There have been lots of great wrestlers to come out of good old Blighty: Sheamus, Wade Barrett, Dave Finlay, “The British Bulldog” Davey Smith, Doug Williams and many more, but my personal favourite is the ever eloquent William Regal.
Born Darren Matthews, he started his career at the tender age of 15, wrestling at carnivals on Blackpool Pier. He travelled all over England before taking his talents to the US in the early 90’s. Going to WCW, he started his path into the loveable rogue we see today. Claiming descent from William the Conqueror he became the villain, Lord Steven Regal. He was arrogant, nasty and condescending, but still managed to keep that good old British charm. At WCW he won the World Television Championship four times and went on the form The Blue Bloods with fellow aristocrat Jean-Paul Levesque. They came close to winning the WCW Tag Team Championships, but after a match against Goldberg on Monday Nitro, Regal was fired from WCW.
Onwards and upwards for Regal as he moved to WWF in the late 90’s. After sustaining an injury in a match against Rhyno, Regal became addicted to prescription drugs and wasn’t seen in the WWF again for a while. He made his full time debut against X-Pac in 98 and feuded briefly with The Godfather before again needing help to deal with his substance issues, which led to the WWF releasing him.
His return saw him mostly taking part in tag team matches and reinvent his image as the Blighty Villain. After a match with Benoit, he was brought up to the main roster. A snobby British Villain. His lessons of etiquette and the correct use of the Queens English were a good gimmick, and the man’s man Regal won my heart! He won the European Championship before again, eventually getting fired!
He returned again in 2002 to feud with Edge, where he won the IC Championship at the Royal Rumble, a Royal setting for a Regal return! Brass knuckles were his weapon of choice and we saw some great moves, like my favourites the Crossface chicken-wing and the Regal bomb. He lost the title to RVD at Wrestlemania, but went on the win the European Championship later that year.
Drafted to Raw by Flair, Regal went on to win the Hardcore Championship, and the Tag Team Championship teaming with Storm. Regal would later have to give up his reign as Champion due to a heart condition. Upon his return, again, he successfully won and defended the Tag Team Championships with partner Tajiri several times.
2005 saw him drafted to Smackdown, where he would feud with The Mexicools and later fellow Brit Paul Burchill who would force Regal to dress as Lady Regal (a stipulation introduced by Burchill if Regal were to lose their match) and unfortunately for Regal, he did. A far cry from his usual attire of a long flowing robe.
In 2007 Regal became the new Interim General Manager of Raw after winning a battle royal and he would go on to feud with Raw’s top stars like John Cena, Randy Orton and Triple H. He would later cost Triple H the chance to enter the Royal Rumble.
2008 saw WWE give Regal a massive push. He won King of the Ring after defeating Hornswoggle, Punk and Finlay all by submission. At the crowning ceremony Mr Kennedy would return to feud with Regal and take part in a ‘winner gets fired match’ which Regal lost. We later found out that it was due to suspension for violation of the wellness policy. I was so pleased to see Regal getting a push, he is such an underrated, underused wrestler with great talent and charisma, and was gutted when he was subsequently suspended.
NXT would bring a new lease of life and popularity back to this British star. Commentating, mentoring and being made the NXT Official Match Coordinator brought a much needed and wanted break for Regal. His feuds with Ambrose and Reks and Hawkins had me hooked. He is a great match commentator and adds much needed humour and the good old tongue in cheek comments we Brits love.
William Regal is one of my favourite wrestlers of all time. I had the great pleasure of seeing him fight live again at the Wrestlemania Revenge Tour earlier this year. He teamed with Tyson Kidd to defeat Hunico and Camacho. Chants of ‘you’ve still got it’ and ‘lets go Regal’ filled the arena. He has still got it, he has always had it and he will always be one of the Best of British talents we ever exported to the US!
King Regal! I salute you!
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @helenrobinson82
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