1. Innocuous Bump Led To Prolonged Regal Absence In 2003
William Regal and Lance Storm squared off against the unlikely duo of Rob Van Dam and Kane on the No Way Out undercard. The match was about as routine as they come, a standard affair with minimal high-risk offense (so as not to show up the grapplers who had to go on after them). Incredibly, this pedestrian outing resulted in Regal being pinned to the sidelines for over a year. The Blackpool native had been having issues ever since contracting a virus while on tour in India in November 2002 and a concussion suffered in this match made everything so, so much worse. Regal wasn't sleeping in the weeks leading up to the show and his abdomen and legs were swelling up. During the match, Kane picked him up for a routine slam, only when Regal hit the mat he sustained a serious concussion. Oblivious to everything that was going on around him, Regal nonetheless managed to finish the match as planned. It's uncertain exactly what happened, but the concussion did something to Regal and he was forced to the sidelines for all of 2003 and the beginning of 04. It's clear watching the match back that something's not quite right with Sir Regal - he's totally out of it.
