El Phantasmo

Phantasmo in August 2023

###

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

**Riley Vigier** (born October 24, 1986), otherwise known as **El Phantasmo**, in short **ELP**, is a Canadian professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is currently one-half of the IWGP Tag Team and Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions in his first reign, while also being a former three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion.

Phantasmo started his career in 2005 in Canada making his debut for Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling and later started working in the Canadian independent circuit. In 2012, Phantasmo he was set to perform and train in the United States, but he had border problems and he was involved in a serious motorcycle crash, which almost derailed, but in 2016, Phantasmo expanded his career in the United Kingdom working throughout the British independent circuit, most notably for Revolution Pro Wrestling, where in his third year at RPW, he won the British J-Cup and later the British Cruiserweight Championship.

During this time, Phantasmo began working for NJPW in May 2019, joining the villainous Bullet Club stable. Two months later, Phantasmo won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Two months later, he would win the 2019 Super J-Cup, a feat that he replicated on the following December. In the summer of 2022, Phantasmo moved to the heavyweight division, being expelled from Bullet Club in March 2023, before joining the Guerrillas of Destiny in August.

## Professional wrestling career

### New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2019–present)

#### Junior Heavyweight division (2019–2022)

During the first night of the New Japan Cup 2019, a vignette was shown teasing new member for Bullet Club. On May 4, 2019, at Wrestling Dontaku, Phantasmo made his debut in NJPW being revealed as the newest member of Bullet Club, which had previously had been teased. In his debut match, Phantasmo teamed with Bullet Club stablemate Taiji Ishimori in a winning effort against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Dragon Lee and Will Ospreay. Later that month, Phantasmo took part in the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing with a record of six wins and three losses, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Ryusuke Taguchi in their head-to-head match. During the tournament, Phantasmo started feuding with Bullet Club stablemate Robbie Eagles, where Phantasmo helped Eagles to defeat Will Ospreay, but Eagles didn't want it, while also challenging with Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship, despite Ishimori's being Eagles partner. On June 16 at Kizuna Road, Ishimori and Phantasmo defeated Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. The following day, Phantasmo along with Bullet Club stablemates Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi unsuccessfully challenged Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. Later that month, Phantasmo and Eagles feud culminated in Eagles turning on him and later joining CHAOS, after refusing to attack Will Ospreay. On August 22, Phantasmo entered the 2019 Super J-Cup tournament, defeating Robbie Eagles in his first round match. On August 24, Phantasmo defeated TJP, in the second round. On August 26, Phantasmo defeated Will Ospreay and then Dragon Lee, in the semifinals and finals, respectively, to win the 2019 Super J-Cup. After winning the tournament, Phantasmo challenged Ospreay to a match. On August 31 at Royal Quest, after Phantasmo and Ishimori lost to Ospreay and Robbie Eagles, Phatasmo challenged Ospreay again to a match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He received his championship match on October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling, unsuccessfully challenging Will Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. From October 16 until November 1, Phantasmo and Ishimori took part in the 2019 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, but failed to advance to the finals due to losing to Sho and Yoh in their head-to-head match. On January 5, 2020 in the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome, Phantasmo and Ishimori lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship back to Sho and Yoh.

Since March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Phantasmo along with several members of the Bullet Club were unable to work on NJPW events in Japan. Phantasmo made his return to the promotion on December 13, taking part in the 2020 Super J-Cup tournament. Phantasmo made into his second consecutive final, defeating ACH to win the tournament, becoming the third wrestler after Jushin Thunder Liger and Naomichi Marufuji to win the Super J-Cup on two different occasions and to win back-to-back finals. After winning the tournament, Phantasmo accepted Hiromu Takahashi's challenge to face him in a match. Leading to the match, NJPW announced that the winner of their match at Wrestle Kingdom 15, would face Taiji Ishimori in the second night of the event for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On January 4, 2021 in the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome, Phantasmo was defeated by Takahashi.

Meanwhile, following Wrestle Kingdom 15, Phantasmo and Ishimori and the Guerrillas of Destiny entered a rivalry with Suzuki-gun over both stables tag team championships. This led to on January 23, Phantasmo and Ishimori defeating Suzuki-gun members El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the second time, before losing the titles back to them on February 25. On June 23, Phantasmo and Ishimori defeated Sho and Yoh to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship for the third time. In August, Phantasmo and Ishimori took part in the 2021 Super Jr. Tag League. After a record of four wins, Phantasmo and Ishimori were defeated in the final day of the tournament by El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru and thus failed to win the tournament. On September 5 at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, Phantasmo and Ishimori lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to Desperado and Kanemaru. From November 13 until December 11, Phantasmo took part in the 2021 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing the tournament with a record of six wins and five losses, failling to advance to the finals of the tournament.

In March 2022, Phantasmo took part in the 2022 New Japan Cup, losing in the second round to Will Ospreay. In May, Phantasmo took part in the 2022 Best of the Super Juniors. He finished the tournament with a record of six wins and three losses, narrowly failed to advance to the finals after losing to El Desperado on the final day.

#### Heavyweight division (2022–present)

The following month, Phantasmo moved to the heavyweight division. From July 20 to August 16, Phantasmo took part in the 2022 G1 Climax, finishing the tournament with a record of three wins and three losses, failing to advance to the semifinals. Afterwards, Phantasmo began trying to embarrass Takagi, after proclaiming to be his "daddy", leading both to agree to a "Who's Your Daddy match" at Declaration of Power on October 10. At the event, Phantasmo unsuccesfully challenged Takagi for his trophy in a Who’s Your Daddy match. Afterwards, he attacked Takagi, before destroying the KOPW trophy. A rematch was later announced leading on October 15, during a tag team match between Phantasmo and Takagi, with the match ending by disqualification after Phantasmo hit the referee with a trash can lid. Phantasmo hit the *CRIII*, before putting Takagi in a trash can and hit him with the *Thunder Kiss '86*. Phantasmo then proposed a "New York Street Fight" while Takagi, on the other hand, at the backstage area preposed a "Last Daddy Standing", with a fan vote being held a week later. Three days later, it was announced that Phantasmo and Takagi would face each other in a New York Street Fight, following the result of a fan poll. On October 28 at Rumble on 44th Street, Phantasmo unsuccesfully challenged Takagi for his trophy in a rematch. In March 2023, Phantasmo took part in the 2023 New Japan Cup, being eliminated in the first round by Tetsuya Naito. During that month, Phantasmo began questioning David Finlay's leadership of Bullet Club, following the recent departure of Jay White. This in turn, led to him being kicked out of the stable on April 8 at Sakura Genesis, after Finlay, KENTA and his partner Taiji Ishimori turned on him. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku, Phantasmo made his first appearance since being expelled from Bullet Club, after Finlay won the NEVER Openweight Championship, he attacked him and challenged him to a title match on June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall. At Dominion, Phantasmo unsucessfully challenged Finlay for the NEVER Openweight Championship, following the interference of Bullet Club. From July 15 to August 6, Phantasmo took part in the 2023 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of three wins and four losses, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Following the tournament, Phantasmo aligned himself with the Guerrillas of Destiny, before joining the stable on August 12, after Phantasmo, Tama Tonga, and Hikuleo were confronted by Finlay and the Bullet Club War Dogs (Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd), with Phantasmo and Hikuleo, who newly reunited after he was expelled from Bullet Club, setting their sights on Coughlin and Kidd's Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships. On October 9 at Destruction in Ryogoku, Phantasmo and Hikuleo defeated Coughlin and Kidd to become the new champions. From November 25 until December 6, Phantasmo and Hikuleo took part in the 2023 World Tag League, where they won their block with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals of the tournament. On December 8, Phantasmo and Hikuleo defeated Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste in the semifinals and then were defeated by Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi, on December 10 in the finals of the World Tag League. Following the match, Bishamon challenged Phantasmo and Hikuleo to a match, for both IWGP and the Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships in a Winner Takes All" match. On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Phantasmo and Hikuleo defeated Bishamon in a Winner takes all match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship, where their Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship was also on the line.

## Personal life

Vigier grew up in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. He graduated from Westview Secondary School in 2004. He graduated from the Art Institute of Vancouver with a diploma for digital film and video program in 2006. From 2010 to 2017, he was an animatic editor for Bardel Entertainment.

In 2012, Phantasmo was involved in a border problem, after patrol officer suspected he was trying to move illegally and believed he could not prove that he had any plans on returning to Canada once his trip ended, being banned from entering in the United States. Shortly after, he was involved in a serious motorcycle crash, which has caused problems with his hip and took a full year of rehabilitation to recover.

## In wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ *CRII - Canadian Revolution II* (Double hammerlock inverted back to belly mat slam) – parodied from Milano Collection A.T.
	+ *CRIII - Canadian Revolution III* (Double hammerlock piledriver)
	+ Thunder Kiss ‘86 (Frog splash)
	+ *Greetings From Camwood Park* (Double underhook piledriver)
	+ Senton bomb followed by a double jump moonsault
	+ *Sudden Death* (Superkick) – 2020–present
* **Signature moves**
	+ Ankle lock, sometimes followed by grapevining the opponent's leg
	+ Brainbuster
	+ *Canadian Destroyer* (Somersault piledriver)
	+ Escalera frankensteiner
	+ Facewash
	+ Hurricanrana, sometimes from an elevated position
	+ Multiple kick variations
		- Bicycle
		- Corner-to-corner missile drop, sometimes with a chair positioned on the opponent's face
		- Kenka Kick (Running big boot)
		- *Sankakugeri* (Step-up springboard enzuigiri to an elevated opponent)
		- Sole butt followed by a rising and finished with an enzuigiri
	+ Ropewalk asai moonsault
	+ Sleeper hold
	+ Snap suplex
	+ Spin-out straight-jacket torture rack neckbreaker
	+ Standing neckscissors snap
	+ Stepping handstand senton
	+ *Styles Clash* (Belly-to-back inverted mat slam) – adopted from AJ Styles
	+ Suicide dive
	+ Swanton Bomb Springboard then into Lionsault combo
	+ Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker
	+ Tornado DDT
	+ *Too Sweet Sault* (Springboard moonsault onto a standing opponent outside of the ring)
* **Nicknames**
	+ "ELP"
	+ **"The Headbanga"**
* **Entrance themes**
	+ "HDBNG Club (El Phantasmo Theme)" by David Grimason
	+ "HDBNG CLUB VIP" by David Grimason and ELP
	+ **"Headbanga"** by David Grimason and ELP

## Championships and accomplishments

* **New Japan Pro Wrestling**
	+ IWGP Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Hikuleo
	+ IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Taiji Ishimori
	+ Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Hikuleo
	+ Super J-Cup (2019, 2020)
* **Revolution Pro Wrestling**
	+ British Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
	+ British J-Cup (2018)

## External links

* El Phantasmo's New Japan Pro-Wrestling profile