Darren Matthews
From Free net encyclopedia
{{Infobox Wrestler
|name=Darren Matthews
|image=Goldenmile.jpg
|names=Steve Regal,
Lord Steven Regal,
William Regal
|height=191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
|weight=111 kg (245 lb)
|birth_date =May 10, 1968
|death_date =
|birth_place =Codsall Wood, Staffordshire
|resides=
|billed=Blackpool
|trainer=Marty Jones
|debut=1983
|retired=
|}}
Darren Matthews (born May 10, 1968 in Codsall Wood, Staffordshire) is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Steven Regal and William Regal. He is currently wrestling in the United States of America on the SmackDown! brand of World Wrestling Entertainment and in Deep South Wrestling.
Contents |
Wrestling career
Early career
The left-handed Matthews made his ring debut wresting in carnivals on the piers of Blackpool at the age of fifteen. He also wrestled professionally in the United Kingdom, where he regularly teamed with Robbie Brookside, before going to the United States in 1992.
World Championship Wrestling
Matthews started in WCW as Steve Regal, beginning as a face. He was turned into the heel Lord Steven Regal in 1993. At times charmingly arrogant 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," he smirked.
He was given a manager, Sir William and he won the Television Title four times. He teamed up with fellow aristocrat Jean-Paul Levesque, later known as Triple H, but after Levesque left WCW, he was replaced by Alabama-born Bobby Eaton. Regal formed the team The Blue Bloods and had some hilarious vignettes where he tried to teach Eaton the finer points of dining and the proper usage of the Queen's English. He renamed him "Earl Robert Eaton" and soon added "Squire" David Taylor too. They came close to winning the WCW Tag Team Titles, but never did. Among his feuds in WCW were Ricky Steamboat, Johnny B. Badd, Ultimo Dragon and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. It was widely rumored that he was fired from WCW after no-selling Goldberg's Jackhammer and for using chain wrestling moves that showed Goldberg's limited knowledge of such holds. However, in his book, he states that was not true.
World Wrestling Federation
In the WWF (now WWE), Regal debuted with a "Real Man's Man" gimmick. Vignettes for the character showed him chopping wood and squeezing orange juice. He debuted in October 1998 and entered a feud with X-Pac. The feud, and his gimmick, failed to capture the audience's imagination. He checked into rehab in January 1999 and was released from the WWF in April. After checking out of rehab Regal returned to WCW, but was released again in February 2000 as part of cost-cutting measures.
Regal was again hired by the WWF and sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling for a short time. He was promoted to the full roster and re-debuted in September 2000 as Steven William Regal (shortened to William Regal), a stereotypical British snob. As a heel, Regal had much more success, winning the WWF European Championship. He later became the (on-screen) commissioner (and self-proclaimed "Goodwill Ambassador") of the WWF and was given a comedy sidekick/man-servant in Tajiri.
In an interview, Regal expressed affectionate feelings toward the WWF, citing the organization's support and patience during his time in and out of rehab, which had helped lead to the current reunion and pleasant relationship.
During the WCW/ECW Alliance storyline, Regal turned heel on his fellow WWF wrestlers by costing Kurt Angle (then a babyface) the WWF Title and joining the WCW Alliance. He was fired as commissioner by Linda McMahon, but Shane McMahon, who was the then heel owner of WCW, hired him as the Alliance Commissioner. After the Alliance was defeated at the Survivor Series, Regal was forced to kiss Vince McMahon's ass (literally) so he could keep his job.
2002 was an eventful year for Regal. After an absence due to surgery on his nose, Regal returned and feuded with Edge, winning the WWE Intercontinental Championship in the process. Regal would go on to lose the Intercontinental Title to Rob Van Dam, win the European Title for a third time, and briefly hold the WWE Hardcore Championship.
World Wrestling Entertainment
RAW
In mid-2002 the World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment, and the roster was divided into two "brands". During this time he was drafted to the RAW brand by Ric Flair. There, he began using a set of brass knuckles to win matches and formed an alliance with Molly Holly. Regal joined The Un-Americans, a stable consisting of Lance Storm, Christian and Test. The group would come to the ring with an inverted American Flag to generate cheap heat from American crowds.
On the September 30, 2002 episode of RAW, every member of The Un-Americans lost their matches, causing the group to separate later in the night and splinter into separate groups. Regal began teaming with Lance Storm, Christian formed a team with Chris Jericho, and Test branched off into single competition. Storm and Regal would go on to win tag team gold but Regal would later have to give up his title due to a heart condition (initially thought to be a stomach virus).
Upon Regal's return, Eugene (the "mentally challenged" nephew of RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff) was placed in the care of Regal during his return to WWE. He became friends with Eugene, turning him face in the process. Regal was ordered by Bischoff to make Eugene lose so that he'd leave the WWE, but Regal failed to cost Eugene his match with Rob Conway. Despite this, Bischoff put Regal back on the active roster. Regal would then team with Eugene as a team they would go on to win the World Tag-Team Championship from La Résistance on the November 15, 2004 edition of RAW. Later, Eugene injured himself at New Year's Revolution after botching a dropkick.
This would ultimately cost them the World Tag-Team Championship, as Regal unsuccessfully attempted to defend the titles with announcer Jonathan Coachman as his tag team partner. The pair wrestled against La Résistance and went on to lose the match at a RAW brand house show, crowning La Résistance with their third reign.
On February 4, 2005, Regal and old ally Tajiri defeated La Résistance to win the World Tag Team Championship on an episode of RAW, broadcast live from Tajiri's home country of Japan. La Résistance repeatedly attempted to regain the gold (mainly on Sunday Night Heat) from Regal and Tajiri in many different matches, but just fell short during each one. During the "last shot" for Regal and Tajiri's gold, La Résistance thought they had won back the titles, only to have the decision reversed by referee Mike Chioda due to La Résistance not pinning the legal man. After winning this match Regal issued an open challenge to any tag team in the world to come after their belts. On the following episode of RAW, Regal and Tajiri successfully defended the belts against the debuting Romeo and Antonio, known collectively as "The Heart Throbs."
On May 1, 2005, at Backlash, Regal & Tajiri participated in a "Tag-Team Turmoil" match in which four teams competed for the World tag team titles. Regal & Tajiri were eliminated by La Résistance who, in turn, were eliminated by Hurricane and Rosey, who became the new champions.
Shortly before the ECW One Night Stand 2005 PPV, Regal announced that he was joining Eric Bischoff's anti-ECW faction to invade the PPV, and told Tajiri he had to make a choice-- to join with Regal or join with ECW. Tajiri responded by chanting, "EC-Dub! EC-Dub!" Regal did indeed invade the ECW PPV, along with many other WWE performers.
SmackDown!
On June 30, 2005, Regal was sent to SmackDown! in an 11-person trade as part of the draft, leaving his tag team partner Tajiri behind.
Regal's first match on SmackDown! was scheduled for July 7, 2005 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 The Mexicools. His first actual match as part of the SmackDown! roster was a loss to Chris Benoit in a lengthy chain wrestling match on the July 16, 2005 episode of WWE Velocity. He managed to trap Benoit in the Regal Stretch but Benoit got to the ropes. Regal eventually submitted to the crossface. His autobiography Walking a Golden Mile came out in July 2005.
On August 4, 2005, Regal was supposed to go one on one with Scotty 2 Hotty, but the Mexicools came in and attacked both men. Two weeks later Regal and Scotty 2 Hotty teamed up on SmackDown! in a tag team match against Psicosis and Super Crazy with Juventud Guerrera in their corner. In the middle of the match Regal turned heel once more by betraying Scotty by refusing to tag him plus walking out of the ring with a smirk on his face, allowing the Mexicools to pick up the win. On Velocity, Regal cut a promo telling the crowd that he had returned to his former self, referring to himself as a "scoundrel" and a "rogue", this promo ended when Scotty ran to the ring and attacked Regal.
On the episode of WWE Velocity which aired on August 27, 2005, a match between William Regal and Scotty 2 Hotty was cut short when another Englishman, the debuting Paul Burchill, interrupted the match to aid his countryman in attacking Scotty. Regal went on to take Burchill under his wing and tag with him on the hunt for tag team gold but the teams biggest exposer was a loss in a handicap match against Bobby Lashley at Armageddon.
On the February 3 edition of SmackDown!, Regal and Burchill told SmackDown! "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 traces back to the pirate Blackbeard, and that he wanted to do a pirate gimmick on SmackDown!.
Burchill with his babyface persona would start a rivalry with former team mate Regal who would weekly try to convince Burchill to return to his ruthless ways. William Regal would face Burchill (having his first match as a pirate) on the March 10th edition of SmackDown!, during his entrance Burchill would stand on a platform located at the far end of the entrance way and then swing down to the entrance floor on a rope. As he made his way down to the ring he threw beads to the crowd and pulled out his sword as William Regal looked on in disbelief. Burchill defeated William Regal using his C-4 move.
Burchill would once again defeat William Regal in a singles match on Friday Night SmackDown!. However, this match saw a stipulation that would see Regal have to dress like a "buxom wench". Lady Regal, as SmackDown! announcers would jokingly refer to him, would have no choice but to dress like this until Burchill loses a match.
Wrestling facts
Finishing and signature moves
- High knee strike
- Power of the Punch (Left hand punch with brass knuckles)
- Regal Cutter / Union Jack Neckbreaker (Arm trap neckbreaker)
- Regal Stretch (Modified cross leg STF)
- Regal Roll (Rolling fireman's carry slam)
- Double knee lift
- Double underhook powerbomb
- European uppercut
- Exploder suplex
- Half nelson suplex
Managers
- Sir William
- Jeeves
- Lady Ophelia
Championships and accomplishments
- PWI ranked him # 196 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.
- 1-time WWF Intercontinental Champion
- 4-time WWF/E European Champion
- 5-time WWF Hardcore Champion
- 4-time WWE World Tag Team Champion (2-time with Lance Storm, 1-time with Eugene, 1-time with Tajiri)
Championship succession
Template:Start box
| colspan = 3 align = center> | (WWE) World Tag Championship
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Booker T and Goldust
| width="40%" align="center" | First (w/Lance Storm
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
The Dudley Boyz
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
The Dudley Boyz
| width="40%" align="center" | Second (w/Lance Storm)
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
vacated due to Regal's health problems
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Sylvain Grenier and Robert Conway
| width="40%" align="center" | Third (w/Eugene)
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Sylvain Grenier and Robert Conway
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Sylvain Grenier and Robert Conway
| width="40%" align="center" | Fourth (w/Tajiri)
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
The Hurricane and Rosey
|-
| colspan = 3 align = center | WWE Intercontinental Championship
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Edge
| width="40%" align="center" | First
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Rob Van Dam
|-
| colspan = 3 align = center | WWE European Championship
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Al Snow
| width="40%" align="center" | First
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Crash Holly
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Crash Holly
| width="40%" align="center" | Second
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Test
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
DDP
| width="40%" align="center" | Third
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Spike Dudley
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Spike Dudley
| width="40%" align="center" | Fourth
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Jeff Hardy
|-
| colspan = 3 align = center | WWE Hardcore Championship
|-
| width = 30% align = center | Preceded by:
Bubba Ray Dudley
| width = 40% align = center | First
| width = 30% align = center | Succeeded by:
Goldust
|-
| width = 30% align = center | Preceded by:
Bubba Ray Dudley
| width = 40% align = center | Second
| width = 30% align = center | Succeeded by:
Goldust
|-
| width = 30% align = center | Preceded by:
Bubba Ray Dudley
| width = 40% align = center | Third
| width = 30% align = center | Succeeded by:
Spike Dudley
|-
| width = 30% align = center | Preceded by :
Bubba Ray Dudley
| width = 40% align = center | Fourth
| width = 30% align = center | Succeeded by:
Spike Dudley
|-
| width = 30% align = center | Preceded by:
Bubba Ray Dudley
| width = 40% align = center | Fifth
| width = 30% align = center | Succeeded by:
Spike Dudley
|-
| colspan = 3 align = center | WCW Television Championship
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Ricky Steamboat
| width="40%" align="center" | First
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Larry Zbyszko
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Larry Zbyszko
| width="40%" align="center" | Second
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Johnny B Badd
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Lex Luger
| width="40%" align="center" | Third
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Prince Iaukea
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Ultimo Dragon
| width="40%" align="center" | Fourth
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Ultimo Dragon
|-
| colspan = 3 align = center | MCW Southern Heavyweight Championship Reigns
|-
| width="30%" align="center" | Preceded by:
Jerry Lawler
| width="40%" align="center" | First
| width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Joey Abs
Template:End box
Personal life
- Matthews is married and has three sons named, Daniel, Dane and Bailey.
- Matthews has battled alcoholism and a pain killer addiction in his career.
- His pets include two snakes, eight lizards, a tortoise and one dog .
- He attended Codsall Community high school until he was 15 when he moved to Blackpool to start his wrestling career
- His actual accent is very different than the one he uses on television. His on-air voice is, according to Regal, more upper-crust and easy to dislike.
- Has a tatoo of a cursive lettering on one of his arms.
Books
Matthews, Darren and Chandler, Neil (2005) Walking a Golden Mile, Pocket Books (ISBN 0743476344)