Steven Regal

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[tim]

Top 50, no doubt about it. Maybe top 30. We all know the criticism: where are the great matches? Well first of all, there are some. Maybe not all-time top tier, 90s AJPW, classic lucha, etc. kind of stuff. But incredible matches. However, yes, for a guy with Regal's reputation as a worker there are few. But almost every time he's in the ring, whether the match is a MOTYC, a very good TV bout or short midcard filler, he is one of the most entertaining wrestlers to watch of all time. Regal is the king of the "little stuff." Adding a cool new twist to a move, finding a unique and bad-ass way to brutalize his opponent. His 1996 Nitro match with Psicosis I always think of as a case in point to what kind of worker Regal is. It might not be a MOTYC but Regal is doing awesome things throughout the whole match, the kind of cool stuff only Regal can do, and it's a really good TV match. I even like his bumping and selling style. One of the most fun wrestlers to watch ever, and his two big matches in 2013 were MOTYCs which, more importantly, featured absolutely stunning performances from Regal himself.

[Phil Schneider]

Here is my C+A for Regal

 

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2011/05/complete-and-accurate-regal.html

[Phil Schneider]

I rated quite a few Regal matches as EPIC's and haven't reviewed all of his great ones

[BillThompson]

Regal has a shot at making my top 10. I think the body of work is there in regards to great matches, but what really aids him is that the body of work is there of him being great in tons of average to merely good matches.

[Timbo Slice]

Top 50-75 guy for me, but he's dynamic enough where if I'm making my list and all of a sudden I see him amongst a group of guys on a similar level that he'll get the nod above due to how he performs in big matches.

[goodhelmet]

Top 10 (15 at the lowest) level guy for me.

 

Regal's PPV matches from 1994 were as good as anyone in America for that year.

 

His series with Finlay is as good as any series I can remember watching.

 

His two Hashimoto matches are outstanding and worked in completely different ways.

 

In almost every Regal match I end up watching, he does something I enjoy. Sometimes the matches didn't get enough time but very rarely do I find fault in Regal's performances.

[Venegas]

The man. If there's a bad Regal performance, I haven't seen it. His WCW run was tremendous and he had awesome matches with just about anyone. Arn Anderson, Zbysko, Ultimo Dragon, Psychosis, Benoit, Finlay, the list goes on and on. The way he's able to get in the ring with just about anyone and plug his style in and make it work is something very few guys in history have done. The Shinya Hashomoto series is incredible and his performance in the first match is one of the absolute best performances I've ever seen in a match. The beginning of his WWE run saw him put in stupid comedy spots until he started working with Benoit, although he had a few awesome TV gems with Austin. The Benoit matches are among my all time favorites. In 2008 he had a MSG house show match vs CM Punk that surfaced that I would call a top 5 Punk WWE match and a 2008 MOTYC. 2009 saw him as the arguable ECW MVP which is impressive when you consider how good Christian was. I was a big fan of the 2010 matches with Daniel Bryan including their excellent 5 minute RAW match which is a perfect of Regal being able to have a great performance/match no matter what the timeframe is. The Ambrose feud in 2011-2012 was awesome, and the Hero/Cesaro matches from last year were my two top WWE matches of the year. Mechanically, a candidate for GOAT. No worse than top 15 for me.

[shoe]

Regal is like a fine wine. He gets better with age. I'm curious on where he'll end up on my ballot.

[SevenKeys]

Definite lock for me somewhere in my 100 , consistantly good performance for a long period of time .

[Superstar Sleeze]

Regal is like a fine wine. He gets better with age. I'm curious on where he'll end up on my ballot.

Thanks Jim Ross from Smackdown! vs. Raw 2006. I know it is a relatively common expression, but my brother and I always do it in the JR voice because anytime you played HBK, he trotted that line out.

[Matt D]

Regal on Jericho's podcast was fascinating. I do think that when you look at wrestlers as closely as we do, it is useful to listen to interviews where they talk about their philosophy of wrestling. I do think intent matters, if nothing else, as a tool to understand certain decisions within matches. It's important to at least try to understand the wrestlers that we're looking at, because comparison without understanding can be haphazard.

[GOTNW]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ApH5c8kr4

What more could you want from a professional wrestler?

[Timbo Slice]

Regal's shot up the board for me where I can safely consider him in my Top 50 and more likely in my Top 30. If I were to pick out my favorite performance I've seen of him since watching stuff for this project, the Arn SuperBrawl IV match is right up there amongst his best, as is the Larry Z matches. 1994 might have been his best year in the US as far as his work goes.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Regal on Jericho's podcast was fascinating. I do think that when you look at wrestlers as closely as we do, it is useful to listen to interviews where they talk about their philosophy of wrestling. I do think intent matters, if nothing else, as a tool to understand certain decisions within matches. It's important to at least try to understand the wrestlers that we're looking at, because comparison without understanding can be haphazard.

Yup. Regal on that show clarified exactly how I think about wrestling.

[DMJ]

What was really interesting to me on that podcast was how humble Regal is and how he pretty much admits that there was a stretch that he wasn't performing as well as he could've, not just because of substance abuse but also because he struggled to really find his footing in the WWE at first. Instead of saying "The WWE didn't know what do with my character," Regal owns up to the fact that it took time for him to figure out how to be successful in that environment - from what I remember, his matches in 2000 against the likes of Road Dogg and Al Snow weren't lighting the world on fire.

 

Really great interview that confirms how awesome Regal is, not only as a knowledgable wrestler, but also maybe as a person. At one point, he says "I never drew a dime" and you just want to shake his hand and tell him that it may not have seemed like it from his perspective, but from a fan's perspective, when you saw his name on the card, you always knew you'd get one match that was going to deliver the goods.

[elliott]

How is Regal's early pre WCW work? I haven't seen any of it. This is what made Will's Regal set...

 

 

The Masked Destroyer, Blackpool Carnival Roy Regal vs. Marty Jones (WOS 9/3/1986)

Steve Regal & Dave Larsen vs. Giant Haystacks (Reslo 1988)

Steve Regal vs. Tony St. Clair (Reslo 1988)

Steve Regal & Robbie Brookside vs. Dave Duran & Jimmy Munroe (WOS 7/30/88)

Steve Regal & Robbie Brookside vs. Kendo Nagasaki & "Blondie" Barrett (WOS 8/24/88)

Steve Regal vs. Terry Rudge (Germany 10/7/88)

Steve Regal vs. Robbie Brookside (Fancam)

Steve Regal vs. Indio Guajaro (JIP) (Germany 10/15/89)

Steve Regal vs. Jorg Chenok (Germany 5/23/90)

Steve Regal vs. Indio Guajaro (Germany 9/11/90)

Steve Jones vs. Mongolian Mauler (Reslo 1990)

Steve Jones vs. Col. Brody (Reslo 1990)

Steve Jones & Orig Williams vs. Klaus Kauroff & Col.Brody (Reslo 1990)

Steve Jones & Orig Williams vs. Dave Finlay & Skull Murphy (Reslo 1990)

Steve Regal vs. Col. Brody (Bremen Late 1990)

Steve Jones & Orig Williams vs. Shaun South & Shane Psycho Stevens (Reslo 1991)

Steve Regal vs. Anakonda (Germany 6/9/91)

Hellraiser vs. Serge Ventura (France 10/91)

Steve Regal vs. Col. Brody (France Early 1992)

Steve Regal & Steve Adonis vs. Drew McDonald & Herodes (France Early 1992)

Steve Regal vs. Drew McDonald (France 1992)

[ohtani's jacket]

The Tiger Dalibar Singh match from South Africa, the Terry Rudge match and the first Brookside fancam are worth watching. His '93-94 WCW work is largely better.

[Jimmy Redman]

I'll be voting for Regal, but I am lower on him than most here. I was never much of a fan until the last couple years, I always found him kind of boring. It was actually his FCW/NXT Regal vs Indy Star matches vs Ambrose, Ohno and Cesaro that sold me on him. He is utterly, utterly tremendous in all of those.

 

Apart from that, there are some Benoit matches from 2006, particularly the impromptu No Mercy match. His team with Dave Taylor was fun while it lasted, particularly when they were either beating the shit out of Londrick, or trying to navigate their way through a ladder match. He was good in 2009 on ECW as the top heel, but again I found the Christian matches to be good, but nowhere near as good as other people seem to think they are.

 

I've looked into his earlier work and enjoyed some of it. Namely matches with Larry Z, Arn, Hash. I like him now. Just...not that much. He'll definitely place, but in the bottom quarter somewhere probably.

[ohtani's jacket]

Regal strikes me as one of the most likable guys in all of wrestling. Why wouldn't anyone like Regal? I don't get it.

[Jimmy Redman]

Not like personally. Like as a wrestler. Rate as a wrestler, if that's better.

[JerryvonKramer]

Later on, I'm going to burn through another disc of Regal comp. But what I haven't yet decided on is more British stuff, early 90s WCW or 00s WWE?

 

Regal is definitely ranking but it's a case of how high and how much I turn around on stuff like the Arn match which honestly bored me a few years ago. I'm a different fan now.

 

Regal might well get a 9 on intangibles for having the best facial expressions in the entire world. Not just wrestling, but like period. He's Rowan Atkinson level at facials.

[ohtani's jacket]

I mean that, too. Of course it's possible to be critical of his work. I've been critical of it at times, but to not like him as a worker is surprising.

[ohtani's jacket]

Later on, I'm going to burn through another disc of Regal comp. But what I haven't yet decided on is more British stuff, early 90s WCW or 00s WWE?

 

Regal is definitely ranking but it's a case of how high and how much I turn around on stuff like the Arn match which honestly bored me a few years ago. I'm a different fan now.

 

Regal might well get a 9 on intangibles for having the best facial expressions in the entire world. Not just wrestling, but like period. He's Rowan Atkinson level at facials.

 

His British & European stuff doesn't add much to his case. The crux of the Regal argument is made up of his early WCW run up until the drugs took their effect and his later WWE work. That doesn't sound like a great body of work on the surface, but with Regal each piece of work seems like it's worth evaluating, which is surely indicative of an artist.

[JerryvonKramer]

Watched some early 90s Regal tonight about his first eight months in WCW: http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/32779-regal-jvk-edn/

 

Main take away:

 

These two hours absolutely flew by, and two really good matches here from Regal. Sadly, however, I was struck by how poor his promos and out-of-ring character work in skits and angles were during this early run. I think he had the in-ring aspects of the character down from the get go, but his promos etc really needed some work.