Weight: 250 lbs.
Finishing Move: The Regal Stretch
Titles Held: 1x WWE Intercontinental Champ, 4x World Tag Team Champ, 4x WWE European Champ, 4x WCW Television Champ, 5x WWE Hardcore Champ
Nicknames: A Real Man's Man
Other Aliases: Lord Steven Regal, Steven William Regal
Real Name: Darrin Matthews
Regal came to the WWFin the fall of 1998, wearing plaid and a construction helmet, calling himself the "Real Man's Man." Despite a brief feud with X-pac, whom he fought to a double count out with at Survivor Series, he left the WWF soon after.
He returned almost two years later, in the fall of 2000. This time he was an English gentleman, out to educate the fans about things like manners and Shakespeare. He targeted European champ Al Snow, who liked to dress up as people from different nationalities of Europe. Regal took it as an insult, which led to a match where Regal became the European Champ. He defended successfully against Mideon at No Mercy, and against Hardcore Holly at Survivor Series. He lost the belt to Crash Holly at the UK PPV, but won it back a few days later. He had another successful defense against Hardcore at Armageddon, thanks to interference by Raven.
He lost the European Title a day after the Royal Rumble to Test. When Al Snow started campaigning to become the new Commissioner, Vince McMahon chose Regal to challenge Snow to a match, with the winner to become Commish. Regal won, and proved that he was in McMahon's pocket when he helped him embarass Trish Stratus a night after No Way Out. He soon made an enemy of Chris Jericho. He challenged for Jericho's IC title at WrestleMania, but came up short. Jericho lost the belt a few weeks later, but Regal still pitted himself against Jericho in a Duchess of Queensbury match at Backlash. Regal didn't tell anyone the rules, but soon proved it was only a scam to cheat Jericho out of a win. A few weeks before King of the Ring, he was approached by Tajiri, who wanted to be a WWF Superstar. Regal made him his servant and then put him in the tournament. Tajiri beat Crash in the first round but lost to Rhyno in the next, which made Regal unhappy. After King of the Ring, WCW and ECW formed the Alliance and invaded WWF Programming. Regal did his best to use his authority as Commissioner to screw over Alliance members any way he could, but lost to Raven at Invasion. He ended up turning on the WWF to join the Alliance in October, helping Steve Austin win the WWF Title back from Kurt Angle. He beat his former friend Tajiri at Survivor Series, but WCW lost the winner-take-all match and Regal seemed to be out of a job. The next night, Vince McMahon told Regal he would get his job back if he literally kissed his ass. Regal did so, and was back in McMahon's good graces. He helped him torment Steve Austin, and then went for the Intercontinental Title. He lost to Edge at Vengeance.
He beat Edge in a rematch at the Royal Rumble for the IC belt with the aid of brass knuckles and beat him again at No Way Out in a brass knuckles on a pole match. He lost the title to Rob Van Dam at WrestleMania, but won the European Title two days later from Diamond Dallas Page. When the roster split occurred, he was drafted to Ric Flair's Raw brand along with the European Title. He lost the title to Spike Dudley when Spike used his own brass knuckles against him. Regal won the title back a couple of weeks later, and proclaimed himself the greatest European Champion of all time. This brought out former European Champion D'lo Brown, but he was unable to take the title from Regal over the next few weeks. Regal gained the friendship of women's wrestler Molly Holly, who helped him win his matches. He developed a friendship with Chris Nowinski, who competed in the first Tough Enough and was also a Harvard graduate. They teamed through the summer, but in September, Regal joined the UnAmericans and left Nowinski and Molly behind. He teamed with them and lost to Kane, Bubba Ray Dudley, Booker T and Goldust at Unforgiven. The UnAmericans started fighting amongst themselves and broke up as a result. Regal teamed up with Lance Storm, the only UnAmerican member he still trusted. They were undefeated for a number of weeks, but then lost in a Fatal Four Way Match at Armageddon.