WWE News: Kairi Sane talks about her elbow drop finisher, the difference between American and Japanese crowds

What’s the story?

In a recent interview with NBC Sports, the winner of the inaugural Mae Young Classic, Kairi Sane, said that American audiences made her happier than Japanese ones. She also said that the elbow drop was her favourite manoeuvre to perform.

In case you didn’t know…

On September 12, 2017, Kairi defeated Shayna Baszler to win the first-ever Mae Young Classic. After the match, Triple H announced that Kairi had earned herself a shot at the vacant NXT Women’s Championship and that she would face three other women from the NXT roster at Takeover: Houston.

The heart of the matter

During her interview with NBC Sports, the former World of Stardom champion was asked about how different it was to perform in front of an American crowd as opposed to a Japanese one.

Kairi said that she loved performing for the American fans and that she loved their reactions, saying:

"I have to say American fans make me happier. I love their reactions. It's very exciting and fun. It's as if they're fighting together with me."

Kairi was then asked about her infamous elbow drop finisher and how she came up with it. She claimed that she first used the move six years ago when she was performing for Stardom back in Japan. She stated that the move remained very important to her and that she wanted to use it to win matches, despite being injured after her first few attempts. She stated:

"I've been doing this for about six years now and at first the diving elbow drop did not work. I got injured and it wasn't my finisher at first, but the move was important to me. I wanted to win using my elbow, so now it has become my form. It's my favourite thing to do when I perform."

What’s next?

When Sane first signed with WWE, there were rumours that claimed that her elbow drop would be banned by the company, due to Raw superstar Bayley using it as her finisher. But now it doesn’t seem to be looking that way, as the move has become super over with the WWE universe and it will be a stupid decision to ban the move off Kairi’s arsenal.

Sane will now face Ember Moon, Peyton Royce and another female wrestler from the NXT roster at Takeover: Houston.

Author’s take

Kairi Sane’s elbow drop remains as one of the best elbow drops in the business. The move was previously used by Randy Savage, CM Punk and even Shawn Michaels. Sane has super over with the WWE fanbase who want to see her leave Houston with gold around her waist.

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