William Regal's Wife Would Not Allow Chris Benoit In Their Home
Chris Benoit has been a trending topic in the wrestling world lately due to Jordynne Grace's comments about him, and on the latest episode of the "Gentleman Villain" podcast, William Regal became the latest to weigh in on the subject.
Regal is someone who shared several locker rooms with Benoit, both in WCW and WWE, but he made it clear that he would only discuss the subject this one time, as he has "Too much respect for Martina, for David, for Megan, and for Nancy's sister, Sandra." While some talent are happy to discuss Benoit's life and his final days at length, the same cannot be said for the Blackpool Combat Club leader.
"I do not understand, this is just me personally, why people want to thrive off the misery of this, especially when there's children involved, and Sandra, and Chris' ex-wife," he said. "They have their lives to lead, just leave them alone, that's my piece on that."
When reflecting on the Sunday in question, Regal said Benoit not showing up to work was odd, but at that point the two were not as close as they had been. Regal and his wife had been close friends with Benoit and his first wife, Martina — the two families lived in the same neighborhood. But when Benoit and Martina split up and Benoit got together with Nancy, the relationship deteriorated.
"My wife would not have Chris anywhere near my house," Regal said. "Eventually Chris moved from six miles away from where I lived, once he was with Nancy. Chris knew that he was not allowed near my house, so any of our social life ended then ... We used to knock around with each other in the '90s, but by the 2000s I wasn't going out anymore, so when we were back together in WWE, our only time that we were ever together was at work ... We still had a, 'Hello, how're you doing?' and that was it, and he understood the situation at my home, that he wasn't allowed, and because we lived six miles apart, we never saw each other."
As an example of how little he had to do with Benoit in the years leading up to the end of his life, Regal mentioned that Benoit actually moved again, but didn't tell him.
"The house that all these terrible things happened in, I didn't even know where it was," Regal said. "I knew it was not far from where I lived, as far as probably another six miles away or so, I'm not sure, because I still don't know where it is."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Gentleman Villain" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.