Reimagined: William Regal as King of the Ring
They say those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
By learning from one’s own mistakes in the past, one can reimagine their timeline and destiny, but even then, sometimes one slight stumble can change so very much.
Look no further than one William Regal.
In 2008, despite his more advanced age compared to most of the roster, it was clear Regal was at the top of his game from an in-ring standpoint, and with the revived King Of The Ring tournament, he was given a chance to show off those skills and his in-ring savvy. He defeated the up-and-coming CM Punk in the tournament finals, handing him his first submission loss under the WWE umbrella. Now with the King moniker and the fact that he nearly always portrayed a pompous aristocratic character, it seemed like Regal might finally get the most significant push of his life. Unfortunately, due to the stricter guidelines of the WWE Wellness Policy, Regal would find himself suspended soon after. It was never revealed what exactly caused the Policy violation. Over the years, it has been quite back and forth on what talent has been suspended for, including something as simple as expired prescriptions. Of course, we are not here to speculate on what caused the suspension, but instead to focus on what could have been had William Regal been able to continue with this particular push and where it may have led him.
William Regal’s King of the Ring Push: Reimagined
In the weeks following the tournament, Regal leans heavily into the King gimmick, which works much better for him than others, given his British heritage. As he is also the Raw General Manager at the time, he books himself into favorable matches, shredding through much of the mid-add at the time, defeating the likes of his rival, Mr. Kennedy, and others like him D.H. Smith, Super Crazy and Carlito. This leads us to the 2008 Draft, which goes the same as it did in our reality.
As we all know, WWE Champion Triple H was drafted to SmackDown, leaving RAW without a World Championship, until the June 30th episode of Raw, where CM Punk cashed in his Money In The Bank contract on Edge following a beatdown by Batista. While in reality, Punk would enter into simultaneous feuds with JBL and Batista over the title, with Regal still in the mix, it makes sense for him to move into the picture. Using both the fact that he defeated Punk in the finals of the King Of The Ring and his abilities as General Manager of RAW, he immediately books himself a match against Punk later on the same night. The two men battle and exchange momentum throughout the match until the battle rages to the outside of the ring, resulting in a double count-out. As a result, the next week, Regal announces that he will again challenge Punk at the upcoming Great American Bash in a no-disqualification bout. He then proceeds to book Punk against a range of talent in the three weeks following the Bash to wear him down. As they are building Punk as a credible champion (something they arguably did not do well in reality at the time), he wins the matches easily, all the while Regal watches from the stage on his throne.
At the Great American Bash, the two put on a technical showcase for 15 minutes before Punk can escape the Regal Stretch via rope break. As Regal gets in the face of the referee, Punk can get behind him and set up for the Go To Sleep. After hitting it and knocking Regal out cold, he locks in the Anaconda Vice, and the referee calls for the match to be ended, awarding Punk the victory. This also gives Regal the out he needs to continue the program.
The next night on RAW, William Regal opens the program recapping the match, admitting that Punk got the better of him. He also states that he never had his shoulders pinned to the mat, nor did he submit to the Anaconda Vice. Due to this, he feels he should be given another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. This brings out Punk, who gives Regal credit for pushing him to his limit. But he knew that Regal would try and give himself another chance at the title, so he went above his head and spoke with the WWE Board of Directors regarding King Regal abusing his power as the RAW General Manager. They have agreed with Punk and so have made a rematch at SummerSlam. It will be a 30-minute Ultimate Submission match. If Regal loses, not only does he forego any future title shots while Punk is Champion, but he will be removed as the RAW GM. Regal accepts the terms, but as he is still the GM, he calls the shots until then and immediately books Punk against Kane later that night.
Much like the previous weeks, Regal watches the match from atop the stage on his throne. As Punk comes close to a win, Regal comes down to the ring and slugs Kane in the face, causing a disqualification victory for the Big Red Machine. The following week, Regal books himself and Kane in a tag team match against CM Punk and a partner of his choosing, who ends up being Batista, a callback to Batista being the man responsible for Punk holding the Championship in the first place. The match turns into a fracas when Kane turns on Regal for his actions the previous week, resulting in Regal taking a pinfall loss after the Batista Bomb.
With two weeks left until SummerSlam, Regal and Punk have a contract signing, which, as we all know, always turns into an ordeal in WWE, and this one is no different, with the two brawling and Punk locking in the Anaconda Vice as the show goes off the air. With one week left until their big showdown at SummerSlam, the two have duelling promos, with Regal so confident in his win at SummerSlam that he promises to be a Champion that the people can be proud of and even preemptively offers Punk a rematch.
At SummerSlam, the two clash in the 30-minute Ultimate Submission match. After 10 minutes elapse with no tap outs, Punk locks in the Regal Stretch on his opponent, forcing Regal to tap out. At the 25-minute mark of the match, Regal is able to lock in an Ankle Lock and grapevines the leg a la Kurt Angle in the middle of the ring, giving Punk no choice but to submit. As the clock counts down in the final two minutes, the two men grapple across the ring and into the corner, where the referee is stuck between the two men and the turnbuckle, going down. This allows Regal to return to an old reliable trick, breaking out a pair of Brass Knuckles and clocking Punk in the face. He then locks on the Regal Stretch and with only 30 seconds left, the referee sees the unconscious Punk locked in the hold and awards a submission to Regal. The clock runs out with Punk still on the ground, and Regal celebrates his first-ever World Heavyweight Championship victory. The crew sets his throne up at the front of the stage, and he poses dramatically on the throne with his crown, scepter and brand new Heavyweight Title as Punk comes to and realizes what has happened.
The following night on RAW, we have the King Regal World Championship Ceremony, which is as over the top and ‘royal’ as one would expect. And as any wrestling fan would expect, it is interrupted by CM Punk, who reveals that he is taking Regal up on his offer for a rematch the next week, and it will be a steel cage match on RAW. He says that while all of Regal’s little tricks, like the brass knucks, will be legal, anything he wants to do to Regal will be as well. Once again, as the show goes off the air, Regal clings to his Championship belt with a look of fear in his eyes.
The following week, the two battle inside the confines of the steel cage, engaging in a brutal back and forth. As this was the time that WWE changed to a fully-PG product, there is, unfortunately, no bloodshed as there should be in a cage match, but the two do their best within those constraints. Finally, Punk lands the Go To Sleep and leaves a prone Regal in the middle of the ring, escaping the cage and recapturing the World Heavyweight Championship.
From here, this leads us back to the reality that Punk would be punted by Randy Orton and Legacy at Unforgiven, forfeiting the Championship and his spot in the long-forgotten Championship Scramble match. But that is a story for another day. This timeline, it gives us a better idea of what William Regal could have done with both his power as the RAW General Manager and the King Of The Ring, all while giving him a much-deserved World Championship to add to his resume, albeit briefly.
What would you have done with a timeline where William Regal had never been suspended for the Wellness Policy violation in the spring of 2008? Did Regal truly deserve a World Championship run that he never got?
