Vanessa versus Christine, Part 1

Rivalries between lady wrestlers take all shapes and forms. Some, such as that between Stephanie and Natasha, are performed at the highest level -- between ladies who are members of a sponored team and have no doubt as to their future in the sport. Others develop between ladies, such as Vanessa in the pink one piece and Christine, who don't have that luxury. Vanessa, pictured above before her first match against Christine, started out as an independent wrestler, not affiliated with any team sponored by a shoe company. Hence, she wears generic wrestling boots.
Christine had been around the league for a while, and although she had been a member of various teams from time to time, never seemed to catch on. The ladies' anticipation and nervousness is evident in the above photo. For these independent wrestlers, every match was important. It would either move them closer towards, or further away, from their goal -- getting picked up by a sponsored team. Vanessa wisely selected a one piece that was particularly high cut over hips; all the better to show off her fine form. But she obviously wasn't all that confident about what she was willing to show. If you look closely, you can see the white band of her g-string underneath.

Although a raw rookie, Vanessa had some skills, and went to work on Christine's shoulders. The smaller wrestler simply wasn't able to bring her greater experience to bear.
Vanessa -- showing a nice tan line, by the way -- works over each of Christine's legs in turn. By the way that Christine is grimacing and reaching back for her right hamstring, we can tell that she is suffering from the attentions of her younger opponent.
Although the same rules are supposed to apply to matches between ladies on sposored teams and independent matches, it's generally accepted that they are applied much more loosely in the independent matches. And Vanessa smartly takes advantage with an obivous hair pull.
Vanessa uses her substantial -- and in my opinion, delightful -- backside to put an exclamation point on her victory.
Christine is obviously despondent, as it doesn't look good for her to get dominated by a mere rookie.

Of course, a rematch was arranged for the next session. Look at how the ladies' expressions have changed from their first match. Vanessa looks much more poised and confident, while it seems like Christine has a surprise in store for her opponent.

Christine takes the early advantage, and puts Vanessa through her paces.
Christine concentrates her efforts on Vanessa's shoulders.
Vanessa is obviously suffering in the grips of Christine's textbook camel clutch. Note how Christine's earlier attention to her opponent's shoulders set this hold up to have maximum impact.
And for good measure, a bit of payback with a hairpull.
As it's Vanessa's turn to lie despondent on the floor, Christine poses as if to say "And you though this young thing could take me again?!!"

Vanessa versus Christine, Part 2

Twice a year, Reebok (which doesn't have a team in the league) sponsors a tournament for the independent wrestlers. The Reebok Invitational is a great moment for a lady to excel, as representatives from each of the teams are present and are looking to pick up a few ladies to round out their rosters. Given their past history, it came as no surprise that Venessa and Christine were matched up against each other for two matches over the course of the weekend-long tourney.
Vanessa definitely came dressed to impress in a lilac suit that showed off her best feature. But she simply wasn't prepared for the level of aggressiveness that Christine -- a three-time veteran of the Reebok Tournament -- brought to the match.
Christine cleverly sits on Venessa's left arm to keep it in a painful hammerlock, while yanking on the roots of her long brunette locks.
Christine gets away with one here, even when measured by the lax referring standards used in the Reebok Tournament. Although she later claimed that she was just holding Vanessa's head still, you can see that Christine is placing her right thumb up against her opponent's eye.

In their second match, Christine just picked up where she left off. It seemed that Vanessa just didn't have the will to compete and Christine took full advantage.
With the opportunity to get picked up by a team so close, Christine put Vanessa in a series of humiliating positions.
This final "forced bridge" probably drove the final nail in the coffin in terms of Vanessa getting selected to join a team. There was no way that shoe company would want one of their girls getting displayed like this by a smaller women while wearing their product.
Christine looks confident, knowing that she would certainly get selected while Vanessa looks up in a daze.
Fast forward two months, and Christine is a member of Team Adidas while Vanessa is still slogging it out as an independent wrestler. Although the top ladies on each sponsored team don't wrestle independents, second tier ladies such as Christine regularly compete against non-sponsored ladies in order to keep in match shape. Note how much more aggresive Vanessa looks right from the get-go. Perhaps to keep the memory of her last terrible loss to Christine fresh in her mind, she wears the same wrestling suit.

Vanessa is determined to inflict maximum punishement with this bow and arrow. Note how much higher cut Christine's suit is as compared to when she was wrestling as an independent.
Vanessa returns to the fine form she displayed in some of her earlier matches, calmly moving from hold to hold to work on her opponent's weaknesses. To her credit, Christine bears up to the pain and seems to be waiting for an opportunity to turn the tables.
But Vanessa never gives her the chance, finally getting the Adidas Team wrestler in this modified camel clutch.
Christine strikes a pose, showing off her big, beautiful legs. There seems to be no doubt, at least in her mind, that she's ready for the big time.
Christine looks terrible, and the pain from having Christine work her over can only be compounded by the knowledge that team management never likes it when one of their ladies loses to an independent.

Vanessa versus Christine, Part 3

As it turned out, Vanessa had good reason to be upbeat after her victory over Christine, just as Christine must have understood that Team Adidas would be looking to replace her. Vanessa soon got picked up by Team Nike and Christine got fortunate when a spot opened up on Team Puma due to one of the wrestlers separating her shoulder. Although neither lady was on the first tier on her team, they were matched up against one another when Team Nike took on Team Puma.
Christine is definitely one to hold a grudge, as she must have felt that Vanessa was responsible for her getting kicked off of Team Adidas. Once again, her technical skills were too much for Vanessa.
The biggest criticism of Vanessa is that if things aren't going her way in the match, she loses focus. While I'm a huge Vanessa fan, I find it hard to argue with this critique. And when you're in the big leagues facing a wrestler as crafty as Christine, the last thing a wrestler can do is to zone out. Because when that happens, Christine will try and humiliate her opponent.

Vanessa grabs onto her glutes, as they are getting pulled (and beautifully displayed) by Christine's reverse small package.
Christine obviously couldn't resist reliving some "good old times" with Vanessa from their days on the independent circuit -- hence the hair pull combined with the crotch spread. As a result of this match, and some other developments within Team Nike that had nothing to do with Vanessa, her contract was assigned to Team Adidas.
When Team Adidas met Team Puma in the finals, neither Vanessa nor Christine were on the roster for those matches. However, they did wrestle against each other in a match that wouldn't count in the standings, but for each team's pride. Note how Christine has been treated to a bit of a make-over, with her new hairstyle and outfit. For her part, Vanessa is sporting a new style of wrestling sneaker that combines the best of a wrestling shoe and cross-trainer.
Unfortunately for Vanessa, it's the same old story as she just doesn't seem to have answer for Christine's attacks.
Given how many times these ladies have battled, I don't think its a surprise that this photo captures a sense of intimacy. But even saying that, it is striking how calm Christine appears as she is making Vanessa suffer.

Note how Christine digs her fingers into Vanessa's left deltoid as she works over the shoulder of the Team Adidas wrestler. To put pressure on Vanessa's left elbow, Christine juts her left knee out to form an unnatural pivot point for Vanessa's arm.
Vanessa grabs onto her left shoulder, looking up at Christine and perhaps seeking some relief. For me, this photo pretty much sums up their (admittedly one-sided) rivalry.
Of course, Christine isn't going to give any and takes her rightful place seated upon Vanessa's chest for the victory photo. As things worked out, Team Puma let Christine go during the off season and actually signed up Vanessa!! The rumor around the league was that Team Puma was looking to increase their ability to "put asses in the seats" by putting forward a more attractive team.

So it should come as no surprise that when Vanessa needed to fill her quota of matches (still relegated to the second tier and therefore needing to take on independents), she found that a sizable "appearance fee" was being offered for her take on Christine. Go back and compare this photo to the first photo of these ladies in Part 1 of this series. I think you'll find it very instructive, as each as matured and changed in subtle ways. Vanessa certainly looks more fetching and confident, while Christine seems to be more confortable as an independent wrestler.
Vanessa was in trouble right from the beginning (I said it was a rivalry, not that they were evenly matched), and grabs onto her right quad.
Never one to miss an opportunity, Christine keeps up the pressure on Vanessa's sore muscle. It is obvious that she is in some serious pain.
Although she probably could have forced a submission with that hold, Christine turns her attention to Vanessa's left leg.
Even the most cursory glance at this photo would reveal that this hold was too much for Vanessa to take. Screaming in pain, Vanessa strained ligaments in both shoulders, pulled her left quadraceps and twisted her knee pretty seriously. Although Vanessa did continue to wrestle, she never regained the promise that (I thought) she once showed. To be fair to Vanessa, she did have alot more success against other ladies. (If there is any interest, I could do some more on her career). But for whatever reason, Christine just had Vanessa's number.