Welcome back to Reading Wrestling, your encyclopedia on the art of pro wrestling. Today we talk about high spots, the set-piece spectacles where wrestlers leap from great heights to inflict pain on their opponents and dazzle the crowd.

What’s more iconic of wrestling than the Macho Man’s elbow drop off of the top rope? Using the ring as a platform from which to dive onto a supine opponent is a hallmark of the show, connecting it with mass entertainment like circus acrobats, tightrope walkers, and various death-defying high-wire acts.

What began as a way to make use of the entire stage, the ring in the case, expanded outwards into more and more elaborate leaps and shows of agility. Consider Superfly Jimmy Snuka’s groundbreaking cage dives in the 1980s. From there, high spots became fecund terrain for experimentation and innovation. Shane McMahon’s coast-to-coast dives, ECW’s dives from scaffolds and arena balconies, even matches that took place on the roof of arenas: the arms race to jump from higher, leap farther, project the body into space was on. There are now entire match types that carry with them the implication of harrowing dives: ladder matches, tables matches, and so forth.

You'll hear us discuss a whole range of wrestlers and their high-spot highlights, including Mankind/Cactus Jack, Macho Man, Lucha Bros, Bam Bam Bigelow, Big Van Vader, Montez Ford, and more.  

Today on Reading Wrestling, we’ll take things to the top rope..or at least the second rope…as we discuss these high-flying antics.