History Wrestling / WilliamRegal

* AccidentalMisnaming: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Wrestling/{{Umaga}}) and Triple Haitch (Wrestling/TripleH) - although the latter is actually a common mispronunciation of the letter H [[BritishAccents in the UK]].

* AccidentalMisnaming: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Wrestling/{{Umaga}}) and Triple Haitch (Wrestling/TripleH) - although the latter is actually a common pronunciation of the letter H [[BritishAccents in the UK]].

Regal has seen quite possibly everything there is to see about the wrestling business, being one of the few wrestlers active today to have started his career as a //legitimate// submission wrestler on the British carnival circuit. He's one of the best in the ring, best on the mic, and knows how to tell a story in the ring. However, he's also seen the darker aspects of the business, particularly an almost crippling drug addiction that's unfortunately common in the wrestling business. He has since cleaned up and is arguably the greatest success story of WWE's Wellness Policy. Due to these facts, he's a favorite of diehard fans and [[SmartMark smarks]].

Regal has seen quite possibly everything there is to see about the wrestling business. He's one of the best in the ring, best on the mic, and knows how to tell a story in the ring. However, he's also seen the darker aspects of the business, particularly an almost crippling drug addiction that's unfortunately common in the wrestling business. He has since cleaned up and is arguably the greatest success story of WWE's Wellness Policy. Due to these facts, he's a favorite of diehard fans and [[SmartMark smarks]].

* DemotedToExtra: Is today hardly seen on TV, for a while he appeared on ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'' as the "match coordinator" and is now an announcer. He had a brief moment of spotlight when he got in the middle of Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s feud with Wrestling/TheBigShow.

Among his in-ring achievements, he is a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-tv.html WCW World Television Champion]], a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-eu-h.html WWE European Heavyweight Champion]], a 5x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-hc.html WWE Hardcore Champion]], a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]] and a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champion]], holding the belts twice w[=/=]Wrestling/LanceStorm, 1x w[=/=]Eugene and 1x w[=/=]Wrestling/YoshihiroTajiri.

While William Regal has never been a world champion (saying "has never been" but not "never was" because pro-wrestling's [[GarbageWrestler hardcore legend]] Wrestling/Terry Funk proved [[TenMinuteRetirement there's no such thing as actual, long-term, permanent retirement]]), he has extensively trained several future world champions currently employed by WWE. [[Wrestling/TripleH You might]] [[Wrestling/CMPunk have heard]] [[Wrestling/BryanDanielson of them]].

* AlliterativeName: His trio with Ezekiel Jackson and Vladimir Kozlov: '''R'''egal's '''R'''uthless '''R'''oundtable

* AccidentalMisnaming: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Wrestling/{Umaga}}) and Triple Haitch (Wrestling/TripleH) - although the latter is actually a common pronunciation of the letter H [[BritishAccents in the UK]].

* AccidentalMisnaming: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Umaga) and Triple Haitch (Wrestling/TripleH) - although the latter is actually a common pronunciation of the letter H [[BritishAccents in the UK]].

'''William Regal''' (born Darren Kenneth Matthews on May 10, 1968 in Codsall Wood, Staffordshire, England) is an English professional wrestler working for the '''WWE''' and arguably the biggest British wrestling star since the heyday of Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith. With a career spanning three decades all over the world, he gained the most fame and success initially in Wrestling/{{WCW}} in the mid-1990s as Lord Steven Regal and later Wrestling/{{WWE}}, which he had joined in the last year of the famed Wrestling/AttitudeEra and has been there since, first (and briefly) as Steven Regal the "Real Man's Man", and later (and since then) William Regal. He is currently the most senior member of the full-time talent roster, going by ring experience, having been in the business longer than several prominent WWE Superstars (such as CodyRhodes) have been ''alive''.

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} defeated Regal on the February 9, 1998 ''Wrestling/WCWMondayNitro.'' A particular sequence in the match sparked a persistent online rumor that seemed to be treated as fact which claimed that Regal "shot" (made it "real") on Goldberg and that Regal was fired for it. Regal claimed that he and Goldberg had worked out a particular move sequence before the match, as Regal was attempting to work around the fact that most of Goldberg's matches to that point had been two-minute squashes. Apparently, Goldberg had forgotten part of the sequence and Regal did what he did to remind Goldberg of it. He said that he did not shoot on Goldberg, that he would never shoot on an opponent and that he was fired for his drug/alcohol problems at the time.

* FollowTheLeader: Credited with inventing the Regal-Cutter (arm trap neckbreaker) and the Regal-Plex (bridging leg hook belly-to-back suplex).

* LiteralAssKissing: First member of the [[Wrestling/VinceMcMahon Vince [=McMahon=]]] "Kiss My Ass" Club.

* OddFriendship: With Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}. Yup, the face Irish guy and the tweener/heel Britt. Apparently William is a mentor of sorts to Sheamus.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Was supposed to have teamed with Jean-Paul Levesque (HHH) in WCW as the Blue Bloods, but HHH jumped to WWE instead.
** William Regal was receiving a major push for the WWE title in 2008. By his own admission, he got self-conscious, started using steroids, got caught, and got suspended. Nowadays, he's barely on TV.

* RetiredBadass: He seems to be trying to get out of the wrestling game, and stick to announcing, but jackass young punks keep challenging him to fights. And he seems to be very happy to oblige them, as shown by his response to both Jacob Novak and Kassius Ohno on ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'', and [[Wrestling/TheShield Dean Ambrose]] in FCW.

** King Booker's Court (w[=/=][[Wrestling/BookerT King Booker (T)]], Queen Sharmell, Finlay and Hornswoggle)

* TheMentor: While he hasn't trained that many wrestlers, those he has trained have gone on to have excellent careers, Wrestling/CMPunk, Wrestling/BryanDanielson, Wrestling/SamoaJoe and [[Wrestling/RingofHonor Chris Hero]] being the top of the heap.

Among his in-ring achievements, he is a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-tv.html WCW World Television Champion]], a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-eu-h.html WWE European Heavyweight Champion]], a 5x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-hc.html WWE Hardcore Champion]], a 2x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion]] and a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Champion]], holding the belts twice w[=/=]Wrestling/LanceStorm, 1x w[=/=]Eugene and 1x w[=/=]Yoshihiro Tajiri.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Umaga) and Triple Haitch (Wrestling/TripleH) - although the latter is actually a common pronunciation of the letter H [[BritishAccents in the UK]].

* MeaningfulRename: When he returned to the WWF in 2000, he went from Steven Regal to William Regal to honour his recently passed grandfather, who helped him get into the business.

* FinishingMove: Regal Stretch, Power of the Punch, Regal Cutter

* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[EvilBrit In Regal's case]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcb8RoxQPD0 this stands out]]: During the time Regal [[MentorOccupationalHazard was mentoring Eugene]], Wrestling/TripleH took advantage of Eugene's "special" nature to try and regain the World Title, and left him beaten and bloodied when it backfired. A week after Eugene comes back and costs Triple H the belt in a Iron Man match, Regal confronts him, revealing (or reminding) to us that he mentored Triple H in Wrestling/{{WCW}} and said that if it had been anyone else he manipulated, Regal would've been proud. [[TheRainman Eugene]], [[MoralityPet however?]] That was something that pissed Regal off enough to sneak Eugene into the building and cost Triple H the World Title. It also served for a rare HeelFaceTurn.

* DemotedToExtra: Is today hardly seen on TV, for a while he appeared on ''Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}'' as the "match coordinator" and is now an announcer. He had brief moment of spotlight when Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} feuded with Wrestling/TheBigShow in which he got in the middle.

* {{Calvinball}}: ''WWE Backlash 2001''. Duchess of Queensbury match. Regal versus Jericho. Jericho tries to pin Regal? Match is divided into two rounds, and round one just ended. Jericho gets a submission? No, submissions aren't allowed. Yep, Regal (then as commissioner) tried to change the rules to screw Jericho out of a win. [[spoiler:Regal]] won the match.

'''William Regal''' (born Darren Kenneth Matthews on May 10, 1968 in Codsall Wood, Staffordshire, England) is an English professional wrestler working for the '''WWE''' and arguably the biggest British wrestling star since the heyday of Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith. With a career spanning three decades all over the world, he gained the most fame and success initially in Wresting/{{WCW}} in the mid-1990s as Lord Steven Regal and later Wrestling/{{WWE}}, which he had joined in the last year of the famed Wrestling/AttitudeEra and has been there since, first (and briefly) as Steven Regal the "Real Man's Man", and later (and since then) William Regal. He is currently the most senior member of the full-time talent roster, going by ring experience, having been in the business longer than several prominent WWE Superstars (such as CodyRhodes) have been ''alive''.

'''William Regal''' (born Darren Kenneth Matthews on May 10, 1968 in Codsall Wood, Staffordshire, England) is an English professional wrestler working for the '''WWE''' and arguably the biggest British wrestling star since the heyday of Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith. With a career spanning three decades all over the world, he gained the most fame and success initially in {{WCW}} in the mid-1990s as Lord Steven Regal and later the Wrestling/{{WWE}}, which he had joined in the last year of the famed AttitudeEra and has been there since, first (and briefly) as Steven Regal the "Real Man's Man", and later (and since then) William Regal. He is currently the most senior member of the full-time talent roster, going by ring experience, having been in the business longer than several prominent WWE Superstars (such as CodyRhodes) have been ''alive''.

* BadassLongrobe

* TheComicallySerious: Particularly when trying to maintain his composure dealing with Eugene, Jericho, etc.

* QuintessentialBritishGentleman

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Made the mistake of doing this in 2006 when Paul Burchill introduced his "Pirate" gimmick. Cue getting beaten by Burchill for a number of weeks, including a match which losing it meant Regal had to dress up as a...[[WholesomeCrossDresser busty]] [[SubvertedTrope wench]] for Burchill.

While William Regal has never been a world champion (saying "has never been" but not "never was" because pro-wrestling's [[GarbageWrestler hardcore legend]] [[RingOldies Terry Funk]] proved [[TenMinuteRetirement there's no such thing as actual, long-term, permanent retirement]]), he has extensively trained several future world champions currently employed by WWE. [[TripleH You might]] [[CMPunk have heard]] [[BryanDanielson of them]].

!!'''Tropes associated with William Regal includes:'''

* BreakupBreakout: He formed a tag team called The Bluebloods with Dave Taylor. Taylor, who has done little besides be half of the Bluebloods, was talented in the ring but had essentially no charisma. In an odd subversion, bookers would reform the Bluebloods when they didn't have anything for Regal to do in singles wrestling - and then when they did, split the team up and release Taylor again.

* DemotedToExtra: Is today hardly seen on TV, for a while he appeared on Wrestling/{{WWENXT}} as the "match coordinator" and is now an announcer. He had brief moment of spotlight when Sheamus feuded with TheBigShow in which he got in the middle.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[EvilBrit In Regal's case]], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcb8RoxQPD0 this stands out]]: During the time Regal [[MentorOccupationalHazard was mentoring Eugene]], TripleH took advantage of Eugene's "special" nature to try and regain the World Title, and left him beaten and bloodied when it backfired. A week after Eugene comes back and costs TripleH the belt in a Iron Man match, Regal confronts him, revealing (or reminding) to us that he mentored TripleH in {{WCW}} and said that if it had been anyone else he manipulated, Regal would've been proud. [[TheRainman Eugene]], [[MoralityPet however?]] That was something that pissed Regal off enough to sneak Eugene into the building and cost TripleH the World Title. It also served for a rare HeelFaceTurn.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Seen in a lot of his matches with ChrisBenoit. When caught in the Crossface, Regal will try to block the arm and resist as much as possible, but ''the'' moment Benoit has it locked in, Regal taps out to avoid prolonged punishment.
* LiteralAssKissing: First member of the VinceMcMahon "Kiss My Ass" Club.

* TheMentor: While he hasn't trained that many wrestlers, those he has trained have gone on to have excellent careers, CMPunk, BryanDanielson, SamoaJoe and [[RingofHonor Chris Hero]] being the top of the heap.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: Mispronounces wrestler names like Youmanga (Umaga) and Triple Haitch (TripleH) - although the latter is actually a common pronunciation of the letter H [[BritishAccents in the UK]].

** Using his Lord Steven Regal gimmick in WCW, he came across like an UpperclassTwit much of the time, which caused his actual in ring ability to be underestimated.

* RetiredBadass: He seems to be trying to get out of the wrestling game, and stick to announcing, but jackass young punks keep challenging him to fights. And he seems to be very happy to oblige them, as shown by his response to both Jacob Novak and Kassius Ohno on Wrestling/{{WWE NXT}}, and Dean Ambrose in FCW.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: William Regal was receiving a major push for the WWE title in 2008. By his own admission, he got self-conscious, started using steroids, got caught, and got suspended. Nowadays, he's barely on TV.
* WorthyOpponent / AlwaysSomeoneBetter: ChrisBenoit may have gotten the upper hand in their prolonged rivalry, but it could always be guaranteed that Regal would match him in physicality and brutality, which [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dic7h3_BrU&feature=related made]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW7z4JZWLTs their]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2gnoQTFd08&feature=related matches]] all the more thrilling and cringe-inducing.

* RetiredBadass: He seems to be trying to get out of the wrestling game, and stick to announcing, but jackass young punks keep challenging him to fights. And he seems to be very happy to oblige them, as shown by his response to both Jacob Novak and Kassius Ohno on Wrestling/{{WWENXT}}, and Dean Ambrose in FCW.