Wrestling legend William Regal may have lived in America for the past three decades but his heart is firmly in the north west of England and the retired grappler is returning home next week for a spoken word show at Gorilla, where he will share stories from his 39-year career.
Regal is probably best known for his time in WWE but is currently contracted to rival promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he appears as the on-screen manager of a group called Blackpool Combat Club - which also includes wrestlers Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta. Although the name is an obvious nod to Regal starting his wrestling career in Blackpool, the Staffordshire-born performer admitted that it was actually the idea of his American colleague Moxley.
"Anytime I can give recognition to Blackpool I give it," the 54-year-old told the Manchester Evening News . "I'm not from there obviously but I moved there when I was 16 to wrestle and I've been going there since I was born. I can remember being there when I was five or six.
"It wasn't my idea though, that's another thing that shocked me. It was Jon's idea and he's never been [to Blackpool] but he said that all stemmed from the concept of me bringing them together and he said it sounds like a cool place and I replied 'well, it is to me!'
"Everything in my life that's been good, apart from my parents, has come from Blackpool; starting wrestling, my wife, two of my children were born at the Victoria Hospital, the entertainment in the 80s, all the people I met, the circus people, it's still home to me.
"When I'm in England, I base myself there. That's home and it always will be so I like to think if you cut me in half it says Blackpool right through the middle of me like a stick of rock."
Regal was released from his WWE contract at the start of this year, ending his 22-year stint with the company. He was ready to take a year off until his long time friend Danielson rang him and less than a month later Blackpool Combat Club was born.
He added: "I'm still pinching myself a little bit about how I've ended up in this role because I've made no secret of the fact that I was ready to take a year off and not do anything apart from a few appearances in Britain so I could go back and see my family and friends but Bryan called me and said 'I think this would be a good place for you'. In the space of three weeks I was there and I'm still thinking 'how have I ended up here'.
"It's one of those clichés but when you get older, time flies by and I've been here over six months now and it's been great. I get on with every one of them. We all have our own ideas about wrestling but they all work together.
"I've been with Bryan for over 22 years, Jon for 12, Claudio from 2003 I think, before he moved to America and was living in Switzerland, he was coming over to train with Dave Taylor (my tag team partner) so I'd go and help out on days I weren't wrestling. We've always kept in touch and it's just great to be with like-minded pros that really wanna do this the right way and go about it the right way.
"Myself, Brian and Claudio are very much of the same mould in many ways, Wheeler's a mixture, Jon is Jon and he's mad as a box of frogs - he's different - but I get on with him as well because I've got a side of me that's different and I was like that when I was younger."
Earlier this month, WWE held their first stadium show in the UK for 30 years and wrestling fans around the country are have been wondering when AEW will make its way across the pond ever since it launched in 2019. Regal said that he did not have a concrete answer but said that he hoped one day he could bring Blackpool Combat Club to a venue very close to his heart.
"I'm staying out of wrestling except for what I'm doing," he said. "I've heard rumours that we're coming to England but I have no idea.
"Anybody who were at the Blackpool NXT UK shows know how special those shows were and the atmosphere... I've never felt an atmosphere like it. It was like nothing I've ever felt because of the acoustics of the Empress Ballroom, the chanting and everything else. It would be nice to go back with the Blackpool Combat Club or maybe we could do Bloomfield Road, I don't know, why not?"
Of his sold out 'Gentleman Villain' show at Gorilla on October 2, Regal added: " I can just have a good chat about wrestling and I'm really looking forward to it."
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