LORD STEVEN REGAL VS. ERIK WATTS

Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Tony Schiovane are on commentary for this match. Erik Watts makes his way out first and Jesse makes fun of Watts possibly not recognizing the beach. Schiovane puts over the booker's son and his finisher. This is a match of STF vs, modified STF if Regal used that stretch at this point in his career. He's also announced in UK weight of 18 stone 2lbs in a nice touch.

LORD STEVEN REGAL VS. ERIK WATTS

WCW Beach Blast 1993 (18^th July 1993)

The bell rings as the fans chant “USA” which is a loophole to cheer for Watts when he (by all accounts) sucks I guess. This is the first match of Watts' that I've seen, so it will be interesting to see if he is as I imagine. Early on Lord Steven Regal circles Watts, not letting him lock up. Erik Watts copies him, stalling further and when they do lock up for the first time, Regal quickly scrambles it away. Regal darts behind Erik Watts, out of the second lock-up attempt. They lock up for the third time and Regal starts controlling the arm, he wrings the arm of Erik Watts, but Watts reverses into one of his own, using his size advantage to bring Regal down to one knee, Regal rolls out of the wristlock and a monkey flip sends Watts over but he still has hold of Regal's wrist. Watts brings Regal to his feet but Regal snapmares him over, breaking the hold and putting on an armbar. Regal has to transition into a wristlock as Watts gets to his feet, Watts misses a right hand and a kick, straddling the wristlock, Regal sends him over but Watts kicks him off. Watts goes back to the wristlock, taking Regal over with a suplex and hitting a leg drop across the arm. Erik Watts keeps his knee across Regal's arm but Regal kicks him in the back of the head. Jesse Ventura calls it an “irritation move” as Watts kneels over Regal in the armbar.

Lord Steven Regal kips up and starts pushing Watts back into the ropes but Watts cranks at the wristlock. Regal counters into a wristlock of his own, slamming Watts down to the mat and holding him down for the pin, but Watts gets his shoulder up at 2. Regal pushes it back down and Watts gets the other shoulder up. Erik Watts bridges as Regal puts his whole weight on to force Watts down. Erik Watts helps Regal to his feet but rolls back, putting on another double wristlock and breaking the hold on one side. Steven Regal quickly counters into one of his own and forces him down for another pair of nearfalls. It looks like Erik Watts tries to kip up but goes against it at the last second, standing up quickly instead. They trade nearfalls before a standoff and Jesse Ventura calls the crowd out for not applauding the wrestling.

They lock up again, Watts gets a standing armbar and moves into a hammerlock but Regal gets to the ropes. He keeps Watts in the corner for the count of 4 and rolls out of the ring. Erik Watts walks into a drop toehold, Regal dives into a headlock on the mat but it gets countered into another wristlock. Erik Watts sends Regal over with a hip toss, going back to the armbar instead of covering. Lord Steven Regal gets to his feet and is in a hammerlock but he sends Watts over with a backdrop, Erik Watts brings Regal down with a sunset flip for a nearfall. Steven Regal is first to his feet and grabs Watts' ankle using a standing toehold. He hyperextends Watts' leg and knocks him into the corner with a European uppercut. Lord Steven Regal strikes at Watts in the corner before snapmaring him over, he drops the knee pad but hits the mat as Watts rolls out of the way. Erk Watts kicks at Regal's hamstring. He locks in the STF but Sir William hits him in the face from ringside! Erik Watts talks shit to William allowing Steven Regal to hit him with a running forearm and roll him up for the win.

WINNER: LORD STEVEN REGAL

That match was both everything and nothing that I expected. Regal was giving Erik Watts a wrestling lesson live on pay-per-view and we all had to witness it for some reason. Unfortunately, it was a lesson entirely based on wristlocks and their counter for the first 80% of the match. From the hip toss from Watts onwards, it almost became a match. Sir William having to assist Regal against Erik fucking Watts is a disgrace though. Especially considering Regal challenged Paul Orndorf for the WCW Television Championship after the match.– This is about a ** match but personally, it's hard to move above a 1/5.