Early years (1983–1992) After training under
Marty Jones, Matthews made his debut wrestling for promoter Bobby Barron at his wrestling challenge booth at the Horseshoe Showbar at
Blackpool Pleasure Beach at the age of 15. By this time, he wrestled professionally all over Britain for
All Star Wrestling where he regularly teamed with
Robbie Brookside as The Golden Boys tag team. Both Regal and Brookside appeared in several televised matches during the final years (1987–1988) of
ITV's coverage of
British wrestling. Matthews went on to tour worldwide, including Germany and South Africa. In 1991, he received a tryout match with the
World Wrestling Federation. Matthews relayed that through
Lord Alfred Hayes, WWF had become interested in seeing the young wrestler and offered him an opportunity at the
WWF UK Rampage Show on 24 April 1991. Wrestling in a dark match, he appeared as Steve Regal and teamed with
Dave Taylor and
Tony St. Clair to defeat
Drew McDonald, Chic Cullen, & Johnny South. Later that year, he received a second booking and wrestled
Brian Maxine at the Battle Royal at Albert Hall in London, England on 3 October 1991. Two months later, Matthews was again wrestling on the UK swing of a major American promotion, although this time it was
World Championship Wrestling. Appearing as Steve Regal, he wrestled six matches on WCW's tour of the United Kingdom and faced
Terrance Taylor,
Jimmy Garvin,
Giant Haystacks, and Oz (
Kevin Nash). During this early period, he was billed as Steve Regal, a name he saw in an American wrestling magazine (in use by "Mr. Electricity"
Steve Regal). There were two exceptions to this. One was when he wrestled in
Wales during this period, including appearances on
S4C's Welsh language wrestling TV show
Reslo under the name Steve Jones and was billed from
Cardiff, Wales, teaming with
Orig Williams and faced
Fit Finlay among others. The other was a brief stint for
Joint Promotions in 1986 where he wrestled his first two televised matches under the name Roy Regal. Otherwise, he stuck with the name Steve Regal up until shortly after his arrival in
World Championship Wrestling.
World Championship Wrestling (1992–1998) World Television Champion (1993–1994) In the fall of 1992, Matthews reached out to
Bill Watts on a position in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Watts responded favourably to Regal's letter and offered him a contract. He began as a
fan favourite character, still as Steve Regal. At times arrogantly charming in this persona, one of his memorable statements to a post-match interviewer was: "Do you know what my New Year's resolution is going to be? To wake up a half an hour earlier so I can hate you more". His first major win after the character change was against
Marcus Alexander Bagwell on 16 June
Clash of the Champions XXIII. Regal was scheduled to face Bagwell's partner
2 Cold Scorpio on 18 August
Clash of the Champions XXIV, but he was replaced by
Bobby Eaton. Regal himself substituted for the injured
Brian Pillman to team with
Steve Austin in a
WCW World Tag Team Championship defence against
Arn Anderson and
Paul Roma; Regal and Austin lost that match. Regal won the World Television Championship by defeating
Ricky Steamboat at the inaugural
Fall Brawl pay-per-view on 18 September with the help of Sir William. Regal unknowingly broke his neck during this match. Regal enjoyed a lengthy title reign as he retained the title against a flurry of challengers, beginning with his first televised title defence against Arn Anderson on the 9 October episode of
Saturday Night which ended in a fifteen-minute time limit draw. Regal then successfully retained the title against Johnny B. Badd on 10 November
Clash of the Champions XXV and retained the title against Steamboat at
Starrcade and
Dustin Rhodes on 27 January 1994
Clash of the Champions XXVI, with both matches ending in time limit draws. Regal continued his successful title defences in 1994 by beating Arn Anderson at
SuperBrawl IV and fighting a time limit draw against
Brian Pillman at
Spring Stampede. In the spring of 1994 on
WorldWide, Regal challenged
Ric Flair to a best-of-five series under
Marquess of Queensberry Rules in which Regal lost to Flair with 1 win, 2 losses and 2 draws. The following month, Regal lost a non-title match to
Larry Zbyszko at
Slamboree, leading to a title match on the 28 May episode of
Saturday Night, in which he
dropped the title to Zbyszko. Regal regained the title from Zbyszko on 23 June
Clash of the Champions XXVII. Regal began a feud with
Sting and was
booked to defend the title against Sting at
Bash at the Beach. Regal lost to the wrestling legend
Antonio Inoki on 28 August
Clash of the Champions XXVIII. In September, Regal lost the title to Badd at
Fall Brawl.
The Blue Bloods (1994–1998) Shortly after losing the television title to Badd, Regal dropped Sir William as his manager (Dundee was fired from WCW due to a contract dispute). Beginning with the 26 November episode of
Saturday Night, Regal began scouting fellow aristocrat
Jean-Paul Levesque during his matches, The duo first began teaming on the 8 April episode of
WCW Saturday Night. Regal also toured WCW's working partner
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on 16 April, where he unsuccessfully challenged
Shinya Hashimoto for the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Blue Bloods quickly entered the title picture as they initially
feuded with
The Nasty Boys (
Brian Knobbs and
Jerry Sags), their complete opposites in terms of "sophistication" and presentation. Blue Bloods unsuccessfully challenged Nasty Boys for the WCW World Tag Team Championship at
The Great American Bash. On the 24 June episode of
WorldWide, Blue Bloods retaliated by costing Nasty Boys, the tag team titles against
Harlem Heat (
Booker T and
Stevie Ray). Blue Bloods soon dropped off the title picture and continued to compete as a mid-card tag team. They added
"Squire" David Taylor to the team and Jeeves as their lackey by the end of the year. On the 27 January episode of
Saturday Night, Regal was attacked by the debuting
Belfast Bruiser during a match, sparking a feud between the duo as the Belfast Bruiser was a
Northern Irishman, who developed an
on-screen hatred with Regal due to him being
English. In March, Regal faced the Bruiser in a match at
Uncensored, but Regal lost the match by disqualification after Eaton and Taylor attacked the Bruiser. On the 29 April episode of
Monday Nitro, Regal defeated the Bruiser in a
Parking Lot Brawl. The duo were scheduled to team in the Lethal Lottery at
Slamboree, but the Bruiser suffered an injury and was replaced by Dave Taylor. Regal and Taylor lost to
Jim Duggan and
VK Wallstreet. Regal challenged
Sting to a match to gain some attention in the company, leading to a match between the two at
The Great American Bash, which Regal lost. On the 31 August episode of
Saturday Night, Regal captured the World Television Championship for the third time by getting an upset victory over
Lex Luger after Luger was attacked by
The Outsiders. Regal got a rematch against Iaukea for the title at
Spring Stampede, which he lost. Regal attacked Iaukea on the 7 April episode of
Nitro, which resulted in Iaukea losing the title to
Último Dragón later that night. but lost the title back to Dragon two months later on the 22 July episode of
Nitro. Regal got another shot at the title against next champion
Alex Wright on the 15 September episode of
Nitro, but he failed to capture the title. On the 9 February 1998 episode of
Nitro, Regal was pinned by
Bill Goldberg in a match which was Regal's final match with WCW, in that run. The bout garnered controversy as it was said that Regal worked more aggressively and
stiff than expected. Regal was confronted by Eric Bischoff after the match and stated to Bischoff, "I can't hit myself." Regal maintains he worked the bout as booked, but he was fired after the bout.
World Wrestling Federation (1998−1999) Regal's first appearance in the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was on the 29 June 1998 episode of
Raw Is War in which he defeated
Droz via
submission with the
Regal Stretch. After featuring in one more match against
Tiger Ali Singh in Pennsylvania, Regal was sent to a training camp run by
Dory Funk Jr. in order to get into shape. On his last day, he twisted his ankle in a match against
Rhyno and upon returning home aggravated the injury falling in his bathroom, breaking his ankle and leg. During this time, Regal was suffering from an addiction to
Renewtrient, pain medication, and
Valium, and was not seen on WWF television until he returned that fall as the "Real Man's Man", a builder/lumberjack-style gimmick created by
Vince Russo and based on the image of The Brawny Man.
Return to WCW (1999−2000) After checking out of rehab, Matthews was invited back into the wrestling world, making a somewhat brief return to WCW as "Lord Steven Regal". His official pay-per-view return took place in July 1999 during
Bash at the Beach, where he was one of many participants in the first
Hardcore Invitational. The following night on
Nitro, Regal, accompanied by both Fit Finlay and Dave Taylor, fought
Billy Kidman. Despite outside help from Finlay and Taylor, Regal was unable to pick up the win. Two weeks later, he faced
Mikey Whipwreck, but
Jimmy Hart's
First Family came out to challenge
The Blue Bloods at
Road Wild for the Hardcore Trophy, causing Regal to lose the match. Nothing came of this challenge as neither the First Family or the Blue Bloods were featured on the Road Wild card. Similar to his previous run, much of Regal's performances took place in tag team bouts. Regal continued his role as a rule breaking villain and had small feuds with teams such as
The Filthy Animals. In late February 2000, Regal lost a
career vs. career match against Jim Duggan on
Saturday Night for the World Television Championship, which was done in order to explain Regal's release from the company.
Return to WWF/WWE (2000–2022) European Champion (2000–2001) Regal was once again hired by the WWF and sent to the developmental territory
Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) for a short time. He re-debuted in a match with
Chris Benoit at the Third Annual
Brian Pillman Memorial Show. Regal returned on the 18 September 2000 episode of
Raw Is War as a heel, under the name Steven William Regal (later shortened to William Regal). Regal defeated
Al Snow to win the
European Championship on the 16 October episode of
Raw Is War. After a successful defence against
Naked Mideon at
No Mercy on 22 October, Regal would lose the title to
Crash Holly at
Rebellion on 2 December, before winning it back two days later on
Raw Is War. Regal would enter his first
Royal Rumble match at the
eponymous pay-per-view on 21 January 2001, but failed to win. The next night on
Raw Is War, Regal lost the European Championship to
Test. On the 8 March episode of
SmackDown!, Regal became the new WWF commissioner, after defeating Al Snow. Regal later became the on-screen commissioner and self-proclaimed "Goodwill Ambassador" of the WWF and was given a comedy sidekick in
Tajiri. During
The Invasion storyline, Regal turned face as he remained the WWF Commissioner. During the
WCW/ECW Alliance storyline, Regal turned heel once again by costing
Kurt Angle the WWF Championship on the 8 October episode of
Raw and joining
The Alliance. He was fired as commissioner by
Linda McMahon, but
Shane McMahon, who was the owner of WCW, hired him as the Alliance Commissioner. After the Alliance was defeated at
Survivor Series on 18 November, Regal was forced to become the first member of
Vince McMahon's
"Kiss My Ass" club by kissing McMahon's buttocks so he could keep his job. after using a set of
brass knuckles in order to knock out Edge, an action that would later become a trademark of Regal's character. Regal defended the title against Edge again at
No Way Out on 17 February in a
brass knuckles on a pole match. He lost the title to
Rob Van Dam at
WrestleMania X8 on 17 March. The same week, he beat
Diamond Dallas Page for the European Championship on the 21 March episode of
SmackDown!. Regal was
drafted to the
Raw brand in the inaugural
WWF draft lottery on the 25 March episode of
Raw, thus bringing the European Championship to
Raw. Regal lost the European Championship to
Spike Dudley on the 8 April episode of
Raw. He regained the championship from Dudley on the 6 May episode of
Raw to become a four-time champion. Throughout April, Regal would also hold the
WWF Hardcore Championship five times, with all of these reigns coming at non-televised
house shows. Regal entered the
2002 King of the Ring tournament, but lost to
Booker T in the qualifiers on the 3 June episode of
Raw. Regal later lost the European Championship to
Jeff Hardy on the 8 July episode of
Raw, making Regal the third-to-last champion as the championship was retired later in the year. He joined
The Un-Americans, an anti-American alliance consisting of Canadian wrestlers
Lance Storm,
Christian and Test on the 2 September episode of
Raw. At
Unforgiven on 22 September, The Un-Americans lost to
Bubba Ray Dudley,
Kane and Booker T and Goldust. On the 30 September episode of
Raw, every member of The Un-Americans lost their matches, causing the group to separate later in the night and break away into separate groups. Regal began teaming with Lance Storm, Christian formed a tag team with
Chris Jericho and Test branched off into single competition. On 30 September episode of
Raw, both Christian and Storm lost matches to
Randy Orton, while Regal and Test lost to Rob Van Dam and
Tommy Dreamer. This led to all four members attacking each other, thus disbanding the team. Storm and Regal won the
World Tag Team Championship from Booker T and Goldust thanks to Regal's brass knuckles on 6 January 2003 episode of
Raw. They lost the championship to
Dudley Boyz at the
Royal Rumble on 19 January, but they regained the championship the next night on
Raw thanks to an impromptu match set up by
Chief Morley after Regal and Storm had put Bubba through a table. At
No Way Out on 23 February, Regal and Storm defeated Kane and Rob Van Dam to retain the World Tag Team Championship in what would be his last match for over a year. In his 2005 autobiography, Regal recalls having swelling all over his body, high heart rate and trouble sleeping in the lead-up to the match at No Way Out. During the match, he suffered a concussion and was briefly knocked unconscious. Over the next few days, Regal's health worsened and he consulted a doctor. He was informed that he had contracted a heart parasite from a WWE tour of India in November 2002. This, coupled with his aforementioned concussion, kept him out of action for the rest of the year.
Teaming with Eugene (2004–2005) Regal returned after a one-year absence on the 5 April 2004 episode of
Raw. Upon his return, Raw General Manager
Eric Bischoff appointed him the guardian of his
kayfabe "
mentally challenged" nephew
Eugene. Regal initially refused, but was demanded to do so in order to be reinstated onto the active roster. Initially annoyed at having to "babysit" Eugene, Regal eventually grew very fond of him and they became friends, becoming a
face in the process. On the 10 May episode of
Raw, Bischoff told Regal to sabotage Eugene's match so he would quit with embarrassment, in return for Regal being reinstated. Despite reluctantly tripping Eugene, he still managed to defeat his opponent. Regal was eventually reinstated on the 21 June episode of
Raw, before being put in a match with Kane at Bischoff's behest, which Regal lost after being knocked out by Kane. In June, Regal was inserted into a feud with
Evolution, after the group's leader
Triple H tried to convince Eugene that Regal was secretly plotting against him. After weeks of manipulation, Evolution turned on and attacked Eugene on the 12 July episode of
Raw, much to Regal's dismay. Triple H would then continue to torment Regal and Eugene, and on the 9 August episode of
Raw, Regal was kidnapped and brutalised by Triple H in order to gain an advantage against Eugene. At
SummerSlam on 15 August, Regal assisted Eugene in his match against Triple H by attacking his manager
Ric Flair. However Eugene would still ultimately lose. Regal teamed with
Chris Benoit to defeat Evolution members
Batista and Ric Flair at
Unforgiven on 12 September. Regal and Eugene won the World Tag Team Championship from
La Résistance on the 15 November episode of
Raw. However, at
New Year's Revolution on 9 January 2005, Eugene legitimately injured himself during their tag title defence against Christian and
Tyson Tomko. Although they successfully retained the titles, Eugene would be out of action for over six months. This ultimately cost them the World Tag Team Championship as Regal lost the titles back to La Résistance at a 16 January
house show in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with announcer
Jonathan Coachman as Eugene's replacement. On the 7 February episode of
Raw, Regal teamed with former tag partner Tajiri to reclaim the titles. On the following week's
Raw, Regal and Tajiri faced La Résistance in a rematch for the titles, which they won. During March and April, Regal and Tajiri defended the titles successfully against the likes of La Résistance multiple times,
Maven and
Simon Dean,
The Hurricane and Rosey and
The Heart Throbs. This would lead to a
tag team turmoil match involving the aforementioned teams at
Backlash on 1 May. Regal and Tajiri were eliminated by La Résistance who, in turn, were eliminated by the Hurricane and Rosey, who became the new champions. Regal appeared at
ECW One Night Stand on 12 June as an anti-ECW "crusader" led by Eric Bischoff. At the end of show, Regal and other "crusaders" would engage in a brawl with ECW alumni led by Stone Cold Steve Austin, in which the crusaders were soundly beaten.
Various tag teams (2005–2006) action while wrestling
Cody Rhodes On 30 June, Regal was sent to the
SmackDown! brand as part of an eleven-person trade during the
draft lottery. His first match on
SmackDown! was on 7 July against
Matt Morgan in what was to be Morgan's final WWE match. It was interrupted before Regal was even able to enter the ring by
Mexicools. His first full match as part of the roster was a loss to Chris Benoit in a
catch wrestling match on the 16 July episode of
Velocity. On 4 August, Regal was scheduled to go one on one with
Scotty 2 Hotty, but the Mexicools came in and attacked both men. Two weeks later, they teamed up on
SmackDown! against
Psicosis and
Super Crazy with
Juventud in their corner. Halfway through the match, Regal betrayed Scotty by refusing to tag him and walked out of the ring with a smirk on his face, turning heel as a result and allowing the Mexicools to pick up the win. Two days later, Regal cut a promo telling the crowd that he had returned to his former self, referring to himself as a "scoundrel" and a "rogue". The
promo ended when Scotty ran to the ring and attacked Regal. The following week, a match between the two was cut short when the debuting
Paul Burchill interfered to aid his countryman. Regal went on to take Burchill under his wing and tag with him on the hunt for the
WWE Tag Team Championship, but the team's biggest exposure was a loss in a handicap match against
Bobby Lashley at
Armageddon on 18 December. On the 3 February 2006 episode of
SmackDown!, Regal and Burchill told the "network representative"
Palmer Canon that they no longer wanted to be a tag team so they could go their separate ways. During this discussion, Burchill informed Canon that his family heritage traced back to the
pirate Blackbeard and that he wanted to turn this into a pirate
gimmick. Regal lost a rematch against Burchill, with the match stipulation that Regal would have to dress like a "buxom wench" if he lost. "Lady Regal", as SmackDown! announcers jokingly referred to him, had to dress up like this until Burchill lost a match. This ended after Burchill abandoned him during a tag team loss to
The Gymini.
King Booker's Court (2006–2007) Regal continued to wrestle in a lower mid-card status, the highlight of which saw him facing the
United States Champion John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a losing effort while in England. Soon after Booker T became King Booker after becoming
King of the Ring, Regal joined King Booker's Court by playing the role of a
town crier. As a member of the Court, Regal helped King Booker in his feud against Bobby Lashley, occasionally teaming up with fellow Court member Finlay in tag team matches. However, during this time he also feuded with Finlay for the United States Championship. Regal was knighted by King Booker and was given the title of "Sir". Twelve days after No Mercy, Regal stated that while he had once been one of the world's greatest wrestlers, he had since become a doormat for other
SmackDown! wrestlers. He referred to being dressed as a buxom wench for a pirate, the aforementioned locker room incident with Vito, and being knighted by a false king as examples. After announcing he was finished being a whipping boy, he introduced his old tag team partner Dave Taylor and the two went on to easily defeat the team of Scotty 2 Hotty and
Funaki. Though the pair reformed their previous tag team, they did not reuse the Blue Bloods gimmick and instead portrayed themselves as sadistic fighters. However, the team was quickly put into jeopardy in their second match together when Taylor suffered a torn
meniscus in his left knee, leaving him injured. Taylor took a more relaxed role for a couple of weeks as a corner man for Regal and only wrestled in a few short house show matches. Taylor quickly healed from his injury and the pair feuded with the WWE Tag Team Champions
Paul London and Brian Kendrick. After defeating London and Kendrick on several occasions, at
Armageddon on 17 December they took part in a four-way
ladder match alongside
Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury and
The Hardys, which London and Kendrick won. On the 25 May 2007 episode of
SmackDown!, Regal and Taylor competed in a number one contenders match for the WWE Tag Team Championship against London and Kendrick, which they lost after
Deuce 'n Domino interfered, making both teams the number one contenders. This interference led to a triple threat match the next week on
SmackDown! in which Deuce 'n Domino retained the title.
Raw General Manager and King of the Ring (2007–2009) in 2007 On 17 June, Regal was drafted to the Raw brand during the supplemental draft, ending his tag team with Dave Taylor. On 2 July, Regal served as Interim
general manager of Raw, filling in for
Jonathan Coachman. While general manager, Regal introduced the
Beat the Clock Sprint to
Raw, which was used to determine who would challenge
John Cena for the WWE Championship at
The Great American Bash on 22 July. On the 6 August episode of
Raw, Regal became the new general manager after winning a
battle royal featuring other participants from the Raw roster. He began incorporating game shows into
Raw while general manager. On the 3 September episode of
Raw, Regal was attacked by WWE Champion John Cena in retaliation for rewarding Randy Orton with a WWE title shot after Orton had kicked John Cena's father in the head the previous week. Regal was missing from
Raw programming for one month due to this attack, making his return by siding with Vince McMahon. On the 31 December episode of
Raw, Triple H was scheduled to face Ric Flair in which Flair's win or retire ultimatum was still active. Regal announced that if Triple H lost the match in any way, he would not participate in the
Royal Rumble match at the
Royal Rumble on 27 January 2008. This was to give Triple H a reason to want to win the match rather than avoid ending the career of his best friend and idol. Regal was scheduled to compete against
Hornswoggle that night with Mr. McMahon at ringside. During the Flair versus Triple H match, Triple H was about to pin Flair for the win when Regal suddenly punched Flair in the face with the brass knuckles. This gave Flair the win by
disqualification, ensuring that he could continue to wrestle and that Triple H would not be part of the Royal Rumble. As a result of Regal's actions towards Triple H, the following week on
Raw Roulette he lost a
First Blood match to Triple H after several right hands to Regal's forehead. A few weeks later, Regal made the Raw
Elimination Chamber match for
No Way Out on 17 February. He later faced Randy Orton in a match on the 14 April episode of
Raw during the European tour to try to teach him some respect. The following week, Regal won the
2008 King of the Ring tournament on a special three-hour
Raw, where he defeated Hornswoggle, Finlay and
CM Punk all by submission, becoming the first man to make Punk submit. Regal's coronation ceremony the next week was interrupted by the returning
Mr. Kennedy. A few weeks later, Regal lost a
Loser Gets Fired match to Mr. Kennedy, after which Regal was
kayfabe forced to leave WWE. In reality, Regal was suspended on 20 May for sixty days for his second violation of the company's
Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy. On 28 July, Regal returned from his suspension as a "
free agent" during an episode of
Raw, where he was defeated by then-
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk. Regal began a mini-feud with
Jamie Noble after he took an interest in Noble's romantic interest
Layla, prompting him to attack Regal. Both men picked up victories in consecutive weeks, before Regal won their third match, departing with Layla at his side. Regal's feud with Noble escalated the subsequent week when Layla declared that Noble was a loser and that she found a man worthy of her in Regal. However, the feud was short lived. On the 3 November episode of
Raw, Regal won an over-the-top battle royal to face
Santino Marella for the Intercontinental Championship and the next week in
Manchester, Regal defeated Marella in a 40-second squash match to win his second Intercontinental Championship. Later, he entered into a feud for the title with number one contender CM Punk. On the 5 January 2009 episode of
Raw, Regal lost to Punk via disqualification after he grabbed the referee's shirt. Due to this,
Stephanie McMahon awarded Punk a rematch the following week, with the stipulation that if Regal was disqualified, he would lose the Intercontinental title, but this time Punk was disqualified. McMahon awarded Punk another rematch, this time a no disqualification match on the 19 January episode of
Raw, where Regal lost the title. Regal got a rematch, but lost the match. Following the
draft, Regal was left alone on the Raw brand as his on-screen manager Layla was drafted to the SmackDown brand. At
Extreme Rules on 7 June, Regal unsuccessfully challenged
Kofi Kingston for the
United States Championship along with
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and
Matt Hardy, as Kingston retained the United States Championship by pinning Regal.
The Ruthless Roundtable (2009–2010) Regal was traded to the
ECW brand on 29 June. In his first match on
ECW the following night, he teamed with
Vladimir Kozlov to defeat
Tommy Dreamer and Christian. After winning a tag match on the 6 August episode of
Superstars, Regal was named as the number one contender to the
ECW Championship. On the 18 August episode of
ECW, Regal teamed with Kozlov again to face
Ezekiel Jackson and the ECW Champion Christian in which Jackson attacked Christian to ensure Regal's victory, with the trio of Regal, Kozlov and Jackson forming a new alliance which was later dubbed the Ruthless Roundtable. At
SummerSlam on 23 August, Regal challenged Christian for his title, but was defeated in eight seconds. With the Roundtable's help, Regal defeated Christian in a non-title match on the 25 August episode of
ECW to earn a title rematch against Christian at
Breaking Point on 13 September, but Christian prevailed again with the rest of the Roundtable banned from ringside. Regal was then denied another chance at number one contender-ship, but The Ruthless Roundtable continued to repeatedly attack Christian to continue the feud. As a result, Christian demanded to face Regal, so he received another shot for the ECW Championship on the 10 November episode of
ECW in
Sheffield, England, but he was once again unsuccessful. At
Survivor Series on 22 November, Regal participated in a traditional five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and was eliminated by MVP. Following Survivor Series, dissension was teased within The Ruthless Roundtable, although Jackson seemed poised to leave the group, Regal ultimately sided with Jackson and turned on Kozlov by assisting Jackson in defeating Kozlov to qualify for an ECW Homecoming battle royal to determine the number one contender to the ECW Championship. Jackson won the ECW Homecoming battle royal and was granted a title shot, but Christian defeated him at the
Royal Rumble on 31 January 2010 to retain his title. Despite the loss, Regal and Jackson continued to assault Christian, who accepted Jackson's title challenge. On the final episode of
ECW on 16 February, Regal helped Jackson defeating Christian in an Extreme Rules match to become the final ECW Champion.
Later career (2010–2012) After
ECW was cancelled to be replaced by
NXT, Regal returned to the Raw brand, but he also became the Pro to Rookie
Skip Sheffield on the first season of
NXT. Regal made his debut on the 2 March episode of
NXT, teaming with Sheffield in a losing effort against Matt Hardy and
Justin Gabriel. On the 13 April episode of
NXT, Regal won his first match on the show, defeating former pupil
Daniel Bryan. On the 10 May episode of
NXT, Sheffield was eliminated from the competition. Regal was mostly involved in lower-card feuds after returning to wrestle on
Raw and also regularly appeared on
NXT and
Superstars. In 2010, he regularly lost tag team matches against
Santino Marella while trading wins with Goldust. Regal defeated
Darren Young in three matches on
Superstars in October and November. In March 2011, Regal became the color commentator for the fifth season of
NXT. On 26 April, Regal was drafted to SmackDown as part of the
2011 WWE supplemental draft. On
NXT, Regal began a feud with rookie Jacob Novak after Novak taunted him as old and washed up. On the 3 May episode of
NXT, Regal was set to face Novak, but Novak's Pro
JTG stepped in to replace Novak. While Regal had the match won, Novak interfered, attacking Regal and causing a disqualification. This attack turned Regal face. On the 10 May episode of
NXT, Regal defeated Novak by submission to end the feud as Novak was eliminated on the next episode.
Axxess After Regal came to the aid of
NXT host
Matt Striker, saving him from an assault by Darren Young, Young challenged Regal to a match on the 6 September episode of
NXT and Regal duly defeated Young. On the 13 September episode of
NXT, Regal teamed with Striker against JTG and Darren Young in a losing effort. On the 10 November episode of
Superstars held in England, Regal was pranked when his old "Real Man's Man" theme song was played, then lost to protégé Daniel Bryan, but both wrestlers showed respect after the match. On the 15 February 2011 episode of
NXT Redemption, Regal temporarily took charge as
NXT host from Matt Striker to set up matches on the show, which led to him being made
NXT official match coordinator two weeks later. After being appointed as an authority figure, Regal had issues with
NXT's perennial troublemakers,
Curt Hawkins and
Tyler Reks while
Maxine attempted to influence him to get her off
NXT. In 2011, Regal also acted as a color commentator for
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) matches and it was during this time he began a feud with
Dean Ambrose after an unprovoked attack by Ambrose on Regal, setting up a match between the two on the 6 November episode of
FCW, where Regal viciously attacked Ambrose's left arm and pinned Ambrose. Following the loss to Regal, Ambrose became obsessed about wanting a rematch and regularly taunted Regal by using Regal's finishing moves to win matches. A rematch was scheduled as the main event for the final episode of
FCW on 15 July. The match began with Regal viciously attacking Ambrose's injured left arm, but Ambrose rammed Regal into the ring post to badly disorientate him. Then Ambrose ruthlessly kneed Regal's head into an exposed turnbuckle, causing Regal to bleed from the ear and the match was then ruled a no contest. After the match, Regal stared down Ambrose, then applauded him and turned his head to allow Ambrose to deliver the
Knee Trembler. Afterwards, the FCW locker room stormed the ring to separate Ambrose from a fallen Regal while commentators questioned whether Regal would ever be able to wrestle again. He continued to work as a color commentator for NXT after FCW was rebranded as NXT. In 2012, Regal wrestled multiple live event dates wrestling against the likes of Santino Marella and
Wade Barrett. Regal ended up on both the winning and losing side. At
Over the Limit, Regal participated in a 20-man
battle royal, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. In late 2012, Regal played the role of
Sheamus' friend in Sheamus' rivalry against
Big Show, where he was repeatedly attacked by Big Show. Regal was featured on the 6 November episode of
SmackDown in
Birmingham, England in which Regal teamed with Sheamus in a loss to Big Show and Wade Barrett and later on the 12 November episode of
Raw he lost to Big Show.
Final wrestling matches (2012–2013) Regal wrestled for the WWE during the April tour of the United Kingdom losing to
Antonio Cesaro on
Raw and losing to Wade Barrett on
SmackDown. On 1 December, Regal defeated
Ace Steel in a match for
World League Wrestling in Eldon, Missouri. Regal would later make a surprise appearance on the 17 June 2013 episode of
Raw where he challenged Cesaro to a match in which he was defeated. On 5 December, Regal started a feud with his former disciple
Kassius Ohno when he saved
Tyson Kidd from an assault by Ohno and
Leo Kruger. When Regal later saved
Derrick Bateman from Ohno's post-match attack, Ohno confronted Regal, who punched Ohno. The next week, Regal apologised to Ohno. In reply, Ohno stated that he had followed in Regal's footsteps to arrive in WWE, but that Regal's whole career had no legacy, leading to Regal punching Ohno again. After both men continued to attack each other, the rivalry culminated in a match on the 10 April 2013 episode of
NXT, which Regal won. Ohno later apologised to Regal. On the 26 June episode of
NXT, Regal tried to help Ohno,
Adrian Neville and
Corey Graves from a joint assault by
The Wyatt Family, Garrett Dylan and
Scott Dawson, but was overwhelmed. Two weeks later, Graves, Neville and Regal faced The Wyatt Family with
Bray Wyatt pinning Regal. Regal's final in-ring feud was against Antonio Cesaro due to Regal saving
Byron Saxton from Cesaro's bullying, which culminated with Cesaro defeating Regal on the 25 December episode of
NXT. This would be his final match. In 2017, he confirmed that he had retired from wrestling. However, he wrestled Sami Zayn in a behind-closed-doors match at a WWE try out in Dubai in 2014.
Work on NXT (2014–2022) In July 2014, Regal was given the on-screen role of General Manager of NXT.
Dave Meltzer later wrote that Regal was "moved from the commentary booth to the figurehead commissioner role, since the decision was made that NXT should be about grooming announcers for the future in WWE, and they simply don't think of Regal for that role". He also became a trainer at the
WWE Performance Center after the passing of
Dusty Rhodes. As the on-screen General Manager, Regal made regular appearances on NXT television throughout 2015 and 2016. He appeared during the
Cruiserweight Classic semi-finals, handing
TJ Perkins his medallion for defeating
Kota Ibushi. On 22 January 2018, Regal made a brief appearance on stage during the
25th Anniversary episode of Raw as a former Raw general manager. In February, WWE.com referred to him as the WWE Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting. Regal was named also the on-screen General Manager of the cruiserweight brand
205 Live on 13 April 2020. Regal was released from his WWE contract on 5 January 2022, ending his 22-year tenure with the company.
All Elite Wrestling (2022) At the
AEW event
Revolution in March 2022, Regal made his surprise debut after the match between
Jon Moxley and
Bryan Danielson, two of his former protégés (with Moxley also being a one-time rival) and broke up their brawl before forcing them to shake hands with each other. During the media scrum after the event,
Tony Khan confirmed that Regal had officially signed with the company. He began to manage Danielson and Moxley as a tag team and named them the
Blackpool Combat Club (BCC), with
Wheeler Yuta and
Claudio Castagnoli later joining the group. The BCC feuded with the
Jericho Appreciation Society over the summer. At
Full Gear in November, Regal helped
MJF win the
AEW World Championship from Moxley by handing MJF his signature
brass knuckles while the referee was incapacitated. On the 23 November episode of
Dynamite, Regal praised MJF but was interrupted by Moxley, who agreed to Danielson's pleas not to attack Regal on the condition that Regal leave and never come back. On the 30 November episode of
Dynamite, MJF attacked Regal with his own brass knuckles; following this, it was reported that Regal was set to leave AEW. His final appearance was a pre-taped interview with
Tony Schiavone that aired on 7 December edition of
Dynamite, in which he told the BCC that he realised they no longer needed him and thus betrayed them to teach them one final lesson: that they should always stay one step ahead, with Jon Moxley's response being the group continues as a unit moving forward. According to Khan, Regal had requested not to renew his contract so that he could return to WWE and work alongside his son, who had made his wrestling debut for WWE while Regal was with AEW. On 30 December, Regal confirmed his departure from AEW on
Twitter and spoke highly of his time there.
Second return to WWE (2023−present) Regal returned to WWE in January 2023, taking on the behind-the-scenes role of Vice President of Global Talent Development. After Regal left AEW, he had a clause in his contract, so he could not appear on television for an entire year, eventually making his return to WWE television on the 23 January 2024 episode of
NXT, appointing
Ava as the new general manager of NXT. He later appeared at
NXT: Roadblock on 5 March after his son,
Charlie Dempsey won the
NXT Heritage Cup. On 27 October at
NXT Halloween Havoc, Regal appeared and offered to be the
cornerman for
Lexis King for his upcoming NXT Heritage Cup match against Dempsey. During the match, Regal passed his signature brass knuckles for King to use against Dempsey but King refused, wanting to win the Cup on his own merit and lost the match 0–2 in
British Round Rules. On the 24 December episode of
NXT (taped 17 December), King, again with Regal as his cornerman, faced Dempsey in a rematch for the NXT Heritage Cup. Regal again passed the brass knuckles to King but King objected. Regal then punched King, to which the brass knuckles fell into the ring. The referee saw Dempsey with the brass knuckles and assumed that Dempsey used it on King and disqualified Dempsey. In British Round Rules, the Cup change hands if the reigning champion gets disqualified, resulting in King becoming the new NXT Heritage Cup Champion. == Professional wrestling style and persona ==