“TOMORROW on TITLE TUESDAY #AEWDynamite LIVE on @TBSNetwork, @Tonyschiavone24 interviews @RealKingRegal before the #AEW World Championship Match @JonMoxley vs @theAdamPage!Don’t miss TUESDAY Night Dynamite: Title Tuesday 4 World Title Fights! Live on TBS! 8pm ET/7pm CT TOMORROW,” the tweet read.
Last Wednesday’s Dynamite saw Alex Marvez ask MJF about his brief staredown with William Regal the previous week after he had defeated MJF. MJF said he had a “storied past” with Regal, and wasn’t sure if he was going to shake Yuta’s hand before Stokely Hathaway and The Firm got involved.
MJF is also set to speak on Tuesday’s show, which will go head-to-head with NXT.
Here is the current lineup for Dynamite:
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defends against Hangman Page
Interim AEW Women’s Champion Toni Storm defends against Hikaru Shida
AEW Trios Champions Death Triangle defend against Orange Cassidy & Best Friends
ROH Champion Chris Jericho defends against Dalton Castle
MJF promo
William Regal promo with Tony Schiavone
Renee Paquette interview with Bryan Danielson & Wheeler Yuta
The return of Blood and Guts is happening later this month.
AEW announced that a special edition of Dynamite, Blood and Guts, is set to take place on June 29 in Detroit, Michigan. This follows an angle during tonight’s Dynamite that saw Chris Jericho accept a Blood and Guts challenge on behalf of the Jericho Appreciation Society from William Regal and Eddie Kingston.
Jericho appeared during tonight’s show, highlighting himself and the Jericho Appreciation Society winning the Anarchy at the Arena match at Double or Nothing this past Sunday. Kingston arrived with Regal, with Regal dropping the term “blood and guts”.
Jericho initially rejected the challenge. However, after Ortiz ran into the ring and managed to snip off a lock of Jericho’s hair, Jericho accepted. Jericho, however, said he wanted something in return. He wanted a hair match against Ortiz that was later confirmed for AEW Road Rager on June 15 in St. Louis, Missouri.
After Jon Moxley defeated Daniel Garcia on tonight’s Dynamite, he said he wanted in the Blood and Guts match as well.
The first and so far only Blood and Guts match took place on the May 5, 2021 edition of Dynamite. In the match, The Pinnacle (MJF, Wardlow, Shawn Spears, and FTR) defeated The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz).
Roman Reigns schedule in detail, what he is working, next title defense, current plans on his biggest summer match.
Behind the issues with Kota Ibushi and New Japan, where they started, where it stands and who is trying to smooth things over
WrestleMania Backlash, business numbers, match-by-match with star ratings and poll results
Update on all the big AEW & WWE summer shows, how tickets are moving, secondary market interest and million dollar gates
The unique ending of the UFC strawweight title reign by Rose Namajunas and what it says about scoring, cornering and how open scoring plays a part in this
Complete UFC 274 coverage with PPV numbers, TV numbers, match-by-match, what next and more
The Hall of Fame career of Daniel Cormier, someone who made it to the top in two different sports and becoming a UFC champion having never trained in striking until nearly the age of 30
Major joint promotion show lineup
Ratings for the past week, where wrestling ranks on cable, where AEW ranks as far as youngest skewing sports shows, how each AEW segment did, and realistic comparisons with last year’s numbers
Wrestling at Arena Mexico
Juice Robinson and his NJPW contract
Best of the Super Juniors notes
Tammy Sytch updates including sad situation with Bill DeMott
Ted DiBiase sued by Mississippi Department of Human Services
The life of popular referee and office person Charlie Smith of GCW fame
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Tuesday News Update
WWE
In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Cody Rhodes spoke on what he wants his legacy to be. “I don’t want my wrestling legacy solely to be that I helped start an alternative wrestling company,” Rhodes said. “I’m really proud of that and I want it to be part of my legacy, but what I’ve always wanted is what I’m after right now. I’m getting a second chance at that, and that is my entire focus. I want to do this for my whole family. My wife, my daughter, my sister Teil, my mom. If I can’t hand this title to my dad, it would be wonderful to hand it to my mom.”
Rhodes also talked about his tattoo, saying there will soon be temporary tatoos on WWE Shop. “Temporary tattoos are going to be released by WWE Shop, and people now see it as an extension of me,” he said. “That’s what it is. When I was here before, everyone tried to tell me who I was. That wasn’t a bad thing—I was searching, too. Now I’m reaching my final form. That’s why I am sticking to my guns about my character, keeping it as close as possible to who I am. But I’ll promise you this—I’m not getting another one.”
After Booker T on Raw Talk discussed how Seth Rollins had an ‘a lot of help’ in WWE, Rollins responded on Twitter. “This narrative is false. I started wrestling at 18 years old in back rooms of bars, in pole barns, at UAW Halls, the occasional parking lot. Lost money. Broke bones. Drove countless hours alone just to build a name that got erased the second I walked in the WWE door.”
The Most Wanted DLC Pack for WWE 2K22 has been released today, which adds Cactus Jack, Vader, The Boogeyman, NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov, and Indi Hartwell to the game’s roster.
Deadline is reporting that AGT Extreme, which had premiered earlier this year and featured Nikki Bella as a judge, has been ‘indefinitely parked’ after failing to make it onto NBC’s schedule for the 2022-23 season.
A preview for tonight’s Young Rock on NBC: “Nashville, 1987: Rocky takes a promising new wrestling job but is faced with a difficult decision; Ata spends a night out with Miss Elizabeth; teenage Dwayne starts to worry about his dad’s health; in 2032, Dwayne seeks advice from an old friend.”
Sasha Banks is a guest on ‘old as Balls with Kevin Hart.
AEW/ROH
William Regal told Metro UK that he will never wrestle again. “No, never. No,” he said. “My last official match was against Cesaro. My last few years, I didn’t realise – it’s come out recently, I had a serious neck problem for 20-odd years. It finally caught up with me. All I ever wanted was a 20-year wrestling career when I started – I ended up with a 30-year wrestling career. I couldn’t have asked for any more. If you’re not me and you’re just looking from the outside, “Oh he should have been this, he should have been that” – no.”
Dustin Rhodes is the guest on this week’s The Sessions with Renee Paquette.
Jeff Hardy is the guest on AEW’s Unrestricted podcast.
HMC Bruno LLC has announced a 94-minute feature documentary film called “Bruno Sammartino”, which is the authorized biography of the former WWE Champion that chronicles his life growing up in war-torn Italy during World War II to headlining Madison Square Garden. The documentary is out now across various digital outlets including iTunes, Apple TV, Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and Dish Network, among other on-demand outlets.
Bushiroad owner Takkai Kidani on Twitter: “Wrestlers and writers spend their precious time to have matches and create art works for the fans. We should respect them, stand by them when they’re going through hard times to overcome together. We shouldn’t push common sense on creators that make things from scratch.”
Sports Illustrated has an article on a new wrestling toy line inspired by the AWA Remco figures from the 1980s.
Former WWE star David Otunga appears in the trailer for the upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series on Disney+.
A preview for “The Gentleman Villain with William Regal” was released on March 29. The 31-second clip features Regal encouraging listeners to subscribe in order to be notified when new episodes are released.
“Hello friends, William Regal here. Let me tell you about my new podcast, ‘Gentleman Villain’ coming soon to Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube,” Regal says in the clip. “The podcast will look back on many of the memorable moments in my wrestling career and I’ll give my thoughts on all things wrestling as only I can.”
A description of the show available on Apple podcasts reads as follows:
“The “Gentleman Villain” William Regal will be featured in what is sure to be one of the most talked about wrestling podcasts in the world. Regal, originally from Blackpool, England, will share stories of his teenage years, spent traveling the roads of his native United Kingdom, wrestling fellow wrestlers, as well as strangers from out of the crowd, as part of a touring carnival act.”
“Regal & Thompson will also talk about his days traveling the world and winning championships in Europe, the Middle East and Japan, before his career brought him to the big stages of WCW and WWE where he won numerous championships and accolades. Another topic will be Regal’s run as the General Manager of Raw and his time as the General Manager of NXT where he helped develop the next generation of wrestling superstars”
William Regal (Darren Matthews, 53) was on Talk is Jericho this past week in an interview taped shortly after his AEW arrival at Revolution.
The idea was to talk about his career and NXT, and there was a little of that, but much of the interview talked about one horrific health issue after another.
Some of Regal’s issues were well known, including a painkiller problem that nearly ended his career in the late 90s, and it was known he was gone for a while at different points in NXT due to health issues, notably his neck surgery and a situation where he blacked out. It was also known that after a tour of India where a lot of talent got sick, Regal had a heart issue that kept him out of action for a long time. But in actuality, his heart issues dated back before that.
That explained the line in his first interview on Dynamite when he was with Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson, broke down in tears at one point thanking Tony Schiavone for helping him out when he started when he talked about how he probably wasn’t long for this world.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including Scott Hall, William Regal, the New Japan Cup with SPOILERS, New Japan Strong tapings WITH SPOILERS, AEW Rampage, Smackdown, RAW and tons more. In fact, there are spoilers galore on this show. A fun time as always so check it out~!
Timestamps:
Start: More information on the death of Scott Hall
5:03: William Regal’s health issues
14:45: AEW and DDT announce working relationship
16:00: NJPW Strong spoilers
19:52: NJPW Cup update, Briscoes win Crockett Cup
22:41: Gable Steveson wins NCAA tournament (features NJPW Cup spoilers)
John LaRocca and I are back on the Fight Game Podcast.
In addition to recapping this week’s AEW Dynamite and NXT, we discuss the following:
Memories of the late Scott Hall
William Regal’s compelling interview on Talk Is Jericho
Big E’s injury
Thunder Rosa winning the AEW Women’s Championship
A-Kid’s NXT US debut
If you are interested in joining us for the F4W/Wrestling Observer Convention on Double or Nothing weekend, tickets are still available. You can also join the Facebook group.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including AEW tonight, Jay Briscoe apologizes, RAW and NXT TV reviews from the past couple of days, Regal on Jericho’s podcast, astronomy and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
New AEW roster member William Regal opened up on Chris Jericho’s podcast regarding serious health issues he has had to deal with, including being told he had 24 hours to live in early-2019.
The 53-year-old was a guest on Talk is Jericho and spoke about having open heart surgery, sepsis in his leg, and other health-related challenges.
“I was in a hospital for eight weeks. I was given, at one point, 24 hours to live. I had sepsis in my leg. They were going to cut my leg off. This is January 4, 2019,” he said.
“Since 1998, I got pericarditis. Pericarditis is an inflammation of the sac around your heart and what it does is scar that sac. So, your heart can beat but that sac can sort of lock down,” he said.
Regal detailed a serious neck injury he believes he suffered in 1993 during a match with Ricky Steamboat. The injury went untreated for many years and it eventually required multiple surgeries, including one to fuse four discs in his neck together. With his wrestling career over, he wasn’t training as much which led to further heart issues.
“Because I had stopped wrestling, and because I had slowed down, this sac around my heart locked down. Basically, the scarring locked down and it started to calcify inwards. Slowly and slowly, I was having more and more things [such as] my heart going out of rhythm, and my legs swelling up and it was just building up. I was going from doctor to doctor and getting all these different things,” he said.
Regal would eventually need further surgery on his neck after his wound opened up and he began to leak spinal fluid. He then detailed further health problems he suffered after having had surgery to correct that issue.
“2018 started and the first few months, I was having all this swelling in my legs. I go on a scouting trip to Costa Rica. I get off the plane. I’m feeling a bit dizzy, but not bad. And just so anybody knows, no drinking, no anything. This is all things with my heart,” he explained.
He said when he was in the airport, he fell forward down an escalator, shattering his left eye socket.
“I had three weeks of amnesia after that. I have no idea what happened. I was in a hospital for a week in Costa Rica and I had shattered my eye socket. I had three weeks amnesia and lost 40% vision in my left eye,” he explained.
He went through six weeks of treatment and was getting better, but his legs kept swelling up and he was having trouble walking. Then in November, he went in for more tests.
“They do a scan of my abdomen and fortunately for me, there’s a cardiologist in the room and this lady saved my life. She went, ‘Hang on a minute. There’s something above that that doesn’t look right.'”
Since doctors weren’t able to scan that area immediately, further scans were ordered a few days later. He later received a call from his cardiologist that the sac around his heart had completely calcified. He was told that if they didn’t operate to remove the calcified area, he had less than six months to live.
“Fortunately, WWE got me a doctor in Atlanta that did this for me. One of the few that can do this,” he explained.
Regal spent eight weeks in the hospital after surgery. He insisted on going home for Christmas, however. He was experiencing intense pain and on New Year’s Day, he fell out of bed. Regal’s wife and son then got him in an ambulance and he was back to the hospital where he later developed sepsis in his leg.
Doctors called his wife and told her that if they didn’t cut off his leg, he would only have 24 hours to live. This was on a Sunday, so it was not his usual doctors caring for him at the time. The wife of one of his usual doctors, herself a doctor, overheard what was happening and informed her husband. He then called into the hospital and stopped them from amputating his leg.
“He called them and said ‘Inject him with this, this, this, and this’ and somehow, because they weren’t going to do it, that worked and saved my leg,” he said.
“Two days before the NXT UK show from Blackpool where WALTER, who is now called Gunther, debuted, I’m in the hospital and something in my brain just went click and I thought, ‘I’m going to be okay.’ Within a very quick time, I was walking three miles a day and within two months, I was doing 500 squats again.”
Following a report in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, William Regal has clarified his health status.
Regal posted a tweet on Friday clarifying that he’s healthier than he’s been in years, and the health issues that he spoke about on a yet-to-be-released episode of Talk is Jericho are from 2018.
“Already…. That’s why I stay out the [rumor] mill and gossip!!! I’ve just found out that there’s things being printed about my health,” Regal tweeted. “I am healthier than I’ve been in many years. I talked this week to someone about things that had happened to me in 2018.”
Regal mentioned [on AEW Dynamite] about having limited time left and it freaking people out. While Regal openly in his autobiography and in public appearances has talked extensively about substance abuse issues that nearly killed him a generation ago, that basically killed his career until he and Chris Benoit had a great match at the Brian Pillman Memorial show one year and he was so good it renewed interest in him and he worked for WWE for a long period of time after being brought back. Apparently Regal’s health issues at this stage are far more serious than have ever come out and there is an interview that will be released next week that he did for Talk is Jericho that will detail them.
At Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view, Regal made his AEW debut by uniting Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley as a tag team. He was in Danielson & Moxley’s corner for their win against The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry) on Dynamite this Wednesday. Regal was then interviewed by Tony Schiavone after the match. Regal said during the interview that the amount of time he has left is limited due to how hard he used to live.
John LaRocca and I are back on the Fight Game Podcast with a lot to discuss.
In addition to recapping this week’s AEW Dynamite and NXT, we discuss the following:
Jeff Hardy, Swerve Strickland and William Regal signing with AEW
Whether Steve Austin’s WrestleMania appearance vs. a match lessens our excitement for what’s to come
A-Kid coming to NXT stateside
If you are interested in joining us for the F4W/Wrestling Observer Convention on Double or Nothing weekend, tickets are still available. You can also join the Facebook group.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of AEW Dynamite, fallout from the PPV on Sunday, William Regal, Sting’s battle with addiction, NXT ratings and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
In a message to his new colleagues, William Regal issued an apology for taking more time than he was supposed to during his first AEW promo.
“This is a Professional note from me as I have no other form of [social media] and would rather my new colleagues see this as I don’t like gossip. I’m am very sorry to everyone effected by my time issues last night. I apologized to everyone personally effected,” Regal tweeted. “I should be showing people by example and being a Pro and hitting my times.”
Regal made his AEW debut at Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view. On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Regal accompanied Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley for their win against The Workhorsemen (JD Drake & Anthony Henry). Regal then was interviewed by Tony Schiavone in the ring after the match.
Regal spoke about joining AEW and his history with Danielson and Moxley. He called Danielson “the perfect wrestler” and Moxley “the perfect and utter sadistic person that will take things to a completely other level.” To close his promo, Regal issued a warning to anyone who steps into the ring with Danielson & Moxley, saying that they’ll either step up or get stepped on.
Schiavone tweeted about sharing the ring with Regal again: “I have experience many wonderful moments in my time in @AEW but this! THIS is one of the best ever. I love @RealKingRegal I cannot express how much he means to me.”
The 53-year-old Regal was released by WWE as part of a group of Performance Center staff cuts this January.
Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson’s opponents for tonight’s AEW Dynamite have been revealed.
After they were opponents at Sunday’s Revolution pay-per-view, Moxley and Danielson will team against The WorkHorsemen’s JD Drake and Anthony Henry on Dynamite. William Regal will be in Moxley and Danielson’s corner.
Moxley defeated Danielson via flash pinfall at Revolution. Following the bout, the debuting Regal appeared and slapped each man, then demanded that the two shake hands in a sign of mutual respect.
In the build to their Revolution bout, Danielson had suggested that he and Moxley form a team. Moxley said that he does not team with anyone unless he has spilled blood with them first. Both men ended up bleeding in the pay-per-view match on Sunday.
At the post-Revolution press conference, AEW president Tony Khan said that Regal will have both on-screen and backstage roles with AEW.
Drake has been part of The Wingmen faction in AEW, but has regularly teamed with Henry on the indies since 2017.
