Marc Mero Would Practice Shooting Star Press At His Kids’ Gymnastics Class

Marc Mero discusses the origins of his Shooting Star Press finishing move.

In the pantheon of pro wrestling’s highest flyers, one wrestler who doesn’t often get the credit he deserves is Marc Mero. Mero isn’t typically inserted into the same category of men like Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman, Pentagon or Rey Fenix. But Mero was a lot more innovative than many people think. 

Take, for instance, his very first finishing move in the WWF. When Mero debuted as ‘The Wildman’ back in 1996, he did so with an entirely different gimmick than the one he had in WCW. In WCW, Mero portrayed Johnny B. Badd, a flamboyant, eccentric, athletic wrestler, yes. But Badd was known more for his gimmick and less for his high flying abilities. That changed when Mero debuted in the WWF, and Mero needed a finishing move that would distinguish himself from the competition. 

That’s what Mero recently told Fightful Overbooked’s Jeremy Lambert and SP3. In the interview, Mero discussed a myriad of topics including his WCW career, his wife, Sable, and more. But Mero also opened up about being the innovator, at least in the WWF, of the Shooting Star Press. 

“When I first got to WWE, I didn’t really have a finishing move. In WCW, I had the Tutti Fruiti, and it’s a punch. I had to come up with something different. I wanted to come up with something unique that was different. When I was in Japan, I think it was Jushin Liger, I saw do a shooting star press. I remember thinking, ‘It would be really cool to do that.’ I’ve always been a good diver. It’s really nothing but a full gainer. In gymnastics, you land on your feet. I had my daughter enrolled in gymnastics, so I would take her and I said to her coach, ‘While the kids are doing stuff, can I use the pommel horse and crash pad and practice a move I want to do in wrestling?’ ‘Sure, go ahead.’ Here I am, jumping off this thing and landing on my stomach, and the kids catch wind and are staring at me and going to my daughter, ‘What’s wrong with your dad? Doesn’t he know how to land?’ They’re all laughing, and I’m like, ‘Yes, I got it!’ I finally got it down. The first pay-per-view we had coming up was SummerSlam and I had never done it to a person. I’m wrestling Goldust and I said, ‘Dustin, I want to try a new move if you’re okay with that.’ He said, ‘What is it?’ ‘I’m going to Samoan drop you near the corner, go to the top, and do a reverse flip and land on you.’ He looks at me and goes, ‘What?’ How are you going to land?’ ‘We’re going to hit chest to chest.’ ‘Don’t tell me no more. Just go for it.’ I did it in the ring and it was the first time I ever did it on a person. I picked, of all times, SummerSlam to do it. Thank goodness Dustin didn’t mind. What a great guy he is,” Mero reflected.

Mero would retain the Shooting Star Press until he evolved into a character more like the real-life version of Mero, himself. Then, he would once again rely on punches as well as the TKO, which was like an airplane spin into an ace cutter — another innovative finishing move. 

Nowadays, Mero has traded his wrestling tights and boxing gloves for a microphone. He’s a motivational speaker and he’s just as good in front of a crowd now as he was then. Fans can follow Mero on social media. 

Check out the full interview with Marc embedded above.