10 Most Old School Wrestlers Of WWE's Modern Era

Few men can lay claim to being quite as old school as William Regal, who this year celebrates an astonishing thirty-three years in the business.

Like all the best old school guys, Regal is an all-rounder. In his case, with a background in the carnival and variety show scene that English wrestling used to feed into, he’s more than that: he’s the consummate performer, a man who’s showcased his skills across the world.

As a kid, Darren Matthews saw the wrestlers at Blackpool and desperately wanted to be one of them. Refusing to take no for an answer, he just kept showing up at promoter Bobby Baron's booth on Blackpool Pleasure Beach: placed in his very first match at the age of fifteen, he had the crap beaten out of him, but came back the next weekend.

That was 1983. Matthews continued to wrestle in Blackpool for the next few years under the name Steve Regal, getting pummelled senseless, until jumping ship when he was eighteen to work for Brian Dixon’s All Star Wrestling, wrestling hard man heroes of his like the legendary Johnny Saint, 'the Superdestroyer' Pete Roberts, Terry Rudge, Marty Jones and Dave Taylor at holiday camps like Butlins. That's also when he began tagging with the wonderful Robbie Brookside, a friendship that continues, like a comedy double act, to this day.

Regal is tough as nails, a big b*stard with technical prowess for days, able to lay it in there with the best - and meanest - around… but he’s also a devotee of the flamboyant side of his trade. Wrestling has always made money by crafting cards that appeal to all ages and tastes: a variety show in the squared circle. His personal career highlight is still being ‘forced’ to wear a Las Vegas showgirl costume on RAW, which perfectly illustrates his vaudevillian perspective on the business.