The cross body block is the move that made me love professional wrestling. When I first got into wrestling, Ricky Steamboat was just coming into his own and was in the middle of his feud with Ric Flair. During one of their epic matches, I saw Steamboat perform the move to beat him and was hooked. That was the move that I loved the most. Over the years, that has been one of the reasons why I like a particular wrestler. If they are great at the cross body block, then I am usually a fan. Then I became a natural fan of the frog splash and variations thereof. Here is a list of the guys that I feel did these moves the best. Keep in mind that these are only wrestlers that performed cross body blocks off the top rope and frog splashes. I do not count aerials such as the Swanton or other moves in this list.
Kofi Kingston
Kingston is a guy that has grown on me slowly and steadily. I still feel he could be better but when he climbs the top rope and throws his cross body block, nobody gets any higher. This guy can jump through the roof and uses that height on this move every single time.
Mil Mascaras
Mascaras was the most graceful on this list and he was also an innovator of the move itself. When Mascaras came off the rope, you felt like he was a bird or a swan flying through the air. He was very artistic in the air and always had the perfect body language to give maximum impact.
Jimmy Superfly Snuka
Superfly was unreal and he was the first one to catch my eye with the frog splash. I saw the top of the cage splash from Snuka on Don Muraco and it was perfection in my eyes. Snuka is a legend and will always be the highest flyer in my book. His power set him apart from others on this list.
RVD
RVD is simply fluidity in motion. The guy moves like water in the ring and can fly with the best of them. I love to watch him hit that frog splash and I particularly like the set up. The way he mounts the top rope is awesome and it always gets the crowd amped up for the coming move.
Eddie Guerrero
Eddie was a favorite of mine long before he found fame and fortune in the WWE. He was a great wrestler from day one and I loved watching him in the early WCW days. His matches were always a highlight and the frog splash was a great reason why.
Ricky Steamboat
Given that he was the first one I saw do the move, he will always be the best to me. Although Steamboat only occasionally used the move, I never saw anyone sell it any better in all my years of watching wrestling. The great Ricky Steamboat is tops in my book on this list of superstars.
*Southern is a huge fan of TNA, WWE and old-school NWA wrestling. He believes that the old Jim Crockett days were the glory days with the Attitude Era close behind them. He loves spending time with his twin daughters watching wrestling and debating why The Miz is the greatest of all time.
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