10 Awesome Wrestling Moves That Nobody Ever Talks About
1. Hiroshi Tanahashi's Dragon Screw
Hiroshi Tanahashi's Dragon Screw is the best move in all of pro wrestling.
He uses it to weaken his opponent's leg ahead of the arsenal he deploys later in his matches. It's an effective transition into his Texas Cloverleaf submission, it leaves them defenceless to take the Sling Blade, and incapacitates them ahead of his High Fly Flow frog splash. Under the strictest definition of wrestling psychology, it's an astute move, but it's so much more than that: in his genius, babyface hands, the way he times it can convince an entire arena that their hero may rise.
It's dark arts magic stuff; Tanahashi will use it several times throughout the course of a match, and you never once see it coming. He deploys it when all hope feels lost, which he can sell as well if not better than any wrestler that came before him, and it never feels remotely contrived. It's not as if there's even a surge of energy, or spirit, that overcomes him: if an opponent leaves their leg vulnerable, he will twist into a gruesome, unnatural position, and use their pain as a bridge to find his wind, summoning the healing powers of the crowd.
This year, he modified it to sell how desperate he is now, opposite Jay White, with a near-pitiful two-armed variation. The Dragon Screw is such a genius move that he can use it to portray himself as both Ace and a fading, storyline force.