20 Secret Highlights Of WCW That WWE Won't Tell You About
8. The Belfast Bruiser Vs. Lord Steven Regal
The Japanese and Mexican talent get most of the love, but WCW also imported several European stars as part of their crazy midcard overhaul. The best of these talents were Lord Steven Regal and the Belfast Bruiser, better known was William Regal and Fit Finlay. Just like Rey Mysterio and his rivals did for the cruiserweight style, these two brought a stiff, brawling sensibility to a WCW that had been very much compromised by the addition of Hulk Hogan's WWE-style capering. In the first half of 1996, Regal and Finlay wrestled a bunch of matches that completely redefined what pro wrestling violence could be.
The difference between Regal/Finlay and whatever the rest of the roster was trying to do was staggering. Just to give you an idea of how nasty this series got, the first move of the first match was Finlay straight-up swinging his Mad Max-issue spiked leather jacket at Regal's eyes. At Uncensored 1996, Regal got shoot punched in the face hard enough that he looked like Joey Mercury after a ladder match.
On a Nitro, they had a parking lot brawl violent enough that the camera kept panning away to avoid showing the carnage. Regal won that match by driving Finlay's pile on the hood of a car, but it would be the swan song of the European Guys Attempting Murder division.