Page 573 – Fade Away
Aug26
on August 26, 2011
at 12:02 am
Chapter: Chapter 19 - The Big Night
Characters: Chloe De Sade, Sabrina Mancini
This might be it and leave Sabrina’s record against the Belles at 1-2 if she can’t escape Sweet Agony. The crowd is still behind her, and her friends are too, but will it be enough?
Voting Incentive!
Could it be…the end?
If any of you were betting that Mo Chen wasn’t right about the knees and the sleeper – pay up.
Sighs and gives you your noggie.
But if Sabrina is knocked out, she can’t say “I quit”…which is the only way the match can end…which is what the ref TOLD Chloe.
Gad, another blown Intelligence roll…
Okay, I was going to ask. I didn’t know if there was an underlying rule, where a KO was it. I think Chloe will be angry when the ref isn’t counting. We all know Sabrina isn’t going to say I quit. As long as she can still crawl, she’ll ‘bite her ankles off.’
I would think a KO would count as a I quit.
from what i recall passing out counts as quitting. in the Bret Hart/Stone Cold I quit match, Austin ended up passing out from the pain of the sharpshooter and the ref stopped the match and gave the win to Bret. if someone can’t continue i think the ref has to step in to prevent further damage in their helpless state.
Depends. In this case, I believe you have to actually utter the words, otherwise its just a submission match. And by the VI, I would say Brina’s only chance is that ruling.
Oh, wow, Sabrina…
Wake up! WAKE UP AND BREAK HER LEG!
Breaking a leg would not be nice but Chloe would be caught by surprised if Sabrina attacked.
Sabrina’s going to recover from this one.
Yes she will but the big question will she recover in the ring or outside of the ring?
Hmmmm I see two paths (which means there’s gotta be a third LoL). One, Brina goes out, giving Chloe time to lock in the real submission. Or two, I note Brina’s right arm isn’t locked behind as it should be, so she might work an escape. I kinda don’t think she will though.
*Slips Mo a $50 for calling it*
Where’s my share of the money?
hhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..we are 1/2 -3/4 through the match.
It could be. Maybe Albone wants Sabrina to lose because a rookie shouldn’t take the title her first time out.
I want to ask this Albone..
“Chloe has choke out half the league with this move”
I wonder who are the victims..
I know Brenda Rua is one.. but only once,
how about the others? who else fall victim?
Chloe and Brenda are not in the same weight class so I don’t think so MGC.
Is that a crack? Where’s my spritzer?!
I can’t see it as being anything other than the truth, Champ. Chloe is a twig with a little tum, where you’ve got a toned-yet-curvy athlete’s build. You’ve got to have at least twenty pounds of Awesome over her. If anything, the crack is at Chloe’s expense. She can’t compare!
from the RA awards Sara valentine was the poster girl for the hold so guessing she’s another
Go Chloe, go!
Then kill Brooke.
Kill? That is way over the top.
We got three royal knights for chloe.. cheering her and supporting her..
M.G.C
BBD
and Picky
all are peon/ peasants and ogres
Hate to tell you this, but even if this match is decided in her favor, there is no such thing as a “win” left for Chloe to have, under any circumstances.
She had to give her all against a rookie. Not just any rookie, though – a rookie that wasn’t even supposed to be medically cleared to fight tonight, because the Belles, springing a back-alley ambush like the common thugs they truly are. But that’s not all – the same rookie is fighting her second match of the night, and the first match was three-on-one, and yet her loss was a narrow thing.
And yet the same rookie neutralized Chloe’s weapons with contemptuous ease, took the initial advantage, and drove Chloe to desperately feign an injury to try to get the match stopped without having to admit defeat. When that failed, she threw a childish tantrum and lost the support of even the Paris crowd.
Chloe gains nothing, even if she wins. Even if she’s not fired, she’ll lose her job anyway, unless you, BBD, and Picky buy enough of her merchandise to justify the cost of keeping her in the organization. Nobody else is going to.
The people have cast down the banner of De Sade, and taken up that of Mancini. So spit your scorn at the wave-man, the Confection Beast, and me. Your queen has already fallen. She is simply too deluded to understand it yet. Whether this battle is won or lost, the war is already ours.
1. first.. Sabrina got ambush because of Sabrina’s arrogance..
if Sabrina just been humble, like she use to be.. this will never happen.. Sabrina’s win against Loretta Diaz jumps her ego up sky rocket..
2.True Chloe gains nothing.. all Sabrina gains everything.. Sabrina’s loss here, she needs to learn her place first… hell I don’t even care if Sabrina win in the rematch..
3. childish tantrum.. ohh come on… She’s the queen.. and now she reveal some unworthy peons and peasants who are traitors…
One thing Dragonman ren
better to cheer and serve Chloe De Sade.. than cheering to Sabrina, which is been conspiracy, business tactics, muppet to Gabrielle Reni..
Hey, what about me? I’m on Sabrina’s side, too. We’re from the same state, after all, and the Element of Loyalty ain’t no joke.
I am pretty sure that Chloe will either win or lose this fight.
1. Seriously, MGC? This is CHLOE we’re talking about here. Even if Sabrina had remained ‘humble’ (and when is the last time you saw a humble pro wrestler?) then Chloe would have hated her for that instead. Chloe is an angry, bitter person who builds herself up by destroying others. Live and let live is nowhere in her vocabulary.
2. Learn her place? There is no place to learn. This battle is pretty well inevitable, if Sabrina hadn’t risen fast thanks to Madame Commish’s push it would have still happened when Sabrina got there on her own – and Chloe would probably react the same way.
3. When the Red…err White Queen starts screaming “Off with their heads” at the slightest provocation, that’s pretty much the definition of ‘childish tantrum’.
Cheering for Sabrina, for me at least, is far more fun than cheering for a villain so cheap that her plastic bat fangs are showing.
1. I’m serious.. Ogre…
Sabrina shouldn’t be in Chloe’s radar in the first place.. which I mean remain humble..
2. Sabrina could fought Chloe in the future.. not now.. this time, it’s very insulting… to Chloe
hmmm..
you should offer the WHite QUeen Chloe De Sade some of your cookie..
Sabrina got ambushed because Chloe is a has-been who can’t stand competition. Chloe hated Sabrina before Sabrina got started, because Chloe was jealous and decided to either possess or destroy Sabrina before ever meeting her. No fault of Sabrina’s. Humility or lack thereof has nothing to do with it.
Sabrina was in the ‘place’ chosen for her by the boss, and validated it by coming very close to winning the TV Championship, even after a group of horrible, low-class thugs tried to end her career in an alley. If Chloe thinks Sabrina’s place is ill-chosen, she’s simply wrong.
The ‘traitors’ supported Chloe until she acted like a petulant child right in front of them. A ruler must be a leader, must be worthy of the people. Chloe is not.
And remember, a rookie that Chloe thinks is beneath her has already taken her to the limit of her ability, while the rookie was fighting at a disadvantage. If this fight had happened in the future – even by as little as two, three months – this would’ve gone from a challenging fight to an easy Sabrina win. Sabrina keeps pushing herself to improve, while Chloe keeps acting like a spoiled brat. Your ‘White Queen’ is lucky she got this match this early in Sabrina’s career, under these conditions, before Sabrina completely surpasses her.
On the other hand, in forcing this to happen, Chloe ruined her own career and lost all but her most rabid, diseased fans.
well Chloe was the one way back in the beginning who asked Brina to join the Belles (and getting Brooke mad in the process because she was the one who wanted to join at that time) so Chloe was the one who put Sabrina on the radar in the first place.
1. Think closely Dragonman ren… who made Sabrina? Commissioner Gabrielle.. you can blame Commissioner Gabrielle for putting Sabrina… in which made Chloe angry.. in which Sabrina is being a muppet..
2. Sabrina is in her place.. laughable.. Sabrina just got her place due to Rivalangels conspiracy..
3. lolz… Sabrina taken Chloe to the limit.. delusion, illusion.. in the term genjutsu..
Chloe saw who are loyal to her..
in which is me, BBD and Picky.. we’ll be Lord Knights.. while peasant and peons, ogres will suffer… hahaha.. and as sample.. ‘Ultragirl’
Think of it..
I rather serve Doctor Doom fight the Fantastic Four than join the Fantastic Four itself..
Rather be in Red Skull’s service than fight side by side with Captain America
I Rather serve Chloe De Sade, than that muppet Sabrina..
ALL HAIL WHITE QUEEN CHLOE DE SADE!!!
ALL HAIL!!
ALL HAIL!!
ALL HAIL WHITE QUEEN CHLOE DE SADE!!!
ALL HAIL!!
ALL HAIL!!
Doom or the Red Skull are high-class villains. If you’re minion-minded, I guess I could see choosing to follow them.
Chloe De Sade, on the other hand, is a wrestler who is aging poorly and has a bad attitude. Her power lies in loyalty, but her own stable is falling apart, she’s alienating all her fans, and she’s barely hanging onto her job. All she has left is her physical prowess, and until Sabrina made a big mistake, Chloe was losing to a pre-tenderized rookie, to the point where she tried to get a medical stop. She’s got nothing left. She’s a disgrace. A speed bump in Ultragirl’s rise.
Dragon your views are so scoured. Chloe is aging badly? She is not that much older then Sabrina. But hey if you want to stick to your biased and very rude opinion that is your loss. If you can not reconise such Beauty that is De sade your just a lost cost.
Another thing…De sade was losing? How do you lose when the match has just started? Clearly you and many others got ahead of yourselves. The match ends with words not said situation. Chloe does not seem to be trying all that hard to be honest. She kept asking Sabrina to keep bringing those weak ass punches.
When Chloe wins…all of her haters must bow down to her greatness. And reconise Sabrina for what she is…an arrogant young pup finally put in her place.
“Scoured”? My views have been polished by an abrasive? That would mean they don’t have any soft, disgusting crap on them. Sounds about right. Maybe you should look into having your own opinions scoured.
De Sade is a tiny, breakable thing with a soft belly pudge. I’m in better shape than she is, and I’m not a pro athlete. But the “aging” comment is based on the fact that her best days are behind her. Her career is falling apart. She has no fan base left, she belittles her own subordinates, uses one of them to conceal her own drug use and Kat’s, and is jealous of incoming rookies. She’s washed up, regardless of what her actual age is.
As for the rest… I’ve covered it enough already. If Sabrina wins, she’ll get an enormous boost to her career. If Chloe wins, she gains nothing, and she’s already lost too much. She’s done.
Sabrina wins.. Sabrina got emormous boost.. then what next? Sabrina attack my another favorite wrestler Brenda Rua? then what win the heavyweight belt…
That were good story gone bad.. I do mean bad ending… just like Michael Bay did the transformer trilogy, and the discriminating to the decepticons..
Why Chloe wants the match even though she gains nothing?
because Chloe is queen, she wants to give a match for the fans.. Chloe is in for the fan..
and people like Sabrina supporters are ungrateful…
people should cheer Chloe De Sade.. without Chloe.. Sabrina hasn’t a main event..
Dear Chloe De Sade
Even though I think you are the most stupid, short-sighted, wicked, contemptible person outside of 1980s animated Megatron, I owe you my thanks. In sacrificing your career in an attempt to sabotage someone who actually has talent, you’ve given her a fantastic opportunity to show off. Even if she loses – and I doubt she will – you’ve allowed her to show her ability, courage, and determination at a far earlier stage in her career than she could have otherwise. This is completely counter to your own plans, and you’ve completely driven off your fanbase to accomplish it, but you can’t argue with results. You’ve given Sabrina a great push, beyond anything Gabrielle could have planned, so thank you.
– Travis, AKA Ren, the DragonMan.
PS: I’d have compared you to Venger from the D&D cartoon instead of Megatron, but it turns out he was voiced by Peter Cullen, and I’m sorry, but you’re just not that cool.
Megatron and Venger FTW!!!!
Hope you’re enjoying the uber-nerdy back-and-forth!
Hey I’m cheering for Chloe too. I just haven’t been as active in the comments as I use to be.
Fans can be fickle and change their loyalties in the middle of a match but you won’t get that from me, a good heel is a good heel and can bring up that ire in a snap and it’s not just from facing against the face.
And am I the only one here chanting (silently) for The Nail?
Nail her Chloe!
Is it just me, or is Chloe’s elbow at a strange angle there?
It’s you.
NOOOOOOO!
*shake the TV!*
WAKE UP!
Shaking that TV girl!
albone.. I don’t know.. maybe a request though..
Panel 4: I request that should be a wallpaper downloadable.. and also the voting incentive colored wallpaper size downloadable…
THAT’S PRICELESS!
THAT’S AWESOME!!
I’d love to see a picture of your house when you finish wall papering it.
I lke the panel 4 too. 🙂
maybe Brina will recover and wont say I quit and find a way to escape a hold to conect one of her awesome move 😛 would be awesome. I hope the match is not over yet though. Good work as usual Al, this match rock
I just can’t see Sabrina jobbing twice in one show, a pay per view no less…You do that you might as well start writing this comic as being focused on someone else cause you’ll be cutting her legs out from under her quicker than WWE did with CM Punk at Summer Slam.
BULLSHIT. NO WAY IN HELL De sade had the energy doing this. If brina loses this is going to suck there is NO WAY de sade can beat brina one on one its not belivable at all. This isnt good work at all its totally unbeliviable that de sade would recover that quick
This is gonna be close, but I predict a “fan support recharge” on Monday. Judging by panels four and five, the crowd’s pretty much on Sabrina’s side now.
Only a miracle can save Sabrina now…:(
I mean even I can see her barely making it out alive after a move like that. I mean without her weapons and that move what else does Chole have in her bag of tricks ? 🙁
A move that never should have freaking happened de sade is NOT that good she just isn’t, especially after being blind sided this is total bs. Albone is giving de sade too much skill just because she’s a vetrean, rookies are capable of being better than vetreans depending on individual talent and de sade just does not have brinas commitment or talent.
well besides my comments to comments i think Brina’s blacking out here and Chjloe is about to come away with the win, especially given what we see in the VI. Brina has no leverage, rope breaks don;t matter here. Chloe keeps her heat with a win and Brina can hold her head up that despite everything, like she said back in the alley, that Chloe could never make her say “I quit”.
This will of course anger Chloe one that little detail sinks in but until then much gloating shall take place. I’m curious to see who comes in for the post match run-ins after the cage is lifted cause you know Chloe has told Kat and Jen to come by for more beatdown afterwards. This should trigger a Sun response (Krystin too maybe) which may drag along the rest of Damage Inc for the save to further Darth Yvonne’s plans for Brina.
I love the debate on the outcome, when the VI tells a lot. Chloe is going to go overboard and put Brina completely out. Ref will tell her that it doesn’t count so she’ll have to wake Sabrina up to get the I Quit. If she’s smart, she’ll lock in something nasty – THEN slap Brina to rouse her.
Yup, that’s one of the paths I see too.
Lots of really good comments and analysis under the roar of the crowd here 😀
Great job, Dyna. I guess I didn’t throw you off the trail? XD I see you have peeked at De Sade’s playbook too.
2O2BC, De Sade only have a few checks left to fail! LOL You didn’t forget that the match can only be over when someone utters, I Quit, as the ref just brought up a few pages ago. Then again, maybe De Sade knows something that we don’t know?
DragonMan, you know Sabrina is gushing at your support. 🙂
Darkmark, most definitely…eventually.
Snowy, THAT is a very good question. You are correct about the different weight classes, though luckily in RA, we don’t have that. I see your prediction for De Sade excludes a draw! 😛
Champ, that’s why they call you Champ! Of course, which path is taken is still up in the air. 😉
BBD…I plead the fifth.
MGC, it’s been a while since Chloe has put someone out with Sweet Agony, but the list is long. Yvonne and Chloe have traded victories and certainly Sara Valentine has been on the receiving end. Probably traded victories as well with Xtina and Victoria. I’m glad you liked panel 4!
Picky, I think we NEED to see Chloe vs Brooke. I think that could be just as good as Sabrina vs Chloe.
Nozzer, according to my reference, it’s in the right place.
GoldenGirl, I know that Victoria is feeling similarly as you! If Sabrina can manage it, you know she’ll keep going.
Thanks Svan! While the match won’t be technically over, I can’t say one way or the other if this is the end for Sabrina or not.
RAWF, I actually have said that Sabrina is to CM Punk as Chloe is to Cena here. And not to digress, I think it was the smart thing to have Punk lose at SummerSlam for the long-term future of his his angle.
Tiffany, I completely agree with you, that if Sabrina loses it will suck…but I also think her losing to Kat sucked too, but it still happened.
Cookie Ogre, I like that scenario, were it to happen. Sabrina loves the crowd so it would be kinda symbolic. You are on the money with the crowd support. I think you’re on the mark as well about Chloe in the other discussion thread above.
Marcus, I can’t say that I disagree with you…is Sabrina due for a miracle? I can’t say for sure, either, about what els Chloe has up her sleeve, but I CAN tell you that we’re about to find out.
jpiv, you make it hard to reply to you…because you have this notion of being right or on the right trail, so I’ll have to be terribly vague. All I can say is that I think next week is going to be awfully interesting.
So Yvonne won against Chloe.. also Xtina won against Chloe? as you said traded victories..
I wonder the record?
Yvonne VS Chloe
Xtina VS Chloe?
It’s an awful lot of work to come up with a detailed career record of an entry-level villain who won’t be with the organization much longer anyway. 😛
she cant say i quit if she black out tho right? so isnt this move slightly useless un less chloe p[lans on let go she she can come to so she all groggy headed and what not
Hmm, things are looking pretty bleak for Sabrina right here, but Chloe hasn’t hooked her arm to make it a proper dragon sleeper, this presents Sabrina with a clear shot of her face, that beak in particular. Sabrina just needs one good backfist shot to that and Chloe’s (Or anyone’s for that matter) concentration on the hold will break and give Sabrina the opportunity to kick out. Then again, knowing De Sad’s vindictive streak, she just might break the hold voluntarily after Sabrina goes limp in order to inflict more damage to her prone body. This is a great time for Sabrina to play possum and wait for De Sad’s arrogance to take over
As for an actual prediction, I think Chloe’s not done trying to punish Sabrina, and therefore the match is not over. She’ll choke Sabrina nearly out, and then try to show her dominance with a nasty punishment routine. Which will backfire when Sabrina recovers, with the crowd’s support.
And Albone neither should happen neither of them have the skill to beat her. For De Sade to beat brina one on one will seem completley fake and forced.
A knockout is not a win no matter how much De Fraud err De Sade may want it. This match is not over but the momentum is definitely an ally of the great French Fraud. I have a feeling the next couple updates wil test sabina’s limits when the real power of the belles show up, Kat. This ain’t over but it is about to get bloody.
Now Chloe’s kicking a little ass. Also, one of your ads (for Hanan’s Point) features a naked dude. Just saying.
Chloe may win the battle, but she has lost the war.
All I can say about the voting incentive: YES PLEASE!
Id rather see the worthless french slut on the ground but whatever. If Brina loses not sure if ill be able to stomach this comic anymore. Its a good comic but I cant stand for the belles to win twice in one night.
“She’s put half the league out with this hold” – yep, bathing twice a month will do that…
Now, when the scene fades to black like this, usually the Hulk shows up, so maybe the VI is Chloe having a dream while in the hospital…
Come on, Sabrina! Don’t fade out now!
That’d be hilarious. “My power is… maximum…”
I don’t think the match is over in the VI, though. I think this is Chloe gloating to the crowd as she goes on to beat up Sabrina, who will then recover and beat the lunatic into the ground.
well I for one am glad to see that MGC, picky, and myself are not the only ones in support of Chloe. It warms my heart to see not everyone take the vile view of people like dragon and tiffany who instead of launching petty insults at Chloe should be bowing at her feet.
But alas….haters….going….to hate. GO CHLOE!
you’re right BBD..
Chloe haters are like the people who wage war…
that’s why there’s conflict in society.. they’re single minded… typical being, they cheer because some one is famous and being boost..
but so far they’re muppets to the leader of society..
You’re right. Chloe-haters are like the people who wage war. That is, people who resist crazed, selfish, evil wannabe tyrants like Chloe De Sade.
Don’t see any puppetry going on at all, though. All I see are the people watching Chloe’s lunatic self-indulgence and entitlement disorder and realizing that she doesn’t deserve their support.
BBD, really? Me, bowing at the feet of a skinny French woman with delusions of grandeur? I think not. She can collar the petty and weak-willed to do her bidding, but she shall not snare the Dragon. Pushy, self-centered, mean-spirited people who want to be in charge of something can be found on any street corner – which is precisely where Chloe was discovered, I suspect. They always amount to nothing. An eager hero with more courage and tenacity than sense, on the other hand? Those are worth their weight in gold, every time.
Chloe restore order…
people don’t like her, because of that.. peon/ peasant/ ogres are rebels in society..
Sabrina came.. she is an invader.. is being invaded, do we get freedom? no…
Sabrina don’t care… ask albone..
is Sabrina care no.. she got mad.. she’s a tyrant..
if there’s no Chloe haters.. there will peace in this world..
Dragon everything you say disgusts me to the core(Kudos to whomever can answer where I got that from). But I am not surprised seeing how you are officially the leader of Sabrina’s brain washed Cult.
And your petty insults about Chloe’s obvious hot looks are just plain shallow of you. But again…being the corperate puppet you are you of course fall in line and will find anyway to slander Chloe.
And despite my disdain for Sabrina I will openly admit she is not hard to look at. I am not you Dragon a petty fool who would not recognize not only beauty but talent. No I am one of Chloe’s white Knights. With Integrity, Intelligence, and Intensity. And It just makes me, picky, MGC, and a few others…better then you and the brain washed masses.
I’m officially the leader? Sweet!
Now, to be fair, Chloe isn’t at all physically unattractive by everyday standards. It’s just that she’s surrounded by people who are much better looking than she is. Any of the Upstarts, definitely – and I say this as a person who utterly loathes Brooke. Brenda Rua and the Catgirls? Chloe can’t compare. In fact, Chloe is even the least attractive member of Hell’s Belles, in my opinion. Even if Chloe is exactly your type – arrogant, spoiled slender blonde – the Yorks pull it off better than she does.
Appearance preferences are extremely subjective, of course, and Your Mileage May Vary. But just in terms of physical beauty, before Chloe’s complete and utter bug-eyed crazy is factored in, I feel that she’s fairly low on the Rival Angels totem pole.
I have to admit, that seems like a pretty solid hold. But Chloe’s probably used to spreading her legs, so I doubt she can hold it long.
You say it’ll suck if Sabrina loses here, Alan, yet you’re the one who writes this. I dunno, I just think if you actually cared about the character you base this story on, you’d actually do right by her and, I don’t know, actually have her come back and win it? You’ve planted more seeds of Chloe being done than those of her having Sabrina’s number, so why on earth would you in your right mind reap the less-planted, lower-paying crop? Think about that, damn it!
Eeeasy, Monster-Turtle. The match isn’t over yet. The last several matches have had twelve panels each. The bell rang seven panels ago. This is a main event, and the chapter-ending match. We’re not going to get short-changed in duration here. Don’t go telling the author off when we’re just getting into the meat of the match. One way or the other, I’m sure it’s not over yet.
It wouldn’t be a good match if Sabrina wasn’t challenged at all, and this, really, should be her most challenging match yet, since it’s her second match, and she went into the first one injured. Chloe hadn’t really been shown to give Sabrina a challenge until now, though. There’s still a great chance Sabrina could win. We just need to see a hard-fought battle. Let her resilience, her spirit, and her rapport with the crowd do their thing, and I bet we’ll see her up and hurting Chloe very soon.
Pages, not panels. I know what I meant!
Sabrina had BETTER win this one, or you and I are gonna have WORDS, Albone!
I’m pretty certain what we see in the voting incentive is a classic case of “The arrogant heel gloats and wastes time before the face has been finished off”, leading to the whole “Heroic Comeback” thing. The match just doesn’t feel like it’s reached the endpoint yet. I suspect De Sade wants to pull out another attempt at stomping Sabrina’s ribcage through the mat like at the end of the Sabrina/Kat match, and I suspect it will fail again, leading to the aforementioned Heroic Comeback. Why do I suspect this? Because Chloe is just that petty. She doesn’t just want to win. She wants to… No, she _needs_ to humiliate and hurt her opponents, and that leaves her open to pushing her luck too far.
I disagrree I dont think chloe should give Brina a challenge she’s just not that good a wrestler. De Sade has been coasting on her rep, I doubt she’s ever practiced since this comic started. The match should have been a cake walk for Brina because she’s more talented skilled, and takes it more seriously than does Chloe.
Well, no, the match should definitely NOT be a cakewalk for Sabrina. You are working on the assumption that just because you haven’t SEEN Chloe defeating top grapplers (onscreen, as it were) that it’s never happened, when both her position as one of the major heels in the league and the comments from the announcers indicates exactly the opposite. Even if Chloe was the pushover you portray her as, an easy win for Sabrina would also be illogical given the beatdown she took in the earlier match. If Ultragirl is to win, she will need to do it by pulling the victory from deep within. Losing the title match, then being battered pillar to post only to come out a short while later and dominate the entire match makes no sense from either a narrative or logical point of view. I agree with the above comments that a win for Chloe here will do her little good, whereas Sabrina can still come away looking heroic simply by taking Chloe to her limit despite having the deck stacked deeply against her. That scenario would doubtlessly lead to a rematch, which could at last give Ultragirl the chance for a fair fight. The culmination of such a struggle would IMO raise Sabrina’s stature in the long term, and if it was handled right could also put her back into contention for a title. As I’ve said before, I think Sabrina is her own worst critic. Her fans know perfectly well that she’s been placed into a horribly unfair situation, and they’re not going to turn on her for not being superhuman. We’ve seen hints that her career before being called up to RA was somewhat spotty, and I have to wonder if she’s been overachieving becasue there’s a deep-seated fear that she could regress back to that level of performance. In light of that, I think the more interesting story would be to see how she could bounce back from losing this match, regardless of whether she ever had a fair chance in the first place. I have no doubt that she can bounce back — such is the core of a hero’s journey, after all — but recovering from such a setback will add depth to the character and make her ultimate victory more meaningful. -Big K PS – I also think Albone is right on target about CM Punk at Summerslam. When the favorite always comes out on top there’s no drama.
Personally, while I’m the one that originally said that Sabrina comes out ahead here even if she loses, I still see a lot of valid story reasons that she should not lose here.
1. As you said, losing to Chloe under these circumstances would set up a rematch, and I think the “feuding with the Belles” storyline could use a rest. Unless they’re going to be Sabrina’s career-long nemeses, it’s time for her to move on to the next challenge. Next chapter, and all.
2. This match fits her themes too well for Sabrina to lose. She’s won over the fans, and now, to win, she just has to keep fighting no matter what. That’s what Sabrina does. I can see why she lost the TV Championship match – that’s good for the story, giving her a longer road to a belt – but this match is more central to her character. As a heroic, against-all-odds type of character, Sabrina wins here.
3. Chloe’s self-destruction has been far too explicit. If she wins here, her behavior is validated. She gets her way, even though it’s strongly implied that she has a drug problem.
So, taken all together, the against-all-odds hero on the rise would be feuding with an addict whose career is unraveling, and I don’t think that’s the story this comic is going to tell from this point on. If this was actual TV wrestling, maybe that story could unfold over several events, but this is a webcomic clocking in at three updates a week. If that’s the route we go, that fairly uninspiring story would dominate the comic for years to come.
Of course, I could be wrong, too.
Apologies for the huge uninterrupted block of text above. I swear, it had paragraph breaks when I typed it! 🙂
-Big K
Big K I think De Sade has been coasting I think story wise it would be best for her to win the match, but thats just me. I don’t think Chloe is as good a wrestler as people think. She lost to Brenda, she lost the strap match to Yvonne so she can’t be all that talented.
Tiffany: As a writer myself, I don’t think that’s what Albone has in mind. Having brought us all the way down with Sabby’s defeat, he’s going to bring us all the way up now with a tough but hard-earned victory. That’s the way heroic fiction goes, and I predict that’s the way this one’s going to go. QED.
Egad, Tiffany. She’s lost to Brenda and Yvonne – two of the best in the business – and that means she’s not talented? Way to slap Brenda and Yvonne in the face. Especially when we know that Chloe’s got mixed records against both of them, not just losses. Krystin has a mixed record against Sara Valentine, who isn’t nearly on the level of Brenda or Yvonne. Are you saying that Krystin isn’t talented?
Chloe’s got plenty of issues, yes. I’ve talked about them at great length, even just on this update. But give credit where it’s due. She’s a veteran competing in the top tier of this organization. The assumption should be that she’s an amazing fighter, and if she’s not amazing, there needs to be a reason why.
Of course, we DO have reasons why she’s not fighting at 100%, but the question is how much she’s lost. What doesn’t work is what you’re doing, which is pointing to Chloe’s record and saying that she’s never had what it takes to compete. Because she’s established that she does, or at least did. Insisting that she hasn’t proved herself capable is a huge insult to Brenda, Yvonne, and everyone else she’s faced in Rival Angels, and takes away from Sabrina, win or lose.
The problem I have with panel 1 is that Chloe’s black-booted legs aren’t outlined well enough so that we can see Sabrina’s falling against them, rather than against the cage. Other than that, everything’s great.