Moonsault

A moonsault or moonsault press is a professional wrestling aerial technique with much of its popularity in American wrestling being attributed to The Great Muta, also known as Keiji Mutoh.

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 laying 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. In kayfabe, the move is considered a higher-impact version of a splash, since the wrestler utilizes rotational speed.

As this move wears down the knees of the user (from repeated impacts), wrestlers often do not perform the moonsault for a long period of their career.

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.

Variations

720 moonsault

This is a double rotation moonsault where another rotation is performed after the initial moonsault. This move is usually performed to the outside of the ring using the ropes as a springboard due to the fact it is extremely difficult to get the required air time to perform the second rotation in the ring from either the turnbuckles or top rope. Technically the name for the outside version would be a 720° Asai moonsault but due to the moves rare usage it is simply referred to as a 720° moonsault in all cases when the move occurs.

Corkscrew moonsault

This is a twisting moonsault in which the attacker stands on an elevated platform, such as the top rope, and performs a moonsault with a 180° rotation or multiple rotations, landing as if performing a normal moonsault.

The corkscrew moonsault was innovated by female Japanese wrestler Chaparrita Asari. Jack Evans often uses the move from a standing position while Kid Kash uses a variation of this move dubbed the Money Roll, which is best described as an twisting asai moonsault.

Springboard moonsault

Called La Quebrada in Mexico sometimes shortened to simply Quebrada, this is a move in which a wrestler springboards (bounces off ropes) then executes a backflip and lands on an opponent. It was invented by the Luchador Fantasma de la Quebrada. In the United States, it is also known as a Lionsault, a name adopted due to its usage by Chris Jericho.

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, named after the man who popularised its use in modern wrestling Yoshihiro Asai, better known in the United States by his ring name Último Dragon.

A double springboard moonsault is a move in which a 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.

There is also a variation known as the Triple Jump Moonsault where, from a running start, the attacking wrestler jumps to a chair, the top rope and then does a moonsault from there onto his opponent. This move is used by Sabu.

TAKA Michinoku popularized a variation of the Asai moonsault called the Uchujin Quebrada (宇宙人ケブラーダ). This translates literally as Spaceman Quebrada, conveying the gravity defying nature of the move. From a running start, TAKA jumps to the top rope, rotating 180º laterally so as to land on the top rope facing the ring and proceeds to perform a moonsault to an opponent standing on the floor.

A.J. Styles uses a variation where he performs a quebrada, but instead of impacting the opponent he grabs the opponent's head in an inverted facelock and lands on his feet behind the opponent. He then follows up with an inverted DDT. This move has been called the Phenomenon or Stylin' DDT.

Kid Kash uses a variation in which he gets onto the middle rope facing the ring, jumps to the top rope and faces the outside of the ring, and then performs a moonsault.

Split-legged moonsault

This moonsault variation sees the performer jump to the top turnbuckle before then dropping down so that they can split their legs onto the top rope which is coming into that turnbuckle post using the impact of their thighs on the rope to flip themselves backwards and on to a prone opponent.

Other versions see the performer slingshot themselves over the top rop so they land in a sitting position on their thighs as they flip backwards back the way they came for a moonsault.

Solo Spanish fly

See: Moonsault slam

Standing moonsault

Also known as a backflip splash. A move in which a wrestler, who is standing next to an opponent lying on the ground executes a backflip and lands on him. Many competitors add something to the move to make it their own before performing the backflip. Some do a dance, while others perform moves like cartwheels to build momentum.

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