Regal appreciation thread

[Citizen Snips Has Left]

I attended the first Raw on TNN when I was at Penn State. Regal was just starting the Goodwill Ambassador gimmick and began reading from some Shakespeare play. After a minute or so, Stone Cold came out (he returned from his year out due to his neck the night before), gave Regal the Stunner and then went back to the dressing room without saying a word. That’s definitely in the top 10 best things I’ve seen live at a wrestling show.

[Andee9001]

Him dressing as a Vegas showgirl is still one of the funniest things i've seen in wrestling.

[salz4life]

Jan 6, 2022 8:22:18 GMT -5 Push R Truth said:

The Regal Penis shall never be forgotten!


Real Man's Man is quite possibly one of the greatest WWE Entrance Songs in the history of our sport.

I still hum that damn song from time to time!

[Fake Jesus]

I think the 2008 KOTR/GM Regal is probably one of the biggest lost opportunities of this century. There's no way Regal wouldn't have been the greatest top heel they'd had since McMahon himself

[salz4life]

I didn't truly appreciate his WCW work as Lord Steven Regal until the 2000s. His WCW theme might be better than all of them. Listening to JP do it on The Lapsed Fan is hysterical.

[Aceorton]

I was indifferent to Regal for most of his WCW days and outright opposed to him during the "Man's Man" run. He could do the persnickety aristocrat thing well and that's about it -- or so I thought. By 1998, he seemed incredibly lazy to me and had an awful gimmick (I didn't realize he was also messed up on drugs).

Then I attended the Pillman Memorial Show in 2000, where Regal re-emerged seemingly out of nowhere, clean and in shape for the first time in years, to face Benoit. That match, with a smark crowd that "got it," immediately made me appreciate not just Regal, but his whole style of wrestling: snug, methodical, realistic, no wasted movement. This is not an exaggeration: My opinion on him completely flipped with that one match. I thought it was going to be a ho-hum replacement (Benoit had originally been advertised to be part of a tag match with Eddie and Malenko/Saturn), and instead it was the best match I've ever seen in person, and one of the best I've ever seen, period.

When Regal showed up on WWF TV again a few months later as the Goodwill Ambassador, I was honest-to-God excited for him, and he delivered. I put him in my top 3 of all-time favorite wrestlers, and that's not even factoring in his comedy stuff.

[Fake Jesus]

Is William Regal the best wrestler to never win a major world title? A lot of people say Roddy Piper; I think Regal is probably objectively better than him without the warm glow of nostalgia. There are probably other contenders though.

[BatPunk]

I don’t know if there’s a wrestler who’s more universally lived than Regal. He has absolutely everything a wrestler needed (including being a legit badass) and from all accounts a lovely human being.

[nate5054]

Easily my favorite memory of Regal was the rib pulled on him when they played Real Man's Man during his regular entrance.

Watching him and Bryan corpse is just great stuff.

[Limity (BLM)]

I loved when he and Tajiri had their reunion. Great bit of continuity, and a great call back to one of my favorite times in wrestling.

[sarkerpolseng]

I tuned out for a few years, and it was during this time where he had an angle where he was mad with power. He was in line for a main event push, but got suspended.

I am sure one of you can explain this better than I, but I remember people speaking highly of it.

["Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat]

As a Brit with no access to anything but mainstream wrestling growing up, my 2 favourites were British Bulldog and Steven/William Regal. As time passes Regal became my definitive number 1. I loved his style, I loved to see his Britishness winding up the American audiences, and his work when he became a villain is some of my favourite of all time. Love the power of the punch gimmick, especially when the ref checked him and then he casually collected the knucks from Kurt Angle.

My favourite promo is his one at Triple H when he stuck up for Eugene (though his last match one is a close 2nd), and my favourite matches are any against Belfast Bruiser/Fit Finlay. Those 2 would smack the shit out of each other.

[jivesoulbrah]

Regal is so damn awesome, I love that this is a thread giving him praise not because he’s passed on, but because he’s alive and just that damn memorable. He’s a valuable asset no matter what he does next.

I loved his 2001 act when he would walk down the ramp and near the ring he would wave at random people in the crowd, point to them and smile as if he knew them in a such a face manner but was a total heel. That always cracked me up.

[khali]

Regal is one of those people who could do anything. When you needed a serious ass kicker, he did it. When you needed comedy, he did it. When you needed a serious promo, he did it. And no matter what he was doing, his facial expressions sold every bit of it. And then he retired from the ring and was perfect as the NXT GM and almost father figure.

[evilhomer]

Always think of that promo on HHH defending Eugene. The words, the delivery, the timing, everything was spot on and perfect. And his seething fury as he's getting strapped into the stretcher, it's not easy to be stretchered out and still be a badass, but that look told you that HHH was a deadman very soon (if only this wasn't during the reign of terror and HHH could have received a proper comeuppance).

I do owe him a thank you as well. Calling people "sunshine" when they're pissed off with you usually pushes them over the edge.

[Deleted]

Jan 6, 2022 23:41:58 GMT -5 "Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat said:

As a Brit with no access to anything but mainstream wrestling growing up, my 2 favourites were British Bulldog and Steven/William Regal.

Ever see their Halloween Havoc match?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ylXjzIxZwHo

["Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat]

Jan 7, 2022 0:25:05 GMT -5 @irontyger said:

Jan 6, 2022 23:41:58 GMT -5 "Sweet & Sour" ImSoFudginGreat said:

As a Brit with no access to anything but mainstream wrestling growing up, my 2 favourites were British Bulldog and Steven/William Regal.

Ever see their Halloween Havoc match?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=ylXjzIxZwHo

I was not aware of this one, and you’re a legend for telling me. Thank you!

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Jan 6, 2022 22:23:18 GMT -5 Limity (BLM) said:

I loved when he and Tajiri had their reunion. Great bit of continuity, and a great call back to one of my favorite times in wrestling.

Best facial expressions in the business.

[thehottag]

Can't believe we've gone 2 pages & not had Regal's Hulkamaniac promo mentioned yet. That was hilarious.

[Cvslfc123]

I didn't appreciate him when I was a child as I was a love face/hate heel fan. However as I got older I realised just how entertaining and hilarious he was. He was as good as Vince at being willing to make a fool of himself for our entertainment.