LORD STEVEN REGAL VS. MARCUS BAGWELL

LORD STEVEN REGAL VS. MARCUS ALEXANDER BAGWELL

WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII (16^th June 1993)

This match is, of course, available on the WWE Network and is also Lord Steven Regal's US television debut He would later, of course, become William Regal in WWF/WWE. Marcus Alexander Bagwell's wrestling career basically relied on the existence of WCW from what I can gather. Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura handle commentary for this match, and the first thing I notice is how young Bagwell looks, and the difference between him then and WCW's closure, in between which he became known as Buff Bagwell. WWE would, of course, revive the "Clash of the Champions" for a Raw only Pay Per View in September 2016

Collar-elbow tie up starts us off, Regal gets a single-leg takedown and gets control of Bagwell's arm on the floor. Bagwell gets back to his feet and quickly reverses it. Bagwell has Regal struggling a bit, but Regal is able to roll out. Bagwell going hold for hold here though as he reverses a hammerlock into one of his own before twisting Regal's arm again. Regal snapmares Bagwell out of it as Schiavone mentions Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio being in contendership talks for the WCW tag team championships. 2 Cold's wrestling in Japan recently, and in singles competition, facing Barry Windham next for the NWA World heavyweight championship in a 2/3 falls match. That sounds like an interesting combination. So the tag team championship opportunity may have to wait. In the ring, Bagwell gets to his feet and regains control of Regal's arm. Regal rolls through again and releases Bagwell's arm, getting control of Bagwell's free arm in the process and drop toe holds him down to the mat. Regal applies a front facelock on the mat. Bagwell reverses it into a hammerlock and he knees Regal's fingers behind his back. Regal is able to fight to his feet and a couple of back elbows releases Bagwell.

Regal follows up with a European uppercut sending Bagwell into the ropes. Bagwell bounces back with a knee to the gut and a clubbing blow to the back of the neck, near Regal's injured left shoulder. Bagwell grabs the arm and forces Regal into the corner before sending him across the ring by his arm. Bagwell gets a standing armbar but Regal pushes under his chin and forces him back to the ropes. Regal attacks with forearms and a European uppercut against the ropes. Bagwell is sent across the ring and Regal chops at his left knee. Regal kicks away at the back of Bagwell's knee as Bagwell gets to his feet and snapmares him down. Again Bagwell gets up so Regal grabs the injured leg. Leg sweep by Regal puts Bagwell down and he stretches Bagwell's knee and hamstring. Again Bagwell gets to his feet and gets snapmared. Both snapmares have ricocheted his knees off the ropes too by the way. The referee gives Bagwell a chance to end the match but he doesn't. Regal stretches at the knee and slams it into the mat. Bagwell able to use his upper body to crawl away and make some distance, and he gets one kneeling shot in on Regal. Regal goes right back to the leg, though. Regal has control of Bagwell's ankle, and Bagwell slams the mat getting the crowd behind him.

Bagwell is able to get to his feet and kicks Regal! Bagwell fires at Regal on one leg hits a hard right hand and sends him across the ring with an irish whip. Bagwell ducks way too early though and Regal dives for the leg. Regal drops an elbow on Bagwell's knee and Bagwell has to drag himself across the ring and use the ropes to stand. Regal not far behind him, though, hitting him with strikes and grounding him with a drop toe hold on his injured leg. Bagwell kicks at Lord Steven Regal and gets his leg free before getting to his feet. Bagwell able to balance on his bad leg to kick at Regal, and he hits him with a pair of running forearms. Bagwell is able to get a nearfall off a cross body, causing Regal to beeline for the leg, Bagwell had it telegraphed though and got a backslide. Regal kicks out at 2 again. Regal gets flattened with a running clothesline but reversed an irish whip. Bagwell reverses a waistlock and rolls Regal up! Regal rolls through and grabs Bagwell's tights for the victory!

This was a really good showing for Regal for his US Television debut. He got a cheap victory, got to look like a wrestler that would go far in the NWA with his dissecting style of wrestling. However, the style almost cost him at the end, with not adding some variety to what he was trying to work. Bagwell's comeback at the end lasted too long on his bad knee for my liking. It made Regal's legwork for the whole match mean less. The short timespan of the match stopped it from getting boring, which can be a real trap when one of the guys works the leg. But it worked here. However, it also stopped the match getting too good of a rating also. – Rating: 4.3/10