William Regal revealed that it was his match with Daniel Bryan on WWE Superstars that helped convince Vince McMahon of Daniel Bryan’s credentials as a top heel in WWE. He spoke to Chris Jericho on Talk is Jericho about that period in his life, and how he demanded that match with Bryan (real name Bryan Danielson) due to everything the pair had been through together since meeting in Memphis in 2001.
Talking with Chris Jericho on his podcast Talk is Jericho, the British wrestling legend discussed a number of injuries he suffered throughout his career and the many health scares he had been through. This included William Regal’s broken neck in 1993 and nearly losing his leg to illness quite recently.
William Regal revealed that he tore his meniscus the day before being booked to face Daniel Bryan on WWE Superstars. This match took place in England, Regal’s home country, and he was determined to put over Daniel Bryan due to their long last friendship.
The pair first met in Memphis in 2000, when both men were hired by WWE and sent to Memphis Championship Wrestling. Bryan as part of a developmental deal with WWE, whilst Regal was there for 6 months after leaving rehab for drug addiction. The pair became friends and still are to this day.
Due to this, William Regal was determined to put over Daniel Bryan and was shocked by the response he got by Vince McMahon once he got backstage after the match.
“Once I tore my meniscus in my right leg, but the next night, I was with Bryan, and they were going ‘No, you can’t wrestle.’ I said ‘No, I want to put him over because this is the person who stuck around me and listened to all my nonsense. I’ve sent him to places and put good words in for him and whatever else. If there’s one person I want to have my last match with, it’s him.”
“So if you watch that match, you will see me walk down to the ring, and then they actually played a rib on me and played my old ‘Man’s Man’s’ music halfway down the ramp. I’m glad because he was there to help me in the building that day. I couldn’t walk.”
“If you watch that match, it’s 17 minutes of him carrying me because I can’t walk. He did a masterful job. He actually even did stuff on my leg without bending it. If you know that, you can watch what a masterful job he did of carrying me. He looked like he bent my leg around the corner post.”
“We came out there and I was happy I put him over, and hopefully somebody was going to pay attention to this because this lad is something special, which they already were. I came back and Mr. McMahon was there. He watched Superstars. He was right and he shook hands. When Brian walked off, he said, ‘Thank you very much. That was a good old proper wrestling match. That lad is going to make a good villain.” – h/t WresltingNews.co
This match was the last William Regal vs Daniel Bryan match. This match could have been the catalyst that finally convinced Vince McMahon to push Daniel Bryan as the top heel on Smackdown and cash in his Money in the Bank contract on Mark Henry to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
What do you think about Vince McMahon thinking Daniel Bryan was a top star based on that match with William Regal? Let us know in the comments or click below to keep reading