William Regal On How Talent Tries To Overcomplicate Wrestling, Why He Hates The Word Mark

On his final episode of the Gentleman Villain podcast, William Regal revealed his “wasp” analogy for younger wrestlers. He uses the analogy to explain how wrestling works, what separates wrestlers from normal people, and how wrestling is a simple story that people overcomplicate. Read on for absolute wisdom:

On his wasp analogy for younger wrestlers: “This is for young wrestlers. Unfortunately, we overcomplicate this, as wrestlers. It’s been going on from the gladiator days. It’s been going on from… I’ll hold me hand up, I’m a faithless heathen, but from David and Goliath. If you had a hundred people and they all got stung by a wasp, this is nothing wrong with anybody, 98 people would get away from it. They’re the smart ones.”

On why he hates the word “mark”, wrestlers being bent: “That’s why when we’ve used the word, the “m-word” [mark] which I don’t like. They’re the smart ones. Don’t look at them as the silly ones, they’re the smart ones. A wasp sting hurts. The two people who stay are the two wrestlers. They’re not right in the head. If you wanna go and fight for a living, you’re not quite right. 100 people get stung by a wasp. 98 of them go, oh, I don’t want any more of that and go stand over there. Then 99 and 100 are the two people that will fight the wasps. And the 98 people will go “I wish I could do that.” That’s your audience! They want to see things they wish they could do!”

On villains and babyfaces in the wasp story: “If you want to take it into villains and babyfaces, number ninety-nine, if he’s a villain. If that wasp decides to try and sting him back, he may go and try to hit it from the side, and hit it from behind. Number one hundred, who’s your babyface, that wasp could sting him a thousand times on the face, on the arms, on the legs, he’d still be trying to bite the head off that wasp. And if you watch any movie, that’s basically how it’s told. Right?”

On wrestling being simple: “It’s that simple. And we try to make it all kinds of complicated.”

If you use any of the above quotations, please credit Gentleman Villain with a h/t to 411mania for the transcription.