Page 459 – Hair Raising
Dec03
on December 3, 2010
at 12:02 am
Chapter: Chapter 19 - The Big Night
Characters: Kat Smith, Sabrina Mancini
Kat’s on top and you get the feeling that she’s not going to let it go, especially now that she has both Jen and Chloe back on the outside. Sabrina’s been a gamer this much through it, but can she come back from the powerful Kat Smith? Kat openly questioned if Sabrina can take her punches and strikes, and whether it’s the hard way or not, we’re going to find out.
Voting Incentive!
Faster than you can say, ‘Hell’s Belles Playbook.’
I enjoy Rival Angels, and the work you do to research the different styles and moves in wrestling and MMA, but this match feels too long. That’s just my unpaying, unasked for opinion as a fan. I don’t mean it as any serious critique. Now if you plan to use this as the big dramatic fight, and sort of gloss over the other fights on the card, including Sabrina’s, great. I assume many/most readers will disagree, but after you’ve shown one turnabout or two, lets let the fight end and get to the post fight antics, smacktalk, story devices and see the plot progress. Now as I prepare for the royal beatdown from other fans for having verged on the negative, I’ll again say its just my opinion, others may vary, and its only because I really enjoy the storylines… and just need the hints/highlights of the actual matches as I can imagine the rest given well defined styles and personalities you’ve given to the various cast members.
Good job, keep up the fun stuff
Your opinion is yours, of course, just remember this comic is as much about wrestling as it is storyline and it’s probably safe to assume the work Sabrina does in this match is going to influence her later one (for example, it’ll be harder to talk about how fatigued Sabrina must be if the match isn’t shown to be long an grueling). The wrestling matters, too, Rival Angels ain’t no WWE, hehe.
Shaz, if this match was not part of a story that has been building for a year then Mo Chen could see you point. But, it is. Sabrina has been working for a long time for this. And her coming back after the Belles injured her and her determination to fight two BIG matches in one show is all part of it.
I sure some otha’ matches on card will be cut short, but we still have Cage Match and Brenda’s big title fight too. (Looking forward to see Bren kick Bitsy’s behind).
Yowch, what a backfist. Though I agree, it’s definitely a mistake to play around when you’ve taken the advantage in this match, even if your partners in crime are waiting outside.
Another dramatic reversal, but I don’t think we’ve seen the end just yet. I saw the hair stand first in All the Marbles and saw it repeated in more than a few matches afterward. Keep it coming!
I can see Jeff is still clearly concerned with the fate of Sabrina’s hair. he must be refreshing the Belles’ e-bay page to see when it comes up for sale i’m thinking.
Kat’s just shown the difficulty of small vs. big in wrestling. Brina’s been throwing everything at Kat to keep the advantage but one big power move from Kat and the momemtum swings (finally) into her favor.
as for Shazam’s concerns- don’t forget we’ve just had a long non wrestling stretch with the awards show and the aftermath and the pre- match encouragement. Consdering this is Rival Angel’s Wrestlemania (at least that’s my impression anyway) there’s going to be a match heavy theme for quite a while now. especially given Brina’s in the main character role her matches are going to get more time than Brooke’s or the other upstarts. on the other hand i expect all the non-Upstart related matches to be like the York match. few clips mixed in among the main storyline with maybe an update for the finish to break things up from a pure match based update run.
i was impressed very impressed with sabrina in the presious page but its seem kat has let her have her fun but i wonder if kat has enough gas inthe tank to do an y real danage two submision holds and i think thee pin attempts an ultra kick to the chest amd two heavy attacks from the ropes by sabrina rankly im amazed kats still breathing but shes nothign if not sturdybut bree sweetie if you want her to stop ayning on that lovely hair of yours your gonna have to play dirty too and go for those knees but your gonna have to think of a way to gt her off yoru back first might i sugest that you buck her off by keeping your shoulders low and whenyouhad yoru hips and back postioned correctly laugch her forward in her surpize she looses her grip on your hair and allows you time to get to your feet
I see where Shazam is coming from, but different people like different things, and some people want to see a lot of in-ring action. On another wrestling comic I read, earlier this week somebody complained in the comments that the author should abandon his original cast and concentrate solely on his WWE and TNA parodies… WTF? What about those of us who like his original cast!?
Last night I watched TNT Wresetling, well the females fighting. I found out that they can take a lot of damage and still come back. All she needs in 10 seconds to breath.
For a lot of matches, I could agree with Shazam. Sooner or later, enough is enough. However, this IS the big night, and whether she’s your favorite or not she IS Sabrina’s comic more or less. ::grin:: Unless, of course, you’re MGC and you just want to see Kat pound Sabrina into paste, in which case you’re probably good with a long match there too!
::prays to the Goddesses of Wrestling (and maybe her Chosen One Brenda Rua) for some counter-interference outside the ring::
Panel 1: Sabrina executed a bridging pin on Katherine..
Panel 2: ‘Powergirl’ Katherine Smith kick out.. look at Sabrina.. thought it was three.
Sabrina wants to end this fast, so she can rest and still 100% for the later..
Panel 3: I remember Alundra Blayze VS Aja Kong (survivor series) in which Aja Kong executed a spinning backfist on Alundra. (right on the face) as team (Bertha Faye) won..
that backfist is not funny.. it’s serious.. and if I know Katherine Smith.. the power of that is also serious power.. after all Katherine Smith is ‘Powergirl’
Panel 4: look at Sabrina.. Sabrina really like to stands up, but is too weak and daze to get up, as ‘Powergirl’ Katherine Smith showing her biceps and shoulder muscle..
I really like to compare Panel 4.. Katherine flex her biceps, and episode 237.. ‘Aphrodite’ Brooke Lennox flexing her biceps..
I think.. Katherine got more muscle (solid muscle) than Brooke Lennox..
Panel 4.. is a memorable.. love it
Hokay, as much as Mo Chen is in the bag for Sabrina here… I was kinda’ wondering when this was going to happen. You can only dodge the freight train after dancing on the track so many times. Kat is a force of nature. And I do mean FORCE… Ai-ya, my back still twinges.
Chloe has more than opportunity now… and even after Sharon’s warnings, I don’t think she’s gonna’ be able to stop the damage that’s coming.
Well, if Sabrina *does* lose this match, it’ll only make the fight between her and Chloe more dramatic. We’ll see.
Shazam- One of the very first matches in this strip was to get into the TV title tournament, and there has been a build up of Sabrina vs Hell’s Belles for nearly that long. You don’t pay that off with a short match. This deserves to be a long match, Honestly, I wish TNA and WWE were as good at building up their feuds these days, can’t remember the last time I HAD to see a pay per view.
I wonder if the ref is going to put a stop to any of this? I think Brina will eventually fight out anyway, but where are those refs when you need them?
Wow! I love it. I’d be on my feet cheering, just for the action. The art is right on. The expressions tell a story on their own. Good one, boss!
I’m with Dyna on this. The turn had to happen. The question has always been “can Brina survive it and turn things around?”.
Hey Shazam! I always appreciate honest, helpful feedback like this (it’s the driveby posts by haters I could do without). Out of curiosity, are you a fan of pro wrestling? Just curious is all. I do respect that a lot of my readers read Rival Angels other than the wrestling and I totally respect that. With this match though, it’s gotta take as long as it needs. This is a big deal for both Kat and Sabrina! (you might have noticed that Sabrina is the star!) And, I really am trying to make this match as entertaining as I can, with the Belles, Upstarts and the brass in the skybox. If it helps, I honestly don’t think it reads very long when you read it together, as opposed to 3X a week. Again, thanks for your respectful input. It’s always welcome.
LOL Chris! I was channelling Amazing Kong when she cracked Lorelie Lee at SHIMMER. XD Now we’re getting to see how Kat gets down when she has the upper hand.
Darkmark, it would seem that Kat saw ‘All The Marbles’ too. XD It seems Kat has something personal against Sabrina’s hair. Remember that Jeff suggested in the start of the match that Sabrina cut it? lol As for Sabrina and Chloe, the outcome of this match is going to be huge for their main-event match later, but there’s still some time for a different sort of buildup between the two matches as well. 😉
jpiv, you wrapped it up nice and neat there with the big vs small as well as this being Wrestlemania and how the rest of the card will be treated. Very good! lol So, how do you see Sabrina fairing going forward? Keep refreshing the HllzBllz ebay page. 😉
Comichero, it looks like Sabrina is going to need all the advice she can get! She’s not out of it yet, but this is the very LAST spot she wants to be in. Kat is a big, strong girl and can weather a storm. However, I wouldn’t expect that she could withstand another offensive barrage like that again. So, it looks like whoever can win the war of attrition is going to be the new TV champ.
Stygimoloch, it comes down to ‘different strokes for different folks.’ With this match, I knew I wanted to give it as much time as it needed but also make the drama outside of the ring real with the Belles, Upstarts and the brassy skybox.
Snowy, I know the girls can take a beating and keep on ticking. The problem for Sabrina is getting that 10 seconds. Kat might give her that time, but odds are that Chloe and Jen won’t.
Cookie Ogre, I think that was very well said about this match length. XD I will try and make this match as entertaining as possible. I think if Sabrina had the chance, she’d be kneeling right next to you. 😛
MGC, I based that backfist on when Amazing Kong used it and broke Loreili Lee’s jaw with it. Scary stuff and Sabrina got rocked by it! Kat’s bigger, stronger and more experienced than Brooke. Brooke’s lately more of a fitness girl than a bodybuilder girl.
DyanMo, what Kat is doing is reminding everyone why she’s in the finals for the TV tournament and why she’s going to be the first ever TV champ. Realistically, Sabrina (and Marina and Krystin) knew this was inevitable. Now it remains to be seen if Sabrina can get out of this or not.
Ken, according to the voting incentive, referee Sharon will have enough of the hairpulling. Of course, what happens as a result of that is a different story. XD And thanks for the compliment. 😀
Hey Champ! Yeah, we’re going to see if Sabrina can take it, as well as turn it around. Their are some big stakes here so you know they’re going to give it their all. Glad you enjoyed the art on this update. 🙂
well i think now that Kat has the edge, she’s going to pull the patented stable move of “distract the ref so the rest of the stable can beat on her opponnent” trick as the VI seems to indicate. This should be a test of Brina’s resilence since i think Kat is going to have the upper hand for a bit now.
In a way this could get Brina over even more with the crowd (to beyond Chloe level of support later on?) as the smaller gutsy grappler manages to take everything the bigger, stronger, more experienced Kat can dish out and keep on coming- or at least keep kicking out. i still think she’s going to come away with a win here but the damage will be done going into the match with Chloe which will lead to her downfall there. that was my pre-PPV pick and i’m sticking with it ;P
Long time reader, first comment. Gotta say, this is a cool story of epic proportions. Never fails to disappoint as the possibilities of plot development and characterization are endless. Keep up the good work. By the way, I love the comments made by the broadcast announcers in panel 5. It’s the funniest thing I heard all day.
whoops I meant read all day not heard.
Strawhat, is great to see you post! I love new opinions from other fans… is nice to know so many others are marking out like I am.
jpiv, I think we both know that a stable is only worth having if you use them and we know that Jen and Chloe aren’t shy about dishing out some pain. In fact, we’ve never seen Kat win a match without using outside interference! You can bet it’s gut-check time coming for Sabrina. I like that you’re sticking with your pick!
Hello Strawhat Luffy! Like Dyan said, love reading comments and opinions from the readers. 🙂 I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying the action, drama and humor. 🙂
Thanks for the replies, and glad it was all taken in positive vein.
For those that commented a) Some people really enjoy the action matches. That is totally reasonable, I like them too, with the detail commensurate to their importance, b) that there has been a good bit of out of ring story recently, that’s true too (though there has been action even if outside the ring.)
re: My interest in wrestling. I’m more an MMA guy these days for watching, but I’ve always enjoyed it as entertainment, whether watching or playing games such as importing Fire Pro Wrestling back in the day.
I suppose my concern around length is due to the fact this isn’t Sabrina’s big match for the night. The climax is the bout with Chloe, given Chloe is the ‘queen’ of her coterie and that’s the fight I’d expect to see have the most detail/length <b>unless</b> Sabrina gets injured here in a win/loss and thus can’t make that fight. That would set up a proper ‘second act’ storyline with deSade, Kat and Jen rising to prominence and the ‘good guys’ in Sabrina and crew having to work their way back up with Rival Angels realigning behind deSade for a time ala NWO days. Now that could be fun, and certainly would justify spending more time on this match (as this match then becomes the climactic one.)
Regardless, I enjoy your work. Just that with another big match coming, if it is coming, it seems like it would be a lot of panels spent in ring between the two bouts.
Thanks again for folk taking this in a positive vein.
Y’know, it’s totally true that some readers (including some of my best friends) don’t like long matches and I think ‘only’ updating 3X a week doesn’t help. Do you know that I’ve never ever done a splash page because I feel too guilty that it wouldn’t advance the story enough?
Honestly, I asked about your wresting preference because most of the readers that don’t enjoy the longer matches aren’t wrestling fans, so it’s good to get all sides. And I’m (obviously) a big fan of MMA too.
Thanks again for sharing your candid comments, they’re very much appreciated. While I can’t comment on the length of the match, I can tell that there’s still more to this scene as it relates to the girls in and out of the ring, including the TV title and Sabrina’s winning streak.
I see your point Shazam, but don’t forget, while this isn’t actually Brina’s number one bout on the night, it IS for a strap, after all.
We dont really want to see 2 min bouts for titles, do we?
Keep up the good work, Albone. 🙂 I’m glad i stumbled onto this comic by accident one day. 😀
Hey Nozzer! I’m so glad that you found us here. 🙂
Ouch. That looked like a painful blow. Certainly one to dizzy the contender. Get your head back on and into the game, Sabrina!