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A Feud That Should Happen
February 19, 2006 by Doug Hagen

This is my first article so bear with me as I'm still learning the layout of writing articles. A little history on myself, I'm 33 years old and have been watching wrestling, starting with the AWA, from the early 80's onward. I have been an avid fan since and lean more towards the technical, heel aspects of the wrestler. I was a fan first of Larry Zybysko, so that might tell you something. This article is about is about one of my favorites as of today that is still wrestling and what would be a great situation for him to be in.

With the addition of Fit Finlay to the SmackDown! roster, one of the best talents on the roster could be utilized to create one of the finest feuds in quite time. He was an awesome European Champion and while he may never see World Championship gold, he would make a very deserving Intercontinental (once again) or United States Champion as he has the experience, the charisma and those funny-as-all-get-out facial expressions. That man is William Regal and I must say, he is one of my all-time favorites. Excuse my bias.

With Regal's recent split from tag team competition with Paul Burchill, now would be the opportune time for Finlay to target Regal for the "British bastard" that he is and at the same time turn one, preferably Regal, into a face (which would work better for Regal).

One has to think Kayfabe at a moment like this when one considers the violent history of the Irish and British and particularly the partisan loyalty that Regal speaks of for the Queen of England. This in particular would or could be a thorn in the side for Finlay as Finlay is Irish, and the struggle for independence the Irish had to go through to free themselves from British rule is legendary. Regal in the wrestling world would be a figurehead for Finlay to vent his frustrations and anger.

In addition, Finlay likes to say, "My name is Finlay, and I love ta fight." Well, Regal is known for his fighting prowess also as he is rumored (don't know if it's proven) to have been an experienced and ruthless bare knuckles fighter prior to entering the world of professional wrestling. This combined with the politics makes these two - at least in my opinion - pretty much a match made in heaven. Furthermore, both of these wrestlers are experienced not only in that hallowed area between the ropes, but also on the mic; both have an abundance of charisma. Both also have a wealth of wrestling knowledge, technical and brawling style. In the past, Regal and Finlay have proven time and time again that they are dirty fighters, usually to the fan's delight. Can you just picture the carnage that these two could create"

A catalyst would be needed to bring these two together in a meaningful feud. That catalyst would be the United States title. As I mentioned earlier, Burchill has left Regal's side and the tag team has been dissolved. This leaves Regal and Finlay open for a title shot as they are great singles wrestlers. With either Regal or Finlay winning the United States Championship this sets the stage for the feud to begin. If Finlay were to win the title, Regal could use that as an excuse, playing on his partisan politics, to take the belt from the "dirty Irishman" as Regal would see himself as a class well above that of Finlay. If Regal were to win the belt first, Finlay could use the torment that the British have used in the past on the Irish as his propelling agent to start the feud. Also Finlay could fall back on the famous Irish fighters of the past - John L. Sullivan, Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney for instance - and claim that Regal isn't worthy to be champion and only a true Irish fighter such as Finlay is fit for the title. A showing of that butt-kissing incident Regal performed on McMahon would be classic to enforce that idea and good for a laugh.

Played right, if this feud were to happen, I think it would be a feud of the year based on the heritage and abilities of Regal and Finlay. And one never knows, maybe, just maybe, Regal will get that push and wear that World Heavyweight Championship gold. Ahhh, dreams.

by Doug Hagen..

Victor Lee wrote:
This article should have been "A Feud Rekindled" -- would have been nice had you included their match at WCW Uncensored '96

Mark MacDonald wrote:
while I do not disagree, Finley is a great addition to the WWE roster, these 2 guys have already had a great feud in WCW. So WWE may be thinking 'been there done that'. I think Finley would be good with Benoit now that he is the U.S champ.

benrlinzy wrote:
First off allow me to say its good to see someone around my age writting an article. This feud has in fact happened tho, Finley and Regal feuded for years in several promotions over seas, and briefly in WCW. Now I am sure that there are alot of fans who never witnessed these matches, which were of a very high caliber. No reason the WWE couldn't run with this feud tho.

Doug Hagen (Original Author) wrote:
Allow me to apologize for my ignorance of the feud that Regal and Finlay had in WCW as I was stationed overseas during that time frame and was stuck with the Armed Forces Network which did not show wrestling. I didn't have much access to wrestling for three years.

Kyle92 wrote:
Well it wouldn't be the first time WWE ripped off WCW. The best of 7 between Booker and Benoit was not exactly the first of it's kind... I like the idea, and I missed out on the WCW fued, but with the WWE's way of hyping fueds and the "story telling" method of wrestling, this could be a better feud than the one before. Too bad Regal and Finaly aren't big enough names to carry SD at the moment. But keep thinkin' the big thoughts buddy! ;-)

Ieuan Johns wrote:
There are two problems with this feud as you describe it.

1. Finlay is from (and announced from) belfast, which is the part of Ireland that actually is part of the UK, not the part that struggled for independance and is now a republic.

2. The Ireland-N. Ireland-Britain problem is not somethign that I want to see played up on TV, it is a religious based terrorist war that has drawn on for over 30 years and only in recent years have we seenany progress made is disarming the conflict. To the people i the UK this would be as tasteless as the WWE running a Vietnam angle.

I have no problem with the two feuding and they could so an Ireland vs. England thing as well, but as long as they steer well clear of gettign into the hitory of a religious conflict. I would rather they just fight, through out Irish and English insults and have a good set of battles, leave the fans to fill in the other blanks as they see fit.

That said I think I would actually prefer to see a Finlay vs. Burchill feud instead, Burchill has all the tools to be a wrestler on par with the likes of Triple H in a year or two's time and is not a bad talker provided the American public can get used to his accent without applying comical value to it. The Pirate charachter could work very well for him because of one thing, it was acknowledged on air as a gimmick. So we all know the guy is playing a pirate and isnt actually one. Also this wold allow Regal to work with the dev. wrestlers in OVW, give him a few months with each before they get called up and they will be immesurably better for it.

Dirty Jerzee wrote:
Indeed, Finlay is from Belfast and Regal is from England, and the two of them had a feud in WCW. That's about the extent of the factual basis of the comments thus far.

Needless to say, to run a feud between Finlay and Regal now, establishing it as one based on political or religious ideologies would not only be in the absolutely poorest of tastes (which is not beneath the WWE to do), but it would be a bad move for the Smackdown! brand in the UK-Ireland market, as they really wouldn't care to see yet more strife being played out.

To state that Belfast, which is in Northern Ireland, is part of the UK is subjective at best. It really depends on whom you ask. Some would agree, and others might suggest that it's just "not free of the Crown" yet. To assert that the long-time conflict in Northern Ireland is a "religious-based terrorist war" is either wretchedly naive or just abjectedly wrong in context. While religion has played a part in the conflict, it's just a part, and not the entire basis for a conflict that has roots in politics, oppression, social inequalities, bi-lateral bigotry, drug trade, and ongoing acts of retaliations.

I like Fit Finlay as a stand-alone wrestler with no cause other than his anger and his love of a good brawl.

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