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 Yosuke ♡ Santa Maria in July 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Yosuke Watanabe[2] (1991-12-14)14 December 1991 (age 33)[2][1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Former Super Shenlong III: Yosuke Watanabe[1] Super Shenlong III[1] Yosuke ♡ Santa Maria[1] Yosuke Watanabe[1] |
| Billed height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2] |
| Billed weight | 73 kg (161 lb)[2][1] |
| Trained by | Nex Wrestling School[2] |
| Debut | May 30, 2011[2] |
Yosuke Watanabe (渡辺陽介,Watanabe Yōsuke; born December 14, 1991),[2] better known under thering nameYosuke ♡ Santa Maria (ヨースケ♡サンタマリア,Yōsuke Santa Maria), is a Japaneseprofessional wrestler currently working forDragon Gate. Anexótico, she is a formerOpen the Brave Gate Champion andOpen the Owarai Gate Champion.[3]
Watanabe trained for her professional wrestling career in theJapanese promotionDragon Gate's wrestling school called "Dragon Gate Nex" and made her debut on January 26, 2011 at Dragon Gate Nex'sSanctuary.71 show inKobe, Hyogo, Japan, wrestling to a draw against fellow trainee, and future stable mate,Eita Kobayashi. She later "graduated" to the main Dragon Gate shows as a low ranking rookie. On April 19, 2012, Watanabe would become the third incarnation ofSuper Shenlong (三代目超神龍,Sandaime Sūpā Shenron), she would also form -akatsuki- along Chihiro Tominaga,Shingo Takagi andYamato. On May 6, -akatsuki- defeatedMad Blankey in an eight-person tag team match.[4] Super Shenlong teamed up with Takagi and Yamato to participate in 2012'sSummer Adventure Tag League with their only win going against Mad Blankey'sCyber Kong,Kzy and Mondai Ryu.[5] On August 1, 2013, -akatsuki- was forced to disband, after losing toMad Blankey in a five-on-four tag team match.[6] Also part of the stipulation, Super Shenlong was forced to unmask revealing her true identity, thus adopting the ring name ofFormer Super Shenlong III, Yosuke Watanabe (元三代目超神龍・渡辺陽介,Moto Sandaime Sūpā Shenron Watanabe Yōsuke). During theSummer Adventure Tag League,Naruki Doi turned onMasato Yoshino, meaning that Watanabe would fill Doi's spot in the tournament.[7] The team defeatedDon Fujii andMasaaki Mochizuki.
No longer wanting to hide her true feelings, Watanabe joined the Millennials and renamed herselfYosuke ♡ Santa Maria (after the Japanese actorYūsuke Santamaria), stating that she now used feminine pronouns. In keeping with the Millennialslucha libre style, Santa Maria is anexótico, a person who fights indrag, incorporating dancing, feminine costumes and outrageous moves such as Sky Love and Zona Rosa. On February 22, 2014, Santa Maria debuted forDragon Gate USA losing toCaleb Konley,[8] the following night she defeatedEthan Page.[9] On March 1, Santa Maria had her first championship match againstGenki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!! for theOpen the Brave Gate Championship, which she lost.[10] On November 2, Santa Maria teamed with the unaffiliated "Mr. High Tension" Kotoka andYuga Hayashi to defeatDon Fujii, Stalker Ichikawa andSuper Shisa, teasing their eventual joining.[11] Four days later, the Millennials defeated Team Veteran Returns forcing them to disband, had the Millennials lost they would have been deported.[12] On November 30, Santa Maria was pinned during a hair vs hair match.[12] Santa Maria was forced into the chair for her haircut and despite her rampant protests, Fujii said that the rules were the rules, and as such the show has to end with Maria having her head shaved.[12] However, he had a change of heart after seeing how dejected Santa Maria was, and after offering to cut someone else's hair, decided to cut his own hair in an act he consideredtanpatsushiki.[12] FollowingFlamita vacating the Open the Brave Gate Championship and abandoning the Millennials, Santa Maria entered a tournament to crown a new winner but on January 1, 2015, she lost toDr. Muscle in the first round. On February 4, Santa Maria defeatedJimmy Kanda and via fan support won theOpen the Owarai Gate Championship, his first professional wrestling title.[13] She lost the title toAkira Tozawa on March 29, 2015.[14] On August 6, 2015, Millennials lost a three-way match and were as a result forced to disband.[15] Despite this, Watanabe retained the Yosuke♡ Santa Maria gimmick.[16]
On March 5, 2016, Santa Maria defeated Kotoka to win theOpen the Brave Gate Championship. On May 28, Santa Maria, along withBxB Hulk, Yamato, and Kzy, formed a new unit named Tribe Vanguard. On July 24, Santa Maria lost the Open the Brave Gate Championship to her former Millennials stablemate, Eita. In the latter half of 2016, Santa Maria began teaming withEl Lindaman, with the duo beginning a kayfabe romance after Lindaman confessed that he liked Santa Maria and wanted "to fight with and protect her", the duo was officially named the Marilyns. After a poor showing in the 2016 Summer Adventure Tag League where the Marilyns tied for last place in their block with just two points,[17] Tribe Vanguard leader Yamato declared that Lindaman would not be allowed to join their unit and Santa Maria slapped Lindaman, officially breaking up the Marilyns. In March 2017, Santa Maria participated in a tournament to crown a new Open The Brave Gate Championship, she lost to Lindaman in the semi-finals.
Watanabe's gimmick is that of anexótico, or a wrestler performing in femininedrag. In accordance with the gimmick, Watanabe has long, feminine like hair, and wears makeup and a skirt during matches. Watanabe is also exclusively referred to using feminine pronouns and considered awoman by the Dragon Gate roster. Since becoming Santa Maria in 2014, Watanabe's popularity has skyrocketed with fans, becoming one of the most popular acts in the company.[18]
