The Phantom Rant: William Regal is Right About Everything He Said
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. It is I, the one and only “Phantom Lord” Joseph Davis and this is The Phantom Rant. As always I am coming to you from New York City and I think enough time has passed to digest the events of John Cena’s last match. First off, the match went exactly how I figured it would. He got beat on for a while, made a comeback, got beat on some more and finally got choked out. Gunther has been living the life on television since his win. He’s launched himself into Super Villain status as he basks in the heat and hate he’s been getting from the crowds and everyone in the locker room.
While we might not have liked the outcome, it was the right one and I’m all for Super Villain Gunther as he destroys people. It looks like the next one they’re setting up for him is AJ Styles. AJ is looking to retire in 2026 so it would be really interesting if Gunther took him out into retirement. There’s also rumors that Brock Lesnar wants to retire next year and people are salivating at the prospect of Brock vs. Gunther potentially at Summerslam 2026. I would love to see that match if it happens and Gunther would be a great choice to retire Lesnar.
We shall see what happens in 2026 as it comes to pass. Right now I wanted to write about something a bit more serious and that’s the message that his Lordship (I’ll always call him Lord) William Regal had about necks and wrestlers on Sunday over on Twitter.
First off I wish Mr. Regal would allow replies on his twitter because the overwhelming response would be how right he is. Now, I can only assume Mr. Regal is talking about the bump that Kyle Fletcher took at AEW’s World’s End on Saturday Night vs. Jon Moxley. For those of you who didn’t see it (you should as it was a solid PPV), Fletcher and Moxley were on the top rope and Mox went for what they call a half and half suplex (I think) and upon impact landed on the top of his head and it bent a bit to the left. It was horrifying to look at first and the replay was even more horrifying. Luckily by the grace of God, Kyle was fine. But it was a huge risk to take and it wasn’t even the finals of the damn Continental Crown tournament.
Kyle Fletcher is by far one of the breakout stars of 2025 for AEW and I really hope that bump was a wake up call that you don’t need to do these stupid bumps just for likes and views online. I continue with Mr. Regal’s statement.
“I broke my neck twice — 9/93 in the ring and in a car wreck in ’97 — and stupidly never told anyone. I was taught properly how to bridge and not land on the top of my head. It’s a skill that maybe 99.9% of people don’t know or will ever learn anymore. I kept going somehow, but I knew all the tricks that, again, people don’t learn now. They just watch film and copy. After Misawa-san passed from his neck problems, I thought this nonsense would stop, but it’s gotten worse. Whenever I talk to people about doing this stuff, the response is always, ‘Well, it doesn’t hurt…’ Believe me, it will.”
For those that don’t know, Mitsuharu Misawa was a Japanese wrestler…probably one of the most important wrestlers in Japan of the 1990’s. Well I’m sure you’ve seen videos of the Ganso Bomb or the Burning Hammer. He was on the receiving end of both of those moves and it kinda became a trademark of his to land straight on his head. In 2009, decades of ring wear and abuse finally caught up to him and what should have been a simple back suplex that he did thousands of times in his career turned into something far worse. Officially the cause of his death is not known because his family asked that it not be released to the public. But it’s believed to be a cervical fracture. There’s news footage of that night and the paramedics desperately trying to revive him. Chris Hero was there was night so he saw this up front and in person. But Mr. Regal is correct. Even after Misawa died, people still drop themselves on their neck’s and head.
I look at a guy like Will Osprey and all the crazy stuff he did in Japan and now in AEW and look where it got him. He had to have the big neck surgery. Regal also mentions Bryan Danielson in his post who by his own admission has a slew of neck problems. Danielson has said in an interview that even a simple thing like traveling on an airplane is a problem for his neck because of how you sit.
“The vast majority of fans don’t know the difference between a vertical suplex and a brainbuster, and that’s a far tamer move than many I see now. I’m 57 and become less relevant every day, but fame has never been my thing. Most of you doing this STUPID stuff aren’t going to listen to me, but hopefully a few will. Stop it now if you want a decent quality of life after wrestling, because that part of your life will be over before you know it. Wrestling done right is hard enough. Broken necks or death are not something you should think is tough or cool. It’s idiotic thinking.”
Well, I for one think William Regal is still a very relevant person in Wrestling. That said everything he said in his post on Twitter was correct. If I were a wrestler, I would take his words as the gospel. It looks cool now, but it won’t be in twenty years or so when you can even turn your head to look at something. I’m being generous with saying twenty, because it could be a lot sooner for some guys with the way they wrestle. I’m looking right at you Darby Allin.
Sure, a crazy bump gets people like me in the crowd to go Holy you know what over and over. But it’s really not worth what will happen down the road. So heed Mr. Regal’s words children. And while you’re at it, stop with the damn Poisonranna. Someone is going to die someday taking one of those and that’s if they are lucky and don’t end up a paraplegic.
I guess that is it for 2025. I hope everyone enjoyed The Phantom Rant this year and I shall be back in 2026 for more takes on Pro Wrestling. I can only hope that 2026 will be a good year for everyone. If you haven’t read it all ready, check out Skitz’s extravaganza of wishes that I was glad to take a part of. I have three simple wishes for 2026 so lets see if they happen.
On that note have a good New Year’s and as usual you can leave feedback down below, on Twitter, or actually e-mail me at phantomlordnyc@gmail.com