Kyle Fletcher responds to criticism of ‘very dangerous’ AEW Worlds End spot
Kyle Fletcher understands why people have been critical of the scary-looking spot he was involved in at AEW Worlds End.
The December 27 pay-per-view saw Fletcher lose to Jon Moxley in the Continental Classic semifinals. It was a highly praised match, aside from one spot that received significant criticism. When taking a top rope dragon suplex, Fletcher landed on his neck and was lucky to avoid significant injury. William Regal — without specifically mentioning Fletcher — appeared to call out the spot by tweeting a plea urging wrestlers to avoid “stupid” moves where they drop each other on their heads.
“Of course, I have to take it [criticism] on board,” Fletcher said during an interview with Wide World of Sports in Australia. “Obviously it didn’t go to plan, I understand all the points that everyone is making – it was very dangerous.”
Fletcher admits that he landed higher on his neck than was intended. He could sense concern from the referee but felt fine.
“In the moment, it’s hard for me because I’m not watching it happen, I’m the one actually experiencing it. I didn’t see how nasty the landing was, I was just going off how I felt and to me, it was just one of those ones where I didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary,” he said.
“It was a bit higher on the neck than I was intending, but it didn’t hurt and I felt fine. The referee came over and usually they will check on you once and you’re like, ‘Yeah no worries, it’s all good.’ But then he came over a second time and asked again, which makes me think that there was maybe someone in his ear saying, ‘Make sure he’s okay.’
“I didn’t get to see the replay that everyone else saw and it wasn’t until later that I looked back and thought, ‘That was a little bit silly, wasn’t it?’ But you live and you learn.”
Fletcher will be back in the ring on the AEW Collision episode that airs this Saturday. He told World of Sports that he was maybe “a bit battered and bruised” after the Worlds End match, but it was nothing out of the ordinary.
World of Sports’ interview with Fletcher was to promote AEW’s return to Australia, which is happening next month with events in Sydney and Brisbane.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.