William Regal Says Vince McMahon Had Never Seen Major Movie Before Creating WWE Character

The WWE has had some whacky characters and gimmicks over the years, from Isaac Yankem the dentist of Jerry Lawler to Duke "The Dumpster" Droese the everyday garbageman. They also dressed British wrestler Paul Burchill as a pirate. In 2006, many saw the character as a direct copy of Captain Jack Sparrow from the film Pirates of the Caribbean.

During his time paired with Burchill however, William Regal determined that this wasn't the case, stating that wasn't Vince McMahon's plan during the latest episode of his podcast "Gentleman Villain."

"At the time, everybody thought oh Mr. McMahon is copying Pirates of the Caribbean. I can tell you definitely, that was a hog," Regal said. "Mr. McMahon had no clue about Pirates of the Caribbean and he just heard Burchill talk and he remembered some old movies, like Treasure Island from years ago, and thought he sounded like a pirate. That's why he gave him the character, he wasn't trying to copy Johnny [Depp]. I'm sure other people and probably Paul Burchill would base it around Johnny Depp."

When Burchill debuted with the gimmick, two of the movies had already been released, with several fans drawing a clear comparison between the two characters. WWE had previously tried a similar gimmick in the 90s with Jean Pierre LaFitte, citing the 1950 film Treasure Island as the reason for the character. Unfortunately for Burchill, his run in the WWE wouldn't last long despite dropping the pirate gimmick. He was released by the company in 2010, five years after his debut without holding a single championship.