William Regal revealed recently that his last ever match in his career was not against Cesaro, as people believed. William Regal’s last match ever was against Sami Zayn, with William Regal vs Sami Zayn taking place in Dubai in 2014.
William Regal’s final match in NXT against Cesaro is usually considered his swansong. The incredibly technical bout pitting two of the finest European wrestlers of all time was a dream match for many, and was considered as William Regal’s retirement match.
That match was a classic and one of the best European-style matches in WWE history. However, William Regal recently revealed that Cesaro was not his last opponent in his career – it was Sami Zayn.
Fans were hoping to see William Regal return to wrestling for one last match in AEW. MJF seemed a likely candidate, whilst a dream rematch with Bryan Danielson also could have been on the cards. Sadly, his health is in no state to have him wrestle, so William Regal’s last match remains the behind-closed-door match with Sami Zayn – although some footage has emerged from the encounter.
William Regal vs Sami Zayn
Speaking to Chris Jericho on Talk is Jericho, William Regal recalled that last match ever in his career took place behind-closed-doors, in front of trainees in Dubai. Regal had been sent to Dubai as part of WWE’s drive to recruit athletes outside of wrestling to be the future stars of professional wrestling.
WWE had set up a camp in Dubai for hopeful trainees to impress and earn a contract with NXT. William Regal, as the head trainer at NXT, was sent over to scout the talent as he had done so many other times for WWE. Alongside him, WWE sent Sami Zayn, the Canadian superstar of Syrian heritage, due to him being able to speak Arabic, the native tongue of the United Arab Emirites.
William Regal told Chris Jericho that most of the prospective wrestlers had never seen wrestling before. So, after a gruelling session that caused many students to throw up in and quit, William Regal vs Sami Zayn took place in front of around 30 students, marking the first and only time these two men stepped inside the ring.
“So I had a match with Cesaro, someone I knew for a long time, think the world of, got to put him over, time to go. But that wasn’t my last match.
“The following year in 2014, we went to Dubai to do a try-out and Sami Zayn came with us. At the end of the try-out, pretty much everyone there, none of them had seen pro-wrestling. I did a lot of that, it’s a strange thing. I did a lot of that, most of the people we went to see, my job was to fill up network content or maybes. TV has just gone up in such and such, we need someone from there.”
William Regal on wrestling Sami Zayn in Dubai
Very little footage exists of this match, with the winner of the match unknown. Below is purportedly the only footage existing of the match in question, giving us very little insight into what a William Regal vs Sami Zayn match would really look like.
The rest of the episode was spent talking about the various injuries and illnesses that William Regal has endured over the years, including a broken neck he wrestled with for 11 years.
He also spoke about Bryan Danielson, and a William Regal vs Daniel Bryan match that convinced Vince McMahon to make Bryan a top heel in WWE. Regal has since left AEW and returned to the WWE under the stewardship of long-time friend Triple H.
Who do you think won the match between William Regal vs Sami Zayn? Let us know in the comments or click below to keep reading.
