Welcome to another edition of #FinisherFriday! This is Wreddit_Regal showcasing one of the few exótico wrestlers in the Asian region, as well as her unique take on a wrestling finisher.
Although the landscape of professional wrestling has had its fair share of fighters who became exótico from the very beginning of their careers, I think that no one played out the story of "coming out" while being an active part of their roster like Yosuke♥Santa Maria did. First appearing as the third incarnation of Dragon Gate's Super Shenlong in 2012, Yosuke Watanabe fought as an enmascarado for a year until he was forced to unmask and show his true identity as a result of losing a multi-man match. Little did the whole DG roster and audience know that in 2014, he would find the courage to come out and reveal his true self to be the feminine Yosuke♥Santa Maria.
As an exótico, Santa Maria wrestles with the flamboyance and elegance of a drag queen, taking many opponents with surprise with her offense that borders the lines of being PG:
But when push comes to shove, she seems to forget her feminine side and let that testosterone take control:
Her finisher is the standard crucifix driver, named Neraiuchi:
Unlike Leon Ruff's crucifix driver, which uses his right leg as the main "turning force," Santa Maria prefers to use her right arm to make the opponent's body flip backwards.
One notable aspect of Santa Maria's finisher is that she has the presence of mind to use it as a counter to the opponent's offense, shown by the example below:
This puts the Neraiuchi at the top of the crucifix driver mountain, leaving others in a trail of dust including:
Bandido
Mayu Iwatani
Austin Aries
Kayden Carter
Using my Regal Rating, I would give this finisher a
9/10 for aesthetics. Santa Maria can do it vanilla, as a counter, or as the finale her world-famous kiss! What more could you ask for in a crucifix driver?
8/10 for damage. Attributing to her size, Santa Maria drives the opponent really hard onto the mat, making sure to deal substantial damage to the head and neck (while preventing both arms from raising up) for that sweet 1-2-3 victory.
And that's it chaps, my short review of the Neraiuchi! Do you think Yosuke♥Santa Maria can once again win the Open the Brave Gate title? Let us know in the comment section below!
Wreddit_Regal is the resident sports kinesiologist of Reddit's wrestling forum, r/squaredcircle. From the most basic of punches to the most intricate double-team maneuvers, he can explain them within the realm of human anatomy and physics, because when doing absolutely nothing wrestling-related, he also happens to work as an operating room nurse.
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