What Is Iyo Sky's Finisher Really Called? the Story Behind the Aerial Weapon
By Sophia Al-Mansoor
Long before she anchored the women's division on WWE RAW, SKY spent years dominating the Japanese joshi puroresu scene in World Wonder Ring Stardom. Competing under the name Io Shirai, she captured the World of Stardom Championship twice and the Wonder of Stardom Championship twice, establishing herself as an international standard for athletic brilliance.
In Japan, wrestling terminology treats moves with classical sports purism. Stardom announcers did not assign gimmicky handles to her finishing strike; they called it a moonsault press. To separate herself from peers who performed the move, Shirai overhauled the physical mechanics. She studied gymnastics footage to tweak her center of gravity, shifting her takeoff angle from an upward vertical push to a forward-arcing trajectory.
She also added variation to her repertoire. Japanese audiences watched her deploy the standing moonsault, the springboard moonsault to the floor, and a vicious double-jump moonsault off the middle and top ropes. By the time WWE signed her in 2018 to compete in the Mae Young Classic, her top-rope backward flip was widely considered the cleanest execution in professional wrestling.
Sophia analyzes international trade, startup ecosystems, retail transformation, and supply chain logistics for modern digital publications.
