Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer Offer Warning To Younger Stars On Wrestling's Physical Toll

Following William Regal's post to social media warning young professional wrestling stars of lingering impacts due to neck injures suffered both in and out of the ring, other legends within the business are speaking about what they've been through, and how it's affecting them now. Two of those stars are ECW originals Tommy Dreamer and Bully Ray, who commented on "Busted Open Radio," where Dreamer said knowledge is key. 

He said that himself and a lot of other veterans just want people to learn from their mistakes, though acknowledged he'd be hypocritical if he were to say not to do something, because he's done it and taken what he called the "stupid bumps."

"Yes, risk, reward. It got me a career, but what William Regal is talking about, he's 57, went through a bunch of neck surgeries," Dreamer said. "I'm going to be 55 and I've never had neck surgeries, but I talk and people notice. Like, when I swallow, I have to turn my head sometimes so the food goes down and that's because of [an issue] with your wind pipe. I broke my neck. Continued to wrestle without knowing I had a broken neck... Seeing other people tweet about stuff where it's scary to think that like yes, everything that William Regal said was so, so true, because there is life after wrestling."

He said he, Bully Ray, and other wrestlers in the 80s, 90s, and those in ECW, especially, had "ultra, macho bravado" because the fans would boo if they didn't. He said thankfully, they aren't "brain mush," but he and his family have noticed that he sometimes repeats himself. Dreamer said that back then, "concussion" was just a medical term and they weren't aware of brain trauma caused by chair shots to the head.

Dreamer mentioned Leon Slater's botched dive at TNA Rebellion where no one caught him, and Bully Ray brought up a more recent example of Jon Moxley and Kyle Fletcher at AEW Worlds End, where the latter took a nasty landing on his neck. He said there was no one currently in the wrestling business who had taken more direct blows to the head than himself, Dreamer, and D-Von Dudley, but Bully Ray said that he got more concussions from back bumps than he ever did a chair shot to the head.

"I would say there's no risk and reward," Bully Ray said. "I've seen wrestlers who do choke slams now either on the hardest part of the ring, which is the apron, or power bombing others into the tip of the apron. Like, f*** that. That's got 'spinal split in half' written all over it. I won't even take a lung blower... I ain't taking that move. One wrong centimeter and that knee drives into your spine, paralysis. There are certain things that should be wiped clean from the business. The boys should realize, 'Alright, I've got to get rid of this because I don't want to die.' Agents and producers need to tell the boys, 'No.' And bosses should be like, 'Uh-uh. No way.'"

Bully Ray said that William Regal's post to X and the other things that are being said are in the best interest for wrestlers' health across the board. He said that in comparison to the "stupidity" that they did back in the day, some moves today are directly impacting the back of wrestlers' heads, as well as their spines.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.