(This story is an edited version of Ellen’s exploits in the club’s first senior wrestling tournament which took place the year after her fight with Jan. I’ve written accounts of all 18 fights, some more complete than others, so let me know if there’s one you’d particularly like to read and I’ll polish it up and post it.)

In the days that followed her fight against Jan, Ellen felt elated. She’d forgotten how liberating physical combat could be and how much she’d missed it. Yes, she had lost the fight and, yes, Jan’s style wasn’t really to her liking but Jan was right, she was a good fighter and it wasn’t too late to get back into the ring.

After she finished her next workout at the gym, as Jan had suggested, she stopped by the club secretary’s office for a chat with Erica.

The Combative Ladies Amateur Wrestling Society, known colloquially among its members as the Amazon Club or simply ‘the club’, had been founded some thirty years ago when he gym’s co-owner and former wrestler, Maggie Robertson, began coaching four twenty year old women who were looking for a more physical workout how to wrestle.

Ellen had joined the club nine years after it started when she was twenty-five and fought in the league for nine years. In those nine years she had held the league title eight times.

Ellen explained to Erica how she had decided to return to fighting and was looking for opponents. To her pleasant surprise Erica said she had just the thing for her. The club was planning to run a ‘seniors’ wrestling tournament the following year and was looking for six former champions to take part, six fights over the course of a year.

Would Ellen like to be one of them? – Of course she would.

A few weeks later Erica called. Ellen was busy with a customer so it was only later she picked up the voice mail:

“Hi Ellen, we’re having a meeting on Thursday to discuss the plans and rules for the senior tournament. Can you be at the club for 7:30? We’ll meet in the conference room. If you can’t make it let me know, otherwise I’ll see you there – oh, and bring your wrestling gear, we’ll want to do a photo shoot.”

The gleaming modern health club Ellen walked into that Thursday evening was very different to the converted warehouse she’d entered as a rookie fighter when she’d joined the club 23 years before. Half way through Ellen’s time there, Maggie and John Robertson had sold their gym to Anglo-German female fitness entrepreneur Gabi Marshall. A keen female fighter herself, Gabi had turned the club into a proper business, a somewhat secret adjunct to her business empire.

The old industrial area was undergoing redevelopment and Gabi moved with the times, replacing the old warehouse with a brand-new building that doubled as both a gym and health spa and the HQ of the “Marshall’s” company. What many people didn’t know was that the building also housed a facility dedicated to female combat with an arena boasting a 400 sq ft ring and seating for 100 spectators as well as a state-of-the-art videoing system. The club was now run by Gabi herself along with her young cousin Erica and Jay, one of the original club members, both of whom were also executives of the “Marshall’s” company.

Ellen was the last to enter the conference room, where the other five fighters were already assembled along with Erica and Jay, who would referee the matches. Ellen was pleased to see that she had previously fought five of the other women in the room, including the referee.

Erica explained that the tournament would be fought over six rounds, with one event every two months for a year, supporting the league’s ‘champion of champions’ matches. The first five events would determine the hierarchy of the fighters and the final event would pair them based on rank, the top two fighting for the title of ‘senior wrestling champion’.

Jay went on to outline the rules and scoring system. The bouts would be fought under standard club rules. Twenty-minute time limit, unlimited falls (three count pins or submissions) with one-minute breaks between falls, and a ten count for a knockout win. Fighters would be awarded three points for a knockout, two for a ‘falls’ win, one for a draw and none for a loss. In the event two fighters had the same number of points after the first five events their fall aggregate (falls for and against) would be used to decide the ranking.

Finally, Erica announced that each fighter would get £100 per fight plus a share of the video royalties and prizes of £2000, £1000 and £500 would be awarded to the champion and second and third places respectively.

Each girl was then sent in turn to be weighed and measured and have publicity shots taken in their fighting attire by ‘video Jill’ the club’s resident film maker.

Ellen was mildly surprised to find the photographer was the same Jill who had filmed her fight with Jan.

“Hello Ellen.” Said Jill when she saw her. “Jan will be so pleased to hear you’re going back to fighting, I wish you all the best.”

Individual photo shoots over, the girls were led to the ring where Jill shot a short video in which Jay introduced each fighter. The girls lined up in the centre of the ring and Jill panned from left to right.

The first girl the camera focused on was a large breasted brunette with dark, almost black, frizzy hair – almost an afro. She was wearing white sports briefs with a vertical burgundy stripe on the right hip. Jay introduced her:

“Suzi Lomax is 41 years old, a Leo, 5 feet 5 inches tall, measures 38DD-29-42 and weighs 160lbs. Suzi fought in the league for 11 years and had 14 title wins. She retired as champion 6 years ago.”

Ellen knew Suzi, they had faced each other a couple of times in the league and the honours were even. Like her, Suzi had retired young and was the first person to retire from the league while holding both the wrestling and boxing titles.

The camera moved to the next girl in the line, a solidly built brunette with a pageboy haircut and small breasts wearing red sports briefs.

“Rachel Woods is 46 years old, a Scorpio, 5 feet 6 inches tall, measures 36B-28-38 and weighs 140lbs. Rachel fought in the league for 4 years and had 2 title wins. She retired 6 years ago.

Rachel was the one woman in the group that Ellen hadn’t fought. She had joined the club late in life, a couple of years after Ellen had retired, and had a brief period of success as a wrestler and a less successful run as a boxer before retiring.

The camera moved on to a statuesque blonde with shoulder length hair wearing a pair of royal blue sports briefs.

“Gabi Marshal is 52 years old, a Cancer, 5 feet 10 inches tall, measures 36C-27-38 and weighs 155lbs. She wrestled in the league for two and a half years and had 7 title wins. She retired 12 years ago.”

Club owner Gabi had only had 16 league wrestling matched but 10 of them had been title fights. She had beaten Ellen in all three of their encounters, twice in title bouts. Unlike Ellen she had continued to fight occasional exhibition matches at the club after she retired.

The camera moved on to Ellen, her blonde hair slightly longer than Gabi’s and tied back in a short pony tail. She was wearing the turquoise bikini bottoms she’d worn in her fight with Jan. She smiled sweetly at the camera as Jay introduced her.

“Ellen Shaw is 46 years old, an Aries, 5 feet 7 inches tall, measures 38C-29-42 and weighs 155lbs. Ellen fought in the league for 9 years and had 8 title wins. She retired 12 years ago.”

The camera moved on to a shorter blonde woman with large breasts and straight, waist length hair wearing a simple pair of black hipster briefs.

“Clare Forbes is 50 years old, a Taurus, 5 feet 3 inches tall, measures 36D-27-38 and weighs 140lbs. Clare fought in the league for 16 years and had 21 title wins. She retired 10 years ago.”

Ellen had fought Clare more often than any of the other women in the group. Despite Ellen’s height and weight advantage the pair were well matched and probably about even on their encounters.

The last girl in the line was a shapely redhead with hair down to her breasts who was wearing bikini bottoms with blue and silver diagonal stripes.

“Christine Bennett is 46 years old, also a Taurus, 5 feet 6 inches tall, measures 38C-28-40 and weights 150lbs. Christine fought in the league for 16 years and had 25 title wins. She retired as champion 7 years ago.”

Ellen had also fought Christine several times but had been less successful against the woman who was generally acknowledged to be the most successful wrestler the club had ever known. There was no doubt in Ellen’s mind that, while the other girls would be tough opponents, Christine would be the one to beat.

Video recorded Erica thanked the ladies who changed back into their street clothes and went their separate ways. The next time they met would be in the ring.

In the weeks between that initial meeting and the first round of the tournament Ellen started training with her old friends and soon to be opponents Clare and Suzi and by the time she stepped into the ring she was in considerably better shape than when she had faced Jan a few months earlier.

In her first-round match Ellen faced Rachel, the one woman she hadn’t fought before. After a slow start that saw her drop two falls in quick succession Ellen fought back to win the match by five falls to three.

In the other first round matches Clare fought back twice from a fall down against Suzi but ran out of steam in the closing stages and lost by four falls to two and Christine snatched a last-minute pin to win 5-4 against Gabi. After the first round Ellen and Suzi were in joint first place.

In the next round Ellen faced Gabi. In their league years Ellen had never beaten the older woman but on this occasion she did so in style, knocking Gabi out in the 14th minute.

Clare beat Christine by five falls to three and Suzi scored a TKO over Rachel when the smaller woman was unable to continue after sustaining a back injury in the 3rd fall. After two rounds Ellen lead the field moving ahead of Suzi on points.

Ellen’s next opponent was Christine and she suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the redhead. A positive start had seen Ellen go five falls to two up after 14 minutes but she had over reached herself and began to tire. Christine trapped her in a corner and delivered a series of knee lifts and (illegal) closed fist punches to her sex before gaining a submission from a combination of a reverse leg spread and arm stretch. With Ellen unable to recover during the break, the 9th fall was something of a formality. Christine got her victim on her back and delivered a series of attacks on her fanny culminating in a head but to the groin and left her unable to beat the count.

After losing a long first fall, Gabi took control of her match with Suzi, eventually winning it by five falls to one. Clare went behind early in her match against Rachel and was unable to equalise, losing by three falls to two. Despite her loss Ellen was still leading on falls although Suzi and Christine had the same number of match points.

In the fourth round Ellen faced old rival Clare and the bout seemed to be headed for a draw at the 18-minute mark when Clare managed to pin the larger woman to go four-three up. Ellen attempted to equalize but the match ended with Clare trapped in an agonising camel clutch but refusing to submit.

Suzi managed to reverse a last-minute attempt at an equalizing pin by Christine to defeat the redhead by four falls to two while Gabi dominated Rachel in a one-sided match that saw the blonde take five falls to the brunette’s one. Suzi’s win put her in first place on match points with Ellen and Christine two points behind but Clare and Gabi were catching up and almost any of them could make the final two.

Suzi may have entered the final qualifying round of the tournament in first place but knock out victories by Christine and Gabi had moved her down to third place by the time she entered the ring to face Ellen for the final qualifying bout. Both women were in with a shot at the title but while Suzi only needed to draw this final match, Ellen needed a win by three clear falls. With 15 minutes gone Ellen was leading by three falls to one but still needed another fall to move ahead of Gabi on falls difference.

Clearly frustrated by the way things were going and sensing her shot at the final slipping away Suzi decided to go for broke. She spun Ellen into the ropes before launching herself at the perpendicular set of ropes, it was clear she wanted to finish her opponent or be finished herself. Ellen gamely took up the challenge and both girls sprung back off the ropes and flew past each other to ricochet off the opposing ropes, repeating the manoeuvre twice, gathering momentum as they went. When the inevitable mid-ring collision occurred the smack of breasts and crack of heads echoed around the hall and both girls went down on their backs clearly in trouble. The question now was which could beat the count. Suzi lay clutching her head while Ellen rolled over at the count of 5 and began crawling towards the ropes. As the count reached 8 a dazed Ellen pulled herself up by the ropes and stood, somewhat unsteadily, for a moment staring at the audience. Bewildered to hear the count continue she turned in time to see Jay administer the 10 count to a still prone Suzi. The knockout victory secured Ellen’s place in the final against Christine.

In the final round of the tournament Clare gained revenge on Rachel, easily overcoming the brunette, who retired in the 12th minute when she was trailing four falls to nothing, to take fifth place.

A much closer encounter saw Suzi take third place in the tournament, beating Gabi by four falls to three.

And then it was time to decide the senior champion…

Ellen entered the ring first, wearing the same turquoise bikini briefs she’d worn for the photo shoot a year earlier, and headed for the blue corner where her second, Emily, was waiting. One year and five fights into her ‘come back’ Ellen was fighting for the title. Her opponent, Christine, followed her into the ring wearing a pair of white bikini briefs traced through with threads of silver, and took her place in the red corner where her second (and lover) Francesca, was waiting. Referee Jay introduced them:

“Ladies and gentlemen. In the blue corner, now 47 years old, 5 feet 7 inches tall, measuring 38C-29-42 and weighing 155lbs – Ellen!”

Ellen took a bow.

“And in the red corner, also 47 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, measuring 38C-28-40 and weighing 150lbs – Christine!”

The pair were almost perfectly matched, just weeks apart in age and of similar height and build. Ellen had a slight height and weight advantage over the redhead but Christine had a far more impressive track record and had won their encounter 6 months earlier. The question was whether Ellen could get her revenge and take the title.

At the opening bell Christine charged across the ring, grabbed Ellen by the left arm and tossed her to the mat. She then dragged her back to her feet and repeated the manoeuvre twice more before hoisting the dazed blonde in the air, body slamming her and following her down to wrap her up in a simple folding press. Jay dropped to the mat and counted the pin. With just 45 seconds on the clock Christine had the first fall. To add insult, before she released her victim, she peeled off Ellen’s turquoise pants leaving the blonde naked and made her way back to her corner.

Ellen was quickly on her feet and, covering her modesty, crossed to Christine’s corner where the redhead was now waving her trophy at the audience. After several seconds of heated exchanges Jay intervened and ordered Christine to hand the pants back. Ellen crossed to the other corner and started to put them back on just as the bell sounded for the start of the second fall.

Once again Christine charged across the ring catching her opponent from behind as she stood on one leg slipping the turquoise briefs over her right foot. Ellen was upended, slammed to the mat and pinned again with a cross press, this time with a naked butt on display. Jay counted to three, the bell rand and Christine released the hold.

As Christine stood up and turned away, Ellen got quickly to her feet, grabbing her pants, and charged after her. Catching her from behind Ellen put her pants over her opponent’s head, effectively blinding her. Instead of intervening, Jay shouted “start the clock” to time keeper Sally who started the third fall as Ellen clattered Christine into a neutral corner and delivered a series of forearms to the breasts and knee lifts to her crotch before slamming the still blindfolded redhead to the mat. Jay started the count over the fallen woman. Christine removed her opponent’s outfit from her head and rose slowly with the briefs bunched in her right hand. As she came to her knees, she launched herself at Ellen and, before the blonde could react, returned the favour by pulling the pants over her head. She then delivered a knee to her groin, flipped Ellen over and applied a simple matchbook pin to take the 3rd fall in under two minutes. The bell sounded again and Christine went back to her corner leaving the blonde on the mat with her knickers still over her head. Ellen rose slowly and, removing the pants, made her way to the blue corner. Finally, she had a moment of respite to dress herself before resuming the match at a significant disadvantage.

After this initial flurry of action Ellen managed to compose herself and the match settled down to a more routine affair with both girls trading holds in equal measure. Ellen came close to securing a pin several times in the next few minutes but it was the redhead who scored next, a few seconds short of the five-minute mark, when she succeeded in following a snap suplex with a cross press to take the score to four-nil.

Back in her corner a dazed Ellen clearly couldn’t understand her luck but it was very much a case of ‘never say die’ as she came out for the fifth fall and her determination paid off in the 7th minute when she finally opened her account with a figure 4 leg lock that left her opponent still limping at the start of the sixth fall. Attempting to capitalize on her opponent’s discomfort nearly spelled disaster for Ellen, as she lunged for the apparently weakened leg only to find herself caught in a powerful head scissors. After a titanic struggle she eventually pulled free and eventually secured a grapevine pin to bring the score to four-two after 10 minutes.

Both girls were breathing hard as they came out for the seventh fall but Ellen wore a look of determination and it seemed, for a while at least, that she could turn things around. Several failed pin and submission attempts from the blonde came to an abrupt end after 14 minutes when Christine kicked out from a cross press and unseated her foe.

As Ellen got to her feet Christine grabbed her by both wrists and twisted to lock her arms behind her. With Ellen’s arms at full stretch Christine increased the pressure by placing her right foot on her opponent’s back, forcing her to her knees. Maintaining the pressure Christine sat down behind her victim and hooked her left leg around Ellen’s, screaming at her to submit. Despite clearly being in agony Ellen repeatedly refused…until Christine suddenly shifted her right foot to Ellen’s right thigh and rocked backward to pitch the unfortunate woman skywards! Shocked, Ellen struggled to find her voice before screaming her submission but initially Christine kept the hold on until Jay shouted at her to break it. She released Ellen’s arms and catapulted her back to the mat. Christine now lead by five falls to two and the blonde was clearly beaten.

Astonishingly, Ellen made it back to her corner before the end of the break and came out for the 8th fall. But the traffic was all one way now with Ellen on the receiving end of throw after throw and slam after slam until, eventually, Christine threw her into a corner and body checked her. Ellen hung on the ropes in the corner, clearly out cold, until Christine hooked an arm behind her neck and bulldogged her to the mat. Ellen lay face down, unmoving, as Jay counted to 10. As the bell rang Christine bent down over her victim over and, despite protests from Emily in the blue corner, once again removed those turquoise briefs, leaving the still unconscious blonde naked.

Christine went back to her corner where Francesca welcomed her with a passionate kiss. Meanwhile Emily entered the ring and bent down beside her fighter, who was just beginning to stir.

After a minute and with Ellen barely conscious Jay insisted on formally announcing the result so Emily helped her to her feet and they joined Jay and Christine in the centre of the ring. Emily held the naked woman upright long enough for Jay to announce:

“Ladies and gentlemen. After sixteen minutes and forty seconds. Your winner. By a knockout. Our first senior wrestling champion. Christine!”

Ellen had lost the fight and her outfit. She hardly knew what day it was as Emily guided her back to the blue corner, slipped a robe over her naked body and helped out of the ring and into the dressing room. Meanwhile Christine stayed in the ring doing a victory dance, waving her victim’s turquoise pants above her head.