The Cowgirl Rides Again! Julia Rogers vs Suzumi Ishikawa

Julia honestly didn’t know what kind of reaction to expect. Suzumi didn’t owe her anything right now. Given the circumstances, the cowgirl likely would have understood if her foe had been too angry to shake her hand. But she was glad that didn’t prove to be the case. And the crowd responded to the display of sportsmanship with approving applause.

By now the masked blonde finally felt capable of speaking again, which she did in Japanese. “Thank you for fighting me with everything you had tonight. You were amazing! I hope we get a chance to have another match sometime.” During her time training in the Higurashi Dojo, Julia had asked Akashi to teach her to speak Japanese as a way to help her better connect with the fans here. Even though Suzumi spoke English fluently, Julia used Japanese here in hopes that it would help properly convey her respect for Suzumi and the incredible effort she had given tonight.

The fact that Julia used Japanese did make Suzumi smile. "Thanks! I really think we could get together again and have a fun little battle between the ropes huh? I will totally win next time though so don't get too used to this." Suzumi said motioning to the cheering crowd around her. "Well, actually if I won they would still be cheering so like forget what I just said. Congrats on being back." Suzumi said with a smile and pat on the back to Julia before she began to make her way to the ropes to give Julia some solo time in the spotlight.

Winner via pinfall: Julia Rogers