You wouldnt think it to look at him now, but one point, Darren William Regal Matthews would ingest anything if it would get him wasted. One of the most respected professional wrestlers in the world today, up there with the Dynamite Kid and Johnny Saint in lists of the best British wrestlers in history, Regal had it all but in 1995, suffering a nasty knee injury in Japan, he took his regular use of Valium and booze to new heights, adding prescription painkillers to the mix. That was the beginning of a slippery slide down into the kind of junkie madness that you wouldnt wish on your worst enemy. Completely blanking his own family, Regal would be off his face more often than not: being thrown off a plane and arrested by the FBI for bad drug-fuelled behaviour; ruining more family get-togethers than you would believe; being hospitalised on more than one occasion; and eventually locking himself in his room and going slightly insane. He became convinced that he held a mathematical equation in his head that would solve the worlds problems, and filled notebook after notebook with samples. Let go by WCW due to his drug problem, Matthews joined the WWF. They would send him to rehab, and eventually also release him from his contract, telling him to come back when he was clean. It took a while a long while, but Regal conquered his demons and returned to rejoin first WCW, then the WWF. Now drug free and sober for around sixteen years, mostly retired from in-ring competition, Regal is the on-air babyface authority figure for NXT and an important figure backstage as well. Today, there couldnt be a better role model and mentor for a developmental promotion. We want to be William Regal when we grow up.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
