I’ve always had deep respect and admiration for pro wrestlers who have had long careers as jobbers, performing the unglamorous but important role of putting other wrestlers “over.” Jumpin Julie spent many years in independent promotions and, as her profile will tell you, she finished with zero wins. I’ve had a blast on Chat discussing Julie’s experiences as a long time jobber which she relates with insight and wit. I realize Julie has been featured in past stories here where she acquired some wins. This is a stand alone story that doesn’t need to be part of a linear canon. With Julie’s kind permission and assistance, I’d like to offer up my own interpretation of her character.
You can visit Julie’s profile at
https://www.freecatfights.com/forums/index.php?action=profile;u=36054Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1 - Faith vs Jobber
https://www.freecatfights.com/forums/index.php?topic=85609.0Chapter 2 - Faith vs Midcarder
https://www.freecatfights.com/forums/index.php?topic=85737.0Chapter 3 - Old School Beatdown
https://www.freecatfights.com/forums/index.php?topic=86378.0THE LEGEND OF JUMPIN JULIE
I. JUMPIN JULIE
As the match entered the twenty minute mark, an air of disquiet permeated the crowd. The back and forth battle had certainly been exciting enough. The undefeated rookie, Jordan Lee was taking on the ten year veteran, Jumpin Julie Rock. Besides the experience discrepancy, at 5’4”, 120 lbs., Jordan was giving away 40 lbs to Julie’s 5’3”, 160 lb. frame. Jordan’s style of speed, martial arts, and aerial assaults contrasted sharply with Julie’s reliance on power, deceptive mobility, and many years as a pro. There was one other striking statistical difference between the two competitors. Jordan had yet to lose a match in her short career. Julie, on the other hand, in her ten years as a professional wrestler, never won a single match.
However, on this night, Julie was brilliant. Like a tactical ring general, she effectively cut the ring in half on her high flying opponent, minimizing her offense. Using her years of accumulated knowledge, Julie repeatedly exposed the young rookie’s deficiencies. Calmly and efficiently, she forced Jordan to waste energy, make unwise decisions, and gradually lose the mental game. Up to this point, the match was even, but it was clear to the fans, Julie had taken control.
Jordan, appearing fatigued and frustrated, was on the defensive, as Julie saw her chance to go on the attack. Using her weight and power advantage, Julie continued to wear down her opponent. She kept the high flier grounded with chin locks, side head locks, and front face chancery. Jordan was sent to the canvas with knee lifts, side suplex, and several body slams.
The fans were anxious. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Yes, they expected the veteran to show the rookie a few things, but no one thought Jordan would be dominated this way. The thought of the rising star losing to a winless wrestler was a bitter pill to swallow. Jordan looked exhausted. Julie, with the precision of a technical wizard scooped her up by the crotch and shoulder, then drove her victim hard to the canvas with a power slam. Stunned, Jordan was pulled up to her feet. Her aunt and manager, Chrissy Chang shouted encouragement, which now seemed increasingly futile. The end looked inevitable for Jordan. Julie methodically whipped the youngster, sending her crashing into the turnbuckle. Jordan felt her back violently striking the corner before she slumped. Julie prepared to rush in with an avalanche which should surely finish off the sitting duck. She lowered her shoulder, eyed her target, and...inexplicably hesitated. “What is she doing?” said the incredulous broadcaster. Jordan by now had straightened herself up while Julie wasted a few more seconds. Finally, Julie made her charge, racing into the corner, leaping into the air, preparing to nail Jordan with all her weight. Up she went, and down she came, chest first into the turnbuckle as Jordan easily dodged from harm’s way. Julie, rebounded backwards, falling flat on her back on the canvas. Jordan wasted no time scaling the top rope and crashing down on Julie’s chest with a flying leg drop. Then came the cross body press. One...Two...Three...ding, ding, ding. “Unbelievable,” bellowed out the broadcaster. “She had that match won. Once again, Jumpin Julie Rock manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. She telegraphed that move from the next county. Oh well, that’s our Julie.”
Jordan Lee, her hand raised in victory, assists Julie to her feet and the two of them share a sportsmanship hug. In the dressing room, Julie sat dejectedly on the bench in front of her locker. “Ten years,” she thought. “Ten years. No wins. Zero. Nada. Goose egg. How? Why?” Disgusted, she looked at her sweaty ring gear into her gym bag, a symbol of all the hard work and pain, all for the benefit of another wrestler. She started out with promise. She had potential they all told her. At this point in her career, the losses were too numerous to count. Her matches generally fell into two categories. There were the squash matches where she was overmatched against behemoths, giving away 6 to 9 inches in height. But plenty of her matches were quite competitive. Quite frequently she dominated her opponent. But whenever victory came to the doorstep, like tonight, Julie always made a critical error leading to her own demise. It defied logic. She wasn’t a terrible wrestler. No one lasts ten years in this business by being terrible. It made no sense.
“Hi Julie,” spoke a friendly voice from behind her. “Good match tonight,” Chrissy Chang continued. “You really had me worried for Jordan. I thought you were going to take her.”
“Thanks,” Julie breathed.
“You really helped her out, Julie. You exposed some flaws we know we need to work on. I want to say thanks. I appreciate your effort,” Chrissy offered.
“Sure, anytime,” Julie responded, her green eyes fixed to the floor.
“Are you OK?”
Julie paused, bit her lip, then slowly looked up at Chrissy. “I’m quitting.”
“Why?”
“Why? What kind of question is that? Ten years, zero wins. If that’s not futility, what is?” Julie asked.
“Julie, I’ve known you for a long time and....
“Yes,” Julie interrupted. “You we’re kicking my ass ten years ago. Now I’m getting beat by a new generation of your family. Not exactly progress.”
“Julie, I want to try to help you,” Chrissy offered. “Can you come to my training center tomorrow?”
“Why?” Julie asked. “Are you low on tackling dummies?”
“No Julie, let me explain,” Chrissy replied. “You’re not winning matches because of a mind situation. It’s a type of mental block. It’s called Jobber Syndrome.”
“Jobber Syndrome?”
“Yes. You see, you weren’t managed properly when you first started wrestling. You were matched up against big tough women you had no chance of defeating. So every week, you’re taking beatings in squash matches. After a while, you know you can’t win, so you’re just trying to minimize the whipping. When you do get some offense together, you’re afraid of a worse shellacking so you give up the momentum. It’s in your subconscious. Your focus is on trying to protect yourself so you just take your whooping and pick up your paycheck before you get hurt.”
Chrissy continued. “That mindset spills over against smaller opponents. You’re also afraid of beating women you match up well against. You fear that a win will mark you with more expectations leading to worse beatings. You think it’s safer for you to lose and keep the status quo. So when you’re in control of a match and on the verge of winning, your inner mind tells you to sabotage yourself. It’s like tying a rope in front of your path, then tripping over it. That’s exactly what you did tonight with Jordan. What do you think?”
Julie paused in thought. “I don’t know. After ten years of no wins, I guess I’m willing to take suggestions. What I’m doing certainly isn’t working.”
“So come to our training center,” Chrissy urged. “You can start training with my girls. Plus, I know a sports psychologist I want to put you in touch with, Dr. Seth Goldstein. He’s doing research on athletes who are chronic losers.”
“Chronic losers?”
“Well, you know. He’s very interested in Jobber Syndrome and developed a protocol to try to change a jobber’s mindset. Last year he presented his findings to the American College of Sports Medicine. His paper was called, “Can A Ham And Egger Eat An Omelette.” It was very well received and he was awarded a large research grant to study habitual losing. Maybe you can be his first test case.”
“Ham and egger? Chang, I’m not amused...What time tomorrow?”
“Nine o’clock. See you there.”
II. A NEW BEGINNING?
As the newest member of Chrissy’s stable, for the next six weeks Julie went through a rigorous training schedule. Her mornings were spent in therapy sessions with Dr. Goldstein followed by workouts in the afternoon. Dr. Goldstein specialized in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), a well known form of psychotherapy that attempts to change negative thoughts and behaviors. It has been shown to be useful in treating depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance abuse among others. Julie would certainly be a challenge, Dr Goldstein thought. A ten year pattern of losing will not be easy to reverse. First, he’d need to get her to lose her fear of winning and then to stop the self defeating behavior. Using hypnotherapy, Julie was taken back to the beginning of her career when she had promise as a young wrestler, hoping to recapture that initial enthusiasm. Next was reconceptualization, where she focused on herself as a talented wrestler with winning as the goal. She trained in blocking all the negativity of the expectations and comments of the wrestlers, fans and announcers. Finally, she learned to recognize the triggers that would lead to self-induced defeats - the situations that would prompt her ill fated frog splashes off the ropes, the poorly timed charges into the turn buckles. In the afternoons, Julie would practice these principles in simulated matches.
Finally, Chrissy approached her. “It’s time to cut you loose and put you in the ring again. I’ve booked you for a match next week. I’m putting you in with Faith.”
“Faith? You're having me wrestle Faith?” Julie protested. “I thought this was a confidence builder.”
“No,” Chrissy answered. “I said you would be in the ring with Faith. But she’s not your opponent. Faith will be your tag team partner.”
III. PREMATCH
The fans entering the arena wondered if the card wasn’t in error. Faith and Jumpin Julie Rock we’re listed as a tag team facing top contenders Caitlin and Brittany, the soccer moms. Aside from being winless, Julie at 5’3” contrasted with Faith at 5’11” and both moms at 5’10.” With the moms waiting in the ring, the fans gawked as Faith and Julie made their entrance. “You know,” Julie told Faith, “this is the first time I’ve been introduced without the ‘already in the ring...’ jobber intro.”
The broadcasters were in disbelief. “Faith must really be in Chrissy Chang’s doghouse. She’s booked against two tough women in a 2 on 1 handicap match. Oh wait a minute. Her partner is Jumpin Julie? Like I said, Faith is in a 2 on 1 handicap match.”
“Assholes,” Faith whispered to Julie. “Remember, block it out.”
Caitlyn and Brittany watched as Faith and Julie climbed to the apron. Best friends and suburbanite neighbors, they could easily pass for sisters. Both were 5’10” and 150 - 155 lbs. Both had long blonde hair pulled into pony tails and tanning booth induced bronze skin. Both were athletes. Caitlyn played soccer and lacrosse in high school and college. Brittany once held the state javelin throw record.
With their 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom, two story homes, each with a husband, grade school child, dog and cat and a quarter acre grassy yard, the moms were living the American Dream. Only, don’t tell them that. They would tell you no. These are just starter homes. Their destiny is the mansion on the hill. Just give them another year. Maybe two. They’ll get there. The sprawling estate, the gated perimeter, the waterfall in the yard, the pool and private tennis court out back, the private schools, the exclusive clubs, the socialite parties - they’ll get there. Just wait. To their neighbors, Caitlin and Brittany were two miserable bitches. Haughty, conceited and condescending, the blonde milfs could have cared less of their neighbors opinion. Why be nice to commoners when your headed upward? Go ahead, let them have their sedan cars and SUVs. Even Lexus cars are everywhere. Wait till the girls get their Lamborghinis.
But the cold reality was Caitlyn and Brittany were going nowhere. They were hopelessly middle class and hated it. Month after month, same bills, same mortgage. Maxed out credit cards. Taxes and penalties for early withdrawals of their husbands’s retirement accounts. Loan denials. Borrowing from parents to stave off foreclosure. All to fund a lifestyle of unnecessary luxuries. With their husbands repeatedly being passed over for job promotions, the moms grew more miserable and desperate. In the gym, they took out their frustrations in women’s combat classes. A local wrestling promoter, impressed with their ferocity and aggression offered them pro wrestling training. Now, both at age 31, they were quickly rising through the tag team rankings.
Tall and attractive, they appeared statuesque in their yellow two piece wrestling bras, shorts and boots. Standing in their corner with their hips cocked and contemptuous facial expressions, they looked at Julie with special disdain, making the L for loser sign on their forehead with their fingers and thumbs.
In Faith and Julie’s corner, Faith was holding a watermelon, apparently preparing for her customary pre-match exhibition. “Do you want me to hold it while you strike?” Julie asked.
“No, I’m not crushing the watermelon tonight,” Faith answered....”You are.”
Julie wasn’t sure she heard that right. “Me? No I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can,” Faith insisted. “I’ll hold. Remember, concentrate on one spot, find your focus, then strike it like Chrissy showed you. Ready? Find your inspiration and focus.”
Julie stared at the melon and pressed her lips together. Her eyes scanned first to the arrogant blonde opponents, then to the crowd, the broadcasters, then back to the melon. One spot...Focus...Find your inspiration. Faith noticed the change in Julie’s face to one deep in preoccupation. “What is she thinking about?” Faith wondered.
Julie stared in a hypnotic trance, her eyes fixed to one spot on the melon. She heard nothing and then she heard voices from the past.
“
Jumpin Julie’s been pinned so many times, the bottom of her feet is prime advertising space.”
Focus...Focus.
“Jumpin Julie is terrible at math. She’s heard 1, 2, 3 so many times, she can’t remember what comes next”....Focus.
“Good match tonight Julie. Oh well, it was a good effort. Maybe you’ll have better luck next time. Way to put them over. Oh Julie, we have a new girl who’s really going places. We’ll need your locker space. You don’t mind do you?”...... Focus.....Focus.
“What are Jumpin Julie’s two best wrestling moves? Submitting and getting pinned”...Focus
“When Jumpin Julie was a little girl, she wanted to wrestle so badly. Her dream came true. She grew up and now she wrestles badly.” Focus..,Focus.
Yuk Yuk Yuk, What’s the difference between Jumpin Julie and a......
AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
The arena went silent. For a brief moment everything was still. Faith nearly doubled over holding the remains of what was left of Julie’s brief burst of rage and fury. Startled, Faith looked at the destroyed shell in her arms and the splatter on the canvas. Julie slowly withdrew her fist. The soccer moms, like most of the spectators were stunned. “Are you OK,” Faith whispered.
The two women looked at each other. “Yeah, I am,” Julie answered.
Faith smiled. “Oh yeah, this is going to be good.”
III THE MATCH
“2 out of 3 falls to win,” the broadcaster explained. “The way I see it, Faith and Julie’s only chance is for Faith to start out and score two quick falls. I don’t see that happening.” Neither did the fans. To their surprise, Caitlyn came out of her corner to face Julie. “Julie’s starting out? Chrissy Chang has her girls on a suicide mission,”
Julie removed her white jacket. Her shoulder length wavy dirty blonde hair complemented her green eyes and round face. Dressed in her red sports bra and shorts, white tape around her wrists and ankles, and in her bare feet, she stepped forward to face Caitlyn. The soccer moms could not believe their good fortune. Their strategy was simple: keep Faith out of the ring and work on Julie.
Julie and Caitlyn circled each other. Julie, giving away seven inches, tried to use her low center of gravity to her advantage. As Caitlyn went for a collar and elbow lock up, Julie shot in low, seizing her opponents right leg, sending her on her back in a single leg takedown. The shorter wrestler tried to take control but Caitlyn fought and kicked with her free leg to find the escape. As soon as the tall blonde was on her feet, Julie swooped in again with a double leg take down. With the mom on her back and Julie holding on to both her legs, Julie moved in closer, lifting up the legs pressing her knees on her opponents butt. The veteran jobber fell backwards pulling on the legs, lifting her opponent off the mat and catapulting forward in a slingshot throw. Falling on her chest and belly, and embarrassed, the blonde suburbanite rose to her feet. Julie, by this time had maneuvered behind, seized the taller woman around the torso, executing a German suplex.
Giving her opponent no space, Julie rushed after her, lifting her up and crashing her to the mat with a body slam. Caitlyn, hurt and feeling humiliated by a jobber, looked to tag her partner, but Julie stood between her and her corner. Changing tactics, Caitlyn charged at Julie firing forearms to the head. Julie, using her compact 160 lbs, found an easy path to her opponents belly, firing off punches to the midsection. Out of desperation, Caitlyn fired a kick to the midsection, doubling Julie over at the waist. Seeing her opportunity, Caitlyn leapfrogged Julie, making her way to tag her partner.
Brittany aggressively rushed after Julie but quickly found herself on her back thanks to Julie’s arm drag. Another rush by Brittany resulted in a second arm drag. While the former javelin champ was still on her back, she suddenly felt severe pain in her left elbow, realizing her winless opponent applied an effective arm bar. Screaming, jerking, and kicking, she denied the submission. Finally, she inched herself closer to the ropes, draping her long leg over the bottom rope to break the hold.
“Well this is a surprise,” the broadcaster exclaimed, “maybe Julie won’t need Faith tonight......NOT!”
In the ring, Julie kept up the pressure. Seizing her weakened opponent, she whipped her into the ropes. Again using her short stature to her advantage, she speared the tall blonde on the rebound, dropping her to the canvas in a heap, gasping and moaning in pain. Taking full advantage, Julie yanked her opponent up and body slammed her down, and followed it up with a belly to belly suplex. Her opponent dazed and short of breath, Julie sought a finish. Whipping the arrogant blonde into the corner, Brittany felt her back crash against the turn buckles, and helplessly crumpled into the corner. All eyes were on Julie as she prepared to charge in with all her weight with the avalanche. Will she screw it up this time? Julie took her time. And more time. All could see her window of time was disappearing. “No don’t do it,” Faith and the fans yelled. After a few more seconds of hesitation, Julie ran in. Disappointment hung over the crowd. She’s doing it again. Hasn’t she learned anything?
Know why you do this, Julie. Understand the triggers. Don’t be your own enemy. Recognize it. Confront it.Julie slammed on the breaks before leaping onto what would certainly have been an empty turn buckle. But her stoppage left her awkwardly face to face with her blonde opponent. Brittany confused but grateful fired a kick to her would-be attacker’s midsection.
“Finally, the real Jumpin Julie Rock has shown up. We all knew it would happen,” said the voice from the broadcasters table.
Brittany seized Julie by the hair dragging her to her corner where Caitlyn held her around the neck. This was the moment the soccer moms waited for - isolating Julie in their corner. With a fresh opportunity, they wasted no time going to work. Brittany fired a series of soccer style kicks to Julie’s midsection, then tagged Caitlyn who double teamed with her partner to throw her own kicks. Julie, slumped helplessly in her opponents corner, was pulled by both women toward the center of the ring. The two moms both clamped on a front face lock from each side. Draping their opponent’s arms over their own shoulders, the blondes pulled back while bending backward lifting Julie into a vertical position, then fell backward sending Julie crashing down on her back with a double suplex. Continuing their double teaming, the tall athletes pulled their victim up again whipping her into the ropes. As Julie rebounded, her two foes rushed at her with her arms out, striking a double clothesline with such force, her feet flew up leaving her in a nearly folded position on the mat. Julie barely moved when Caitlyn dropped an elbow on her chest followed by a cover. One...Two...Julie waited for the all too familiar three count but....it never came. But her shoulders were down. She then realized she was no longer covered - thanks to Faith who broke up the pin with a boot to Caitlyn’s head before being sent back to her own corner by the referee. Meanwhile, the soccer mom’s pulled Julie up again, flinging her into the ropes for a second double clothes line. Julie, feeling dazed and battered, again used her low center of gravity to her advantage. Regaining some of her footing, she managed to forward roll under the outstretched arms of her attackers, rolling to the other side of the ring and into her corner where she tagged a waiting Faith.
The tall nurse, in her brown crop top, booty shorts and boots complementing her shoulder length brown hair and eyes, charged into the ring fresh and on fire. Neither blonde went back to her corner but stayed to greet Faith with a two on one. Faith, using her huge fists, slugged it out with both women, more than holding her own. Eventually, she was receiving more blows than she was sending. A kick to the belly by Brittany doubled her over. A knee lift by Caitlyn sent her stumbling back to Brittany, who delivered her own knee lift sending the former college basketball star to her knees. Finally, the referee restored order, sending Brittany to her corner as Caitlyn was the legal one in the ring. Caitlyn fired a series of fists to her kneeling opponent’s back before yanking her up and sending her into an Irish whip. Faith careened off the ropes, only to get flattened by Caitlyn’s flying drop kick to the chest. Pulling her opponent up again, the soccer mom sent the nurse into the ropes for a second drop kick. Faith, stopped her rebound by grabbing onto the rope, leaving Caitlyn dropkicking thin air, falling onto the back of her head. As the blonde struggled to her feet, Faith seized her by the waist as she was bent over. Lifting her high in the air, the brown haired beauty brought the mom down with a brutal power bomb. Covering the chest and hooking the leg, Faith waited for the referee. One...Two...umph. A kick to the head broke it up as Brittany returned the favor. With Caitlyn severely weakened, Faith resumed control. With an Irish whip of her own, one college athlete sent the other into the ropes. Caitlyn could only bounce off helplessly, and into the arms of Faith who wrapped her up with a devastating bear hug. The blonde tanned beauty could barely breathe, her face contorted in agony. With both arms trapped in the hug, Caitlyn had no means of escape as Faith bore down and squeezed.
Caitlyn felt as if her lungs were being crushed. She could only watch in horror as Faith carried her to the enemy corner where Julie was waiting. The suburbanite gasped as pain seared through her rib cage. Julie leaned forward, touched Faith’s hand and climbed to the top turnbuckle. Faith turned her helpless victim toward Julie. Caitlyn, her chest hoisted high in the air, her arms restrained, was an easy target. Julie extended her arm, leapt off the top rope, and struck the helpless mom with a flying clothes line as Faith released the bear hug, sending the tormented woman on her back. Julie scrambled to her feet, eyed her victim, then frog splashed on the supine chest. One...Two...Brittany, barreling across the ring to perform another save, was stopped in her tracks by Faith’s boot to the chest...Three! Ding, ding...Winners of the first fall: Faith and Julie.
The crowd went nuts. Although it was a tag team match and far from over, the sight of Julie scoring a pin fall over anyone was a novel one indeed. Brittany assisted her fallen partner back to her corner. Faith and Julie fist bumped. Julie took a breather and strolled along the ropes several yards from her corner. She looked out at the fans. They were all smiles. Her green eyes met with several of the fans. “Way to go, Julie.” “Go girl.” A “Julie” chant started. She could hardly believe it. “So this is what it’s like,” she thought. To be on the other side of a three count. To hear cheers. To be a winner.” Julie smiled back at the fans. Their shouts became louder. “They love me,” she thought. “No,” they were saying, “turn around. Julie, LOOK OUT!” Julie’s next sensation was a fist pounding her back driving her forward into the ropes. Realizing, her first experience with fan adulation left her carelessly off guard, Julie was in trouble as Caitlyn attacked her with a vengeance to start the second fall.
The humiliated soccer mom was in full fury. Firing vicious punches to the body, she lifted her shorter opponent into the air, sending her to the mat with all of Caitlyn’s weight in a brutal power slam. The taller woman picked Julie up and flung her into the enemy corner where Brittany hammered her with her fist, sending the jobber flat on her back. After a tag, the two middle class phonies alternating elbow drops to the chest, each taking her turn in rapid succession. Brittany atop the turnbuckle crashed down with a flying leg drop. She went for the cover, only to have it broken up by Faith. The referee scolded the nurse, his back turned as he escorted Faith back to her corner.
The soccer moms took full advantage of the referee’s blind side, tying Julie’s neck between the top and middle ropes. Infuriated, Faith charged in but was blocked by the referee who was oblivious to the action behind him. The blonde team used their weight to add tension to the rope, strangulating their foe. The referee continued to block Faith who repeatedly pleaded with him to turn around. “Are you an idiot?” she screamed before the referee threatened to disqualify her. Meanwhile, Julie gasped for air as her attackers released her from the ropes, lifted her upside down and shoved her into their corner. They found her bare feet could easily be wrapped around the ring pole as they hung her upside down into the tree of woe. Faith continued her counterproductive argument with the referee as the two milfs repeatedly kicked an up side down Julie. Finally, the incompetent referee had Julie released as she fell into a heap in the opposing corner.
The mothers, smelling blood, continued their assault. Brittany climbed to the top rope. Caitlyn grabbed Julie’s legs, positioning them toward their corner. Caitlyn fell backward catapulting Julie off the mat with a sling shot move. As Julie’s body became vertical, Brittany drop kicked her off the top rope, violently knocking her flat. Brittany covered for the pin. One...Two...Faith ran in for the save. She flattened Caitlyn with her big fist who was there to block her. But the damage was done. Three..ding...ding..Winners of the second fall: the soccer moms.
According to the rules, the last two legal wrestlers in the ring start the next fall. Julie, seriously weakened, was easy prey for Brittany, who waisted no time resuming the assault. A series of snap mares sent Julie to the other side of the ring. Pressing, the action, she threw the experienced jobber down with a belly to belly suplex. She followed it up with a front face lock. Brittany and Caitlyn looked at each other; it was time to work for the finisher. Brittany fell over backward, driving Julie’s head to the mat with a devastating DDT. Brittany lied across her motionless body as the referee counted. One, Two...No, again, Faith’s size 12.5 boot made the save. Nearly unconscious, Julie was pulled to her feet. It occurred to the fans that Julie was receiving her worst beating ever. The same fans couldn’t help but noticed that she typically would have folded much earlier in this match. Their attitude of ridicule now shifted to respect and admiration. Win or lose, Julie was giving a heroic performance.
Brittany whipped Julie into the ropes, then bent at the waist for a back drop. What Brittany and the fans never expected, Julie, seemingly on her last legs, leapfrogged her 5’3” 160 lb body over the tall blonde, stumbling her way to Faith for the tag. Ever the clinical nurse, Faith watched Julie slump on the apron supported by the ring pole, she saw Julie’s eyes were glassy, and she was barely able to stand. “She’s done,” Faith concluded, “I can’t let her go out there again. It’s up to me.”
Faith upped her aggression firing several punches at Brittany. She drove the soccer parent into the ropes, nailing her with a flying drop kick. As Brittany rose, Faith, taking advantage of her long powerful basketball legs, leapt high at her foe, taking her down with a flying head scissors. And then a standing drop kick. And then another whip into the ropes. This time, Brittany hit the breaks, reversing the whip, and nailing Faith with a vicious clothes line on the rebound. Brittany picked up the fast rising star and drove her into the moms corner where Caitlyn grabbed her around the neck while Brittany hammered off a volley of punches and kicks. After the tag, the double teaming commenced. Positioning Faith’s arms, they executed a double suplex, then a double clothes line. Weakening fast, Faith was pulled up, held in front of Brittany, with her arms tied around her back. The crowd became nervous when the soccer moms set up for one of their feared finishing moves known as The Penalty Kick, a roundhouse kick to the head. Held upright by Brittany and unable to use her arms, the athletic nurse was defenseless. Caitlyn backed up, approached to the side, and fired a high roundhouse kick landing to the side of Faiths head, sending the nurse reeling across the ring before pitching forward face down. Disoriented and seeing stars, the 5’11” 160 lb wrestler instinctively rolled to her side of the ring. Pulling herself up by the ropes and feeling woozy, she saw she had direct access to Julie. Regaining some of her senses, she went to tag Julie. “Tag me,” Julie implored. Julie, clearly in pain, and barely able to stand herself wanted back in.
“No, you’re hurt,” Faith answered. “I’ll take care of this.” No sooner had she spoke when Brittany grappled her with a side headlock. Faith gave little resistance as her attacker easily forced her to the other side of the ring. The former track and field record holder positioned her prey in front of her partner in the corner, who slammed a fist to the chest knocking Faith flat on her back, her feet facing her enemy’s corner.
The two socialite wannabes, resumed their vicious double team. Each lifted up one of Faith’s legs, while standing at her side. They fell over backwards, pulling the legs with them in a horrific wishbone split. Faith screamed as she felt her inner thigh muscles ripped apart. Brittany grabbed both legs again while Caitlyn climbed in her corner to the middle ropes. Many fans turned their heads away not able to bear to watch what followed. Brittany spread Faith’s legs apart as Caitlyn dove headfirst off the ropes, ramming her head into Faith’s womanhood with a diving headbutt to the crotch. Faith again let out a loud scream and curled into a fetal position as the crowd became somber. Weakened, dazed, and in severe pain in her crotch and groin, the end appeared to be near. Faith attempted to rise to her feet but collapsed on her knees. Caitlyn seized the disabled nurse’s head between her knees as Brittany climbed the top rope. The crowd knew the plan. They became silent. The soccer moms finisher was an extremely dangerous move many in the promotion felt should be banned. Called The Soccer Drill, the move is an assisted pile driver, where the attacker’s partner jumps off the top rope pushing down on the victim’s feet, increasing the force of the head driving into the mat. “This could result in a serious neck injury,” the broadcaster warned. “They should stop the match now.”
Caitlyn prepared Faith for the vertical lift while Brittany took her position on the top rope. With Faith’s head between Caitlyn’s knees, the moms signaled each other. Caitlyn pulled Faith up by the waist, sending her feet to the sky in a vertical position, just a second away from possible spinal cord injury. Brittany eyed Faith’s feet preparing to jump. One..two..and...
Some of the fans who had averted their eyes took a quick glance to see if the unthinkable was really happening. What they saw was confusion and chaos. With Faith in the vertical position, Julie charged across the ring, spearing Caitlyn in the back, sending her and Faith crashing into the corner, knocking Brittany off the ropes. All four women were tangled in the corner leading to a 2 on 2 brawl.
Julie held her own trading punches with the tall girls while Faith partially recovered. Brittany doubled over from a kick by Julie, allowing Faith to catch her in a side headlock. After another Julie kick to Caitlyn, Faith now had a soccer mom’s head under each arm. Pumped with adrenaline and ignoring the pain, Faith used what was left of her legs to run, leap and double bulldog both heads into the mat. With her injured thighs and weight distributed over two victims, the maneuver didn’t have the usual force. From her knees, her catcher mitt fist connected to Caitlyn’s jaw, sending the woman though the top and middle ropes onto the concrete floor below.
Scooping Brittany up for a slam, Faith could only get to chest height before her legs gave out. After dropping the tall blonde across her knee into a back breaker, Faith held her there in a horizontal position across the knee. Julie climbed to the middle rope, zeroed in on her target, sending a flying elbow on the victim’s vulnerable chest as Faith dropped her off the mat. As Brittany lie supine, Faith pulled herself up in her corner using the ropes to support her weight. Julie again climbed the ropes behind her partner, stepping her bare feet onto Faith’s shoulders. Eying her prey, the perennial loser sprung to the air, leaping off of the former power forward, frog splashing onto the helpless suburban mother below. One...Two...Three...ding ...ding. Winners of the third fall and match: Faith and Julie.
The arena erupted into an explosive celebration. Julie rolled off her opponent and lied on her back next to Brittany, Faith slumped into the corner unable to move without pain, Caitlyn clawed her way back into the ring and collapsed. All four women required assistance and were taken for medical evaluation before being released.
IV. POSTMATCH
After taking a week off, Faith, Julie, and Chrissy met for breakfast at their favorite cafe before another training day. Chrissy noticed Faith taking slow short steps and wincing when she sat down.
“Do we need to get you to a gynecologist,” she asked.
“No,” Faith replied, “I’m fine. Just a little sore.”
Chrissy turned to Julie, “How does it feel being the proud owner of half of a win?”
“Does that mean I’ve moved up to just being a half assed wrestler?” Julie responded. The three women laughed.
“Why do you think you won?” Chrissy asked Julie.
“Because I had an awesome partner.”
“It’s because she saved you and you saved her,” Chrissy offered. “In the moment, you cared about Faith more than you cared about yourself. You didn’t give your subconscious the option of losing. That’s how you beat Jobber Syndrome - when the focus is off of yourself, knowing someone has your back and she has yours. There’s much more to you than you thought. Next step is to carry it over to singles matches and get yourself a win.”
“Ready to order, girls?” the waitress warbled.
“I’ll have Belgian waffles and strawberries,” said Faith.
“I’ll have the fruit bowl and cottage cheese,” answered Chrissy.
“And how about you, ma’am,” asked the waitress, turning to Julie, “will it be your usual ham and eggs?”
“NOOO,” Faith and Julie shouted. Looking at each other slyly, they instructed the waitress in unison, “get her the western omelette. The two of us will split her bill.”
