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Regal (JvK edn.)

JerryvonKramer

By JerryvonKramer
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JerryvonKramer

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There is an existing Regal thread here. However, I don't want to confuse the general discussion with these ongoing reviews.

 

The Masked Destroyer, Blackpool Carnival (1986)

 

This is true old-school as in 19th century style carny stuff. As a dude on the mic in Blackpool Pleasure Beach -- a traditional working class holiday destination -- issues a member of the public vs. wrestler challenge. £100 to last three rounds. Is it a shoot or a worked shoot? The punters seem like true marks to me. Either way, this goes to the very roots of pro wrestling. Amazing they were still doing it in 1986. They are billing it as "American Style wrestling" ha ha. True carny stuff. Amazing footage.

 

There are two wrestlers. The Mighty Quinn and The Masked Destroyer. The announcer claims that these guys are under contract with the WWF to take on any challenger. He he.

 

We see a few different attempts, and I think it's always the same Scottish guy who steps forward.

 

We get to see a match against a little guy. Clearly a work. Gorilla press slam sees him off.

 

Now it's the big Scot Billy -- clearly a wrestler -- Masked Destroyer keeps him grounded. Stretches him. Billy is so clearly a worker that it is pretty hilarious. He throws working punches. Fairplay to Billy he's pretty over in Blackpool! Standing dropkick after a series of knees by Destroyer. Backdrop by Billy. Piledriver by Masked Destroyer! Billy's not getting up from that.

 

This footage is an incredible piece of history. Not sure where Regal was, was he the first challenger? I thought he might be Masked Destoryer but looked too big and stacked to be him.

 

Roy Regal vs. Marty Jones (WOS 9/3/1986)

 

Regal is rocking a mullet here. Walton is so good at getting over the idea of Regal as a young hopeful going up against an incredibly seasoned pro. It may well be the purest form of kayfabe.

 

Little comedy spot early as Regal goes down to the mat expecting Jones to run over him, but Jones goes down there with him to say hello.

 

Jones delivers a vertical suplex at one point, which is a move I've not seen on World of Sport footage before. Round 2 and he hits a gut buster. Backslide. Billy Robinson backbreaker. And another. Dropkick. A lot more American or Japanese influence here. Regal can't get up after the dropkick, that's a KO loss.

 

Pretty entertaining little bout.

 

**

 

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

 

Ah, S4C, how I have not missed you. In Wales, we got S4C in place of Channel 4, and half of it was in Welsh. On the plus side, there were shows like Reslo and Scorio. The latter being a roundup of European football -- and our only chance of seeing football from Spain, Italy etc. back before it was common. On the other hand, in practice S4C mainly meant we got Friends at 12am instead of a reasonable hour, and mostly any good Channel 4 show was moved later because of the mandate to show Welsh-language programming.

 

This is a handicap match. It was a thing at my school for a while to say "Giant Haystacks!" in a ridiculously exaggerated and high-pitched Welsh accent. It must have been from his appearances on Reslo. Regal's partner is Dave Larsen who I don't know much about. He was a veteran at this point. Pretty sure I heard the commentator call him "Docker Dave Larsen".

 

Haystacks looks decent here dominating his two opponents. He worked his gimmick well. No sells most offense, and looks unbeatable with your standard big man offense. Splashes, boots to the throat, hip tosses. That sort of thing. Regal gets knocked out after a plucky attempt at a comeback. I do think Haystacks could have had a run against Hogan in this time frame.

 

*1/2

 

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

 

 

This is a much more competitive affair than the Jones match. And worked much more in the British style, more tosses and mat counters. Regal looked good.

 

**

 

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

 

Duran and Monroe were calling themselves the Road Warriors. This was for All Star, not Joint. Walton isn't happy about the gloves the a Road Warriors are wearing. Live noticed it's the same ref as in most of the Joint bouts, Max Ward.

 

Brookside has some nice European uppercuts, Regal hits an excellent clothesline at one point. They take the first fall with not much trouble. Heels take the second.

 

A lot of suplexes from Monroe in the third. Not sure about his execution on the butterfly. Walton notes "use of the trunks" when he does the vertical. Basically a long face in peril sequence on Regal. Brookside comes in and takes the second fall after a hot tag.

 

Entertaining match showing Regal as a young babyface, working very effectively. Didn't think much of the heels.

 

**1/2

 

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

 

Barrett was calling himself the Rock n Roll Express. Nagasaki is a legend, but I can never be sure if it's actually him. Was this actually him? Both heels have managers here. Golden Boys, Regal and Brookside, are over,

 

Both Regal and Brookside seem to have been watching Ricky Steamboat judging by the amount of deep arm drags early on. Both are good at them too. They were sort of like the British Rockers seemingly at this point.

 

Barrett and Nagasaki are better and more over heels than Duran and Monroe and it really helps this match.

 

This is quite a compelling bout until Barrett gets a KO after Brookside hits a missile dropkick which apparently means he is eliminated. Then it's 2 vs. 1 and silly season as Brookside somehow takes of Nagaskai's mask revealing his face and eyes. This allows Nagasaki to use his hypnotic powers to put Brookside in a trance. First he orders him to give his mask back and then he gets Brookside to attack Regal.

 

Post-match, Brookside gets on the mic to protest that something funny was going on. Very fun bit of bullshit, and the match before it was the best from this early Regal run so far.

 

***

 

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

 

Handheld. CWA. Rudge is a good old-fashioned British bruiser. Classic rulebreaker.

 

Gritty bout with some stuff uppercuts. Rudge has some painful looking spots in his bag of heel tricks. Stamping on the fingers, for example. Regal plays underdog babyface very well. Worth seeking out.

 

***1/2

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andrew79 Newbie

andrew79

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The punters seem like true marks to me. Either way, this goes to the very roots of pro wrestling. Amazing they were still doing it in 1986. They are billing it as "American Style wrestling" ha ha. True carny stuff. Amazing footage.

This is from memory so the details might not be perfect:

 

Someone (Ron? Roger?) Taylor ran a boxing and wrestling booth at the Goose Fair in Nottingham until the early 2000s.

 

The wrestling was an obvious, theatrical work. It wasn't designed to fool anyone into thinking they were watching the real thing. Allegedly some of the workers were shooters and would take on challenge matches, though when I tried to challenge I was told they didn't do it anymore.

 

But the boxing was a shoot. It was either locals paying to fight each other or someone taking on a carny fighter for a cash prize.

 

Their fighters were experienced, hard men, not skilled boxers, but they hit fast and hard, could take a lot of punishment and weren't above ignoring any agreed rules.

 

I was accepted to box - it turned out that a gypsy brawler is no match for a professionally trained fighter. I suppose that might have been why they didn't want me to face the wrestler.

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Steve Regal vs. Robbie Brookside (1/8/88???)

 

"Former tag team partners Big Boss Man and Akeem now have to face each other!" Yip, as I said elsewhere, every single time. Fancam, date taken from OJ approximation. If that date is true, this would actually be BEFORE they were tag partners.

 

Regal is on top to start and stretches Brookside's arm. Work is good. He can work the mat with the best of them. Brookside comes back with focus on Regal's left leg. Regal is very vocal in his selling. Sometimes you can tell when a match is going to go long when they start out in two extended holds.

 

Brookside hits a back suplex and a backdrop. Regal comes back with a leg drop and a gutwrench. Snapmare. Abdominal stretch. Regal seems like he's working heel in this match. And he's a lot closer to his WCW self than we've seen so far. You might want to take another look at that date OJ, I'd put this later probably, he seems a lot more seasoned and a little bigger too. I'm guessing this is why Will has it represented around 89?

 

Regal's knees and uppercuts are stiffly worked. His execution of suplexes and throws are all very crisp. This is by far the best he's looked on this early footage. Interesting to see a longer house show match from this time and place too.

 

This is a good match once it gets going but the early work was obviously there to eat time and the finish lacked any sort of excitement. Everything in the middle was solid though with Regal good on both offense and selling. Brookside didn't look half bad either.

 

***1/2

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JerryvonKramer Contributor

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Steven Regal Interview (WCWSN 1/30/93)

 

Vanilla babyface promo in which Regal tells us, about three times, he's been wrestling all around the world for the past nine years.

 

Steven Regal, 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell vs. Scotty Flamingo, Shangai Pierce & Tex Slazenger (WCWSN 2/20/93)

 

Ahhh, I have such a soft spot in my heart for this show and for this era in WCW. Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce, the quintessential Centre Stage workers! Bagwell is totally stacked here. Interesting mix of workers right here. Commentators are Jim Ross and Larry Z.

 

Surprisingly solid psychology in this as the babyfaces work over Pierce's arm with Bagwell working things like a short arm scissors in the early going. Bagwell ends up as the FIP. Kinda odd seeing Regal as a babyface here riding the coat tails of Bagwell and Scorpio.

 

**

 

Steven Regal vs. Barbarian (Main Event 3/7/93)

 

Commentators are Tony Schaivone and Larry Z. Seems like Larry was working overtime in 1993. The Barbarian is one of those guys who was underrated by the online community for so long that he's now become hilariously overrated (see GWE). I mean I like him, but come on Top 100 of all time is silly talk.

 

Barby actually hits a lot of high artillery offense here, back suplex, brainbuster, stiff clotheslines. Regal steals a flash pin for a semi upset win, after getting squashed for the whole match. He sold well, but Regal here has the air of a guy who is never gonna get over as a babyface. And I'm not saying that because I know what happens.

 

Entertaining TV bout.

 

**

 

Steven Regal vs. Johnny B Badd (Main Event 3/21/93)

 

This is the semi-final of the TV title tournament. They shake hands as the match starts. Babyface vs. babyface. I think Tony probably much preferred working with Larry than he did with Jesse, Larry didn't give him a hard time at all.

 

This was a pretty headlock-y, wrist lock-y match that didn't really go anywhere. Badd went over, so Regal gave up a pin in his third match on TV.

 

*

 

Steven Regal vs. Barry Windham (Power Hour 4/24/93)

 

Windham is the NWA champion. Regal is still the vanilla babyface. This is Windham on TV, so I'm expecting this to be at least half ways decent. Larry Z and Tony put over Billy Robinson, Karl Gotch and King Henry VIII on commentary during this match. Ha ha,

 

Windham is pretty good playing the heel champ here. The early portion of the match is arm vs. arm. Then Windham starts busting out his bombs and and some strikes. I always love that float over suplex. Work is snug and stiff, all well executed. Barry ensures that Regal gets hope spots peppered in, despite taking much of this. Regal was effective selling and playing the underdog babyface challenger.

 

Really good match that feels like a hidden gem.

 

***3/4

 

Steven Regal vs. Chris Benoit (Handheld 5/8/93)

 

This is a WCW match but did it take place in training? There is literally no one in the crowd. Like NO ONE. Looks like an empty arena match.

 

Benoit seemed very dominant in this match and basically went through all his signature offense before going over. From what I could make out anyway.

 

*1/2

 

Steven Regal Interview (WWW 7/10/93)

 

This seems like the first appearance on TV of Lord Steven Regal with his new butler Sir William, whose accent is worse than Dick van Dyke's. The worst English accent possibly of all time. Regal cuts a promo claiming that Britain basically rules Europe and thinks it is a disgrace that currently they have British Bulldog representing them in WCW. Calls him a "reject Rastafarian". Ha ha. He claims to be the greatest scientific wrestler in the world and vows to win a world title and lay it at the feet of the Queen.

 

Steven Regal vs. Marcus Bagwell (Clash 7/16/93)

 

 

What a difference a few months make eh. Regal gets announced from the Royal Forrest of Dean, which was actually the venue for my wedding. What a difference a few years make eh. Jesse and Tony on commentary.

 

Jesse is a fan of Regal's, of course. Regal already has all the facial expressions down as he comes out showing much disdain for envy one around him. The little touch of walking with his hand behind his back is some great attention to detail in the character work. For the second time tonight, I'm watching Bagwell do some fundamentally sound arm work: knee onto a hammerlock. Arm ringer into an arm bar. Jesse puts over rugby as a rugged proper man's game, while calling American Football "a wimp's game". Loving Jesse tonight.

 

Regal looked great here. Technically superior, agile, and his character work already superlative. Bagwell was surprisingly proficient and this run in 93 was probably his career peak.

 

***1/2

 

Steven Regal- Flair for the Gold (WWW 7/24/93)

 

Michael Buffer introduces Flair. Arn and Fifi are hanging out there too. Looking back Flair for the Gold was a horrible concept and segment. For some reason also, Flair really looks like he might hang out with Jerry Seinfeld here. Weird thing to say I know, but there's a sort of Seinfeld vibe to this whole set and deal.

 

A nice touch here is that Regal sends Sir William off with Fifi to get some "tips" on housekeeping. Ha.

 

Flair: So let me ask you, Arn's buzzing me, I'm buzzing him. Is that Fergie really as fresh as they say she is?

 

Regal: She's nothing but a commoner.

 

Interesting angle here, whereby Flair and Regal were very respectful to each other, despite the fact that Flair is seemingly a face here. Regal mentions that Lady Diana called him recently and said she wants to meet Flair.

 

I thought this was vaguely embarrassing for all involved. Regal has his working mannerisms down, but he still has a long way to go before nailing the out of ring character work and promos. Asking him to work this interview segment with Flair (who was weirdly unnatural here) was probably too much of a stretch.

 

Steven Regal vs. Ricky Steamboat (Main Event 8/1/93)

 

Funny moment right at the start of this match where Steamboat offers his hand to shake, Regal looks at the hand, considers it, and then gives it the faintest tap on the finger, Steamboat is like "what the hell is this guy all about?" Just perfect heel and face dynamics from two of the very best. The same cannot be said for Steamboat's barber who has done an AWFUL job on his haircut here, never seen Steamer's hair look worse.

 

Steamboat is actually vaguely goofy during this match. I mean he's still obviously a lovely guy and a babyface through and through, but there's nothing cool about him. He's like a dad at a kid's party, something like that. Regal gets in his face and lectures him at one point. Huge amounts of schtick in this match, which isn't entirely what one might expect. Steamboat made me laugh several times during this, but mainly because of how thoroughly uncool he was.

 

More of an angle than a match this, goes to 10-minute draw. Shows you that when Ted is taking a green Dustin to a great match in ten minutes it's no small achievement. This was entertaining for the schtick but the work was perfunctory. The promo from Regal afterwards and the interjection from Steamboat was absolutely hilarious but for all the wrong reasons. Steamer actually gets out a glove and slaps Regal across the face with it. Horrendous segment that is a bit embarrassing looking back. Regal really hadn't nailed this aspect of the character yet, and Steamboat doing an English accent while also being the least cool man alive in 1993 kind of needs to be seen to be believed.

 

**1/2

 

Steven Regal vs. Ricky Steamboat (No DQ) (Main Event 8/8/93)

 

Now this is an excellent matchup, superb chain wrestling here and Steamboat shows he can really go on the mat and with the neat counters. Regal is super stiff and his uppercuts are fantastic. Loved the struggle over the butterfly, page straight out of the Dory Jr book there. Paul Orndorff -- who honestly I've always thought was super underrated during this WCW run -- ambushes Steamer before the match can end and delivers quite an intense beating.

 

Easily the best thing Regal was involved in during his first eight months in WCW, although don't forget about that Windham match.

 

***3/4

 

Steven Regal, Paul Orndorff & Max Payne vs. Ricky Steamboat, 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell (WCWSN 8/14/93)

 

I point blank refuse to believe that the Lord Steven character would team up with Maxx Payne! That's just nonsense. Come on now, kayfabe people. Babyface team is perhaps uniquely uncool as "dad of the year" Steamboat and the original white guys can't dance Marcus Bagwell join forces. I would say Scorpio was fairly cool, but then he is a man who signed his name "2 Cold" so perhaps not. Anyway, interesting mix of guys.

 

I swear Orndorff doesn't get enough credit for how stiff and intense he was in his work during this run.

 

Jesse: What is it with these "Paul" chants? That was you and Gary Capetski who started that.

 

Tony: Wrong again, Jess.

 

Jesse: What do you mean "wrong again"? I've never been wrong twice in one show.

 

Ha ha, so awesome. You know I just cannot wait for GWE to be over, mainly so I can just go back to the things that are important to me, like -- well mainly like loving random Jesse exchanges during random TV matches like this!

 

I don't mind Maxx Payne, but I hate that fat guy wearing a t-shirt in the ring trend he started. Wear proper ring gear please! It is 1993 and we have a huge "whoop there it is" chant when Scorpio comes in, which might make a certain Superstar Sleeze happy.

 

Super fun six man, with some awkward moments, but also some awesome ones, which mainly involved Regal beating the crap out of Bagwell. The performance of Orndorff stood out to me for its intensity.

 

***

 

------

 

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.

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Steven Regal & Bobby Eaton vs. Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (Main Event 10/29/95)

 

Going through the list of matches, this one stood out to me as being topical for today as PWO Dreamteam Regal and Eaton take on 90s IWC Darlings Benoit and Malenko.

 

This was a pretty hot match truth be told with Eaton hanging in there with the new generation, and Regal busting out a butterfly suplex from the top rope to show he can drop bombs too. I thought Dean was perfectly fine here. I was watching for his selling and facials and he sold being dazed pretty well at one point. Benoit, unfortunately, was pretty bocthy here as the smaller man palpably struggled to lift the weight of the larger frame of Regal. He tries to set him up for a doomsday device or something at one point but when he loses his balance opts to power bomb him instead. And then later, a similar spot where struggles to get him up for a suplex. Wasn't pretty. If the execution had been more on point, this would be a hidden gem. As it is, it's just a hot TV match.

 

***1/2

 

Steven Regal & Bobby Eaton vs. Harlem Heat (WCWSN 11/4/95)

 

I am in the camp that believe Harlem Heat to suck pretty badly, so not really looking forward to this. Dusty is on commentary with Tony by the way. Also, I will freely admit that I just think "spit roast threesome" whenever I see them with Sherri.

 

Highlight of this overlong match is Regal working Booker T's fingers and setting up an assault on the left arm. Of course, Booker can't work so there is zero long term selling from him and the attack is just forgotten about. Col. Parker comes in to carry Sherri away. Lucky girl.

 

 

Harlem heat suck.

 

**

 

Steven Regal vs. Keiji Muto (NJ 11/13/95)

 

Regal in his Blue Bloods gear and with the music just seems silly somehow in Japan. On the flip side, I much prefer Muta in the gimmick, he seems so bland without it.

 

This is Regal working a bit more like Billy Robinson on the mat to suit the Japanese crowd. He's stiff as hell here, and does the spots like grinding the elbow into Mutoh's face and just elbowing his head while tying him up into a pretzel. God Regal could wrestle, he really fucking could. He just abuses Mutoh here, as Mutoh gives him a slap he fires up, "come on!" He is just so gritty and intense and amazing in this match. The shots on Mutoh's eye are just Bockwinkel vs. Robinson levels of sheer manliness.

 

This match knocked me out. Came out of nowhere. Mutoh mainly just takes a beating before a comeback, but Regal,working basically as Billy Robinson is ... One of the best things I've ever seen in wrestling. God he was good here.

 

****

 

Steven Regal vs. Chris Benoit (Pro 12/16/95)

 

I think it's Scott Hudson on commentary here alongside Larry Z and Dusty.

 

I really haven't enjoyed these Regal vs. Benoit encounters. I don't think they meshed well as opponents and Benoit seemed to take a lot of these. This was a nothing match really.

 

*1/2

 

Steven Regal vs. Chris Benoit (Nitro 1/1/96)

 

Struggling to keep up with these WCW commentators. Heenan is one, but struggling with the other two. I think it's Eric Bischoff and Mongo. Fucking hell. Woeful.

 

This was a much better match. And surprisingly, Benoit traded the loss back and Regal got a clean pin on TV. Weird booking in a way with Benoit knocking himself out. Still not my fave Regal opponent, but Regal took more of this match which meant some nice gritty and stiff work from him on top.

 

***

 

 

Steven Regal vs. Eddie Guerrero (Nitro 1/8/96)

 

I couldn't hate this Eric / Bobby / Mongo triple team more. Just leave it be Tony and Bobby for god's sake. Eric says "forgot about the Royal FUMBLE". God. Just the absolute pits.

 

One thing I will give Heenan here though, he really does put over Regal huge. His history, the mythology of him working all around the world from the age of 15, etc. I think they did a great job of getting across "the idea" of Regal beyond just the nobility gimmick. WCW get shit on a lot, but I will give it that they built Regal up well.

 

This is an upset win for Eddie, but Regal just beats the crap out of him for the whole match. Biggest win for Eddie so far and the start of his push, but man, Regal is just so vicious and intense in his offense here. Good TV match and he retained his heat.

 

***1/2

 

 

Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (Uncensored 3/24/96)

 

During this match, Dusty wonders if Ireland is about five miles from London. Ha ha.

 

 

Holy fuck. This match is just all sorts of brutal. Sick as fuck. Regal during this stretch in 95-6 was ridiculously stiff. Between this and the Mutoh match, his you could make a highlight reel to charge him with attempted murder. It is amazing this went out on a WCW show. So damn gritty and hard hitting. Commentary team are marking the fuck out during this, as the crowd kinda don't know what to do. I don't know why they were so quiet for this, even if Finaly wasn't over as a babyface. Sick sick match. Regal's nose gets busted open late on before a cheap run-in finish to remind us this was 1996.

 

Un-fucking-believable. I watched this card but don't recall this match at all. Why is that? Turner edit?

 

****1/2

 

 

Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (WCWSN 4/13/96)

 

Jesus God these two. Just a little TV match to keep the feud bubbling. Solid as hell work, but short and fuck finish again.

 

**1/2

 

Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (WCWSN 4/27/96)

 

You can just tell Dusty was a total mark for this matchup. Virtually cumming all the way through these matches.

 

More spot orientated than their other matches, and the fight breaks out with weapons and the ref throws it out. Pretty great booking arc for this most old-school of feuds.

 

***

 

Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser (Parking Lot Brawl) (Nitro 4/29/96)

 

So this is a perfectly setup blow off to this as they've proved this match is too hot for regular rules, which is why gimmick matches are a thing in the first place.

 

Finlay actually uses a breeze block at one point. Face rubbing in the concrete. Shots into cars. Smashed glass. Piledriver into the roof of a car.

 

Great brawl, but I have to say that I preferred the less gimmick orientated match at Uncensored that set up this feud. That match was so sick they couldn't stop talking about it on TV a full month later. This is pretty sick too, but feels a little bit too much of its time. Taken as a whole, this feud is one of the great ones of 90s WCW.

 

***3/4

 

 

-------

 

 

Regal is just on some next-level shit here in 95-6, just unlike any other worker around and clearly one of the best wrestlers in the world. The matches with Mutoh and Finlay (Uncensored) are just blow away good.

 

Before exploring late Regal, I need to go back and see him against Hash and some of the other NJ boys. That match with Mutoh came out of nowhere! And I need to see him in that environment some more.

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Steven Regal vs. Shinya Hashimoto (NJ 4/16/95)

 

Unusual amounts of pomp and circumstance in the intros here. Regal offers his hand and Hash shakes it. Absolutely within character in this setting I'd say. Hase is on commentary.

 

Regal seems to break Hash's nose hardway early and he has blood running into his mouth. Imagine someone brutally beating the living shit out the Stay Puff Marshmallow man and you have something approaching the visual of the first half of this match. Hash comes back with, what else, but stiff kicks. The violence in this bout is just about on par with the brutality seen in the Mutoh and Finlay matches, with a little more down time, but with the added visual of the broken nose adding to the pain factor.

 

****

 

 

Steven Regal & Scorpio vs. Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki (NJ 4/23/95)

 

The way Regal regards Scorpio as he comes to the ring is awesome. Just a little look as if to say "oh they've given me you", pretty funny. Hase and Sasaki appear to come out to the theme of Cagney and Lacey, or similar. Hase as some chicks with him. I swear Hase is the "most American" of the Japanese workers, I'm wondering if he grew up watching WWF or NWA somehow. Just seems like he did. Here he has the women take his t-shirt off for him as sleazy jazz bears out, as if he was actually Rick Rude. Certainly puts the fun factor into an environment that can sometimes feel staid. He gets the girl to kiss his cheek before he gets in the ring. Proper showman. This match on paper looks kinda awesome to me.

 

Regal works Hase's wrist Jim Breaks style. He's so fucking intense in this part of his career, like almost demented. There's one moment in this where he grabs Hase's head, knees him in it, and then cracks him with a European uppercut. It's just sick sick work. If I have a little niggle here it's that Hase kinda no sells that stuff, not in the moment, he takes the punches well. But immediately after this him and Scorpio get into the manly chest chopping /chest puffing routine. While this is in itself quite awesome, I'd have preferred to have seen a little more long-term selling from Hase there. When Regal comes back in he brutalises Hase some more and Scorpio powerbombs him. Quite the FIP sequence this. But most of it goes out the window with Hase's big swing.

 

Sasaki really didn't do anything in this match apart from scoop powerslam Scorpio from catching him going for a cross body (cool); it was all Hase taking punishment, and getting roughed up by Regal. Really fun match but it could have been better than that if Hase had taken the match a tiny bit more seriously than he did, by which I mean actually selling the damage long term. Still if you are a fan of ANY of these four guys, this is recommended.

 

***

 

Going to move on to Regal in the 00s now.

 

I think in 95-6 he worked like a possessed demon. And was totally awesome.

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William Regal vs. American Dragon (MCW 5/5/01)

 

As Regal comes out, a fan gets in his face and does the "suck it" sign to him. That moment has been captured on camera and he was a grown man. His shame will live on forever, I do hope he feels healthy doses of it today in 2016. If it was anyone on this board, you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

Regal gets on the mic. "Well look young man, I don't know if you know who I am, but I'm the WWF commissioner and I can make or break you!" He gives him the chance to leave. "You've obviously got a hell of a career in front of you, you don't want to end it tonight by getting beaten in front of these pathetic people, do you?" He certainly has the mic work down by this point,

 

I think the Regal-Bryan connection is interesting considering how stiff and aggressive Bryan would become in a few years. This match had a couple of moments but it wasn't anything really.

 

**

 

William Regal vs. Chris Jericho (Cage Match) (RAW 5/7/01)

 

I probably watched this as it happened. Man, 15 years. Seems a lifetime ago. Not a very good promo by Jericho who looking back did kinda suck didn't he. Regal comes out using the word "besmirched" a lot. I also used that word a lot in 2001 and no one knew I was slyly referencing Regal. It's Jim Ross and Heyman on commentary. Escape the cage rules. I felt so much happier watching the early 90s WCW stuff.

 

A lot of headbutts in this match from Regal. This lacked the brutality, blood or hatred I'd want out of a good cage match, and the finish with the door being slammed into Regal's head as Jericho fell down sucked ass. This stuff doesn't hold up well at all.

 

**

 

William Regal vs. Tajiri (SD! 11/1/01)

 

Tajiri turns down the chance to join the Alliance so Regal assaults him in his office. With match is brought to you by Lugz. Cole and Tazz on commentary.

 

Just a TV match.

 

*1/2

 

William Regal vs. Tajiri (Rebellion 11/3/01)

 

Paul Heyman claims that Regal is Tony Blair's role model. JR tells him off for "that asinine remark". This match took place in Manchester, England and Regal accuses the crowd of being on the dole. We also get a David Beckham mention. This is 2001 so the crowd are actually a proper crowd not a smart fan dickhead crowd. Refreshing. Although we are near the cut off point of modernity where my nose starts to bleed. I hate Heyman on colour around this time.

 

Given that we just saw Regal basically kill Tajiri on SD, I'm not sure what the point of this match is. Didn't think much of it either.

 

**1/2

 

William Regal vs. Steve Austin (Strap Match) (SD! 11/29/01)

 

Michael Cole shoehorns the phrase "controversial WWF champion" about twelve times in the first minute here. To say I have no real love for this era or setting is quite an understatement. Lawler on colour.

 

A lot of sick strap shots here from Austin in the early going. Although I was not a fan of the spot where he did the cheers with Earl Habner and the beer cans. Just took some of the intensity out of the match at that moment. This was okay, I suppose, notable for those sick strap shots, but it's not exactly a masterpiece of the genre. As in, I wouldn't put it on a level with Vader vs. Sting or anything like that.

 

Regal's work has lost some of that insane intensity here. Comes from working in a video game environment like WWF in 2001.

 

***

 

I don't really feel the need to see matches against Edge or RVD, I mean seriously fuck that.

 

---------

 

Notable stepdown in the level of Regal's work during this stretch. I mean my real antipathy for the environment doesn't help but ... It's not like he's working scrubs here, and most of these matches aren't hitting any real highs.

 

There is no doubt that Regal is a top 30 worker in the world here, but -- like someone like a Ted DiBiase in, say, 1991 -- he's a world class worker working very much within the limits of the WWF style, which leads to regular phoning it in. Of these only the Austin match would count towards his V rating, and none towards his G rating.

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JerryvonKramer Contributor

JerryvonKramer

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Let's see what he was like in 2006.

 

William Regal vs. Chris Benoit (SD! 3/24/06)

 

I have not liked a single iteration of this match up so far, in a WCW ring, in an indie ring or the more heralded memorial match. I just think they suck as opponents. Let's see if this one is any different.

 

This had some neat touches but was ultimately job number #234 to Benoit for Regal.

 

**

 

William Regal vs. JBL (SD! 4/28/06)

 

JBL is US champ here and was involved in the Benoit match cheering on Regal. Someone who cares could probably fill you in on how Regal turned on him here. I think it's cos this taping was in the UK. JBL going for the absolute easiest heat with British fans here, which I have no idea why they've never run properly as an angle. I mean they did it with Canada and that isn't even a proper country. Could have been a dynamite angle that would have played huge here. Pretty good crowd work by JBL here. Regal comes out and also gets the cheap heat by agreeing with JBL that Tony Blair is a muppet. Easiest babyface heat possible in 2006. Let's go.

 

Regal bleeds (hardway?) from the ear here. JBL brings some violence. In another life he might have easily been a Stan Hansen partner in AJPW. This was good. Crowd popped for the near falls. JBL's boots to Regal's head were awesome.

 

***

 

William Regal vs. Rey Mysterio (SD! 7/14/06)

 

Hate the King Booker angle with Regal I just don't believe the character would want to serve him. My interest in wrestling was probably at an all time low around this point and it was not long after I finally tapped out. Rey is world champ here. I do think Booker was good in the role though.

 

I really don't like the whole Rey deal, sorry guys, just totally not what I am into as a fan in any which way. This match was just full of his signature spots without any rhyme or reason or anything. I mean, talk about the Flair flip and the Flair flop. This was the shits this match.

 

DUD

 

When was the last time I actually saw Regal win a match on any of this stuff? Anyway ...

 

William Regal vs. Finlay (GAB 7/23/06)

 

This is heel vs. heel as Teddy Long forces the match.

 

This is a far cry from their awesome stuff a decade previous and there's a fucking leprechaun under the ring. Give me a break. Obviously they lay in some stiff shots but I really felt this lacked the grittiness that made the WCW series so memorable. We get a neat little sweeping leg takeover thing from Regal at one point. Crowd did not seem into this and bust out a loud "Boring boring" chant. That's a little unfair of them, because the match isn't boring, ADHD generation there not getting their fix of 619s. But this also isn't anything special either by their own standards. There are cool touches, like Regal losing his boot and Finaly stomping on this toes. But, genuinely, if anyone pimped this match in 2006 it's because standards and therefore expectations had been lowered and this felt half-ways authentic in an otherwise plastic environment.

 

**1/2

 

William Regal & Finlay vs. Batista & Bobby Lashley (SD! 8/11/06)

 

Finaly and Regal had two more matches, but I thought I'd skip ahead to this. Batista was pretty over here. Remember what I was saying about seeming authentic in a plastic environment? Batista is probably exhibit A. The Booker T and Michael Cole stuff is getting pretty tiresome now too. I hate to come across so crotchety, and I know people like some of this stuff, but fuck me if I never have to watch any 2006 Smackdown again after this match, I wouldn't mind.

 

I really dislike the leprechaun under the ring gimmick. On the level of Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Multiple Doinks and Dinks level awful. It is wrestlecrap in the true not-even-so-bad-it's-good sense of that term. There isn't even kitsch value to be wrenched from it, it's just hideous.

 

This match wasn't anything either.

 

*1/2

 

------

 

I have become disillusioned and actually feel pretty disinclined to continue. What started off today with some hot matches from the mid-90s has just become a depressing endless line of listless TV jobs for Regal. Watching this stuff is actively hurting his rating with each and every match, to the point where I'm thinking of cutting his peak at 2001.

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Matt D Community Regular

Matt D

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FFS, stop watching things that we didn't tell you to watch and watch 2009 (Christian, especially the London match, which is the match that got me to watch live wrestling for the first time in 2-3 years, but 1-2 more so you can see the differences from match to match and maybe Goldust) and then the FCW/NXT stuff (Ambrose, Ohno, and Cesaro).

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JerryvonKramer Contributor

JerryvonKramer

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Benoit and Regal has an amazing match on a PPV and a very good match on a random Velocity in 2006 so you may be watching the wrong stuff there as well.

Was it the one I reviewed here:

 

http://prowrestlingonly.com/index.php?/topic/31793-jvk-reviews-pimped-matches-from-late-90s-10s/&do=findComment&comment=5695623

 

Looks like I did like that one. From Velocity in 2005.

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