Page 310 – Official Start
Dec21
on December 21, 2009
at 12:01 am
Chapter: Chapter 13 - Hostile Intent
Characters: Sabrina Mancini, Xtina Carpenter
Location: Angel Dome arena
It looks like Sabrina didn’t take too kindly to Xtina’s last comment directed towards her last update. All the goodwill between these two young women is pretty much out the window. When Justin saw that Sabrina was throwing her shirts in Xtina’s face, he said there’s no way these two are ever going to be friends. XD
Plus, we have an updated look for Sabrina, care of the mega-talented Lora Innes. Remember during her chapter, Brooke suggested spicing up Sabrina’s look and as promised, Sabrina is wearing the the top in her next match. Seems like Jeff approves! XD
That is one way to start a match off and make Xtina really hope she has some Excedrin back at her place later. Lets see if Sabrina can keep this as a focus rage or she goes completely berserker and gives Xtina a way back in or even a win. Poor Jeff is caught speechless for once, not that a bad thing for him lol, but its pretty hard to gt payed to play by play with your jaw on the floor.
quick edit to statements: the get and the missing “do” before the first play, one day I will post a grammar and spelling correct post lol
That’s one way to drop your popularity. Sabrina is not only burning bridges with other faces but showing she still can’t control her emotions. Upstart is a great description; Sabrina needs a swift reality check or else she’s going to stall out, even with her talent.
See I disagree Picky, I think this is exactly the kind of thing that the annoying goody two shoe faces should do from time to time to remind people of just who the heck they are. Now a days faces are just so freaking one dimensional…(still talking about Cena). It’s about time that they show other sides of them. I like this side of Sabrina, breath of fresh air as far as I’m concerned.
Against a heel, yes but another face? It does nothing but turn off some of the crowd and does little to advance either person. Face-face matches do need tension and a bit of fire but if the crowd has no idea why one face is going off on the other it does little good to have one of them act like a raging monster.
Heel-heel match ups can be just as bad unless one of them is a) more hated than the other (perfect for a cowardly heel) or b) one of them takes an active good guy role. Of course this goes mainly towards non-sports entertainment booking but the basic idea that the crowd needs to be in the know still stands.
The audience has no idea why Sabrina is acting this way, especially against another fan favorite like X-Tina, and can only be turned off or confused.
At the same token how do we know there isn’t a core group of fans out there that can’t stand X-Tina and are undecided on what to think of Sabrina. They see this and BOOM instant new fans. lol
?? ??
ahhh!!
shocked!!
Panel 1: Art is nice!! I just want to ask? is Xtina Carpenter, ah? not slim as ‘Ultragirl’ Sabrina Mancini? I mean Xtina is a bigger body than ‘Ultragirl’ Sabrina Mancini in the art.. as for their weight, Sabrina weight 5lbs more..
less comment for me here!!
Panel 4: Great Odin’s eye!! hahaha!! funny!! if I were a guess commentator there, and Jennifer Needles showed up.. I’ll say ‘By Crom!! look at Jennifer Needles’ … heheh!
I think it will end at next episode..
as Xtina pulled out the shirt off her face, then stands up.. ‘ultragirl’ Sabrina Mancini will executed an ‘Ultrakick’ on Xtina. Xtina dropped down to the mat, then Sabrina leaps onto the top turnbuckle and executed the ‘ultrasplash’ 1………..2……..3…
I begin to favor Xtina.. in rival angels comics.. top 1o favorite angel ‘Xtina Carpenter’ as Victoria Buckingham drop a spot to number 11..
Hu hu hu… Poor Jeff ^_^
Sabrina is in a stormy mood and Xtina is gonna need a serious makeup afterwards… If it carries on like this! That said, I don’t believe Xtina will carry on playing “punching bag” for very long… Can’t wait to see the next issues ^_^
Good action, and nice illustration of Sabrina’s fury. Makes her a more interesting character. I think she’ll continue her assault in the next ep, but Xtina will have a comeback towards the last panel.
Maybe in Season 2 Sabrina will learn to control her emotions… as for Season 1, I’ll just hope for a win. 🙂
I like this aggressive side of Sabrina, but I don’t know that Xtina actually deserves it. Anyway, she’ll probably get her comeback in so I don’t feel too bad for her. I’m curious about what the new ring great looks like though. “Sit down, Jeff.” “Um, I can’t right now.”
I have to say I really like your inking in this one. It wasn’t always there before, but you developed a really nice line that makes the image stand out. First, fourth and fifth panels really demonstrate that.
Hehehe, someone slags off the team and the “enforcer” comes in to clean house. At least for now.
Sabrina going a “bit mental” will mean a fair bit of a short term pain for Xtina but if she’s savvy enough she can turn that against ‘Brina and that’ll mean a spot of early showers for Ultragirl..
i think Jeff has just become an Ultragirl fan. Clever distraction by Brina to distract the crowd from her heelish ways so far. (yeah like she actually planned any of it ;P) for some reason in that position in the corner for Xtina who can;t see what’s coming, i sense a bronco buster on the way. though i think Brina’s actually too upset to think about a crowd-friendly move like that.
crowd doesn;t seem to know what to make of this though. been relatively silent til the strip down at least. i disagree a bit with RAWF though. Brina’s still a bit too new at RA i think to have completely cemented a face spot in the crowd’s eyes. going heelish against someone as popular and established as Xtina has to have a few people wondering if this is the real Brina or if the one they’ve seen before this is the one. After all no one out there has any idea why Brina would go crazy on Xtina like that so i think this will backfire on her popularity a good bit. at least based on her actions so far in the match.
now if the conspicuous by their absense Hells Belles do a run in and the two have to work together to fight them off then Brina’s facedom is saved.
Point of curiosity, the ref is ordering Sabrina out of the corner, are there rules about being in one and what are they? ::taking notes for the VWF::
For the nice comments about the art, Thanks! I had been working with Lora a bit on it. She gave me some good pointers and they look like they’re working!
jabberwocky, I think Jeff may have been nursing a small crush on Sabrina since back around page 110. Of course, her new top might have just caught him by surprise. It would be a shocking upset if Sabrina were able to put Xtina away, but maybe that’s how she’s got to win. The blitzkrieg principle or the like.
Picky, everything you said is right, though I don’t know that she’s burning bridges with faces for going off on Xtina. Monica used Sabrina as a scapegoat and I don’t know that Victoria or Shannon would have an opinion personally one way or the other. But Sabrina does need to reign in her emotions. They do her credit, but they’re also going to be a weakness if people start taking advantage of it.
RAWF, I always try to shake things up a bit and showing a not so pleasant side of Sabrina is part of that. She’s a real person who we’ve seen happy, arrogant, sad, crying, angry and hopeful. If anything Cena and the WWE give me clues on what I can do to keep things fresh.
Picky and RAWF: I must confess that I plan crowd responses off more of ROH/Shimmer shows than mainstream WWE/TNA ones. In this instance, the crowd doesn’t know what’s up. They just think Sabrina’s excited for the match, they don’t know that she’s been worked up (possibly duped), but we do and I think that’s important because there’s a lot of readers that aren’t huge fans of wrestling. And, while Sabrina is being a bit disrespectful, she’s not cheating. Face/face matches are always tricky and there’s definitely more to this match to play out. 😉
MGC, I try to draw Xtina a little curvier than Sabrina, so your eyes are not deceiving you. Glad you liked Jeff’s funny bit. He was caught off guard. XD That’s a pretty cool prediction for what Sabrina is going to do next and it would work pretty well too, if she hits it. More to come on Wednesday!
Jul, we know Xtina is a wiley vet. She sort of underestimated Sabrina and is reeling from it. She’s got the experience to weather this out and counter attack. That is, if she’s still not underestimating Sabrina. She walks into an Ultrakick and it’s lights out. Jeff needs to pick his jaw up off the floor. lol
Thanks darkmark! I’m glad you like the fury! XD Cool prediction! Next update is going to be fun. 😉
Hey Lora! I hear ya about Sabrina. Control of her emotions would be nice, but a win first would be better. 😉 (oh yeah, looks like that line width thing is paying off!)
Ken, you will not have to wait long to see Sabrina’s new top. As for whether or not Xtina can recover. She certainly has the ability to do so, it’s just a matter of if she can change the tide on the raging Ultragirl. Thanks for noticing the art improvement. Actually, I emailed Lora out of the blue, asking if she thought there was anything small I could do to improve my work. She gave me some pointers and this is the beginning of that. 🙂
Prestwick, I think you’re on the money. If Xtina can withstand this aggressive fury, she’ll be able to take the advantage and that could mean a short night for Sabrina. More to come with this match. 😉
jpiv, that is a nice catch that the crowd loves Sabrina taking off her shirt, even if they’re caught off guard with how she’s behaving. Hmmm, we haven’t seen a bronco buster in a while. Maybe, Sabrina will bring it back? 😛 *I* don’t think she’s crossed over into heeldom yet because she’s not cheating or whining. She’s also still the underdog in this match, though that won’t necessarily translate into wholesale support especially since Xtina is a top face.
Cookie Ogre, generally when a wrestler is in the ropes or corner, there’s supposed to be a break to bring the action back into the center of the ring. More often than not, the offending wrestler has a count of 5 to stop what they’re doing and allow their opponent to return to the center of the ring.
Blitzkrieg works best against a static well defined defense. That’s not Xtina; she’s got depth and moves (sorry about the pun. but not much :P) Still, I’m taking notes.
I like the change in the art too. It’s more dimensional and dynamic. Even your bodies are expressive!
hehehe!! Brenda!!
Blitzkrieg!! is used in WW2.. one of the best offensive move.. but it had a weakness, counter attacks..
The problem with trying to playmind games with an emotionally enraged opponent is that a boot to the head is still going to be a boot to the head, an opening rush assault like that’s going to make X-Tina groggy so she can’t focus enough to exploit Sabrina’s rage.
Oh I am looking forward to this reveal!
She is striping in the ring…….I hope she will take it all off…..lol
panel 5: I just have question on Dawn said to Jeff..
Is Dawn jealous? that Jeff is stunned by Sabrina? is pretty?
Jeff Crews? hmmm? I think he got one of the best job in rival angels.. he can see Xtina, Jennifer, Sabrina, Sara and Blackwidow.. Jeff like pretty ladies.. heheh!!
Haha, “Great Odin’s Eye,” Jeff is awesome (clap, clap, clapclapclap). I get the feeling Sabrina’s gonna get a whole lot of over from this match. With her current meanstreak showing and her new ring attire, I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned into an upset squash. Though I probably shouldn’t count Xtina out yet, she’s been caught off guard, but that doesn’t mean that she’ll stay down.
Hey Champ! I’m very glad you noticed the art improvement. 😀 Xtina’s got the experience to weather a storm that Sabrina’s bringing, but she still needs space and a moment to launch a counter attack. Right now, she’s just being overwhelmed. Will her spot come? Right now isn’t a bad time for that. 😛
ManiacM, I couldn’t have wrote that any better. Xtina is a great wrestler, but she still needs an opening. It didn’t help that she took Sabrina so lightly but it’s not really her fault in not planning for the raged out Sabrina.
Trevor, you will not have to wait long!
Patric, she just might! 😛
MGC, I like to use a little bit of misdirection from time to time (just a bit) but I can’t really say that there’s anything going on between Jeff and Dawn. They’re just friends. And if they did hook up, I’d have to boot one of them off the team!
Hey Chris! LOL, glad you liked Jeff’s comments. He was kind of dumbfounded with what Sabrina’s doing so it just came out. And you are part of a good group that finds Jeff entertaining. XD There’s more to this match, but I have to agree with you that Sabrina will probably pick up more fans than lose by her current actions. Personally, I’d be rolling right now if I was in attendance. XD Yeah, I wouldn’t expect Xtina to stay down for too long. She knows that a shot at the TV championship is at stake and what’s more important, is that she’s beaten Kat Smith before, who’s in the finals of the tourny.
well Brina’s in tweenish teritory i still think right now because of catching everyone offguard. i’ll still argue the heelish tactics though. the facepalm before the match even started between two faces, the closed fist shot right when the bell rings,using the ropes for leverage while stomping a mudhole in Xtina. this stuff usually happens a bit later in face vs face matches since they like to see who’s got the better techincal side of their mat skills to start off and get the crowd going with snappy move/counter sequences.
dunno, it still feels like a more heelish way to start the match if you didn;t know any better (unlike all of us of course)
I think the this particular heel question is in the eye of the beholder. For instance, I don’t really consider punching to be a heel tactic even if it’s in response to being insulted. Punching might be called occasionally in WWE but it’s not so much called in TNA, ROH, or Shimmer. In face vs face matches, you’re always going to get a ‘facer’ face and a ‘heeler’ face like HBK vs Undertaker. HBK wasn’t being very face but was still a face. As for the facepalm, if I saw HBK do that to Undertaker or AJ Styles do that to Sting I’d laugh my ass off. lol This still isn’t a side of Sabrina that we’re used to. Will it last after her anger has subsided?
Huh? They use closed fists at Shimmer? Tell me it ain’t so! LoL
LOL! Yeah, Allison Danger and Sara Del Rey comes to mind. I can’t remember if Cheerleader Melissa throws punches or forearms? Probably both. 😛
punching only seems to get mentioned in wrestling these days if you have a heel commentator around who just can;t wait to get his revenge on the face announcer who spends all kind of time complaining about the heels cheating. then the face lands a closed fist punch and the heel’s all ” I can’t believe <face> just used a closed fist there! did you see that <other commentator>?”
the way things are in WWE/TNA commentators now i think Striker might be the only one heading heelish enough to point something like that out. JBL certainly would have in his day. I know Heel Lawler used to do that to J.R. all the time. or Heenan with Monsoon
i guess as an old fossil, i still see that as the “heel” move from my younger days, at least coming out of the blue and not a response to the other guy/gal doing something physical first. Rock/Hogan though comes to mind where the face/heel dynamic swtiched completely mid-match as they both realized there was no way Hogan wasn’t getting cheered in that match heel or no. What will the People’s Rookie do when Xtina-mania runs wild on herrrrrrr?
Man, the era of heel announcers seems to be past. Ventura, Heenan and old school Lawler were fantastic. I think you’re right about Striker being the only one left and that’s sad. JBL was good when he was around.
I remember the days of closed fists being illegal. I think, maybe, that MMA and UFC have maybe taken the edge off of that. Justin, who helps me co-write Rival Angels suggested a line about there being too many closed fists during the match and I was like, ‘huh? Oh yeah.’ XD
I get your point though, and I don’t mind Sabrina coming off as a heel. I think it would add some depth and some other readers seem to want it but I just don’t think her actions so far warrant it. Rock/Hogan was fantastic. The crowd was so hot for that match. I would love if this match caught half of that heat. 🙂
jpiv, I totally read that as “Did you see that, J.R.?” I guess that dates me somewhat XD
Heel and face is a useful tool, but away from the mainstream, I find it generally works better when the lines are blurred. The indie wrestling fan is, dare I say it, rather more willing more than the mainstream fan to track characters over time and to explore the overall balance of things. Certainly when I’m watching an indie promotion, it’s less “I like person X because person Y cheats” than “I like person X because I agree with his worldview more than person Y’s”.
Another emo-ish “Am I alone in this?” kinda thing: MMA is REALLY f’n boring sometimes :p At least with WWE, something of interest is always happening onscreen. 50% of a UFC broadcast is just aimless bleh. Five minutes of awesome action does not automatically trump twenty minutes of decent action.
By and by, does anyone but me find ‘babyface’ an irritating term? It conjures up images of codependence, whininess and incapability. ‘Face’ is snappier, and at four letters serves as a perfect counterpoint to ‘heel’.
I personally hate it when people call faces ‘babyfaces.’ Maybe that’s how it was when Captain Lou (Maker rest his soul) was doing his thing back in the 80’s, but they’re called ‘faces’ now.
Am I the only one who seems to care about the future of the TV Championship Tournament, not just the current match? Sure, whoever wins, it’ll be a face vs. a Hell’s Belles heel in the finals to determine the first TV Champ, but if Xtina wins here, then Hells Belles are a shoe-in to get it. I mean, sure, Xtina is a face and the fans in the comic like her and know what she does and how good she is at it, but as I’ve been saying since day one, we don’t know enough about anybody who’s not Sabrina and the rest to know how well they’d do against such gang tactics. I’m not saying Sabrina should win here and make a good showing in that match win or lose just because I’m a fan of hers, but for all we know, Xtina Carpenter can’t hold water in a similar situation that what Sabrina did to get herself officially into the TV Championship Tournament.
And then there’s the fact of that whole thing with Sun. They may never be truely alright again, but I’m still voting Sabrina and her at least talk it over and patch things up. Call me a bleeding-heart, but those two are like peanut butter and jelly, and having Sabrina lose this one would completely justify Sun’s actions more than anything Sabrina could have done in any other match before this moment or after (I’m willing to be she thinks as much already, being that Brooke and Krystin both lost their matches), and that would make it even harder to patch things up. I’m not saying they should be BFFs again, just that at the very least, there should be something to give Sun pause and think that while she did make a good choice joining Damage Inc., maybe the Upstarts, such as they are with or without her, aren’t such a lost cause after all.
Stygimoloch, the term ‘babyface’ to me applies to the over the top faces of the late 80’s and early 90’s like the Lex Express. ‘Face’ is definitely the way to go. Now, I watch WWE every week, but I love me some indy action which is why I pattern a great deal of what Rival Angels shows in that vein. For example, we see way more of the rookie Upstarts, where the bigger names are Brenda Rua, Catgirls, Black and Blue, Black Widow, etc. As far as MMA, Rival Angels was originally going to be MMA, but you just can’t match the drama, theatrics or potential that wrestling has to offer. Honestly, the wife and I get most UFC shows, but we tend to DVR the first 45 minutes so we can skip through the long lulls. I don’t mind cherry picking the best of MMA for Rival Angels. 😉
Hey Tarrasque! Glad to see your interest in the TV championship! You make some great observations on the possibilities of the TV tournament, but don’t forget about Angel Soprano. She won the Bonus Life Battle Royal and gets another shot in the tournament! Also remember that she made a back deal with Chloe (I think around page 183?) and we have to see how that shakes out. You also bring up some great points about Sun, her actions with Sabrina during their training session and any hope of reconciliation. You have to think that it’s on her mind, though her current state of mind is bent on avenging Sun’s good name! And funny you bring up Sun, she’s due to make an appearance in about thirty minutes. 😉
Like I’ve been saying, Boney, we just don’t know enough about some people. You do, you created them or they are somebody from Shimmer or the like, but sadly, some of your devoted readers haven’t such information.
I admit, I did forget about Angel Soprano, but it’s funny you should bring up her deal with De Sade, which I do remember. I can’t say as much as I remember Soprano’s default type, but if she’s making deals with Hell’s Belles, then clearly, if she’s a face, she may not necessarily be on the heel end of that spectrum, but she clearly has no compunction about with whom she deals to get ahead. My prediction of a face vs. heel match (as I think it should be) for the TV Championship will likely come about anyway, no matter who’s involved.
Cool!
Jeff