[2000-03-25-MCW-TV] Steven Regal vs Blue Meanie

[Loss]

I got a kick out of Regal's pre-match promo. Oh, how glorious Regal working prime Lawler at Mid South Coliseum would have been. I've always thought of Regal, and I've said this before, as the wrestling barometer, where you see how good other wrestlers are by seeing how they look against him. That's definitely true for Blue Meanie, who I've never been a huge fan of because of the gimmick, but who is pretty fundamentally sound and had a solid match here. Around this time, he had dropped a lot of weight and made a real effort to become what the WWF wanted him to be, but I just don't think it was in the cards for him. I really enjoyed all the stuff in and out of the hammerlock and wristlock, and one thing I like about that ring is the acoustics. All the bumps get a little more reaction out of me because the ring is so well mic'd that it gives off a nice sound effect each time there was a bump. Bruce Pritchard on commentary seemed more interested in putting over Bruce Pritchard as commissioner, but the work in the ring wasn't bad at all.

[soup23]

So weird seeing Meanies transformation here. Good on him for losing the weight. Regal looks refreshed being post WCW and ready to work some new places and they have a good tv style match here. I don't really know what Meanie could have done to become a WWE mainstay. **1/4

[GSR]

Regal is pretty much in Lord Steven Regal mode here (in fact he was even refered to as that on one of his early appearance in MCW). He comes out with Commissioner Bruce Prichard who then joins Lance on commentary. Regal says that when he heard MCW were going to crown a new champion, where better for him to come? No-one can hold a candle to his skills! He’s performed in 24 countries, won titles in every one of them, and it absolutely grieves him to come and perform infron of these bloody peasants! He offers Meanie the chance to leave ‘because he’s got all the future of a bloody snowman!’ and to save himself the embarrassment, but Meanie’s doing no such thing.

 

Collar and elbow tie up, Meanie backs Regal into the corner, but as he tries to break Regal’s got his leg trapped with his own making it look like he doesn’t want to. Some nice chain wrestling with Meanie holding his own. Regal offers a ‘test of strength’ but pokes Meanie in the eyes instead. An uppercut and a series of forearms leaves Meanie slumped in the corner. A snapmare and he drops a knee across his forehead before applying a cobra clutch to the seated Meanie (standing on his other hand in the process to prevent him from getting up). Meanie tries to fire back but he’s met with more vicious forearms. Double jumping knee strike, he then misses a forward flip off the ropes. Meanie with a pair of clotheslines, a reverse atomic drop, a regular one and Regal takes a very contrived bump into the referee knocking him down. Jim Neidhart is out and he goes to clothesline Meanie but he ducks and hits Regal. Commissioner Prichard gets Neidhart out of there, Meanie with a bulldog and Regal just about kicks out. Regal is in the corner and Meanie climbs the turnbuckles and starts punching him. His Lordship shoves him off and he falls backwards to the canvas, Hangman’s Noose neckbreaker and it’s all over.

 

This was pretty good up until the contrived ref bump which looked dreadful. Not sure the point of the Neidhart run in unless it was just an excuse to show Prichard’s powers as Commissioner in getting him out of there. I enjoyed the opening chain wrestling and Meanie more than held his own with Regal. I always enjoy watching the little things with Regal, such as trapping his opponent’s leg on the opening lock up or standing on the hand when applying the Cobra Clutch. Meanie needs some new ring gear that is for certain.

[Robert S]

A five minute Regal TV match is a very welcome change after watching Wrestlemania weekend where almost every match had people doing countless spots and kicking out from finishers. The only negative thing here were the bad punches of Meanie in the corner.

[Edwin]

That pre-match promo and those brutal forearms by Regal in the corner on Meanie were great.

 

The match itself wasn't bad, nor was it memorable either.

[Viking Hall]

Absolutely love Regal and have been intrigued to see some of his work during this period of rejuvenation. I'm actually a fan of both of these workers both in and out of the ring and thought The Blue Meanie was a great novelty attraction in ECW but one that always felt like an odd signing for the WWF given his niche entertainment value. Have to say though, stripped of his usual Meanie garb and with a more conventional haircut he couldn't look more backyard if he tried here to the point of me actually wondering whether he forgot to bring his gear. I'm guessing this was due to his active weight-loss more than anything and knowing he was planning on getting even slimmer as he would turn up back in ECW a few months later having dropped even more weight. However, weight-loss or otherwise, he could have definitely benefited from some proper gear here as he stands out like a sore thumb against the professional looking Regal and the interfering Jim Neidhart.

 

Regal's opening promo is prime Regal and proof why the WWF/E has kept him around as a mouthpiece for so many years (even during periods of in-ring inactivity) as nobody cuts a promo quite like him and gets all the heat he needs here with ease. The match itself is okay and is further evidence that even when there's not much to work with, Regal will nearly always throw some interesting stuff into the mix and he looks incredibly sharp and on point here. The Neidhart interference was a little odd out of context (especially as I didn't realise he was down there at the time) but didn't detract too much from what was an entertaining five or so minute match with both getting some cool stuff in. The Regal Cutter looked fantastic too, probably my favourite of his vast array of finishing maneuvers.