With the argument of Faust vs Gran Faust being a thing, I don't see why Hunting Blade vs Wild Hunting Blade shouldn't be a thing.
To get straight to the point, here's the damage values per hit of both Hunting Blade and Wild Hunting Blade in Stratum 6 (Depths 24-28):
Hunting Blade
Normal Hit - 98-92
Normal Phantasm Sword - 58-59
Against Beasts Hit - 132-114
Against Beasts Phantasm Sword - 68-68
Wild Hunting Blade
Normal Hit - 108-108
Normal Phantasm Sword - 62-67
Against Beasts Hit - 141-141
Against Beasts Phantasm Sword - 66-73
Now the damage values may look in Wild Hunting Blade's favor, on average doing ~19 more damage against neutral enemies and ~19.5 more damage on average against Beasts, but there's one thing to think about in this duel; the phantasm they both have. Hunting Blade has the regular Cutter phantasmal sword while Wild Hunting Blade has a unique phantasmal Wolver that comes out and bites the target. Because of this one feature, not only is the Hunting Blade faster than the Wild Hunting Blade, but it is also more accurate.
So, given the two weapons, is ~19 extra damage per hit (counting both hits on the regular attack, if they can even connect) worth the loss of accuracy and speed?
First, I think that the damage table might have some typos in it. You have a lot of entries where the sword does more damage at depth 24 than at depth 28. Have you verified those numbers? I doubt them.
Second, there is not much point in talking about the beast bonus. It's just a damage+3, like anywhere else.
Third, some readers might be confused by your terminology, which disagrees with the wiki. You're talking about regular attacks only. What you call "normal hit" the wiki calls "high". What you call "normal phastasm sword" the wiki calls "low". And you've left out the "charge" damage, even though it appears in the last stroke of the regular attack. The regular attack goes high-low-high-low-high-low-high-low-charge-low.
Fourth, to get to the point of your post, does the phantasmal wolver slow down the combo a lot? How much?
Fifth, I have heard about accuracy/range problems in the past. But when I've gone to test them, I could not reproduce them. Are you sure about them?
Sixth, there are subtle differences in speed and interruption between WHB and DVS. I wonder whether there are any subtle differences between WHB and HB. If so, they would have to be taken into account in your final judgment.
In summary, I would find this thread very interesting if you backed up your suspicions with some more data. :)