William Regal Names Wrestler Others Were Scared To Wrestle In 1996

"Who in the world is this?" said Tony Schiavone on commentary during the January 27, 1996, episode of "WCW Saturday Night." As Lord Steven Regal (now William Regal) was moments away from defeating Dusty Wolfe, an unknown man wearing a Northern Ireland jacket – sporting a mustache and mullet – pulled Regal out of the ring and attacked him. "You know who I am?" yelled the mystery person into the camera. "Let me tell you who I am. I'm Fit Finlay, the Belfast Bruiser. And this man is paying for 400 years of what he has done to my country. This English Pig will pay!" A debut that left an impression on a lot of people, Regal included.

"When he came over in 1996, he came for three months the first time and the only person he wrestled was me," said Regal of Finlay on the "Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw" podcast. "People were like scared to death and once they saw me and him do our stuff together, they just didn't want to know ... One punch and he broke my nose, shattered my eye socket, and gave me 12 stitches."

Over the next several months, Regal and Finlay engaged in a physical rivalry that culminated in a "Parking Lot Brawl" on the April 29 episode of "WCW Monday Nitro." Regal emerged victorious after delivering a piledriver to Finlay on the roof of a car. Except for a June 8 "WCW WorldWide" match against Diamond Dallas Page, the "Parking Lot Brawl" was the last time fans saw Finlay in WCW until October 1997.

Of Finlay's 14 matches during his 1996 run, four were against Regal; two were against Brad Armstrong and Dave Taylor, respectively; he teamed with Regal in a BattleBowl qualifying match; and had one match each against Dean Malenko, Bobby Walker, Bobby Eaton, Randy Savage, and Page.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw" podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.