The Way I C It 11.05.07: Smooth Moves Volume 3 : Moonsault

Welcome back, boys and girls, to another scintillating episode of Smooth Moves. I’m not a happy bunny today as my beloved Derby County continue to go out of their way to prove the pundits right, and play themselves out of the Premiership. At least the Raptors have started well. Beating Jersey by 37? Ouch.

For an experiment, I sat down last night with my son, who is a Cena/Kane/Boogeyman fan, and watched CHIKARA’s International Invasion of the International Invaders, night 2. He loved it. Although I was not impressed with the level of wrestling (we saw up to the end of the Claudio-PAC match before sleep beat excitement), he was. He asked me several times how come Cena didn’t do certain moves. When I said it was because he was too big, he asked why Rey Misterio didn’t. Great question. I did enjoy Claudio-PAC, though it wasn’t amazing, and a lot of the match was spent with PAC climbing ropes. Sure he’s spectacular up there, but get some ground moves!

And now, on with our story!

The Way I C the Wellness Policy
News coming from Titan Towers is that DH Smith and Chris Masters are the first to be named as violators of the policy, which stands to be violated more than Jamie Noble. For Masters, WWE are openly admitting this was his second violation, though it seems to me and many forum posters that he’s been suspended twice before. I guess they are not counting the Signature Pharmacy suspension as a Wellness violation, as there were no tests. It’s no big surprise either way for the Masterpiece, who was starting to round into some nice form and actually look decent in the ring.

Smith, however, is an idiot. His father died as a result of steroids. He’s fresh into the company, with the world at his feet, and a push that only he could derail. And derail it he has. The only limit for this guy was going to be his charisma and ability to get himself over, which by all accounts he had been working on and was coming along in leaps and bounds. Deer Harry, U R DUMM.

The Way U C ME
Lots of feedback again this week. I can’t include everyone, since I’m not important enough to get a 2-part column, but here’s some of what you had to say:

From JBBTHWK:
Yes alot of people blame Vince for cutting back the Cruiserweight’s High Risk Repetoire. but How would we look at Vince if he not only allowed them to use the moves but demanded that they be used and Cruiserweights like LonDrick and Mysterio began falling down to injuries left & right. the only reason why they did it was for the safety of the performers. seeing someone attempt a 630 is cool but not at the risk of them ending up Paralyzed from the neck down due to a botched landing. like what JR said on RAW recently: When you go to the top rope for a move, sometimes it’s fruitful and sometimes it’s disasterous. what happened to Chavo Guerrero when was legitimately injured by Billy “Can’t be Powerbombed” Kidman and more recently Candice Michelle is proof. also TNA had Kurt Angle a guy who’s had MULTIPLE Neck surgeries attempt a 450. this is like asking a guy with Several Spinal surgeries to let himself be put in the Shock Treatment by Abyss. sure the Shock Treatment may not be as painful as it looks(and it looks VERY VERY painful if done right) but we as fans,marks and the IWC need to stop being selfish. sometimes their risk isn’t worth our reward.

I don’t know if it’s Vince in particular, or the WWE in general, banning moves, but I don’t like it either way. You make a good point, the safety of the workers has to come before the enjoyment of the fans. However, nobody is suggesting that we see Burning Hammers of the top through plate glass windows onto a chair every week. In my opinion, one reason PPV rates are suffering right now is that you don’t see anything on them that you can’t see free every Monday/Tuesday/Thursday/Friday night. If the moves like the SSP and DVD were restricted and not banned, people would buy more pay per views in the hope of seeing something they can’t normally see.

One thing I don’t agree with, though, is that Candice’s injury is proof of anything. She went to the top rope, something people have been doing for 25-30 years. She might have been coming off with a double axehandle. Her injury was an accident caused by her feet getting caught behind the turnbuckle, not her trying to do somersaults. Oh, and anyone who hasn’t seen Angle’s hilarious 450 botch, you really need to.

From Rob W
Is the move your talking about the irish whip ?
really no oh ok then.
Seriously is the it head scissors ?
Peace out, Hold it

I laughed myself silly at the Irish Whip suggestion.Would be an interesting one, though, to discover why it’s Irish and not, say, Belgian. Head scissors is not right though.

From Jeebus
I’m just gonna throw it out here, but I’m think hurricanranna….hurrican….frankensteiner. I remember laughing when Kane of all people used it.
Also, on a side note:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu37KmG7fEM
this next one, the gimmick appears about halfway through the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0ZOrcsU0Dg
Indeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!

You win a stuffed banana just for the Big Show-Kai En Tai-APA-Brothers of Destruction clip. Gold, Jerry! Team Yang with Funaki and bring it back! This angle with Show and Kai En Tai actually stemmed from a week earlier when Show was trying desparately to find partners to face the Brothers of Destruction. There was a hilarious part in that skit when he asks Steve Blackman if he sleeps with his fighting sticks (of DOOM).

Huracanrana is not correct, however. This was the most popular guess of the week. When I get around to it, I’m sure that column will be pretty long.

Final piece of feedback for the week is from VB, who dares to assert that I made an error. Sacrilege! The exploding Key Lime Pie is on its way to you, VB.
Hey dude,
Quick thing: your statement about the Burning Hammer never making it to WWE is incorrect.
In 1999, Headbanger Mosh (might have been Thrasher as I always got the names mixed up, but I’m thinking Mosh- the shorter one) dropped the Headbanger gimmick for..no gimmick at all. He went by the name of Chaz, would wrestle in smiley face boxer shorts (I kid you not), & was managed by his real-life wife, Marianna (they were the supposed incest driven Beaver & Mrs. Cleavage, then ditched the gimmick on the air a few weeks after debuting). While working simply as Chaz, for a few weeks he used the Burning Hammer, aptly named, “that…something of a reverse Death Valley Driver looking maneuver,” as his finisher.
He didn’t use it very long as the WWF brass most likely didn’t like having such a dangerous move, being used by someone they most likely didn’t have that much faith in, on the roster.
Plus, he didn’t win too many matches, & who needs a finisher when you don’t win?
So yeah, the Burning Hammer DID indeed make it to WWE at some point. It’s understandable that you missed it.

Wow, I remember that gimmick. Vince had always wanted to do an incest angle, and I think this is as close as he’s ever got…so far. Don’t forget we still have Jesse and Festus on TV every week. Once he became Chaz, it wasn’t long before he teamed with D Lo Brown to make Lo Down, a team which had a lot of promise until they were given Tiger Ali Heat Vacuum as a manager. And Marianna was über-hot.
I don’t remember him using a finisher at all, let alone one as mark-out worthy as the Burning Hammer, but I will take your word for it. The commentator’s description does not surprise me, names like Burning Hammer are way too Japanese for mainstream people to like. I’m surprised they didn’t rename the Shining Wizard. Which reminds me, why is the Miz not using that, and calling it the Shining Mizard?

Smooth Moves volume 3 – The Moonsault
This week’s winner was Dan Hamilton, who did not disappear. Congratulations Dan!
DH:OH MY GOD! I’d like to thank uh…
CL: Whitney Houston’s mom? God? HHH?
DH: Um…..screw it. First before I go into what makes the moonsault great, I would like to say that the Reverse DVD, as it’s called in the Smackdown Vs Raw Series, is the move that I usually finish my matches with, if not that then I usually go with the TKO, but since that wasn’t in 2007, I went with a normal Cutter.
CL: You already won. No need to kiss ass. I’m not Vince.
DH: Thank JBL I didn’t go with my original guess, 450 Splash… I kid, I kid. I was going with two different moves when you gave the clue, I figured moonsault right away, but couldn’t remember when a Super-Heavy did it, then I remembered Bam Bam Bigelow. My other choice was DDT, but I figured that was too easy.

I really don’t know what makes the moonsault memorable to me, hell I can’t even remember the first time I saw it. I do give many props to Yoshihiro Asai for making the Asai Moonsault popular, and giving us the pleasure of watching insane looking moves like the Asai/Dragon DDT. I guess if I had to pick what makes it memorable is the fact that many different weight classes can use it.

Well that’s all I’ve got to say on the Moonsault… WAIT I forgot about the Lionsault, well just the name alone cements it’s greatness.

Indeed, Dan, and thanks for playing along. So, the Moonsault. It’s become a staple of modern-day wrestling, with everyone from Lita, to Terry Funk, to Shawn Michaels, to Vader busting it out. Whenever a big man wants to show he can fly, the moonsault is the move he uses. It’s easier to execute than it looks, and is beautiful when done correctly. Kurt Angle, for example, executes a picture-perfect moonsault….right up to the landing, which normally misses. As Dan mentioned above, Bam Bam Bigelow has used it, and used it well. It’s lost a bit of favour recently, with wrestlers either preferring the twisty-turny corkscrew versions used by people like John Morrison and Jack Evans, or going with something else altogether. Christopher Daniels still occasionally uses the BME, or Best Moonsault Ever, as seen here (poor quality video…):

Of course, Chris Jericho was using the Lionsault when he last wrestled. Correctly called a quebrada, it’s also used quite often by Austin Aries in RoH. AJ Styles has been known to use a moonsault into an inverted DDT. HBK tends to use his with the opponent standing, as opposed to the normal version with the opponent on the mat.

The moonsault was brought to the WWE by Essa Rios, a short-lived guy who is best known for bringing Lita to the WWE. Ironically, Lita would later use the moonsault herself, and beautifully at that. Finding exactly who invented the moonsault has proven exceedingly difficult, but it got its current name as an evolution of Mu-sault, which was coined by the Great Muta, as the person who made it popular. However, if you look at some old tapes from WCCW, Kevin von Erich used to use a turnaround crossbody which looks like it could have been the inspiration for the moonsault. Whoevr had the original idea, I doubt they foresaw such a huge amount of popularity for the move.

There are several variations of the moonsault. Each of the ones below have become so popular that they deserve more than a passing mention:
Split-legged moonsault Made famous by Rob van Dam, but also used by Wildman Marc Mero and countless others, this version requires dropping of the turnbuckle onto the top rope on either side in a split position, using the added momentum to flip backwards. You will also see a springboard variant.

Corkscrew moonsault Yet another move brought to us by joshi puro, this was invented by Chaparita Asari. It’s rather spectacular to watch, especially when someone like Jack Evans does 3 twists in midair before landing, or John Morrison does it split-legged.

Triple jump moonsault Most often used by Sabu, jumping onto a chair, then the ropes, then his opponent. The BME mentioned above is another version of a triple jump. The added rhythm and momentum from the two previous jumps make the triple jump often look smoother through the air.

Springboard Moonsault Invented in Mexico by Fantasma de la Quebrada (which translates to Ghost of the Gorge…), and popularised in the US by Y2.22J Chris Jericho. Now used by Austin Aries in RoH. It involves running at the ropes, jumping onto the middle strand (normally), and doing a moonsault. As an homage to its inventor, it is mostly referred to as the Quebrada, though Lionsault is also widely used.

Asai Moonsault Also named for its inventor, Yoshihiro Asai aka Ultimo Dragon, this is basically a quebrada from the apron to the outside. Almost any wrestler who has called themselves a high-flyer has attempted this at some point.

There are a couple of other “variations” I want to touch on before we move on. One of those is the move that Paul Burchill was using before he disappeared, the moonsault uranage. This move was popularised by Indy darlings the SAT, as a double team, top-rope move called the Spanish Fly. It is basically a standing moonsault combined with a Rock Bottom. The reason I wanted to touch on it, though, is that it requires a tremendous amount of co-operation from the opponent, who has to pull off a front flip while you are doing the moonsault. Adds a whole other level of appreciation to the move when it’s hit properly. It’s also easier to hit from the top than from the mat.

Similar to the backflip uranage is Matt Sydal’s finisher of choice, which he calls the Cyclorama. It is a top-rope moonsault belly to belly suplex:

I cannot wait for this guy to come up to the main WWE roster…to get squashed by Taker or HHH.

Not-so-Smooth Moves – The Botch Factor

A new feature here with Smooth Moves, I will occasionally try and locate a botched move or ridiculously sick bump, and give you some thoughts on it. This week, possibly the most famous injury caused by a top-rope botch, This plays well into what JBBTHWK was saying about injuries from dangerous moves:

Ouch. What Sid was doing coming off the top is anyone’s guess. He hits the kick, but ends up leaning to one side on the move and…ow. Just check out the angle of his boot after the landing…that CANNOT tickle.

Well that’s all I have for you this week. I’m going back to my candlelight Jericho vigil. Next week, we’re looking at a move that has really been thrust into the limelight in the last 10 years, with one particular man spearheading the popularity of it. As always, anyone who guesses the move, gets to contribute to the column.

Lansdellicious – Out.