William Regal

 

William Regal

Class of 2023

Inducted by Mizfan


William Regal! The name instantly conjures the image of a devious Englishman, a man who could outwrestle you any day of the week but would rather sneak a pair of brass knuckles from the streets of Blackpool into the ring and knock you into next Tuesday.

Since 1983(!), at the age of 15, Regal has been plying his craft all over the world, and deserves all the recognition we can throw at him for the great work he’s done. He spent years as a young man learning to be a technical master in the United Kingdom before moving to the US in 1993 to join with WCW. He soon found his niche as a pompous European, named Lord Steven Regal. He was, in this writer’s humble opinion, an indispensable cornerstone of the midcard particularly in ’93 and ’94, where he spent much of his time defending the Television Title against all comers in tremendous matches.



As the scene within the promotion changed he found himself lower on the card, but never failed to make the most of anything he was given, including delightful teams with Dave Taylor and the beautiful pairing with Earl Robert Eaton as the Blue Bloods. Personal struggles eventually began to catch up with him, and a tumultuous encounter with Goldberg lead him to briefly bounce to the WWF (the infamous “Man’s Man” period) before landing back in WCW. He was released again in 2000 and there was a feeling the villainous Brit might be finished, until a special featured match with Chris Benoit on a Brian Pillman memorial show was a surprise hit and allowed him to recapture the interest of the wrestling world.

He joined again with WWF in a more permanent capacity and had a memorable run as the WWF Commissioner, before once again occupying many different midcard roles, whether he was being stunned for reading Hamlet, training Eugene to wrestle, battling the pirate Paul Burchill, or repeating “All hail King Booker!”. Yes, he was often asked to spin crap into gold, but he was very often successful. During this time he collected many accolades, including Tag Team Champion, King of the Ring, Intercontinental Champion, European Champion, and even Hardcore Champion. But more importantly, he was busy providing a major influence on the next generation of talent, being a particularly big formative figure for a young Bryan Danielson.

As health issues forced him to wind down his in ring career, we were fortunate enough to see one of the greatest retirement tours of all time, unofficial though it may have been. From 2011 to 2013, Regal had epic battles with the next generation of talent. His feud with a young man called Dean Ambrose in FCW was especially scintillating, and as he helped usher in the birth of NXT as we know it today he had a similarly great fight with Chris Hero and then perhaps the greatest final match of all time against a fellow called Cesaro. That match, aired on Christmas Day 2013, is one you simply must seek out if you’ve never seen it.

From there I think we all likely know of his continuing contributions to the business. His backstage work with WWE in finding talent for the future has helped build the roster into its current robust state, and while his time in AEW may have been cut short, it was tremendously enjoyable for all. At the end of the day William Regal may have never won a world title, but he overcame tremendous personal struggles to cement himself as one of the most important and influential wrestling figures of modern times, and the hand he’s taken in shaping wrestling will be felt for decades to come. So here’s to everybody’s favorite Man’s Man, William Regal!

 

Career Accomplishments

 

    • 4-time WCW World Television Champion
      2-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
      4-time WWF European Champion
      2013 and 2014, Best TV Announcer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter

 

 

Lords of Pain.net/Wrestling Headlines.com welcomes William Regal
into the Hall of Fame class of 2023.

 

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