William Regal Names WWE Legend As Greatest ‘Seller’ Of All-Time
One of the most important aspects of a pro wrestling match is to make what fans are watching believable by selling – reacting so the physical impact of what the performers are doing to one another looks legitimate.
While on his "Gentleman Villian" podcast, former NXT General Manager and current AEW Manager of the Blackpool Combat Club, William Regal, named who he believes to be the greatest in-ring seller in wrestling history.
"In my opinion, the greatest, if you want to call it, seller – the greatest reactor in the entire industry is The Undertaker, especially when he came back with more of a fighting style," Regal stated. "Going into WrestleMania with Shawn Michaels, two matches at that time, you knew that he wasn't going to lose, right? Nobody thought the streak was going to end, right? ... He does such a good job."
The matches Regal is referring to happened at WrestleMania 25 in 2009 and 26 in 2010. At WrestleMania 25, Michaels and Undertaker wrestled a match that went a little over 30 minutes and had overflowing amounts of drama and intensity throughout. Undertaker walked away with the win, but Michaels vowed on getting his revenge against the 'Deadman'.
Fast forward to Elimination Chamber 2010, the last Pay-Per-View before WrestleMania 26, and Michaels ended up costing Undertaker the World Heavyweight Championship, hitting him with a Sweet Chin Music and allowing former rival Chris Jericho to get the win. This set up Michaels vs. Undertaker at 'Mania 26, but this time, it wasn't just Undertaker's streak on the line, it was also Michaels' career. The two competed in a No Disqualification match for 24 minutes until Undertaker was able to put Michaels away.
Michaels stayed retired until 2018, when he teamed up with former tag team partner, Triple H, to take on The Undertaker and his storyline half-brother, Kane, at Crown Jewel 2018 in Saudi Arabia. The team of Michaels and Triple H defeated the Brothers of Destruction, with Triple H suffering a torn pectoral muscle during the match.
The Undertaker went into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2022 following his 30-year career with WWE which spanned from his debut at Survivor Series in 1990 until his last match in 2020 at WrestleMania 36 night one. On that occasion, he defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard match. While with WWE, The Undertaker won the WWE Title three times, the World Heavyweight Championship four times, and the Tag Team Championships six times alongside different partners such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Big Show, The Rock, and Kane.
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