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| Hikari Fukuoka vs. Rieko Amano | |
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This was a good match, but like the previous match, it didn't do anything to elevate Amano. I mean, she even lost to her own dobitsuki udehishigigyakujujigatame (jumping takedown into a cross armbar). Amano looked good as always, particularly when launching her knee attack. The problem was that, while the match was a mixture of both women's styles, even the woman who was doing her thing couldn't carry that portion of the match. Amano actually did a moonsault at one point, although it wasn't a good one. 17:14. *** Keith: The core of the match worked in the beginning stage when Amano assaulted Hikari's leg, demonstrating she had a game plan and would force Hikari to move into her style. Hikari began the match in a defensive ground position, recognizing Amano as a shooter and realizing that she would need to change her strategy from a high-paced beginning to a ground attack. Of course, Hikari's main problem is that she doesn't have much of a ground attack to work against Amano's shooter style, so Amano would take control of that portion of the match. In assailing Hikari's leg, Amano effectively attempted to wipe out Fukuoka's main weapon: her moonsault stomp. Yet, the match seemed to fall apart when Amano broke her strategy to use one of Hikari's moves, the moonsault. Unfortunately for Amano, this move didn't work for her and would allow Hikari to make a comeback. Thereafter, it became the Hikari show, moving into high spots and transitions rather than elaborating on the story of Amano's earlier work. Since Hikari pretty much forgot to sell the leg, the storyline was destroyed in favor of the Toyota-esque style. That point of Hikari's failure to sell the leg illustrated why Hikari can't carry (and simultaneously disproved Dean's theory of Hikari "upgrading her psychology like her peers") and exposed that her psychology is primarily Mike's theory of "you do your spot and I'll do mine." Even if Hikari did allow Amano to work her portion of the match, Hikari doesn't have the fortitude, charisma, and the type of spots Manami has to intensify a spot-like match. Although I think Hikari's win with the submission was intended to show that "she can work the shoot style," it didn't come off very well because of how the match degenerated into Hikari's high-paced style. Michael: I agree with the rating, but I would've liked to have seen Amano get one last submission attempt on Hikari's knee before the match ended. It's like Amano abandoned the knee to go for near falls and to me it would've made sense for her to take one more shot at making Hikari tap (before Amano had to tap). There was absolutely no reason for Hikari to beat Amano with her own finisher, as all this did was to embarrass Amano. Being that Hikari wasn't going to adopt the jujigatame as her new finisher, her winning with it here made no sense. I thought that Oz stayed in the jujigatame a little too long in her match with Amano from 3/6, but at least she sold it and didn't beat Amano with it. Special Thanks to: Michael Smith & Keith Watanabe - Manami Toyota Rules! 17:14
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