WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.339 Imagine being 15 years old. Right. Most kids 00:00:03.339 --> 00:00:05.500 at that age are stressing over high school exams 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:07.759 or maybe just figuring out who to sit next to 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:10.560 at lunch. Yeah, typical teenager stuff. But Darren 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:12.880 Matthews was spending his afternoons in a cantus 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:16.859 tent, twisting aggressive grown men into absolute 00:00:16.859 --> 00:00:20.079 pretzels just to defend prize money. It's hard 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:21.879 to even wrap your head around. It really is. 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:26.120 Welcome to another deep dive. Today, we are exploring 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.519 the incredible life the brutal matches, and the 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:32.159 behind -the -scenes genius of professional wrestling 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:35.219 legend William Regal. And it is quite the evolution. 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:37.259 Oh, absolutely. We're looking at the wrestling 00:00:37.259 --> 00:00:40.060 evolution of William Regal. We're pulling all 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:42.399 of this from a massive Wikipedia source detailing 00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:44.520 his life, and we're going to trace his journey 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.340 from those greedy early days grappling at Blackpool 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:50.320 Pleasure Beach carnivals all the way to his iconic 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:54.350 championship runs in WCW and WWE. We really get 00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:56.630 to unpack the man behind the gentleman villain 00:00:56.630 --> 00:00:59.009 persona. You are going to hear some surprising 00:00:59.009 --> 00:01:02.770 facts today about his life, including his battle 00:01:02.770 --> 00:01:05.189 with a life -threatening heart parasite, surviving 00:01:05.189 --> 00:01:08.049 a horrific car crash, and his crucial behind 00:01:08.049 --> 00:01:10.590 -the -scenes role as WWE's Vice President of 00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:13.129 Global Talent Development. Not to mention his 00:01:13.129 --> 00:01:16.549 2022 AEW stint founding the Blackpool Combat 00:01:16.549 --> 00:01:19.650 Club. Right. So whether you are a diehard wrestling 00:01:19.650 --> 00:01:22.650 fan or you just love a fascinating story of resilience, 00:01:23.019 --> 00:01:26.019 reinvention and survival, this deep dive is packed 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:28.140 with insights. It really is a masterclass in 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:30.319 survival. Our mission today is to understand 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:33.079 exactly how that 15 year old kid fighting members 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:35.579 of the public evolved into one of the most respected 00:01:35.579 --> 00:01:38.239 villains in television history and eventually 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.920 a top executive shaping the future of global 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:43.459 wrestling talent. Let's unpack this. It's just 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:46.709 a phenomenal evolution because. When the general 00:01:46.709 --> 00:01:48.870 public looks at professional wrestling, it's 00:01:48.870 --> 00:01:51.469 so often viewed purely as choreographed entertainment. 00:01:51.730 --> 00:01:55.189 Like a performance. Exactly. But this story highlights 00:01:55.189 --> 00:01:59.109 the very real, brutal physical toll of the industry. 00:01:59.250 --> 00:02:01.730 I mean, you do not last four decades in this 00:02:01.730 --> 00:02:04.569 business without an unbelievable threshold for 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:07.510 pain. And more importantly, a fundamental understanding 00:02:07.510 --> 00:02:11.210 of human psychology. And for him, that education 00:02:11.210 --> 00:02:14.449 started incredibly early. Like, shockingly early. 00:02:14.569 --> 00:02:18.189 Back in 1983. Under the training of a veteran 00:02:18.189 --> 00:02:21.770 named Marty Jones, a 15 -year -old Darren Matthews 00:02:21.770 --> 00:02:24.610 debuted at the Horseshoe Show Bar at Blackpool 00:02:24.610 --> 00:02:26.949 Pleasure Beach in England. And he wasn't doing 00:02:26.949 --> 00:02:28.990 rehearsed routines there, right? No, not at all. 00:02:29.050 --> 00:02:31.889 He quickly graduated to being what the industry 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:34.469 calls a shooter at these carnival booths. Okay, 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:36.069 I saw that term in the source material, and I 00:02:36.069 --> 00:02:37.550 want to make sure we define it for you listening 00:02:37.550 --> 00:02:40.030 in case you're unfamiliar. What exactly does 00:02:40.030 --> 00:02:43.689 it mean to be a shooter in a 1980s English carnival? 00:02:44.330 --> 00:02:47.069 So a shooter, in this specific historical context, 00:02:47.349 --> 00:02:49.889 means someone who possesses legitimate catch 00:02:49.889 --> 00:02:53.389 wrestling skills. They use real, brutal submission 00:02:53.389 --> 00:02:55.889 holds to defend themselves. Against who? The 00:02:55.889 --> 00:02:58.169 public. The carnival would offer prize money 00:02:58.169 --> 00:03:02.180 to any local. Usually a very large, often heavily 00:03:02.180 --> 00:03:05.120 inebriated adult male who could last a certain 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:06.780 amount of time in the ring with the carnival's 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:08.879 wrestler. That seems terrifying for a teenager. 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.560 Right. As a teenager, Matthews had to fight these 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:15.240 actual members of the public. He had to be technically 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:17.520 flawless and absolutely ruthless. Because there 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.199 were real stakes. Exactly. If he lost, the carnival 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:24.240 lost money and he lost his livelihood. So he 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.020 learned how to read an opponent's body language, 00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.560 how to manipulate joints, and how to protect 00:03:28.560 --> 00:03:31.379 himself. against totally unpredictable violence. 00:03:31.620 --> 00:03:34.379 So his entire foundation is built on genuine 00:03:34.379 --> 00:03:37.340 self -defense and crowd control. Yes. Which makes 00:03:37.340 --> 00:03:40.379 his eventual persona shift in America so fascinating 00:03:40.379 --> 00:03:44.240 to me. Because we fast forward to 1992, and he 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.479 transitions to World Championship Wrestling, 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:48.900 or WCW, in the United States. Right. And they 00:03:48.900 --> 00:03:52.479 do not market him as this tough, gritty carnival 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:55.120 fighter. They repackage him entirely as Lord 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:58.610 Steven Regal. It is a complete masterclass in 00:03:58.610 --> 00:04:00.729 character work. They take this working class 00:04:00.729 --> 00:04:02.909 brawler and turn him into a haughty, arrogant 00:04:02.909 --> 00:04:05.930 aristocrat. He claimed direct dissent from William 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.110 the Conqueror. Which is just brilliant heat. 00:04:08.189 --> 00:04:10.530 The American audience immediately despised him. 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:13.599 Oh, they hated him because he presented himself 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.800 as culturally superior. He even formed a tag 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:19.620 team with the very southern Alabama -born Bobby 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:22.500 Eaton. Oh, the vignettes with them were amazing. 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:25.680 Yes. Regal would do these incredible segments 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.680 where he tried to teach Eaton the finer points 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:29.680 of dining etiquette and the Queen's English. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:33.500 But underneath that aristocratic sneer, the audience 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:36.189 could sense a legitimate danger. Yeah, he was 00:04:36.189 --> 00:04:38.449 a snob, but he was a snob who could easily break 00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:41.069 your arm. Exactly. He completely committed to 00:04:41.069 --> 00:04:44.069 the bit. There is this one memorable quote from 00:04:44.069 --> 00:04:46.290 the source that just perfectly encapsulates the 00:04:46.290 --> 00:04:48.689 arrogant persona. Oh, I know the one. An interviewer 00:04:48.689 --> 00:04:51.290 asks him about his New Year's resolution, and 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:54.769 Regal just deadpans, to wake up a half an hour 00:04:54.769 --> 00:04:57.589 earlier so I can hate you more. It is just the 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:00.050 perfect villain line. It really is. But you have 00:05:00.050 --> 00:05:02.949 to remember, that intense commitment to the physical 00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:06.069 reality of wrestling deeply ingrained instinct 00:05:06.069 --> 00:05:08.870 from the carnival days. It eventually led to 00:05:08.870 --> 00:05:11.629 severe friction as a corporate wrestling landscape 00:05:11.629 --> 00:05:14.009 shifted around him. So I want to get into that 00:05:14.009 --> 00:05:16.750 friction. But first, we need to talk about the 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:19.389 physical toll you mentioned earlier. Because 00:05:19.389 --> 00:05:22.129 the source details an absolutely terrifying event 00:05:22.129 --> 00:05:26.089 in 1997 that kind of sets the stage for his darkest 00:05:26.089 --> 00:05:29.509 era. Yeah, April 6th. What exactly happened that 00:05:29.509 --> 00:05:32.769 day? It is just a harrowing story of physical 00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:51.449 trauma. Wow. Three times? That's incredible they 00:05:51.449 --> 00:06:04.259 survived. That's heroic. It is. But then, suffering 00:06:04.259 --> 00:06:06.519 from a severe concussion and in a complete fugue 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:09.040 state, he just goes to the arena. Wait, he goes 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.180 to the arena after flipping a car three times 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:13.019 and being knocked out. Does he go to a hospital 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:15.819 first? No, he had absolutely no memory of the 00:06:15.819 --> 00:06:17.819 trash or anything to follow. That is insane. 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:20.399 He arrives at the arena, doesn't tell a soul 00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:22.519 what happened because he literally doesn't remember 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:25.240 it, and actually goes out and wrestles a highly 00:06:25.240 --> 00:06:27.879 physical match on the Spring Stampede pay -per 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:31.230 -view broadcast. While concussed. Yes. It wasn't 00:06:31.230 --> 00:06:33.089 until two days later that he regained his memory. 00:06:33.470 --> 00:06:35.889 People backstage later told him they saw him 00:06:35.889 --> 00:06:38.990 wandering around the locker room talking to the 00:06:38.990 --> 00:06:42.149 walls. That is deeply unsettling. To sustain 00:06:42.149 --> 00:06:45.189 major head trauma and have your body just run 00:06:45.189 --> 00:06:48.430 on pure muscle memory on a live television broadcast. 00:06:48.910 --> 00:06:51.129 It really shows how ingrained the performance 00:06:51.129 --> 00:06:53.329 was in him. And the source mentions the drunk 00:06:53.329 --> 00:06:57.000 driver faced no consequences. None at all. Regal 00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:58.899 later revealed he actually saw the drunk driver 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:01.600 switch seats with his teenage son right after 00:07:01.600 --> 00:07:04.220 the crash. Are you kidding me? He reported it 00:07:04.220 --> 00:07:07.279 to the police, but the driver faced zero repercussions 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:10.600 due to what Regal described as a local good old 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:13.019 boys network. That is so frustrating. And that 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:15.939 lingering trauma, both physical and mental, it 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:19.029 begins to compound. Which brings us to a highly 00:07:19.029 --> 00:07:21.569 controversial moment the following year in 1998. 00:07:21.649 --> 00:07:24.029 Right. Against the rising star Bill Goldberg. 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:29.029 This was the infamous Monday Nitro match. Goldberg 00:07:29.029 --> 00:07:32.490 was this unstoppable, explosive force running 00:07:32.490 --> 00:07:35.170 through opponents in seconds. But Regal goes 00:07:35.170 --> 00:07:37.589 out there and works a much more aggressive match 00:07:37.589 --> 00:07:40.129 than management expected. He worked what the 00:07:40.129 --> 00:07:42.990 industry calls a stiff match. Which means what 00:07:42.990 --> 00:07:46.100 exactly? This means he was making actual. Heavy 00:07:46.100 --> 00:07:49.240 physical contact. Instead of pulling his punches 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:52.259 or fully cooperating to make Goldberg look invincible, 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:56.240 he was testing Goldberg, using those old carnival 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.879 instincts to see what the rookie was actually 00:07:57.879 --> 00:08:01.000 made of. But if the match was pre -planned by 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:03.480 management, wasn't Regal just being unprofessional 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:05.420 by going out there and fighting for Rio? Like, 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:08.040 why jeopardize his career just to test a rookie? 00:08:08.379 --> 00:08:10.379 It is a great question, and it speaks to the 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:12.720 unwritten rules of that era. In Regal's mind, 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:14.629 he had to earn your spot. Right. You couldn't 00:08:14.629 --> 00:08:16.870 just be handed the mantle of an unstoppable monster 00:08:16.870 --> 00:08:18.689 without proving you could handle yourself in 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:21.529 the ring. When confronted backstage by executive 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:24.370 Eric Bischoff, Regal famously stated, I can't 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:27.189 hit myself. He maintained he worked the bout 00:08:27.189 --> 00:08:29.990 as booked, meaning he followed the scripted outcome 00:08:29.990 --> 00:08:32.330 management gave him. But he made Goldberg work 00:08:32.330 --> 00:08:34.409 for it. And management obviously didn't love 00:08:34.409 --> 00:08:36.970 that. Not at all. Management didn't see it that 00:08:36.970 --> 00:08:39.370 way. And the controversy led to him being fired 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:42.860 from WCW. If we connect this to the bigger picture, 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:45.480 you could see how the intense pressure of the 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:47.379 corporate wrestling industry was beginning to 00:08:47.379 --> 00:08:50.059 crack his foundation. The business was asking 00:08:50.059 --> 00:08:52.580 him to abandon the very survival instincts that 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:55.019 kept him alive in his youth. And the transition 00:08:55.019 --> 00:08:57.500 after losing that high profile job was brutal. 00:08:57.639 --> 00:09:01.360 He goes to the rival WWF later in 1998, but they 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:03.539 completely strip away the aristocratic character. 00:09:04.250 --> 00:09:06.450 Totally gone. He gets repackaged as the real 00:09:06.450 --> 00:09:09.769 man's man, which was this bizarre gimmick based 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:13.450 on the brawny paper towel lumberjack. It was 00:09:13.450 --> 00:09:15.350 so strange. They had him in construction gear, 00:09:15.529 --> 00:09:17.970 chopping wood, shaving with a straight razor, 00:09:18.090 --> 00:09:21.269 and squeezing his own orange juice. But the stark 00:09:21.269 --> 00:09:23.529 reality behind the scenes was incredibly dark, 00:09:23.610 --> 00:09:26.450 wasn't it? Incredibly dark. While he is on television 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:29.289 portraying the ultimate picture of rugged masculine 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:32.970 health, his body is entirely breaking down. just 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:34.970 falling apart. He had suffered a broken leg and 00:09:34.970 --> 00:09:37.409 a broken ankle, and he was self -medicating heavily 00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:40.169 just to get through the travel schedule. He developed 00:09:40.169 --> 00:09:43.190 severe addictions to pain medication, Valium, 00:09:43.330 --> 00:09:45.889 and a substance called Renutrient. What exactly 00:09:45.889 --> 00:09:48.710 is Renutrient? It was a dangerous liquid depressant. 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:52.480 Structurally, it's very similar to GHB. It was 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:54.820 heavily abused in the late 90s wrestling scene 00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:57.980 as a sleep aid and muscle relaxant. Oh wow. His 00:09:57.980 --> 00:10:00.059 addiction became so severe that he eventually 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:03.879 checked into rehab in January 1999 and was released 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:06.379 from the company shortly after. That is a stark 00:10:06.379 --> 00:10:09.039 reminder of the intense demands placed on these 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:11.779 performers. It is a universal struggle. really 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:14.539 masking immense physical and psychological pain 00:10:14.539 --> 00:10:17.879 just to keep functioning in a corporate environment 00:10:17.879 --> 00:10:21.019 that demands constant output. But he doesn't 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:22.779 let that be the end of his story. He gets clean. 00:10:23.309 --> 00:10:25.490 fights his way back into the industry, and reaches 00:10:25.490 --> 00:10:27.789 his absolute peak in the 2000s when he returns 00:10:27.789 --> 00:10:30.389 to the WWE. He completely reinvents himself yet 00:10:30.389 --> 00:10:32.710 again. Yeah, he does. He leans heavily into his 00:10:32.710 --> 00:10:34.929 comedic timing. He becomes the self -proclaimed 00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:37.409 goodwill ambassador and later the on -screen 00:10:37.409 --> 00:10:40.190 commissioner. The comedy was gold. He was willing 00:10:40.190 --> 00:10:42.169 to do whatever it took to entertain the audience, 00:10:42.429 --> 00:10:45.129 including a deeply humiliating segment where 00:10:45.129 --> 00:10:48.230 he had to kiss WWE owner Vince McMahon's bare 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:51.330 buttocks on television to keep his job. I remember 00:10:51.330 --> 00:10:53.559 that. But he bounced. Balance that comedy with 00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:55.860 sheer in -ring dominance. He won the European 00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:58.240 Championship four times, the Intercontinental 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:01.480 Championship twice, and ultimately won the prestigious 00:11:01.480 --> 00:11:04.379 2008 King of the Ring tournament by defeating 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:06.740 CM Punk. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:11:07.259 --> 00:11:10.019 Because right in the middle of this massive career 00:11:10.019 --> 00:11:13.500 resurgence, he faces a medical terror that sounds 00:11:13.500 --> 00:11:15.710 like something out of a horror movie. It really 00:11:15.710 --> 00:11:19.529 does. In 2003, his health rapidly deteriorates. 00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:22.129 The source mentions a misdiagnosis of a heart 00:11:22.129 --> 00:11:24.549 defect, but what was actually happening inside 00:11:24.549 --> 00:11:26.990 his body. The reality was far more terrifying 00:11:26.990 --> 00:11:29.629 than a standard defect. During a WWE tour of 00:11:29.629 --> 00:11:33.330 India in late 2002, he contracted a severe heart 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:36.669 parasite. A parasite in his heart. Yes. This 00:11:36.669 --> 00:11:39.070 parasite began causing the right side of his 00:11:39.070 --> 00:11:41.809 heart to beat completely out of sequence with 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:45.179 the left side. Oh, my God. The physical horror 00:11:45.179 --> 00:11:47.960 of this is hard to overstate. Because his heart 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:50.600 was failing to pump properly, massive volumes 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:52.659 of fluid began building up in his body. Just 00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:55.980 accumulating everywhere. Right. His weight wildly 00:11:55.980 --> 00:11:59.700 fluctuated. He would gain and then lose 40 pounds 00:11:59.700 --> 00:12:03.279 of pure fluid and fat in short periods. 40 pounds? 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:05.639 That's insane. And he even wrestled a match at 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:07.519 the No Way Out pay -per -view while suffering 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.519 from this, where he sustained another concussion. 00:12:10.029 --> 00:12:12.470 How does modern medicine even begin to treat 00:12:12.470 --> 00:12:14.970 a parasite embedded in the heart muscle? The 00:12:14.970 --> 00:12:17.590 treatment was extreme. To reset his cardiac rhythm 00:12:17.590 --> 00:12:19.889 and clear the issue, doctors actually had to 00:12:19.889 --> 00:12:21.950 stop his heart entirely and restart it. They 00:12:21.950 --> 00:12:24.149 stopped his heart? Literally stopped it. This 00:12:24.149 --> 00:12:26.409 was followed by months of intense anti -blood 00:12:26.409 --> 00:12:28.570 clot treatments that kept him out of action for 00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:31.169 over a year. To go through that, to have your 00:12:31.169 --> 00:12:33.529 heart stopped, your body ballooning with fluid, 00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:36.289 and to return to the ring by April 2004 is a 00:12:36.289 --> 00:12:39.460 testament to an iron will. It truly is. And when 00:12:39.460 --> 00:12:42.320 he returned, he went right back to his unique 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:46.039 hybrid in -ring style. For those who haven't 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:49.019 seen his matches, he mixed European brawling 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:51.799 with agonizing submission holds. Very technical, 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.740 very painful looking. He used a running knee 00:12:54.740 --> 00:12:57.639 strike called the knee trembler, a brutal submission 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:00.320 called the regal stretch, and my personal favorite, 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.419 his signature cheating method, the power of the 00:13:03.419 --> 00:13:05.679 punch. The power of the punch is the perfect 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:07.779 distillation of his character. Tell us how it 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:10.710 worked. He would distract the referee, slyly 00:13:10.710 --> 00:13:13.029 pull a pair of illegal brass knuckles from his 00:13:13.029 --> 00:13:15.490 trunks, strike his opponent in the jaw to knock 00:13:15.490 --> 00:13:18.169 them cold, and then hide the weapon before the 00:13:18.169 --> 00:13:21.529 referee turned around. It was the refined gentleman 00:13:21.529 --> 00:13:24.129 who was never above engaging in street violence 00:13:24.129 --> 00:13:27.090 to win. Speaking of his character and reputation, 00:13:27.529 --> 00:13:29.370 I want to ask about the rumors that surrounded 00:13:29.370 --> 00:13:31.960 him outside the ring. Because the wrestling industry 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:35.100 is notorious for wild backstage stories, and 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:37.460 Regal's life seems to be a magnet for bizarre 00:13:37.460 --> 00:13:39.960 anecdotes. Oh, definitely. Specifically, the 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:43.059 2005 flight incident. The story was that he was 00:13:43.059 --> 00:13:46.000 arrested in Alaska for getting drunk and urinating 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:48.840 on a flight attendant. Yes, that is a story that 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:52.240 followed him for nearly two decades. Right. In 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:55.870 his 2005 autobiography, Riegel himself claimed 00:13:55.870 --> 00:13:58.470 he was arrested in Alaska after getting highly 00:13:58.470 --> 00:14:01.250 intoxicated on a flight from Japan and acting 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:03.889 inappropriately. So he admitted to it. For years, 00:14:04.029 --> 00:14:07.269 that was the accepted, albeit embarrassing, lore. 00:14:08.009 --> 00:14:10.350 But the clarification he finally provided in 00:14:10.350 --> 00:14:13.730 2022 serves as a fascinating study in how legends 00:14:13.730 --> 00:14:16.450 get twisted, even by the people involved. So 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:19.379 what was the actual reality of that flight? He 00:14:19.379 --> 00:14:21.299 clarified that he wasn't acting drunkenly or 00:14:21.299 --> 00:14:23.899 lashing out at the staff. He was simply in the 00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:26.000 airplane bathroom and had failed to lock the 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.399 door properly. Oh, no. When the flight attendant 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.559 opened the door to check on him, he spun around 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.799 in shock and accidentally urinated on her shoe. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.440 That is quite the misunderstanding. Furthermore, 00:14:35.759 --> 00:14:37.980 the plane had not been grounded in Alaska because 00:14:37.980 --> 00:14:40.700 of him. It landed because a completely separate 00:14:40.700 --> 00:14:43.539 violent brawl had broken out among other passengers. 00:14:43.779 --> 00:14:45.600 You can't make this up. He's entirely cleared 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:48.210 of any wrongdoing in court. It just shows how 00:14:48.210 --> 00:14:50.330 the telephone game of backstage wrestling gossip 00:14:50.330 --> 00:14:53.009 can warp reality. It also highlights a bit of 00:14:53.009 --> 00:14:55.470 his quirky, eccentric personality off camera. 00:14:55.789 --> 00:14:58.250 This is a man who has been married to his wife, 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:01.590 Christina, since 1986. Yet he maintains a household 00:15:01.590 --> 00:15:05.730 filled with 15 pets. 15 pets? Including dogs, 00:15:06.070 --> 00:15:09.860 cats, snakes, lizards, and a tortoise. He once 00:15:09.860 --> 00:15:12.000 quipped in an interview that he surrounds himself 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:14.580 with animals because he views human beings as 00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:18.299 vile creatures who disgust him. That dry, caustic 00:15:18.299 --> 00:15:21.600 British wit is exactly what made him such a compelling 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.419 television character. He constantly blurred the 00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:27.200 lines between Darren Matthews the man and William 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.299 Regal the performer. It's hard to tell where 00:15:29.299 --> 00:15:31.379 one ends and the other begins. But it was that 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:33.940 sharp intellect and his deep foundational knowledge 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:36.159 of the wrestling business that eventually led 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.039 him to the most influential phase of his career. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:41.539 As his in -ring days wound down in the 2010s, 00:15:41.539 --> 00:15:43.799 he transitioned into becoming the mastermind 00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:45.820 behind the curtain. Right. He becomes the on 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:49.480 -screen general manager of NXT, which is WWE's 00:15:49.480 --> 00:15:52.259 developmental brand. But more importantly, he 00:15:52.259 --> 00:15:54.879 takes on the real -life corporate roles of director 00:15:54.879 --> 00:15:57.299 of talent development and head of global recruiting. 00:15:58.200 --> 00:16:00.580 What does a director of talent development actually 00:16:00.580 --> 00:16:03.360 do on a day -to -day basis? It is arguably one 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:05.500 of the most critical roles in a wrestling promotion. 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:09.070 You are the gatekeeper. Regal was traveling the 00:16:09.070 --> 00:16:11.690 globe, evaluating thousands of hopeful athletes 00:16:11.690 --> 00:16:14.690 and deciding who gets a lucrative contract. Looking 00:16:14.690 --> 00:16:16.950 for the next big star. Exactly. He was looking 00:16:16.950 --> 00:16:19.889 for the intangible it factor. And this is where 00:16:19.889 --> 00:16:22.049 his carnival background became his greatest asset. 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:25.159 You cannot teach someone how to spot legitimate 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:28.279 toughness or how to read an audience's emotional 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:30.679 response in a corporate boardroom. You have to 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.740 live it. Executives relied on him heavily because 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:36.000 he possessed a visceral, ground -level knowledge 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:38.580 of human psychology that he learned by twisting 00:16:38.580 --> 00:16:41.419 arms in canvas tents 30 years prior. He knew 00:16:41.419 --> 00:16:43.419 how to spot the grifters and how to find the 00:16:43.419 --> 00:16:45.559 genuine performers. But the corporate landscape 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.179 of wrestling is volatile. And in early 2022, 00:16:48.539 --> 00:16:51.720 after a 22 -year tenure, Regal was unexpected. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.220 which was unexpectedly released from his WWE 00:16:53.220 --> 00:16:55.480 contract. Which completely shocked the wrestling 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:58.679 world. It did, but it paved the way for a fascinating 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:02.240 detour. Just two months later, in March 2022, 00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:05.519 he makes a surprise debut in the rival promotion 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.079 All Elite Wrestling, or AEW. Yes, he does. And 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:11.900 he arrives in the most fitting way possible. 00:17:12.410 --> 00:17:14.849 He marches to the ring and steps between two 00:17:14.849 --> 00:17:17.390 of his former protégés, Jon Moxley and Bryan 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:19.390 Danielson, who are bleeding and brawling with 00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:22.069 each other. A classic moment. He slaps them both 00:17:22.069 --> 00:17:24.269 across the face, forces them to shake hands, 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:26.990 and forms a faction known as the Blackpool Combat 00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:29.589 Club. I love that. A faction dedicated entirely 00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:33.349 to the exact kind of brutal, no -nonsense grappling 00:17:33.349 --> 00:17:36.269 that Regal built his entire life on. It feels 00:17:36.269 --> 00:17:38.470 like a victory lap for his philosophy on wrestling. 00:17:38.630 --> 00:17:40.750 It really does. It was a brilliant full -circle 00:17:40.750 --> 00:17:43.180 moment. He took these top stars and molded them 00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:46.779 into a unit that terrorized the AEW roster. But 00:17:46.779 --> 00:17:49.000 staying true to his gentleman villain roots, 00:17:49.180 --> 00:17:51.819 he orchestrates a massive betrayal. Of course 00:17:51.819 --> 00:17:54.279 he does. At the Full Gear event, he slyly slips 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:56.819 his signature brass knuckles to a wrestler named 00:17:56.819 --> 00:17:59.740 MJF, allowing MJF to cheat and win the world 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:02.220 championship from Moxley. The ultimate betrayal. 00:18:02.579 --> 00:18:05.240 It was. And it provided the narrative excuse 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:08.619 for Regal to be written off AEW television after 00:18:08.619 --> 00:18:11.150 just nine months. And the reason he requested 00:18:11.150 --> 00:18:14.009 his release from AEW so quickly is surprisingly 00:18:14.009 --> 00:18:16.109 heartwarming, especially for a guy who spent 00:18:16.109 --> 00:18:18.369 decades playing a ruthless villain. Yeah, the 00:18:18.369 --> 00:18:21.130 real life reason is great. He asked the AEW owner 00:18:21.130 --> 00:18:23.910 to let him out of his contract specifically so 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:26.349 he could return to WWE as the vice president 00:18:26.349 --> 00:18:29.410 of global talent development. The driving force 00:18:29.410 --> 00:18:32.190 behind that move was his desire to work alongside 00:18:32.190 --> 00:18:35.869 his son. Yes. His son, Bailey, wrestles in WWE 00:18:35.869 --> 00:18:38.700 under the name Charlie Dempsey. He wanted to 00:18:38.700 --> 00:18:40.319 be there in the corporate structure to guide 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:42.960 his son's early career. And they even integrated 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.180 that real -life father -son dynamic into the 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:48.859 television storylines late last year. Regal appeared 00:18:48.859 --> 00:18:51.079 on screen to be the corner man for a wrestler 00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:53.680 named Lexus King, who happened to be wrestling 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:56.500 against Regal's own son, Charlie Dempsey. That's 00:18:56.500 --> 00:18:59.079 amazing. In a classic Regal maneuver, he tries 00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:01.359 to pass his signature brass knuckles to King 00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:03.599 to use against his son. Against his own son. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:06.839 Right. King refuses at first, wanting to win 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:09.940 on his own merit. But in a rematch, Regal punches 00:19:09.940 --> 00:19:12.420 King, the brass knuckles fall into the ring, 00:19:12.579 --> 00:19:15.440 and it causes a convoluted disqualification that 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.740 actually costs his son the championship. Oh man. 00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:21.960 Even when trying to help, or perhaps teaching 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:24.480 his son a very harsh lesson about the unfairness 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:26.980 of the industry, the gentleman villain strikes 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:30.529 again. It is phenomenal storytelling, seamlessly 00:19:30.529 --> 00:19:33.529 blending his real -life executive authority with 00:19:33.529 --> 00:19:37.150 his fictional villainous past. What does this 00:19:37.150 --> 00:19:39.390 all mean? Why should you, the listener, care 00:19:39.390 --> 00:19:41.470 about the biography of a professional wrestler? 00:19:41.710 --> 00:19:43.650 It's a fair question. Because the story of Darren 00:19:43.650 --> 00:19:46.670 Matthews is a masterclass in resilience and adaptability. 00:19:46.970 --> 00:19:49.470 He took the brutal, fundamental knowledge of 00:19:49.470 --> 00:19:51.630 fighting strangers in English carnivals and translated 00:19:51.630 --> 00:19:54.609 it into a lifelong global executive career. He 00:19:54.609 --> 00:19:57.130 really did. He survived severe addiction, a broken 00:19:57.130 --> 00:19:59.369 neck, a horrific car crash, and a terrifying 00:19:59.369 --> 00:20:02.210 heart parasite. And somehow he parlayed all of 00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:04.289 that trauma and lived experience into becoming 00:20:04.289 --> 00:20:06.930 a beloved executive shape. the future of a massive 00:20:06.930 --> 00:20:09.450 entertainment industry. He took the pain and 00:20:09.450 --> 00:20:12.210 made it his profession. He owned his craft completely. 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:15.769 And looking at his journey from the muddy fairgrounds 00:20:15.769 --> 00:20:17.849 of Blackpool to the high -rise corporate offices 00:20:17.849 --> 00:20:20.250 of global television, this raises an important 00:20:20.250 --> 00:20:22.869 question. Okay. Regal's generation learned their 00:20:22.869 --> 00:20:26.009 craft the hard way by physically defending themselves 00:20:26.009 --> 00:20:28.950 against unpredictable strangers in canvas tents. 00:20:29.269 --> 00:20:32.930 It bred a highly specific type of grit. instinct 00:20:32.930 --> 00:20:36.190 and raw survival skill that simply cannot be 00:20:36.190 --> 00:20:39.319 simulated. As the modern wrestling industry continues 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:41.680 to become more corporate, more polished, and 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:44.119 systematically trained in high -tech, multimillion 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:46.400 -dollar performance centers, what happens to 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:50.019 that raw, gritty art of the shooter? What intangible 00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:51.759 element is permanently lost from the performance 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.619 when the very last of the carnival veterans finally 00:20:54.619 --> 00:20:56.960 trades their wrestling boots for a corporate 00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.519 suit? A fascinating question to leave you with 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:01.359 and something to ponder the next time you see 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:04.109 a polished performer on your screen. That is 00:21:04.109 --> 00:21:06.329 all the time we have for today. Thank you for 00:21:06.329 --> 00:21:08.430 exploring the incredible life of the gentleman 00:21:08.430 --> 00:21:10.670 villain with us. We will catch you on the next 00:21:10.670 --> 00:21:11.190 deep dive.