Wrestling meets comedy as William Regal takes to the stage at Glee Club Birmingham next month (Photograph: Rob Brazier)
I’ve been damn nervous to write this article for many reasons. Largely as both people I have a huge amount of respect for and are connected by one of my life’s favourite things: professional wrestling.
I first remember watching William Regal when I was a mere pre-schooler, seeing him in his earliest years getting turned on and wiped out by his tag team partner Robbie Brookside hypnotised by the mysterious Kendo Nagasaki when I watched World of Sport on ITV in the 80’s.
I followed him through to WCW in the 90’s as part of The Blue Bloods and to the WWE as William Regal, where he’s now the general manager of NXT, the WWE’s developmental system.
While Jim Smallman I’m more aware through being one of the co-owners of Progress Wrestling, which I consider one of the greatest professional wrestling promotions in Britain currently. Slowly I’ve become more aware of his stand up work, which is very relaxed, jovial and gets the audience involved, very similar to how you see him in Progress Wrestling.
William Regal will share anecdotes and highlights from his career at the show in Birmingham on 11 April (Photograph: Rob Brazier)
What I’m expecting is a lot of stories from behind the scenes and in the ring from Regal with a dash of humour, especially stories from travelling place to place and all over the world. While Jim Smallman will more likely show us more of his humour craft and maybe more of his own personal experiences running Progress also.
William Regal will be joined by comedian – and co-owner of Progress Wrestling – Jim Smallman (right) at the show
Although the Glee Club isn’t a stranger to professional wrestlers doing Q and A sessions, you won’t find one like Staffordshire lad William Regal, who has so many stories of what British wrestling was, where it is and where it can be going forward into the future…and who doesn’t want to have their picture taken with such a guy either!
So if you have a free afternoon, get yourself to the Glee Club Birmingham on Saturday 11th April, doors open at 12.45 and grab yourself a ticket off of the website to save yourself disappointment. To the more casual person who has absolutely no idea what professional wrestling, you will learn and laugh a lot in the process. To people like myself, a long fan of professional
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Aquila Edwards
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