83 Weeks - Steven Regal [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Our topic today is a man who just turned 56 on May 10th - his lordship - Steven Regal - better known today as William Regal.

When did you first meet Steve Regal?

It was Bill Watts who first hired Regal for WCW after he wrote a letter to Watts from the encouragement of Rip Rogers. That’s how business was just done back in 1993 wasn’t it?

Did you hear about him getting hired at this time?

He wrote - When I landed in Atlanta, the reality was a shock. There were no bright lights, no yellow taxis, and no obvious glamour. No pavements either, which was weird. I was surprised there was no one from WCW at the airport H to greet me. I would learn that as far as WCW organization went, that wasn’t unusual. I booked myself into the Ramada hotel near the airport, which would become my home for quite a while. 

This is just the reality of professional wrestling - but it had to be a culture shock for him along with an adjustment right?

Shortly after his debut, Regal entered a tournament for the vacant TV Title, in which he defeated The Barbarian in the first round, before losing to Johnny B. Badd in the quarterfinals.

He’s just a wrestler in the beginning - no character - just a wrestler. It was a miracle he made it out alive wasn’t it?

Steve wrote of Ole Anderson -  He was at WCW when I arrived and he ran the company for a while. He hated Eric Bischoff and Eric hated him. Ole asked me to train his son Brian, another good lad with talent. But as soon as Eric got the power he got rid of Brian. It was wrong. Brian worked hard and ended up without a job because of politics. He grew sick of wrestling and ended up as a teacher.

Do you think that was Regal’s perception of the situation? What’s the real story?

Steve wrote of Bill Watts' firing - As soon as Bill went, I thought I would be the next one straight out of the door. As in any other business so in wrestling, the new man in charge would bring in his own guys and get rid of the fellows associated with the old regime. I thought that would happen to me and, if I’m honest, I wasn’t too upset at the prospect. Yes, I was earning $1,500 a week. But I had to pay for the hotel I was living in, and for rental cars too. I had to save forty per cent to pay my tax bill at the end of the year and had to send money home to pay my bills in England.

That money - when you think about it in 1993 - is crazy is it not?

On the June 12th episode of Saturday Night, he turned heel, claiming descent from William the Conqueror and Sir William began serving as his manager. Sir William, was Bill Dundee

What do you recall about Steve turning heel and becoming Lord Steven Regal and Bill Dundee becoming his manager as Sir William?

Bill Dundee is not a name we talk about much here - what was your experience with him in WCW?

Regal would write: Dusty Rhodes came up to me and said: “We’ve got a great idea for you. We’re turning you heel and you’re going to be called Lord Steven Regal.” I didn’t care whose idea it had been. It was going to happen, and that was all I cared about.

Do you recall what people thought of Steve during this time and him turning heel? Did you think personally it was better for his career?

As Regal would continue on his path for his Lordship - he would travel with the likes of Steve Austin, Mick Foley & Brian Pillman - did you see their relationship forming?

His first major win after the character change was against Marcus Alexander Bagwell on the June 16th Clash of the Champions 23. At the next Clash of the Champions 24, Regal substituted for the injured Brian Pillman, to team with Steve Austin to defend the Hollywood Blonds' World Tag Team Title against Arn Anderson & Paul Roma. Regal was pinned, causing the Hollywood Blonds to lose the tag titles to Arn & Roma.

Were you getting more and more invested in Regal the more you see saw him?

At Fall Brawl 1993, Steve got his biggest win in WCW when he defeated Ricky Steamboat, to win the TV title. He would also unknowingly break his neck in the match as well.

Steve wrote - I was holding the belt in my hands backstage, walking on air, when Arn Anderson saw me and started laughing. “What are you laughing for, Arn?” I asked. He said: “That’s the Kiss of Death belt.” I soon learned what he meant. 

Yes it’s a big win - on pay-per-view - defeating one of the all-time greats but it was known backstage as the Kiss of Death belt. Did you feel that way about the television title?

Regal would write: It earned the name because whoever was given it kept the thing for a long time. They would have to be very talented because they would have to work with everybody—and work a lot. You would be on every single show because it was the TV title, defended on every TV show. And sometimes they would tape three TV shows in one night, which meant wrestling three times in same evening. With run-ins and interviews, your nights on TV would be non-stop.

It’s a lot of confidence to put that title on Regal is it not?

The neck injury wouldn’t effect him noticeably for a long time - how do you think something like that went undetected?

How much of the real side of Regal did you see compared to the character on TV?

At Halloween Havoc, he wrestled fellow countrymen, Davey Boy Smith, the British Bulldog to a 15 minute draw - and you talked about in a previous episode - about how the timing was all off due to the timekeeper and the back…but it would set a tone for his title defenses. Why do you think the time limit draw fit the Regal character - getting matches to 15 minutes without a conclusive finish and walking away with the title?

It’s a heel move yes - but what are your thoughts on time limit draws? They’re rarely used if ever now…

He would have matches against Johnny B. Badd, Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Brian Pillman - but there was no real story. No real program other than he was just a snotty Englishman as TV champion. Was there more to do with him in your mind?

In the spring of 1994 on WorldWide, Regal challenged Ric Flair to a best-of-five series under Marquess of Queensberry Rules in which Regal lost to Flair with 1 win, 2 losses and 2 draws. Any recollection of what Flair thought of Regal?

Steve then started a feud with Larry Zbyszko, who had been retired for a bit, and was doing commentary.  What brought this on?

Was Larry pushing to get back into the ring?

They would trade the TV title back and forth over a couple month program and you can tell Regal was getting more and more over could you not?

From Regal’s book: We had a match on Memorial Day weekend for the TV championship. He beat me and it got the highest TV rating they’d ever had up until then for that weekend. I believe the Nielsen rating was a 3.2—that’s how they measure these things—and the bosses were ecstatic. They thought it was incredible. 

We had a follow-up match at the next big show, a Clash of the Champions in Charleston, South Carolina, when I won the title back.

What did you think of their matches?

That rating is quite strong - why do you think it was?

From there, Steve had a huge match against Antonio Inoki.  Steve wrote - 

“I made my first trip to Japan that year. It was a marvellous opening in itself, but had come about because of an even greater opportunity—a chance to wrestle Antonio Inoki. WCW were trying to set up a talent-swapping deal with Inoki’s company, New Japan Pro Wrestling. As I remember it, part of the deal was that Inoki wanted to come to America and beat one of WCW’s stars—and he chose me.”

When you’re told Inoki wants to wrestle Regal - obviously that’s not an issue - but were you surprised Regal above anyone else? Or is there a real story?

Regal is sent to Japan to build the match and defeats a lot of people from New Japan - do you think these types of tours for talent are important and it should be done more today?

Regal wrote that he kneed Inoki too hard in the ribs during their match at Clash of the Champions but Inoki loved the match that he would eventually win. “Shortly afterwards WCW signed a contract with New Japan for a huge amount of money to swap talent. I knew our match had played a part in that happening. “

How important was this match to the deal do you think? If it went badly could it had been the end of the deal?

Regal would eventually lose the TV title to Johnny B. Badd at Fall Brawl and from there, on the November 26th edition of Saturday night, Steve started scouting a young wrestler named Jean Paul Levesque to be his tag team partner.  They eventually formed a team.  Steve wrote - 

“I met Paul Levesque when he first came intoWCW—and I liked him from the start. I didn’t know then he would become Triple H, one of the biggest stars this business has ever seen, but it was obvious he was going to do well. His attitude set him apart straight away. He had a real desire to get on and a love for this business. I like anyone who has that. I don’t meet too many people like that these days, but they’re the ones who succeed. We used to train together at the Power Plant,WCW’s training facility in Atlanta.”

This relationship TO THIS DAY is a major factor in professional wrestling and where we’re at today. Looking back - you set the wheels in motion for a lot unknowingly didn’t you?

What was it about the combination of the two of them you were excited about?

Right after the team is pu together though - Triple H’s contract comes to an end.

Regal would write: “Paul’s contract was up. He’d come in for a pretty low offer and a one-year deal. Now it was up, they didn’t want to offer him much of a raise. World Wrestling Federation had been in contact with Paul and I believe they were interested in bringing us in as a tag team. But I had a guaranteed contract with WCW, something the company didn’t offer at the time. It meant nice security for me—I would not have to worry about providing for my family, the schedule wasn’t too demanding and it meant I could go to Japan too.”

What's your memories of Jean Paul leaving WCW to go to the WWF where he became Hunter Hearst Helmsley?

Do you think at the time they had interest in both of them or just Hunter?

From there, Steve recruited Bobby Eaton to become his partner and form the team of the Blue Bloods. Here’s this Alabama redneck turned into a Earl and the vignettes are amazing if you haven’t checked them out. This was some good stuff wasn’t it Eric?

How did you feel about the pairing?

Regal would write this about their tag team run:

“Bobby and I had a great run. We worked with lots of talented people—the Armstrongs, the Fantastics. The main WCW tag teams then were the Nasty Boys, Harlem Heat—Booker T and his brother Stevie Ray—and Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater who worked with Robert Fuller as their manager Colonel Parker. The only trouble was that apart from the Nasty Boys, the rest of us were all heels. And out of those four teams, we were the only one who didn’t end up with the tag titles at any point. I don’t want to blame anybody but I don’t know why—we were the carrying force in that group of guys. We worked with everybody—and worked well, too. The titles aren’t the be-all and end-all, but it would have been nice as recognition for what we were doing.”

Do you think looking back it was a missed opportunity to not have the titles on them?

Regal gets hurt in Japan and writes this:

“I had time to rest when I got back to America as there was a break before I had any WCW commitments—but the knee was hurting bad. I went to see a doctor, who prescribed some pain killers. Hydrocodone, ten milligrams a pill. That wasn’t the start either. I’d already been taking Valium for quite a while. Originally it had been prescribed to help me fight sleepless nights, something I’ve struggled with for years. But now I wasn’t only taking them to sleep. 

I was taking them in the day when I had nothing to do. I found they took the edge off life, which was a good thing. I was downing myself out a lot of the time—and drinking a lot more, too. I started drinking a lot of wine at home. I was telling myself that red wine was good for your health. Cobblers, of course’complete; nonsense. One glass a day might be good for your heart. But I was drinking a gallon a day—and taking downers with it too.”

Did you have any idea of the issues or demons he was dealing with at the time?

It happens at home - but was there ever a sign of these issues at TV or on the road that you know of?

Blue Bloods soon dropped off the title picture and continued to compete as a mid-card tag team. They added Squire David Taylor to the team and Jeeves as their lackey by the end of the year.  Eaton and Regal received a shot at the WCW World Tag Team Championship against Steve & Lex Luger at Clash 32 where they were defeated. As the business was evolving and we’re getting closer and closer to the formation of the nWo - there just wasn’t a spot for the Blue Bloods for much longer was there?

Would Regal had ever been considered an opponent for Hulk Hogan - cocky British heel against Real American Hogan?

Regal blows out his knee again against Chris Benoit at a Clash and he would write this:

“I got through my tag match, but that night Eric Bischoff ruled enough was enough. He wouldn’t let me work any more until I got it fixed. I went back to Atlanta, where a doctor told me I had a torn ACL and PCL; I needed a lot doing to it and would be out for nine months. Deep down, I knew it wasn’t quite as bad as he made out. I went to another doctor to get a second opinion. He did all the same tests, an MRI scan and everything, and said: “You don’t need all that surgery. You just need it scoped—you’ll be back in three weeks.”

Stepping in at the time was the right call - you had to protect these guys from themselves did you not?

Regal gets his knee scoped and he’s back just a few months later working with the Belfast Bruiser - Fit Finlay. How did Fit come to be in WCW?

These two going against each other - they were some of the hardest hitting matches in WCW history - not what you expected from some of Britian’s finest wrestlers was it Eric?

In the match from Uncensored Regal wrote this -
“The plan was to wrestle a thirty-minute draw. But things got out of hand. We went out and got stuck into each other so much that Finlay hit me in the face with one punch which gave me twelve stitches over my eye, a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone. There was blood everywhere—and WCW still had a strong anti-blood policy. There was panic backstage. They pulled the cameras back off us as much as they could. Dave Taylor and Bobby Eaton were there in their suits, ready to do something after our match ended. 

But suddenly they were needed out there right away. “Get out there now and stop them!” they were told. Dave and Bobby were sent down to beat Finlay up. But the adrenaline was flowing through the Belfast Bruiser and he just attacked them. If you ever see the match on tape, you can see Dave running for his life as Fit attacks him.”

This is just what they had to deal with working for WCW right?

One of the last programs Sting had before the formation of the nWo was with Regal and at the Great American Bash they took each other on.

Regal wrote this - Within a couple of days of our big match, they told me: “We don’t really know what to do with you. We’re thinking of giving you the TV title back.” 

Did he feel stuck? 

After the formation of the nWo at the end of August he would defeat Luger to regain the TV title and really put on some of the best matches on TV besides maybe the cruiserweights during the launch of the nWo era…and even worked with the cruiserweights like Rey Mysterio. Regal could work with everyone could he not?

Well…except Prince Iaukea. Eric - what the hell was anyone thinking with him?

They would trade the title back and forth but the less said about that…the better. Around Spring Stampede though Regal is in a car accident which included Nancy & Chris Benoit at the time BEFORE the show. Instead of going to the hospital they still went to the show anyway. That’s crazy isn’t it?

Regal said he had a concussion and barely remembers his match with Iaukea. Was there any thought on not putting them in the ring that night or was this something you weren’t aware of?

Coming off the accident though ended up with Regal trying to force himself off drugs - and he had bad withdrawal issues. Were you informed of this at any point?

DDP would step in and try to get him some help with his body but Regal still wasn’t sharing his addiction with anyone. Do you think WCW should’ve had an infrastructure - and mind you this is all hindsight - to help guys deal with issues like this?

Steve wrote - 

“For the first time since turning eighteen, I’d stopped training. Initially I stopped because of my neck trouble—but I could have trained through it. I didn’t. I started putting on a lot of weight really quickly. I took more and more drugs. And I stopped doing the things I’d always done to look after myself. I stopped drinking a gallon of water a day. That meant I had all this poison in my system and wasn’t sweating it out or pushing it out with water.

The problem was that I’d given up on everything. I was very unhappy—though I had no reason to be. I had a great job and a great family, but I didn’t see it that way at the time. And after the car wreck, I started putting on weight even faster. I was always a big heavy lad but one who trained and was always in good ring condition. Before January I had been 255 or 260 pounds. In May I was 265 or 270. All I did was eat.”

Did you notice a change in his appearance?

Was this something ever brought up or broached to you?

Regal would regain the TV title back from Ultimo Dragon but drop it back to him a few months later. He would float around the lower card in 1997 until…Steve is arrested after a flight heading to Detroit for a Nitro. He drank a lot on it and urinated on a flight attendent's foot. 

Eric - when this happens and you’re informed - what’s your reaction? Shock?

This is rock bottom is it not?

He was suspended without pay from WCW for this. What's your memories of it?

He would eventually be fined only $2500 for pissing on a flight attendant - which is a number that is quite interesting. When time comes - why was his suspension lifted? Do you remember if anything changed?

Of course - his first match back is the infamous Nitro match against Goldberg. 

Steve wrote - On my first night back at work after seven weeks out, I got to the arena to be told I was wrestling Bill Goldberg. It was early in his massive win streak but it was obvious he was on his way to becoming a major superstar. Up until then he’d beaten everyone on the WCW roster in a minute or less. His longest match must have been no more than a minute and a half. Everyone has their own version of what happened next—this is mine. I remember it all clearly because for once I went to work without taking any drugs beforehand. I weighed about 280 pounds by now: I looked like a badly-made bed.”

Before we go any further Eric - having a now clean Regal in the ring with Goldberg seemed like a recipe for disaster did it not? 

“Anyway, these were my orders for the match—to go out and have a competitive six-minute match with him. He was to win in the end. We laid out this match in front of the people in charge. I got into the ring, did one or two moves on him and he did nothing back. I did one or two more with the same comeback from Goldberg—nothing. That’s how it went on. 

I had to keep attacking him to keep the match going. I was opening myself up for him to retaliate and he wasn’t taking the openings. I was even telling him to do this or that and he just wasn’t doing it. I don’t know what his excuses were for the match. All I know is that he’s blamed me publicly for it. When we eventually got through the match and got to the back, straightaway Bill apologized to me—something else he seemed to forget about later when he retold the story. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just didn’t know what to do out there.” 

We had a chat, shook hands and everything was fine. Then Eric came in and started chewing Bill out, which I took as my cue to leave. Then I was called into the office in front of Eric and the people who had laid out the match. Eric was screaming, going absolutely berserk. I told him: “Eric, I can’t hit myself. It’s not my fault. How can you expect someone who has never wrestled for more than a minute and a half to go out and do six minutes? He won’t know what to do.” That was the truth of it. It wasn’t Bill’s fault. 

Eric - what can you tell us from your side here of what happened?

Who deserves the blame overall?

“I’d always liked Bill because he was always nice to me. Ever since that match, every time I’ve seen him he’s gone out of his way to shake my hand and even hug me. Always. But I haven’t seen him since he wrote about the match in his book and slagged me off for it. I thought he was more of a man than that. If he had a problem with that match he could have come and fronted me up about it any time. We must have met 100 times since it happened and he’s said nothing to me about it—not until he printed it in his book.”

What's your side of this?

“The incident earned me a right bollocking off Eric Bischoff. I’ve always got on well with Eric but now I know that he had got sick of me by then. He was right, too. He knew what I could do and saw me wasting my talent and not doing it. Eric was always straight with me. If he didn’t like something he’d tell me, and I was the same with him. When Monday Night Nitro started he was a very busy fellow but he was never too busy to come and shake my hand if he saw me at a show—even if I was at the other end of the arena. Eric knew I wasn’t living up to my potential. I didn’t look good enough to be put in a position to perform. Eric did the right thing and I’ve no gripes with him for doing it.”

What's your memories of this and any talks you had with Steve at this time?

Steve wrote - Just before Christmas 1997 we were in Buffalo, New York to do some Saturday night TV tapings. I flew up with Dave Taylor and Fit, who shared a room while I split one with Steve Armstrong. The next morning I woke up, coughed and blood came out of my mouth. I felt like I was going to die. I could hardly breathe. I was in a shocking state. So shocking that for the first time in my life I could not go to the show. I couldn’t even get out of bed and crawl to the door. Every time I coughed, blood poured out of me and onto the pillows until they were soaked. It still wasn’t enough to be the wake-up call I needed. “I’ll be okay,” 

This is a scary situation Eric - and eventually he would go to a hospital and told that his lungs were eighty percent filled with blood. His drug issues had worn down his immune system and he could barely fight a walking pneumonia case. This was quite the dire situation wasn’t it?

Steve wrote - In March I got a phone call from Dave Taylor to say he’d been let go by WCW. I couldn’t believe it, and didn’t know what to say to him. A few minutes later my phone rang again. It was my turn. It was JJ Dillon from WCW on the line. His news shouldn’t have been surprising: “I’m very, very sorry to tell you this Steve, but we’ve got to let you go.” I demanded an explanation. I honestly couldn’t see why this was happening. It was the only time in my career that my ego got the better of me. For years I had been this wrestler who had accepted all the accolades for his work. But I never bragged about it. The only time I went on about how good I was, she said, was when I became a piece of shit. I was convinced that it was everyone else who was wrong.

Was it your decision to let Steve go?

Was it time to move on from him at this point?

Regal would go to the WWF where his body wasn’t ready for TV - and then got hurt at the WWF training camp he was sent to. Can you imagine having to send Regal to a training camp?

Eventually he would get addicted to drugs again before going on TV as a “Real Man’s Man” - a builder/lumberjack style gimmick created by Vince Russo and based on the image of the Brawny Man. It’s one of the all-time bad gimmicks but Regal actually portrayed it well in my opinion. Did you ever see this?

Vignettes for the character showed him doing "manly" things like chopping wood, shaving with a straight razor, and squeezing his own orange juice. He wouldn’t last on TV long though. He would check into rehab in January of 1999 and released in April of 1999. WCW is on a down swing at this point but still - the door was open for Regal if he had cleaned himself up right? 

Regal reaches out to DDP and nothing seems to be happening until…

“I got a call from Dave Penzer, a WCW ring announcer. He’d been driving in a car with Eric Bischoff who had asked him about me, since Dave lived nearby. Dave told him what I’d been through. Eric told him: “I’ve always liked Steve. Tell him to give me a call. So I did, and was told to go to his office. All kinds of things had been going on in WCW since I’d been away. Now business was on a big downslide. “You’ve done what you needed to do,” said Eric. “Yes, you can have a job.” Whatever anyone else says, I can only say good things about Eric. He always looked after me when I did the right thing. When I was a waste of time he did the right thing by getting rid of me. Now he’d given me a job, I started going down the Power Plant again to train.”

What's your memories of all of that?

Did you have any specific plans that you wanted to do with him, or did you mostly want to help him out by giving him another chance in WCW?

He would appear in that godawful Bash at the Beach Hardcore Invitational in the junkyard and was paired with Finlay & Taylor again - but you were at the end of your time in WCW at this point as well. Were you happy to at least see Regal backstage and back on TV?

Did he seem like he had made himself right?

Eventually you’re gone and Vince Russo is in charge and here’s what Regal wrote in his book about Russo in WCW…

“Arn Anderson called several wrestlers, including himself to a meeting where they were told that “Lads, I'm very, very sorry to have to tell you this, but this is exactly what I was told to say by Vince Russo. You are all in an on the bubble battle royal. It means you're all on the bubble to get fired. Whoever wins it will keep their job and the rest of you will all lose your jobs, and we want Chavo Jr to go over.”

That’s quite the shitty way to do business isn’t it?

Steve wrote – In February came the inevitable call, from JJ Dillion again. Steve, I'm sorry but we're going to have to let you go. Why's that, JJ? I asked, knowing the answer I'd hear. You're not working enough days for the money we're paying you. That's not my fault JJ, I'm ready to work, but Vince Russo won't have me on the shows. He won't even talk to me, so how can you say that? That's just the way it is Steve, I'm very sorry.

 In late February 2000, Regal lost a career match against Jim Duggan on Saturday Night for the  Championship, which was done in order to explain Regal's release from the company. 

Steve then went back to the WWF where he had a very long run as Commissioner. What did you think of his role when he went over to the WWF?

When you saw him in your return - was it good to see him?

Had he changed?

Regal’s program with Eugene that you were heavily involved in - how much did you enjoy it?

How good was he in that role? Was that one of your favorite things to do in the WWE?

Regal is now very high up in the industry - a major player in the WWE - but his blip in AEW - what did you think of it and the Blackpool Combat Club?

What do you think is Steve's legacy in WCW and the business?

Do you feel that he should be a future Hall of Famer?