One wrestler, however, didn't duck the opportunity to face Knowles. In fact, she demanded a match! In the year since her debut, Kate Hudson had impressed one and all with her ring skill, inherited from and carefully nurtured by her mother, the famous 60's catfighter Goldie Hawn. Few women could claim to have pinned Kate and the only thing that kept her from a top-ranking as contender was that she wrestled so infrequently. Unlike most women in the Hollywood Wrestling Alliance, Kate didn't take matches on a regular basis, rather she methodically spent weeks studying opponents moves and training to beat that particular woman. Such determination had rewarded her with a string of victories, but her overall record had too few matches to elevate her to the top ranking she deserves.

But Kate knew that a decisive win over Beyonce Knowles would change that instantly. For her part, Beyonce was happy to accept the challenge. Few women in the league gave her pause and Kate certainly wasn't one. She respected the blonde's talent, but she believed she, not Kate, was the better wrestler. Kate would be just one more rung up the ladder of victory for the dusky blonde beauty.

As the match approached, Kate did her usual intensive training, specifically geared to pit her skill against her opponent's vulnerability. Beyonce is impressively strong and agile, Kate knew, and she also has phenomenal stamina (performing live in concert night after night, executing tightly-choreographed dance routines while continuously singing gave Beyonce the endurance to last long after others had collapsed in exhaustion). In a drawn-out battle, Beyonce would gain the advantage as Kate's reserves of strength faded thus, the blonde would have to take her opponent down relatively fast with a plan of attack Beyonce wouldn't expect. Armed with this understanding, Kate went to work in the gym.

Arriving at the arena, Kate was spotted squeezing rubber racquetballs with each hand, something she’d done in every spare minute for over a week. No one was quite sure why, although there was no doubt that it must be a part of her master plan. In a pre-match interview, when asked what her strategy was and if she thought she could avoid falling...as so many others had...to the Bootilicious, Kate replied with a grin and a gleam in her eye, "Live by the booty...die by the booty!"

As the two young women stood in their corners awaiting the start of the match, they locked eyes, waging a war of mettle, each attempting to psyche out the other. But neither betrayed the slightest self-doubt for both were good…and they knew it! Lack of confidence wasn’t a shortcoming of either.

When the bell rang, they both sauntered to the middle of the ring, seemingly unconcerned about the other, then began to circle. The smirk each wore could infuriate any opponent not supremely self-assured of herself. Finally, they came together in a standard lock-up, muscles tensing as they struggled. Then, in a sudden blur of motion, Kate shifted her weight and snared Beyonce with a side headlock, expertly tensing her arm at the exact spot that would cause maximum discomfort. Beyonce winced, but almost immediately countered, wrapping her arms around the blonde's waist and heaving her into the air in a backdrop.

Kate took the brunt on the impact on her shoulders but Beyonce was free of the hold. She sprang to her feet and reached for Kate, but Kate caught her with an armdrag and flung her down to the canvas. Beyonce rolled with the toss and was standing again in a heartbeat, but the blonde struck faster still, planting a kick into Beyonce's belly that took her breath away briefly.

Grabbing Beyonce’s hair, Kate snapmared her to the canvas - then repeated the move. Next came an Irish Whip into the ropes which sent the careening Beyonce straight back into the ring where she was met with a forearm smash. A leg drop across the throat did further damage before Kate rolled Beyonce up in a small package for the pin.

But it was far too early in the match for the likes of Beyonce to be taken out so easily! She kicked out of the small package before the referee got to say "Two" which actually suited Kate just fine. She didn't want the match to end too quickly, either.

Both returned to their feet and cautiously circled once again. Then, with viper speed, Beyonce caught Kate’s wrist and twisted her arm. Kate doubled over as her arm was nearly torn from its socket. As she bent forward, the blonde was hit with a knee to the jaw, snapping her head upward and buckling her legs. Releasing the armbar, Beyonce allowed the stunned Kate to stand up...then nailed her with a superkick to her already-aching jaw.

Kate was flipped over backward, crashing to the mat like a toppled tree!

Beyonce grabbed Kate’s lower legs and, in a tremendous show of strength, began to swing her around and around until the moaning blonde’s body lifted off of the canvas. She was swung around parallel to the mat until Beyonce let her go and the hapless young blonde crashed to the mat again. Kate sat up, her senses reeling, then toppled over backward holding her spinning head with both hands.

Focusing her assault on Kate's legs, Beyonce began twisting, yanking and stomping her long, lithe limbs. Slowly, Kate crawled to the ropes, dragging Beyonce with her until she was able to grab the strands to force her tormentor to let her go. Instead of releasing Kate, Beyonce pulled on her ankles, lifting her in the air and yanking her hands off the ropes. Kate’s small, perky breasts were smashed into the mat by the upper body as she fell, then Beyonce pulled her back to the center of the ring. The ref admonished the Black Beauty, but didn’t disqualify her for what was considered a minor infraction.

Maintaining control of the fight, Beyonce picked Kate up for an over-the-shoulder backbreaker...but Kate suddenly came to life, sliding down Beyonce’s back before she secured the hold. Kate shoved the startled Beyonce forward, her momentum flipping Beyonce over the top rope out of the ring to the arena floor.

Picking herself up, Beyonce scowled at Kate then turned to respond to a heckling spectator...all the chance the blonde needed. Rushing to the ropes, Kate hurled herself over the top rope and hit Beyonce with a crossbody block. Both crashed to the cement floor, with Kate on top of Beyonce who absorbed the entire impact.

As the referee began his interminably slow count to twenty, Kate brought Beyonce back up by her hair and whipped her into the metal guard rail. Again taking her by the arm, Kate was about to repeat the move, but Beyonce was still lucid enough to reverse and she sent Kate smashing head-first into the unyielding steel ring steps.

The blonde dropped curled up to the floor writhing in pain. Running on pure adrenaline, Beyonce pulled Kate to her feet and rolled the dazed and senseless blonde into the ring under the bottom rope. Following her in, Beyonce stomped her in the back several times before she dragged her back to her feet by her hair. Kate's glassy eyes and slack jaw make it brutally obvious she is only barely hanging on to consciousness.

The time had come, Beyonce knew, to administer her finishing deathblow. The crowd sensed it too and an electric current rippled through the spectators as they anticipated yet another wrestler humbled by the seemingly unstoppable Ebony Express.

Irish whipped into the corner, Kate couldn't get out of the way before Beyonce nailed her with an Avalanche. The stunned blonde slowly sank down on her ass, sitting upright with her back against the turnbuckles...exactly the way Beyonce wanted her!

All the fans knew what was coming, and a deafening cheer went up as Beyonce began a seductive dance, shaking her rear end before her prey, savoring the moment and letting the roar of the crowd grow more feverish. It was great theater, but it was also Beyonce's fatal mistake.

She’d failed to take into account that Kate had amazing recuperative powers and that the injuries inflicted on her while damaging weren’t devastating. She was able to gather her wits in the few extra moments granted her so that when Beyonce finally started to apply her coup de grace, turning her backside to the blond and moving in for the smother, Kate had the presence of mind to lash out her right foot.

Kate’s boot caught the sepia battler flush in the crotch and Beyonce grabbed her womanhood with a shriek, tumbling forward to the canvas. After several painful moments, she struggled to get up...but Kate was already on her feet and she stomped her boot hard to the back of her rival's head. Then, Kate grabbed Beyonce by the hair and hauled her roughly to her feet.

A front face slam left Beyonce dazed and once again down on the mat. Now, it was Kate’s turn to execute the final phase of her attack. She sat on the small of Beyonce’s back to hold her down and sank her long, powerful fingers into each cheek of Beyonce's ass, clamping on an excruciating Glute Claw!

An electric jolt painfully shot through Beyonce's buttocks and radiated upward! This was like nothing she’d never experience before and the agony was blinding! As the blonde tightened her claw, the only response Beyonce could muster was to thrash her arms and kick her feet, desperately trying to wriggle free. But there was no escape from the hold, only more torturous pain.

It was a brilliant tactic, one that it turned Beyonce's presumed strength into a weakness - and one administered a dash of humiliation to the wrestler who had humbled so many others in the league. Kate couldn't have picked a more wickedly perfect strategy...and Beyonce, too late, realized it.

Eventually...inevitably...Beyonce screamed out her submission. It took Kate a long heartbeat to release her hold; it had been applied so forcefully that the muscles in her hands were almost paralyzed in that position. For the next few days, Kate would complain...but always with a smile...that her fingers were numbed to the point of near-uselessness. For her part, Beyonce would complain...without any trace of a smile ...that she couldn’t sit down without severe discomfort.

That single match had altered the balance of power in the league for Kate Hudson was now a force to be reckoned with in the HWA! But Beyonce had taken the measure of Kate and thought she had seen weaknesses she could exploit and she couldn’t wait to do so!