10 devastating top rope pro wrestling moves
Originally, pro wrestling was held between ropes for the protection of both the athletes and the watching crowd. The steel cables -- or sometimes simple hemp rope -- were a barrier between the massive, sweating grappling men and their more delicate fans. This was vitally important in an era when the matches were legit athletic contests, and in the heat of battle two large burly men might end up rolling right out of the ring.
Gradually, as wrestling became more of a performance and less of a combat sport, wrestlers began to leave their feet. Innovators like Abe Coleman -- who claimed to have been trained to leap by kangaroos -- developed moves like the dropkick and flying body press and added them to their repertoires.
By the seventies, wrestling had a whole slew of different aerial moves. Men like the masked lucha libre star Mil Mascaras regularly used the ropes not just as a barrier, but as a means of propulsion.
Many credit Harley Race for popularizing flying moves in the United States. He once attempted a body press from the second rope, but his opponent didn't quite roll out of the way. The result was the first flying headbutt, a move still utilized in wrestling today.
Then came men like Superfly Snuka and Randy Savage, who used top rope offense as readily as a headlock. They laid the groundwork for some truly spectacular moves that thrill wrestling fans the world over.
Here are ten exciting top rope moves in pro wrestling.
#1 Flying Body Press
Used by: Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat, Rey Misterio Jr.
Strengths: Quick and leads to an easy pin.
Weaknesses: Easy to spot coming, high risk.
The flying body press is one of the most basic, yet exciting, of all of pro wrestling's high flying moves. A flying body press can be utilized against either a standing or laying opponent, and is usually called a splash when performed on a downed wrestler lying prone on the mat. The aggressor climbs the top turnbuckle and then simply hurls themselves off at their opponent.
Jimmy Snuka is the most famous practitioner of the move, but wrestling history is unclear on exactly who invented it. One thing that is known is that Jimmy Snuka made the move world famous when he performed it off of the top of a steel cage in Madison Square Garden. Among the fans sitting at ringside who were thoroughly dazzled a young Mick "Mankind" Foley.