bra, discarding it and leaving herself clad in only a pair of white cotton knickers. Striptease over Lynne shrugged off her own robe to reveal that she was wearing nothing but a sky-blue thong bikini bottom which emphasised her well rounded buttocks. Both women were full of figure but, despite being three years older than her opponent and bigger in the bust, Lynne had the more toned body.
Clare called the now near naked women to the centre of the ring for a quick briefing, announcing to the protagonists and their audience:
“All matches tonight will be fought over 20 minutes and will be the best of five falls or a ten-count knockout. My decisions will be final. After each fall there will be a one-minute break. At the end of the evening each fighter will be scored based on the number of falls they win with four points being awarded for a knockout. May the best women win. Ladies, return to your corners and await the bell for the start of the first fall.”
Lynne returned to our corner, the time keeper called ‘seconds out’ and I wished her luck as I slipped between the ropes. Moments later the bell rang and the two busty blondes closed on each other and locked up. A brief struggle for supremacy ended when the more experienced Stacey turned the older woman across her hip and they crashed to the mat with Lynne underneath. She didn’t stay there for long, rolling the younger woman over and attempting to secure a body scissors which Stacey easily avoided. For the next couple of minutes, they struggled on the canvas before, by mutual consent, breaking off and coming to their feet.
Stacey took control, grabbing Lynne by the arm and whipping the older woman into the ropes. As Lynne sprang back off the ropes Stacey caught her, lifted her in the air and delivered a text book tilt-a-whirl slam, slamming my girl down on her back before dropping across her.
Dazed and winded by the impact Lynne put up no resistance as Stacey settled her ample backside on her face and pinned her shoulders with her knees.
Clare dropped to the mat next to Lynne’s shoulders and began to count the pin. At “two” Lynne tried to bridge out and succeeded in raising a shoulder but failed to unseat the big blonde. Clare stopped counting but, as Lynne’s shoulder returned to the mat, resumed again from “One”.
Lynne swung her legs back, attempting to scissor Stacey’s head but telegraphed the move and ended up with the claves trapped under the club secretary’s armpits and her thong clad arse on display to all as Clare called out “Three!” and the bell sounded for the end of the first fall.
Stacey took a moment to press her own backside into Lynne’s face before releasing her victim and returning to her corner.
Lynne got to her feet and gave me a sheepish look before crossing to our corner. For my part I was more focused on her opponent and particularly the crotch of her cotton briefs.
“Sorry, Ellen.” Said Lynne as she came up to me, a tear welling up in her eye.
“Never mind,” I replied, guiding her to her stool, “There’s plenty of time yet, just keep focused.”
After reassuring the busty blonde I glanced across again at her opponent, now seated in the red corner. There was a clear damp patch on her cotton knickers and no doubt in my mind that, true to form, Stacey was getting turned on by Lynne’s gorgeous body. As, indeed, most of the people in the room probably were.
After a cautious start to the second fall the girls took the fight to the mat where they writhed, wriggled and rolled over each other for several minutes. The action became increasingly sensual and there was no doubt that each woman was enjoying the proximity of her opponent’s body.
Eventually Lynne found herself on top and she moved quickly to consolidate her position, gripping onto Stacey’s hands while stretching her arms out and tucking her feet under her opponent’s knees to secure a grape vine.
For a short while, they lay there. Lynne on top and Stacey underneath, breast to breast and crotch to crotch, both moaning gently as Lynne slowly forced Stacey’s legs further apart. Suddenly Stacey started to cry out and buck uncontrollably. I screamed out:
“Lynne! Neutral corner! Now!”
Much to my relief Lynne released her hold, staggered to her feet and stumbled to a corner where she held onto the ropes while her opponent lay in the middle of the ring writhing and crying in ecstasy as Clare slowly counted her out and signalled the knockout.
Throughout the fight I was worried for Lynne because, despite having managed to control herself in her first proper fight against the young Carol Walker at Sian’s a few months before, she still had a tendency to orgasm in the ring – something that I knew would cost her a fight like this. As it turned out it was Stacey who lost control first, and was counted out in a state of euphoria.
I climbed into the ring, crossed to the neutral corner and grabbed hold of Lynne just as she peaked herself and her legs gave out. I all but carried her back to our corner where Sue had placed the stool and climbed into the ring herself. I settled Lynne on her stool slowly regaining her composure as Sue said:
“Oh, Lindy-Lou, that was close.”
Lynne grinned up at us and said: “I know, but she came first!”
I glanced across to the centre of the ring where Stacey was getting slowly to her feet. For the second time in a row the sexually charged Mrs. Newell had scored a narrow victory. I felt a reprimand of some sort was in order but couldn’t think of anything appropriate to say. Sue saved me by delivering her own:
“Lindy you have got to learn to control yourself honey – do you think you’ll be that lucky against me?”
“I don’t mind losing to you.” Lynne mumbled in reply.
When Stacey had recovered enough Clare called the two women to the centre of the ring and announced:
“Ladies and gentlemen, after 8 minutes and 20 seconds your winner, by a knockout, is Lynne.”
The crowd applauded as Lynne’s arm was raised in victory and she returned to our corner with a big grin on her face. I passed Lynne her gown and she put it on before stepping through the ropes to take her seat ringside.
As Lynne slipped between the ropes Sue remained in the ring, read for the second match of the evening, her fight with CLAWS veteran, Mair. Stacey left the blue corner and Mair climbed between the ropes as Clare again introduced the fighters.
Mair unclipped the clasp at the neck of her long black velvet cloak and let it fall to the mat, revealing her trade mark dark green sports briefs. The tall, shapely, page-boy blonde looked stunning and vaguely feline as she crossed to the centre of the ring, towering over the ref. Sue slipped off her red silk kimono and joined them wearing just a plain white cotton thong which, with her red hair tied back in a short pony tail and her comparatively short, buxom figure gave her the appearance of a super-sexy sumo wrestler. The contrast between the two fighters was striking.
I wondered how Sue would get on against the powerful tall, blonde, Welsh woman. Although I’d sparred a lot with her and I knew she was a powerful fighter, I’d never seen her in action in a proper match. She had a good reputation from the underground circuit where she’d fought extensively in her youth, but she was used to submissions only fights, generally on mats, and had little experience of being in a ring. Again, I was worried how my protégé would fare.
The first fall started slowly, with the two women circling cautiously for over a minute before locking up.
Mair took the first fall after four minutes, pinning Sue in a folding press. Sue equalised a few minutes later with a Boston Crab submission and then trapped the lithe blonde in a camel clutch to take the third fall. Mair fought back and, in the tenth minute, took the fourth fall with a crushing body scissors.
Tied at two falls each with just over half the time gone they had everything to play for. The fifth fall was an epic display of ring technique as they fought on their feet, took the action to the mat and then back to their feet, first one and then the other dominating, for a good five minutes or more.
It was a close-run thing but eventually the buxom English redhead came out victorious. Whipping the Welsh woman into the ropes she clotheslined her on the rebound and then dropped across the tall blonde, using her weight to pin her and taking the match by three falls to two in the sixteenth minute.
As I congratulated Sue, I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself as well as my two victorious protégés. Two-nil to the blue corner, could Terri make it three? I certainly hoped so.
The final match of the wrestling tournament pitched the former senior wrestling champion, now aged 54, against the former league champion Kelly, who was just shy of 41 at the time of the fight.
They entered the ring and, after the usual formalities, slipped off their gowns to reveal their fighting attire. Terri, demure as always, had chosen a pair of pale blue midi-briefs with a penguin motive, the same pair of knickers she’d worn when she lost her title to Judy fourteen months earlier. Kelly, by contrast, had opted for a canary yellow thong bikini bottom, one of her signature outfits from her league years.
It was a tough match with both fighters giving their all. Terri had a distinct height and weight advantage but youth was on Kelly’s side and I was worried that, as the fight progressed, she would wear Terri down.
The pace was fast and furious and, despite the beating she’d taken from Rose just a few weeks before Terri was in good shape and seemed to have the edge for most of the fight. She took the first fall with a cross press after five minutes.
Kelly equalized a few minutes later after several failed attempts to pin her larger opponent and the battle then raged to and from for another five minutes or so before Terri took the third fall with a Boston crab in the thirteenth minute.
She was still leading by two falls to one after 17 minutes when she took the younger woman to the mat and straddled her, her ample behind bouncing on the cushion of Kelly’s breasts and her knees pinning the younger woman’s shoulders. Clare dropped to the mat to count what seemed certain to be the final pin of the match.
At that moment Terri made a rookie mistake that belied her 35 years in the ring. Thinking she had the fight in the bag she raised her hands in victory as Clare began to count the pin. Far from beaten, Kelly seized the opportunity, swinging her legs up and back and hooking her calves around the older woman’s shoulders before rocking forward and tipping her off balance. Terri’s head hit the mat and the pin position was reversed as Kelly sat up and folded the older woman’s legs over her body. Momentarily dazed by her impact with the boards Terri didn’t react as Clare shifted position and counted to three.
Instead of winning the match, Terri had been pinned herself and it was now two falls each. Kelly rolled clear, releasing her victim and returned jubilantly to the red corner. Terri rolled over and got to her feet cursing herself as she made her way over to me in the blue corner. With both women in their corners and a following a quick check with the time keeper Clare announced:
“Ladies and gentlemen, after 17 minutes and 10 seconds, the fourth and equalising fall, by a pin, goes to Kelly.”
Terri was furious with herself. I tried to calm down during the break. Explaining that we’d all done it and there was no point brooding on it. She just needed to get out there and win the last fall. For a moment I thought she was going to burst into tears but she bit her lip and hardened her resolve as the time keeper call seconds out for the fifth and final fall.
At the sound of the bell Terri flew out of the corner, determine to secure the winning fall. She took Kelly to the mat and tried to make the most of the size and weight advantage. Several unsuccessful pin attempts followed and couple submission holds that were rapidly abandoned when they didn’t produce the required result.
Time was running out and so was Terri’s energy. As they entered the final minute she started to fade and Kelly went on the attack. When the bell rang for the end of the match it was Kelly in control and Terri, trapped in a vicious scorpion cross lock, valiantly refusing to tap out.
At the sound of the bell Kelly quickly released the hold. Both women lay on the mat for a moment before Kelly stood up and graciously offered a hand to Terri, who accepted and got to her feet. The pair embraced briefly and then stood either side of Clare as she announced:
“Ladies and gentlemen, after twenty minutes of combat the score is two falls each. I declare the match a draw.”
The audience applauded as Clare continued:
“That concludes the first round of this year’s senior wrestling tournament and the positions are as follows: Lynne in the first place with four points, Sue in second place with three points, Mair, Kelly and Terri are in joint third place with two points each and Stacey is in last place with one point. Well done to all of you for a wonderful display of combat, I wish you all well in the next round of the contest.”
Two wins and a draw to the blue corner. Now it was my turn. Could I keep winning streak going? Go to the boxing section and read my story “Settling the score” to find out.
