Summer 2015 Update: 2nd Battle of the Sexes

Hello Readers!

Whew, it's been awhile!  But there's been a lot of action on the home front, particularly in the mixed bondage wrestling arena.

First off, for those who haven't heard, our local light-weight male wrestler Howl has shaved his beard, and his resulting look now falling into the classic "leading man" or "male ingenue" category.  Check this out:

Next, we are pleased to introduce newcomer Tae, who is even smaller and lighter than Howl.  And, in fact, Tae is even lighter-weight than VeVe.  Tae is a friend of Howl's, and he's got Howl to thank for all the recent bondage he's been experiencing!  Pictured below: Tae and Howl.

Like Howl, Tae is also pretty flexible (though Howl still takes the prize for greatest flexibility).  That's quite a desirable characteristic when rope-artists are looking to test out just how tightly they can pull a tie!

Just a few weeks ago, VeVe gave Tae a chance to try out his first bondage video experience, alongside Howl, in a scenario video called "What Goes Around Comes Around," which featured our gentlemen as gangsters who get their comeuppance.

Tae not only got a figurative taste of a tidy hogtie in this one, but he also got a literal taste of a ball gag as well.  What a trooper.  Then, of course, VeVe tied hogtied Howl and Tae together for extra discomfort.  And that was just the start of summertime bondage antics for Tae and freshly de-bearded Howl...

2nd Battle of the Sexes for 2015!

VeVe seems to be making a habit of joining forces with her female arch-rivals in order to fight a common foe.  In cold and wintry February, we saw VeVe team up with Keri Spectrum for our first even bondage wrestling battle of the sexes.  Forever at each other's throats in the bondage wrestling arena, VeVe and Keri put their differences aside to take down the New Jersey Bad-boys Danger Dude and Frankie.

Now, as we welcomed in Summer 2015, we also welcomed the return of another of VeVe's long-time female rivals: the wily Orlandoe!  Orlandoe has been away at school for the past year, and we hadn't seen her since last summer.  But her return to New York City coincided quite excellently with Tae's entry onto the scene.  VeVe was eager to get more ropes around Tae, and Howl had a score to settle with Orlandoe from their first bondage wrestling meeting, and so, we immediately scheduled our 2nd Bondage Wrestling Battle of the Sexes!

VeVe and Orlandoe. June 2015

NYC Bondage Wrestling Battle

Our first battle of the sexes took place in New Jersey, with 3 out of 4 participants being Jersey-folk.  Our 2nd battle, however, took place at our home studio in New York City, with all participants being Brooklyn residents.  And so, our 2-on-1 match with VeVe, Orlandoe, Howl, and Tae was dubbed the "NYC Bondage Wrestling Battle of the Sexes."

Unlike our first mixed 2-on-2 team bout, this second event featured competitors who were all very close in terms of size; February's bout saw a 50 lb weight range, whereas June's saw only a 20 lb range.  We had Tae at 118 lbs, VeVe at 120 lbs, Orlandoe at 130 lbs, and Howl at 140 lbs.  A really close, fun size mix.  

Skill level was pretty divided across the board as well.  We had VeVe as the definite bondage wrestling expert of the bunch, but her teammate Orlandoe was considerably less experienced in the art.  Howl, however, has been increasing his rope skills considerably, and was certainly more apt at quick-tie attacks than Orlandoe.  And although novice Tae was at the bottom of the rope-tie pecking order, he is remarkably fast, athletic, and squirmy.

At the end of the day, with some many aspects being close or equal, the contest really came down to fitness and stamina.  The competitors fought and countered until fatigue really started to grab hold... until fatigue started to force mistakes...  It was a battle of wills, and if anyone's concentration lapsed for a moment, they'd pay for it...

If you haven't seen this match yet and you're curious about it, full details are here:

NYC Bondage Wrestling Battle of the Sexes

VeVe and Orlandoe vs Tae and Howl

http://www.doommaidens.com/store/nycbondagebattle/

We didn't have the air conditioner on for this one, so it was really a very sweaty time!  Welcome to the party, Tae!

Preview: Pre-Gagged Match and West Coast 4-Way Battle

Well, hey all.  I'm back from our 2015 West Coast video tour, where we once again filmed a good many videos, several of them involving bondage wrestling.... including our first "early gagging" match!  Hooray!

Before we left on tour, we tried to get Rachel DD to try the early gagging style ("early gagging" = both wrestlers start gagged and stay gagged throughout the match), but some transportation issues stymied that attempt.  However, Nikki Fierce took up the task when we filmed in California.

Two weeks ago, VeVe and I got on a plane on Wednesday morning here in NYC.  We arrived in Los Angeles and headed *immediately* to our first shoot of the tour.  And that shoot was a big one!  We had VeVe, Nikki Fierce, Jennifer Thomas, and Liz Lightspeed all together in the same room at the same time.  And, by the way, these 4 ladies jumped in together for a 4-way bondage wrestling bout, West Coast style!

It was wild and had some unexpected happenings!

But I'll talk more about that crazy 4-way match later.  A little before the multi-way took place, we had our Early Gagging match featuring VeVe vs Nikki.

Following VeVe's original idea, there was a *small* storyline involved that basically presented VeVe and Nikki as captives of an evil mastermind, trapped together in a room.  The ladies are gagged so they can't easily call for help and can't communicate well with each other, but they are otherwise free.... and there is a pile of ropes sitting between them.  The evil mastermind, voiced by Liz, tells the gagged captives that they must fight to escape; whoever can tie up the other will be allowed to go free.

An offer they couldn't refuse!  And so, the early gagging match commenced!  Here are some quick, random screen grabs that I took out while on the road:

As you might imagine, there was a lot of gag-talk, gag-mumbling, gritted teeth, and a lovely taste of story-driven desperation.  Nothing like some special motivation!

I hope to release this VeVe vs Nikki "Early Gagging" match next, though, I haven't processed the footage yet, which delays things a bit (I got back home 2 days ago).  Today, however, I will be working on grabbing screen stills from another bondage wrestling match we had while on tour, which took place in Las Vegas: VeVe vs Cheyenne Jewel.  And, on that note, also in Las Vegas we had a bondage match of VeVe vs wrestler Maria Queen.... a match which featured ropes getting looped around VeVe's neck in the process.  Edgy!  Don't try this at home, friends!

Talk about a choker, eh?

Anyway, off to screen-still-gathering work I go.  I hope you enjoyed the preview pictures.  Look forward to more releases to come featuring these new faces.  I may be a bit slow, since the load is a tad hefty, but stay tuned for fun!

Early Gagging Bondage Match Tomorrow!

EDIT: Due to a scheduling snafu for our talent, this match has been rescheduled for next week.  But everything else below still applies!

Yes, that's right; after months of trying to make it happen, we finally have an opportunity to try an "early gagging" female bondage wrestling match!  Tomorrow!

We've got Rachel DD and VeVe on the schedule for filming tomorrow, and one of the planned matches is a competitive bondage wrestling rematch.  At last!  Fans loved the original bondage wrestling match of VeVe vs Rachel, which featured an innovative crotch rope and a very tight hogtying of Rachel.

Now VeVe and Rachel will square off with the ropes once again.  And this time, we'll finally get to try the "early gagging" concept, which viewers have been curious to see.  Here, both wrestlers would start gagged, and they would fight the entire fight while gagged (we plan to use cleave gags).

This would be a first for us, and it has definitely been on the To-Do list.  I think VeVe and Rachel will be great to give this a whirl, especially since they are both so facially expressive.

And further, even though this will be a fully competitive match, VeVe would like to frame it by a small scenario to explain the reason they are gagged for the bout.  She says she is vaguely inspired by the "Saw" movies, which, VeVe says, "featured captives needing to pass some sort of 'twisted' test in order to go free."

She goes on, explaining her idea for this match: "The two captives have to fight in order to be the one to 'finish' capturing the other, at which point the winner earns her freedom, and the loser.... is doomed to never escape."  The battling captives are "not allowed to remove their gags for the fight so that they cannot fully communicate with each other" or call out for help.

Sounds good!

Well, all righty.  I'm looking forward to how this plays out and what the "early gagging" aspect will look like.  If the shoot schedule goes as planned, I should have some imagery to share soon enough.

..

..... Oh, and I will also say that we filmed 2 other female 1-on-1 bondage wrestling matches that I've yet to release or even mention!  One was a match against visitor Ashley Wildcat, and the other was a match with local NYC resident Domme Vera.  More on that to come!

The Spider Queen, Cinematic Style Fantasy Development

In this entry, I'm taking a moment to discuss a recent release we created called "Hunt for the Spider Queen," which features VeVe Lane and Howl in a "cinematic" type, bondage-wrestling-esque fantasy villainess rope-virtuosity fight scene.  Whew!

Some of you may have already seen the official release for the Spider Queen, and hopefully most of you have been following our Twitter-ings on the process (which included a lot of pictures!).  By the way, our Twitter is here: @DoomMaidens.  In any case, I won't go too much into explaining what happens in the piece itself, leaving that instead to the official write-up to be pasted below.  Instead, I'll talk a little bit about the process and development.

Although VeVe and I had been wanting to do a more virtuosic villainess video for some time, the real kick-start for the Spider Queen came from a February filming day with Howl.  As we talked a bit about bondage ties, Howl expressed that he was curious to try more with bondage, and he then demonstrated a bit of his upper body flexibility.  I thought immediately that it would be great to have a video featuring Howl being tied up in a variety of ways, ideally if he were to be held captive by some wicked woman.  And that wicked woman would be someone who would be called the "Spider Queen."  Who else would so enjoy binding up a male captive?

Both Howl and VeVe were excited for the idea, both especially interested in doing more "super natural" type character and story styles.  So, great!  The idea was strong, the players were on board.... but now, how to execute it exactly?

After a month of anticipation from the players, we just went ahead and scheduled a shoot date to see what we could get.  A few days before hand, I story-boarded out my concept for the intro scene, which was influenced by factors such as classic 1960s female assassin/spy depictions, the "Pris vs Deckard" Bladerunner scene recreation we did last year, and the fact that the studio space had a nicely-placed stripper pole.

A First Attempt

The intro scene concept was really solid, and I felt very good about it right from the start.  However, I still wasn't exactly sure what to do with the main body of the piece.  In the original concept rough-out, VeVe and I planned 3 scenes to follow the intro to represent the Spider Queen defeating Howl first physically, then mentally, and then spiritually (in soul).  The first would be a brief bondage fight with him partially tied and gagged to start, the next would feature Howl bound to a wall/fence and being seduced, and the third would feature his willing surrender and a reverse prayer tie.  Then a final scene would feature him in a rope cocoon, now mesmerized and totally lost.

When we got together to shoot, I was lucky enough to discover that the studio environment cooperated very well with giving me the light and starkness that I'd envision.  However, we didn't have much time to futz around and needed to start shooting right away.  We pushed through with the proto-concept as best we could, all of us needing to adjust on the fly for unexpectedness relating to the studio environment and partner reactions.  But although this shoot produced some lovely images, the multi-part concept ended up being too difficult to reach (I'll spare you the details for the sake of brevity).  And so, I scrapped the footage and decided that that shoot was just a workshop.

And workshopping is SO important for complex pieces!  I actually learned a lot from that first attempt.  And so, I went back to the drawing board, this time was a MUCH firmer concept.  Now I knew EXACTLY what I wanted from the piece.

The Final Draft

VeVe and I conferenced again, cutting out 90% of the dialogue that had been in the original trial run.  We also cut out various scenes, leaving only the Intro, the Body, and the Finale.  Furthermore, I decided to turn the main action into an actual fight, which clarifies intent quite a lot!  I wanted to see the Spider Queen in actual action - toying with her prey, dashing in, whipping quick tie binds onto him, and then dashing out, all while her prey continues to try fighting her off.  He keeps trying to fight her, but she darts in like lightning, lashing an arm to a leg and leaving him floundering.  She does this over and over as the fight progresses, humiliating him with her deft rope-work / web-work, and wearing him down by making him fight with these various changing impediments.

And that was another big thing: the swift changing of the ties in real-time.  That was a very important aspect of this fight for me, and it would be the definition of the Spider Queen's preternatural abilities: this incredible speed and deftness with the ropes.

VeVe knew exactly what I was talking about, and she felt really great about being able to execute.

We would keep the intro basically the same (with some tighten-ups thanks to experience), we'd make the Body of the piece much more physical and combattive, and we'd bring the finale scene around to mirror the intro scene.  And so, we quickly scheduled again with Howl, and together we all set out to film the Final Draft, now all with experience on our side.

And the end result was very satisfying!  The space set-up went super smoothly, the filming rolled like clockwork, the physical action from both VeVe and Howl were spot on, and the shots looked fantastic!  Below is the official release write-up with a small selection of images (I hope to post more images at a later time).

Detective Howl was no match for the insanely skilled Spider Queen.  But would a savvy female protagonist fair better against this villainess?  Somehow I don't think so... but we'd love to see her try!  Oh yes, we'll definitely need to have the Spider Queen match skills against other would-be heroes and heroines in the future!
.......................................................................

Hunt for the Spider Queen
VeVe Lane and Howl
April 2015
http://www.doommaidens.com/store/spiderqueenvevehowl/

Men have been mysteriously disappearing around the town. All leads point to an old, abandoned warehouse, so Detective Howl breaks in to investigate. But unfortunately for Howl, the Spider Queen, a cunning and perilous female predator, is expecting him... The Spider Queen (VeVe Lane) lies in wait as Howl explores her lair, choosing her moment to ambush and incapacitate him. Howl recovers to find himself stripped to his briefs, with individual ropes bound to each wrist and ankle. The sadistically smiling Spider Queen appears, stepping out to join Howl in her own little private arena. Let the games begin! Howl rushes his foe, but the Spider Queen is an expert fighter and rope-web-spinner. She has no doubt which of them will triumph in this combat, and she plans to enjoy her victory. As the two clash in the arena, she wrestles Howl down and lashes his limbs into handicapping binds which quickly turn his attacks into futile and humiliating struggling. The Queen is amused.  Throughout the battle, she changes Howl's bindings with lightening quick skill - releasing an arm here, hobbling a leg there - all while trapping him in painful wrestling holds, toppling and toying with him, and mocking his desperate efforts both to fight and escape. She finally pins him face down and begins weaving him into a torturous reverse prayer hogtie, bending his wrists and shoulders unnaturally and inflicting agonizing pain. She completes his humiliation with a rope blindfold and then takes his breath away. The defeated Howl recovers to find himself tightly wrapped in a cocoon of rope, even over-the-mouth gagged with rope. He's now totally at the Spider Queen's mercy. She admires his lovely new look, a beautifully helpless addition to her collection...  Total running time: 30 minutes A lot of physical action and struggle; physical domination against resistance; impressive combat-action rope-work. Includes chicken wing ties, frog leg ties in combat, and finale of strict reverse prayer hogtie and rope cocoon. Preview thumbnails and full details:  http://www.doommaidens.com/store/spiderqueenvevehowl/

Yeah! A Glimpse at Superheroine 4-Way Battle

The superheroine 4-way bondage wrestling battle went down yesterday!  Working on the footage now.  But in the mean time, enjoy these pre-match camera phone pictures!

4-Way Female Bout is on for April 2015! and Thoughts!

Yes, 4-Way Female Bondage Wrestling is back, finally, for 2015!  And not a moment too soon: spring has finally sprung!

Our first female 4-way match of 2015 had a little bit of a slow start due to weather, illness, and travel, but we were able to capture many 1-on-1 matches and the crazy 2-on-2 Battle of the Sexes in the meantime.  But now, finally, the moment has arrived to bring in the ladies for springtime mayhem..... tomorrow!

And the competitors?  Ashley Wildcat, Rachel DD, Jade Indica, and ringleader VeVe Lane!

The theme?  Superheroine bondage battle!

How will these super-ladies handle the impending peril that is multi-way bondage wrestling?!?!

 

How exciting!

VeVe and I were chatting today about the format for the multi-way on this go-around.  Previously, we have done these multi-way matches in a "Tournament" style, allowing for 2 simultaneous 1-on-1 matches to go on at the same time, on the same mats.  Once the two winners are determined (and the two losers end up hogtied), the remaining winners then face off against each other, leaving the bound losers to watch, jeer, and squiggle out of the way if need be.

This style is very good for keeping the mat space fairly open and clear, believe it or not.  As each pairing stays fairly contained, we can get a pretty good look at both groups working simultaneously, seeing almost everyone without too much obstruction.  It also makes for interesting video framing, such as having one group in the foreground and one in the background.

But we have considered the potential of a "free for all."  This would mean that anyone can attack anyone, and possibly 3 participants can attack 1... There's also the idea of 2-on-2. and once 2 people are tied, the remaining 2 will fight.  There are both upsides and downsides to these varied arrangements.

Free For All

It's neat in theory, but is it too chaotic?  More importantly, is it too chaotic for competitors who don't have previous experience in a multi-way bondage match?  For instance, tomorrow we will have both VeVe and Jade who have multi-way experience.  But Rachel and Ashley do not.  Would a free for all be too overwhelming for them?

Would it be too chaotic for the viewers?  Would it result in a pile-up that makes things hard to see?  I must admit, I am very curious to try shooting a free for all and see what I can see (the camera and I can usually work our way into seeing MANY things even in a chaotic setting).  But is it something to try for tomorrow?

Furthermore, would a Free For All result in an unexpected 3-on-1?  While that might be interesting in some cases, it again might result in too much chaos to try with first-timers.  Or would it?  Hmm... But, again, that is IF the Free For All actually organically goes that way.

Ok, and then there's the...

2-on-2 Teamwork

A fun concept which we saw earlier this year in the Battle of the Sexes bout, which pitted VeVe and Keri against Frankie and Danger Dude.  How great to have a teammate!  However, 2-on-2 does slow things down a good bit, as we've experienced.  Or does it?  Or, even, is that a good thing?  Or, actually, is it just the same thing as the regular 4-Way tourney style, but with the option for teamwork to come into play?

And going on...

I'm at the risk of making this entry suddenly much longer than it was intended to be.  And, for time's sake, I'm not being as articulate as I'd like to be.  But it really is fun to consider the different possible options, and I'd like you to think about the similarities and differences as well:

1. 4-Way Tournament style

2. Free For All style

3. 2-on-2 Teams

I should actually make a Venn diagram...

I'd love to eventually try all of these types of arrangements and see what they all yield, especially with all different sorts of participants involved, both veteran and newcomer.  But the real question that remains for now is this:

What style should we use for tomorrow's superheroine bondage battle?

I'm leaning toward usual 4-Way Tourney, largely because I don't know Ashley at all, and Rachel hasn't yet experienced the chaos of the multi-way (by the way, ladies and gentlemen, just wait until we get to the 8-way and 10-way versions, but I digress).

But I'd like to allow elements from the Free For All concept, such as allowing individuals to reach across from their pairing to interfere with another pairing, should they feel so inclined.  But, I mean, hey, even in the Tourney style, they might just do that anyway.  Furthermore, why would someone want to interfere with another group if there is no team concept, and if she is already fighting to save herself as it is...?  So, should there be a teamwork concept...?  And that spins us back to thinking about 2-on-2 style.

Ok, anyway, enough of that.  I'll chat more with VeVe about it!

But, as always, gentle readers, your opinions are welcome as well!  If you have thoughts on or preferences for any special arrangement of the 4 competitors, feel free to let us know in the comments section below or by e-mail (orders@doommaidens.com).

(FYI, persuasive arguments are lovely and wholeheartedly welcome!)

   

3-Month Updates. 2015 Bondage Status So Far!

Hello all!  It's been 3 months since I wrote my Upcoming Bondage Thoughts into 2015 post, and quite a bit has happened between then and now, so I thought I'd post a follow-up and ideas on further developments (plus, updates to my To-Do Wish List).

First, the check list: How have we dealt with the initial Wish List so far?

1. Crazy Azy vs Hanz.  That was the easiest goal to accomplish!  We kicked off January with this little mixed match-up.  I was prepared for the match to go either way, but I did have a strong suspicion that Hanz would win; he's just got a much greater experience level when it comes to bondage wrestling.  He also tied up Mahea much more easily then Azy did, so... He came away with a modified hogtie win on this one, much to Azy's frustration!

2. How about Rachel DD?  Rachel had some out-of-town matters to tend to in the past few months, so we were't yet able to get her in for more bondage wrestling.  Yet!

Happily, Rachel has returned to New York and is ready for action!  Of course, as it figures, I'm out of town right now until April.  So, let's look forward to Rachel DD and bondage wrestling in April.

3. Zentai vs Non-zentai - still on the To-Do list!

4. Multi-person Matches - So, we did accomplish one of these so far this year, though it wasn't what we'd initially set out to do!

In response to a fan comment on the initial "Thoughts" post, we set out to do a mixed teams bondage wrestling battle, which would feature male/female vs male/female.  However, we were foiled by weather and Valentine's Day troubles... but a feat of rapid rescheduling also ended up with the teams being rearranged.  So, instead of mixed teams, we now had F/F vs M/M teams and thus a Bondage Wrestling Battle of the Sexes!

This was VeVe and Keri vs Frankie and Danger Dude.  It was an epic battle.  Late in the evening.  On a cold February.  With two teams who'd never say die!  It was nerve wrecking!!

But even with that awesome mixed battle under our belts, we still wanted to get in a 4-Way female bondage wrestling bout as well.  And we were very close to that in March.

We hosted Lia Labowe here in town in March and so were hoping to get her in on a new 4-way match (this would also have featured Rachel DD as well).  We had our participants set up, we'd selected a nifty attire theme, and everything we looking to be on track.  But, as usual for this year, inclement weather prevented one of our participants from arriving.  When we couldn't find a replacement in time, the rest of it all fell apart.  Oh well.  Next time!

And, yes, we are still looking to get Rachel DD into the next 4-way battle! (in addition to her 1-on-1 "early gagging" match to come with VeVe).

More February Re-cap

Though we still have Wish List points to hit, we did do a heck of a lot of bondage wrestling in February!  The shortest month, but the most bondage wrestling?!  VeVe was really working overtime last month, and she dove in for the following matches, in chronological order:

1. VeVe vs Jade Indica (in lingerie)

2. VeVe vs Howl

3. VeVe vs Robin (of Les Femmes Fatales)

4. Bondage Wrestling Battle of the Sexes

5. VeVe vs Shauna Ryanne

6. VeVe vs Kevin 

 

That was just February!  It was a hard fighting month, no doubt about that!


On The Horizon aka Wish List Updates

As we enter soon into April, we have a lot more on the Wish List and still in the works for 2015.

In addition to getting VeVe and Rachel DD together, which should happen sooner rather than later, we are also aiming to set off our next 4-way female match.

The attire and storyline theme for the next 4-Way is slated to be superheroines.  Or heroines & villainesses.  Superheroines, bondage, and fight action always go so well together!  Stay tuned for developments on that one.

We also have a "Spider Queen" themed video in the works, featuring VeVe and the very flexible Howl.  In this scenario, our dashing hero Howl falls into the clutches of the wicked Spider Queen, and he soon finds himself bound and contorted in a variety of ways, all of which please the cruel villainess...

We're also planning for our West Coast video tour, which will take place in May.  We hope to see West Coasters like Mistress Kara, Savannah Fox, Andrea Rosu, Scarlett Devine, Cheyenne Jewel, Rapture, and Candy Pain while we're out there.  Of course, bondage wrestling is in the cards, no matter which of the ladies we end up meeting up with!

Speaking of gatherings, we are also angling to have a live filming event here in NYC in June.  Hopefully the 2nd weekend of June.  This will involve the inclusion of visiting guests!  Though this will likely center around "regular" style wrestling, we do plan to include as much bondage wrestling as we can.  Hopefully, too, a multi-person match featuring guest wrestlers as well.

Also too, hopefully we will get to see Indra make a return at some point this year as well.  She's been so busy with her non-wrestling work lately that she hasn't been able to get her ropes around any opponents (or get roped up herself even!).

Let's keep our fingers crossed that we'll get to see her again sometime this year!


And, lastly, there's the on-going quest to share the lovely art of bondage wrestling with more potential practitioners.  Our gentlemen seem to be finding their way around the ropes, but I'd like the ladies to touch up their skills as well.

It would be nice to see what Amazon Annie's been doing with the ropes lately.  Crazy Azy is coming along, but still needs more polish.  I hear that Venom over in London did some bondage wrestling recently.... but I don't know any details about that at all.  And also, Minxy Li was showing great potential with the rope-work, but I don't know if she's done any more lately.  Must go seek out updates...

All righty.  That will do it for now.  This entry became a little more winding than I had initially intended.  As always, I encourage people to post comments and suggestions, and/or to let me know what you think of the ideas and goings-on discussed here.  The communications are great, and inspiration is always appreciated!

Onward and upward as ever!

Thirst for Victory: Pictures and Background. The 2-hour Match

Whew, I just noticed that I never really posted about or personally mentioned VeVe's ridiculously painful 2-hour long competitive bondage wrestling match against Kevin from last month.  Now, I know that VeVe posted her immediate personal after-thoughts, and I'm always glad to have her guest-blogging here!  But I'd like to take this moment to provide some visuals as well.

... and also, a little more background info from my perspective.

First off, VeVe and Kevin first met in September of 2014, when they had a long, suspenseful, and very sweaty competitive submission wrestling match.  Kevin had been gunning for VeVe, and he was very eager to defeat her on the mats.  However, VeVe overcame a hefty weight disadvantage to squeak out the one and only submission in the match - in Sudden Death overtime, no less - thereby barely snatching the win for herself.  Since then, Kevin had been itching for a rematch; but enough time would need to pass before an exact rematch could be set up.

Fast forward a few months, into the dead of winter.  February, to be specific.  VeVe and Kevin had finally managed to reconnect, meeting up for a competitive bondage wrestling match which they'd been trying to schedule for a little while.  Though it wasn't a submission rematch, it was another chance for Kevin to take a competitive crack at VeVe.  And so, he was eager for the opportunity... and determined to take home the win on this one.

Did it matter to Kevin that he'd never tied someone up before?  I really don't think so.  He didn't seem worried at all about the new medium, and I suspect he figured he'd just find his way through by instinct.  What mattered more than anything was the renewed opportunity.

VeVe, on the other hand, was less single-minded about the whole thing.  On the one hand, she felt confident that she could defeat Kevin in bondage wrestling: this was her arena, her game, and only she had the refined arsenals of quick-tying techniques.  However, she strongly suspected the match would be long and tough (oh, if only she truly knew what was to come...).  Kevin outweighed her by about 60 lbs, a disadvantage that was exacerbated by the fact that he was an experienced wrestler, both in scholastic pin-style and in submission style.

But VeVe had more years of experience in jiujitsu and all of the advantage when it came to rope-work, so she felt confident in this one.

When we arrived at the studio on that cold February day, we discovered the room had been pre-set for a party that was to take place that evening.  The space was split at a diagonal angle by a large, clear plastic backdrop that'd been decorated with red dots.  There were red balloons along the ceiling and occasionally around the room.  And some of the usual props and furniture items where in different places or standing at different angles.

As a result of the partitioning, we decided to use only 3 of our 4 mats, creating a slightly smaller playing space.  With the combination of colors involved - the red and blue mats, and the red and clear backdrop, Kevin and VeVe in respective red and blue - and the way the light interacted with the drop, I felt like the setting looked like a game show.  Frankly, I liked the background and set up so much that I wish we could have used it for more things later.  But, alas, that setting was but fleeting, as these party-decor type things are.

Anyway...

The match turned out to be unlike anything we had expected it to be.  Well, actually, maybe I should more accurately say that it turned out to be an unexpected amplification of anything would could have expected it to be.

I won't go into too much detail about the match itself, since I've written about it in a variety of other places (such as the official description page), but I will give a few general impressions before getting to the pictures.

The thumb injury.  That was a massive handicap.  If you hadn't heard, VeVe suffered a thumb sprain about 27 minutes into the match.  That proved to be a big hindrance when it came to actually finishing a knot tightly enough to hold, to looping the rope, to doing any really fine work with the tying in general.  So, a match that might have lasted 40 minutes ended up lasting 2 hours.  There's no doubt that VeVe's loss of hand dexterity played a huge role in making that battle that much harder.  What would it have been like if that didn't happen?  Also, since it did happen, how fortunate that it was the left hand and not the dominant right hand.

The pain.  Both VeVe and Kevin seemed keen to ignore their pain receptors on this one.  Putting thumb injury aside, we also witnessed some pretty considerable rope bite going on.  Some indeed especially with Kevin on the receiving end.  But while rope burn and rope bite can force an opponent into stillness and can intimidate the struggle out of them, Kevin's will to win was so strong that he just dealt with the pain and kept working.  'Tis but a flesh wound.  VeVe, for her part, demonstrated some interesting vocalizations when dealing with her various pains, but, like Kevin, she refused to let a little thing like pain get in the way of her critical fight for victory.

The fatigue.  This was an immune system test, for sure.  What with time being no object - we had no need to vacate the space any time soon - and with both competitors being much more interested in victory than in anything else at that moment, these two drove themselves on in marathon style.  I remember seeing them sweating at one point, but then, as they climbed toward their second hour, they weren't really sweating any more... It wasn't overly warm in there as it was, given the winter + warehouse factor.  Then, again, there was the drive-yourself-into-the-dirt factor, the desperate-to-win factor, the wrack-your-dehydrated-brain factor.  Yeah, immuno test for sure.

Thirst for Victory, indeed.  Really.  Literally, I mean.

Well!  Anyway, it was a feat!  But enough words from me, enjoy some of the screen still pictures below!