Moonsault - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A moonsault, moonsault press, or back flip splash is a professional wrestling aerial technique

Professional wrestling aerial techniques

Aerial techniques are maneuvers, using the ring and its posts and ropes as aids, used in professional wrestling to show off the speed and agility of a wrestler. These moves are mainly done by smaller, quicker wrestlers who are unable to do most of the power moves. There is a wide variety of aerial...

. Much of its popularity in American wrestling

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

is attributed to The Great Muta

Keiji Mutoh

is a Japanese professional wrestler who first gained international fame in the National Wrestling Alliance. He is mostly known for his work as The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s, but he has also competed in United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Taiwan...

, despite it being used in North America by "Leaping" Lanny Poffo

Lanny Poffo

Lanny Mark Poffo , better known by his ring name "Leaping" Lanny is an American professional wrestler. Poffo was born in Calgary, Canada, to Angelo Poffo, an Italian American Catholic, and Judy, a Jewish American. He is also the brother of wrestling legend "Macho Man" Randy Savage...

years before Muta came from Japan.
In a standard moonsault, which is generally attempted from the top rope, a wrestler faces away from the prone opponent and executes a backflip landing on the opponent in a splash/press position but facing towards the elevated position. Though this move is generally attempted from the top rope to an opponent lying face up in the mat, myriad variations exist, including moonsaults that see the wrestler land on a standing opponent and forcing them down to the mat. The move is considered a higher-impact version of a splash, since the wrestler utilizes rotational speed.

A less common variation sees the wrestler perform a moonsault on a standing opponent, with the torso of the wrestler striking the torso of the opponent (albeit upside down), forcing the opponent backwards and to the ground with the opponent on top of them, usually placing the opponent in a pinning predicament. Most of the variations listed below can also be performed on standing opponents.

Corkscrew moonsault

The corkscrew moonsault, also known as the skytwister press, is a twisting moonsault in which the wrestler stands on an elevated platform, such as the top rope,or the corner of the ring, and performs a moonsault with a 360° twist or multiple twists, landing as if performing a normal moonsault.

Double jump moonsault

This is a variation of springboard moonsault. This variation sees the wrestler bounces off the middle-rope to elevate himself/herself to the top-rope from where he/she bounces off to perform the moonsault. This version of a moonsault is often referred to as a picture perfect moonsault or double springboard moonsault.

Triple jump moonsault

This is a variation of the Double Jump Moonsault where, from a running start, the attacking wrestler jumps to a chair or other elevated platform, onto the top rope and then does a moonsault from there onto his opponent.

Double moonsault

Also known as a double rotation moonsault, a double moonsault is a wrestling move in which an opponent is on the ground and the wrestler jumps off the top rope performing two full backflips in the air and landing on his stomach on the opponent.

Moonsault slam

Any move where the wrestler stands on an elevated position, grabs hold of the opponent, and performs a moonsault while still holding on to the opponent, driving them down to the mat. This move is also known as a Solo Spanish fly. Multiple variations exist, such as a belly-to-belly version and a side slam version, which can also be performed while standing.

Rounding moonsault

This variation is also referred to as a sideways moonsault, rolling moonsault, rounding splash, and Original Style Moonsault. The attacker climbs the top rope, or other elevated position facing away from the opponent, instead of doing a backflip as in a normal moonsault, the attacker rotates his or her body off to one side horizontally and lands on the opponent chest first, facing the turnbuckle as in a normal moonsault.

Split-legged moonsault

This moonsault variation sees the performer jump up and split their legs onto both the left and right top ropes surrounding the top turnbuckle, using the impact of their thighs on the rope to flip themselves over, executing a moonsault onto a prone opponent.

A variation of the split-legged moonsault is the Arabian Press, which involves the performer's thighs both landing on a single top rope, and the performer then continues to use the impact of their thighs on the rope to flip themselves over, executing a moonsault onto a prone opponent.

Springboard moonsault

Called La Quebrada in Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, sometimes shortened to simply Quebrada, and is also known as the Lionsault which is Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho

Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...

's name for the move, this is a move in which a wrestler springboards (bounces off ropes), then executes a backflip and lands on an opponent. When a springboard moonsault is performed onto an opponent on the floor outside the ring, rather than one in the ring, it is called an Asai moonsault, after Yoshihiro Asai, who popularized it. This can also be used as a setup for an inverted DDT.

Standing moonsault

This is a wrestling move in which the wrestler does a backflip on the mat landing on the opponent. This move can be set up by preceding with a roundoff

Roundoff

A roundoff is a move in gymnastics similar to a cartwheel.The roundoff is a gymnastic technique that turns horizontal speed into vertical speed ; it is also used effectively to turn forward momentum from a run into backwards momentum, giving speed and power to backwards moves such as flips and...