Booker T Almost Fought William Regal When They First Met

Booker T has become the de facto public mouthpiece for WWE when it comes to responding to criticism of the company. Even though Booker occasionally balks at WWE’s booking, he is generally a loyalist to the promotion. He’s had a long, wild career dating back to his time as a tag team wrestler in WCW. The five-time world champion seems to enjoy the stability of being in one place.

Because of his vast experience, Booker enjoys imparting wisdom on younger talents. It might behoove them to take his advice, as he’s been through just about everything in the world of pro wrestling. He recently talked on the Not Sam Wrestling podcast about some of the adversity he faced early in his career, including nearly getting into a fight with William Regal.

“The first time I met Regal, we almost got into a fight. I’ll tell you, I remember it so vividly. It was at the Main Event Gym. Sting and Lex Luger had a gym in Marietta. My brother and I walk in with Sid Vicious, and Regal is walking out the door. I looked at Regal and he looked at me, and it looked like we wanted to kill each other.

From that point on, we really didn’t have a great relationship or anything. We weren’t friends. We weren’t pals, buddies, or anything like that. Then all of a sudden, I’m King Booker and we’re working together, and we had one of the greatest runs ever as far as King of the Ring goes. He’s a good friend of mine now. But that’s what it was. It was different back then from the way it is now.

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We weren’t friends or anything like that back then. We were in competition. We were trying to be the best wrestler on the card.”

Fortunately, Booker T and William Regal were able to keep things professional. Both men went on to spectacular careers. Regal remains involved with the company today, serving as on-screen general manager for NXT and 205 Live. Booker T was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame twice. He entered the hall as an individual in 2013 and was inducted as a member of Harlem Heat in 2019.

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