William Regal Reveals His ‘Actual Last Match’ Was Not Against Cesaro
William Regal and Claudio Castagnoli have had a long, storied history together, with the former Cesaro wrestling Regal in his last recorded match in November of 2013 in WWE NXT. The match saw the past vs. present of the European style of wrestling, with Castagnoli ending Regal's 30-year career. At the time, the match wasn't labeled as Regal's last, however, heading into it, due to neck issues, he had to call it a career.
Although Regal's career allegedly ended against someone who he's praised heavily in the past, according to the former NXT General Manager, the match wasn't his official last match. He actually suffered more injuries that would cause him to retire after wrestling Claudio.
"We were in Dubai and in front of 30 people that were trying out [for WWE]. I did a match with Sami Zayn but that was with no people," Regal said during the latest episode of the "Gentleman Villain" Podcast. "That was just a match in a Crossfit Gym in Dubai. We were doing a tryout with 30 athletes, Sami came with us because he speaks Arabic. A lot of them had never seen professional wrestling.
"I said [to Sami], 'Let me and you, at the end of this three-day tryout, have a match.' Two weeks later, my legs went from under me, which I told on Chris [Jericho's] show, and I would have my first neck surgery. I never wrestled again. The actual last match that was on film was against Cesaro and it couldn't have been against somebody I thought more highly of. I knew my time was coming to an end."
Though the match will always be viewed as an instant classic between Castagnoli and Regal, there will always be an asterisk from here on out on whether or not that truly was Regal's last match. The two currently work together in All Elite Wrestling as members of the Blackpool Combat Club, with Castagnoli making his shocking debut for the company at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Gentleman Villain with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.