10 British Wrestlers Who Had Profound Impact In America

2. William Regal

Breaking into wrestling in the late 1980s, Roy Regal (as he was initially billed) made a handful of appearances on televised wrestling in Britain before it was axed in 1988. Training under globetrotting British star, Marty Jones, Regal€™s upbringing in wrestling was in the brutal carnival booths of his native Blackpool. As he gained experience at home, he started to travel, wrestling in continental Europe and South Africa. But his dream was always to get into the big time promotions of the United States, and every year, he would send a new videotape of his recent work to the WWF and WCW. In December 1991, WCW made their first trip to the UK, and Regal was drafted in and wrestled on every show of the tour. By the end of the tour, he was starting to be given wins over WCW regulars Terry Taylor and Jimmy Garvin. His traditional British style was something that was out of the ordinary in WCW and this was his unique selling point. In the summer of 1993, with his other European commitments completed and all the visa paperwork done, Regal made his WCW debut. He was a nervous babyface in Union Jack trunks called Steve Regal. While his pure wrestling was streets ahead of most in WCW, it was clear that his character needing tweaking to get American audiences to notice him. Enter Bill Dundee in a suit and bowler hat and a royal blue cape, and Lord Steven Regal, a conceited nobleman, was born. The character was cheesy and was a massive stereotype of what Americans perceived Brits to be, but Regal pulled it off with aplomb. He was hilarious. His facial expressions and reactions to everything going on around him were priceless. He maintained the Lord character for five years, until he jumped to the WWF in 1998. However, he was plagued with health problems at this time, and barely made it onto TV. He checked into rehab and was released by the WWF in 1999. After rehab, he reappeared in WCW where he had a midcard role as a toned down version of his old Lord character. He then re-signed with the WWF in 2000, where he was repackaged as William Regal, a British snob, similar to his WCW character. Regal won the WWF European Championship and then became Commissioner of the WWF. The skits filmed in his office, often with Tajiri as his sidekick, were hysterical, and often the highlight of the entire show for me. Regal then moved to Smackdown, the more wrestling orientated weekly show, and then to WWE€™s version of ECW, where he worked with younger talents to pass on his years of experience. He still wrestles very occasionally, most recently in NXT, where he is an excellent commentator and is now the new Commissioner of NXT. Although he never won €˜the big one€™, Regal has been a mainstay of American professional wrestling for over 20 years, and has won European, Tag Team and Intercontinental titles. The fact that his two IC title reigns were six years apart bears testament to his longevity in the business. A great wrestler and a great trainer (just ask Daniel Bryan, whose burgundy trunks are a tribute to Regal, who often wore the colour himself), William Regal has certainly had a profound impact on the United States.