The former “Mr. Electricity” Steve Regal died this past summer, but the news was slow to break.
Regal, who is not to be confused with William Regal, died this past July, according to Mike Johnson of PWinsider.com, who shared the news on Monday.
Regal was the son-in-law of Wilbur Snyder and went to school with his daughter before they married. Regal was a devoted family man was the impetus behind his leaving the national wrestling scene in his mid-30s.
He started in the Indianapolis territory in the mid ‘70s, where Snyder and Dick the Bruiser operated, and it was his breeding ground before circulating throughout the country and working for many of the top territories.
Regal’s most closely associated with the AWA and had many stops in Minnesota throughout his career, beginning in 1976, and would work for Verne Gagne off and on over the next decade.
In 1979, he worked in Memphis and was paired with Hector Guerrero, where the duo won the Southern tag titles in November for a brief run, losing the belts weeks later to The Assassins. Regal would leave Memphis but returned years later.
Wrestling for Don Owen in Portland, he received a significant push, winning the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title twice in 1982. After winning a tournament to win the belt, he dropped the title to Buddy Rose, who vacated it, and Regal regained the title only to vacate it himself due to injury. He was also paired with Matt Borne (the original Doink the Clown) and won the area’s tag titles twice that year
In the summer of 1982, he toured with All Japan Pro Wrestling and worked with Atsushi Onita, Shiro Koshinaka, Great Kojika, and 20-year-old rookie Mitsuharu Misawa. He would return for another tour three years later, which included challenging Kuniaki Kobayashi for the NWA International Junior Heavyweight title in July 1985. On the same tour, he teamed with Hall of Famers Stan Hansen, The Destroyer, and Harley Race and feuded with Ishin Gundan members Riki Choshu, Yoshiaki Yatsu, and Killer Khan.
The next stint in the AWA was his most noteworthy run as he feuded with Buck Zumhofe over the promotion’s light heavyweight title. This included a nineteen-month reign as champion for Regal, before losing it back to Zumhofe. Toward the end of his singles title run, he became a dual champion, winning the tag belts with Jimmy Garvin from the Road Warriors in September 1985. Regal left the AWA in early 1986 without dropping the tag titles.
In his last full-time year of 1986, he started with World Class, climaxing with a Texas Heavyweight Championship match against Brian Adias at Texas Stadium on the 3rd Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions.
He left for Jim Crockett Promotions for a short run, but won the NWA Junior Heavyweight title from Denny Brown and held it for a month.
His last big role was in an enhancement position for the WWF in the latter months of ’86. He would state that he made around $3,500 per week and was paid well, but the travel was brutal and basically left the business after the year was over to be at home with his family and preserve his health.
He would wrestle over the ensuing years, including sporadic matches with Windy City Wrestling out of Illinois, which he did through 1995.
As time went on, he was often confused with Darren Matthews, who would adopt the same name when wrestling for WCW and for a brief time in the WWF in 1998. He shifted to William Regal in 2000 when he returned to the WWF.
Johnson reports that Regal died on July 30 and was 73 years old. He was married to his wife for over fifty years.
Related:
– “Mr. Electricity” Steve Regal full interview (The Hannibal TV)
