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 techniques in professional wrestling. Due to injuries caused by these high risk moves, some promotions have banned the use of some maneuvers.

Moves are listed under general categories whenever possible.

Arm twist ropewalk chop

The wrestler takes hold of one of the opponent's wrists and twists that arm in an arm wrench. The wrestler then climbs up the corner turnbuckles and walks on the top rope, before jumping down and striking the opponent's chest, back or the back of their neck. This is often referred to as Old School, the name used by The Undertaker, who popularized it.

Diamond Dust

This move is a forward somersault three-quarter facelock bulldog/jawbreaker performed by an attacking wrestler from an aerial platform. This move involves the attacking wrestler standing on a platform (i.e. the second turnbuckle, or sitting on the top turnbuckle) and facing the back of a standing opponent while applying an inverted facelock. From this position the attacking wrestler leaps forward, somersaulting, to roll the inverted facelock into a three-quarter facelock, as they fall the wrestler drops to a seated position and driving the opponent's jaw into their shoulder for a jawbreaker, or, the wrestler falls back-first forcing the opponent's face into the mat/shoulder for the bulldog. This move was innovated by Masato Tanaka.

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling (colloquially abbreviated to pro wrestling or wrestling) is an athletic form of entertainment based on a fictionalized, highly exaggerated portrayal of a combat sport. Taking the form of live events held by touring promotions, it portrays a unique style of combat based on a combination of adopted styles, which include classical wrestling, catch wrestling and various forms of martial arts, as well as an innovative style based on grappling (holds/throws), striking, and aerialism. Various forms of weaponry are sometimes used.

The content including match outcomes is choreographed and the combative actions and reactions are executed in special manners designed to both protect from, yet simulate pain. These facts were once kept highly secret but are now openly declared as the truth. By and large, the true nature of the content is ignored by the performing promotion in official media in order to sustain and promote the willing suspension of disbelief for the audience by maintaining an aura of verisimilitude. Fan communications by individual wrestlers and promotions through outside media (i.e. interviews) will often directly acknowledge the fictional nature of the spectacle.