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| Gary Mehaffy talks William Regal and Melina |
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Hi again. Well, Unforgiven is in the bag. HBK and Y2J proved that they are on a different plane to most guys in the company. And CM Punk is moving to a bigger feud than any of his title matches. And for a split second (well, almost) the subject of this column appeared asking to be included in the Raw scramble match should Punk not make it. Which, unless you clicked to read this column accidentally without reading the title on the main page, will let you know that this week we’re looking at Blackpool’s own William Regal. Now, those of you who go back far enough will by now have realised that much of the previous column that I wrote about Finlay will relate to Regal too. Well, apart from him having a midget son thanks to John Laurinitis. Although I had heard of him, I had never seen him on TV until WCW’s TV title tournament in 1993, where he had about as much personality as a pre James Bond ladies man Dean Malenko. Yes, that little. He was in WCW for around 5 years or so, eventually settling into a royal/regal type of role, one that he would revive at various times throughout his career. As a quick point of note, in case you’re new to all this, he teamed with a pre-HHH Jean Paul Levesque, which explains why he has had so many chances in WWE. In between then and now he was a man’s man (if you missed this, count yourself lucky), checked into rehab, returned to WCW and was a participant in the Hardcore Invitational Battle Royal that I discussed a few weeks ago. He also participated in a tremendous match with the man who may not be mentioned in all things WWE, Chris Benoit, at one of the Brian Pillman memorial shows. Honestly, it may have single-handedly put him back on the wrestling map, as it led to him returning to the main WWE roster. Since then he has taken many guises, but it is his personality that has shone through. In fact, it has almost shone TOO brightly, if that doesn’t sound too stupid. Indeed, on many occasions he has been taken out of action in the ring and made a manager or general manager type, as he has such presence and range of expressions. This may also have led to him being the inaugural member of the Vince McMahon ‘Kiss my ass club’. Lately, well before he got himself suspended again (for what he claimed was an over the counter substance let it be said), he had been re-presented to the WWE audience as a hard man, shooter type, winning the 2008 King of the Ring and being set for what seemed to be a top line push. Finally, justice would be served. But then came the suspension. He has since reappeared unheralded on Raw, which brings us full circle to Unforgiven. (If you want more background to Regal, it’s easily found on Wikipedia, etc.) First of all, let me say this – if anyone doubts Regal’s abilities in the ring, then you’re either blind, stupid or both. The man can go. Ask any of the locker room (well, metaphorically speaking) and they’ll tell you. He is superb in the ring. He is at least, in my opinion, on a par with Finlay skills wise. The ace up his sleeve is his charisma. He oozes it. He is a natural heel (even if he was a decent babyface during his time with Eugene back in the day) and can easily manipulate the crowd. It, along with his friendship with HHH, is one of the reasons why he has been given chance after chance. It seemed like he was getting it all together in and out of the ring, and then along came the latest suspension. Although, for the record, who am I to doubt his version of events. Nice new tights by the way. But enough of my (slight) cynicism. I am here to defend him after all. He is immense in the ring. Word class when motivated. He is fantastic out of the ring and on the mic. One might even say world class again. He has the respect of both veteran wrestlers and the greenest of developmental guys. These should be enough reason for him to be higher up the card. Unfortunately for him he seems to suffer what is known as Jeff Hardy syndrome. You know the one. The one where a talented and over wrestler seems set for a major push but something in his personal and professional life holds him back. This is where I worry. He may get a major push again, though he may not. He certainly is well connected enough, has a great rep and has paid his dues. All positives. But there are those negatives as well. He has a history – though one which he had seemed to have put behind him. For the sake of his (and my) sanity, I hope he has, as I’m still dreaming about a Regal/Finlay feud heading into WM. Have I said much here? Maybe, maybe not. But as I said, I want to stimulate debate and chat. I could, at one stage this year, have seen a Regal title reign on Raw, but in the foreseeable future? Probably not. That’s a good thing though, as I think he needs to be seen to have to prove himself again, a la Jeff Hardy. Will he ever get a title programme on Raw? More than likely not, although given his talent he will no doubt get matches to help elevate the likes of Punk some more. He has a natural ability many men (and women) would give their eye teeth for. I, for one, hope he gets another chance to show why. Maybe a draft to ECW is in the offing to help Finlay train the new, younger guys. Although there enough guys newly promoted to the main Raw roster for him to do this, so hopefully he’ll stay there and receive the push he merits. Before I go, I have a (really) short piece to write on something that’s been bothering me for a while. I understand that she is out of action at the minute, but when she is back to full strength I really hope the Melina gets the push her personality deserves. I know that she is viewed by some in WWE as arrogant, that she is seen as stand off-ish and that the well known stories about Batista haven’t helped her cause. But she has more personality than most of the Divas in WWE combined and is capable of holding her own in the ring. I will return to her next time, but I just wanted to vent this, as it’s been eating at me for a while now. Mini rant over. For two weeks. Well, hopefully I have started some sort of thought processes for you. My piece on Finlay certainly provoked many responses, and the vast majority were in agreement. If you have any feedback, drop me a line – This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it – and I’ll do my best to get back to you. Remember, this is why we’re fans. Feel free to agree. Feel free to disagree. But above all enjoy. {plug} |
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