ironworks
11-09-2012, 03:37 AM
- WWE Superstars Wade Barrett and William Regal spoke to DigitalSpy.com to promote the current WWE European tour. Here are some highlights:
Is it harder to get the big chances and big title bouts as an Englishman?
William:
"I don't think it's any harder than for anyone else once you get
yourself over there. Getting over there is the hard thing. If you've got
the talent it'll shine through. I went over there when there was no-one
there. It was difficult. But I think it helps if anything, just to be
English, just to be a bit different. It definitely helped me. I was the
only English character at the time. Obviously there was the Bulldog, but
he was his own entity - he was a completely different thing away from
what I was doing. It gave me a bit of a boost really."
Wade:
"I think increasingly WWE is a global company - as much as they can
they want to push out into new markets like Europe. I think it's
definitely been a help in a sense that I'm English. But again it's
ultimately down to talent. Being English helped me get a foot in the
door, but ultimately it's down to my talent and hard work in trying to
get to that top level."
What would you love to do or see at WrestleMania XXX in 2014?
Wade:
"Personally I'd love to be in one of the title matches. Obviously we've
got two main titles in WWE - the World Heavyweight Championship and the
WWE Title. We've never had an English winner of those. In my opinion we
should have had the British Bulldog as World Champion. Mr Regal next to
me should have been a World Champion. It has never quite never happened
for Mr Regal yet, although it still could."
William: "Don't hold your breath."
Wade:
"I'd love to be the first English World Champion. When you look at the
history of English professional wrestling and all the things that have
gone on in the past, going back decades, it's incredible we've never had
a recognized World Champion here. I think that needs to change and
obviously I'd love to be the first one."
William:
"I'm just happy being there at WrestleMania. I've never had a big role
at any WrestleMania, but I've been at 11-odd. Just to be there is
special. The week beforehand and all the promotions and stuff. I don't
really think about the big events, being in them any more. I'm 44, so
it's my autumn years of my career, so I'm just happy to be there to be
honest. What I'd like to see? It'd be nice to see Wade and Sheamus in a
main event. It'd be nice to see Daniel Bryan in a main event, just
because of the time I've spent with him in the last 12 years."
What is it that people have always loved about the WWE?
William:
"People from the beginning of time have always loved to watch two
people in competition with each other. You go back to the gladiatorial
shows, there's just something about it. You can go into a village in the
world where they've never seen wrestlers, two young boys will be
rolling around in headlocks. It's just a natural thing to do and to
watch and that basically captures people's imaginations. A lot of the
time they can't do it themselves but they like to see other people doing
it. If it's packaged in the right way they'll come to watch... there's
just something about the whole spectacle."
Wade:
"For me personally, when I was 10 years old, I remember watching it and
just being attracted to the fact that these were real-life cartoon
characters. It sounds a bit of a cliché to say it. I think it was only
when I was about 19 years old when I read a book by Mick Foley, his
first book Have a Nice Day, and it kind of deconstructed the whole story
of pro-wrestling to me - what happens behind the scenes.
"It was
only at that age that it kind of clicked for me that these were
real-life human beings who grew up with regular families, who came up
and decided they wanted to do that. That was really the trigger for me
to decide that I wanted to do that too. When I was a kid it was just
like watching a real-life cartoon with these crazy characters and that's
what drew me in at first. The longer I stuck with it the more aspects
of it I discovered and the more I liked, and I ended up here."
Is it harder to get the big chances and big title bouts as an Englishman?
William:
"I don't think it's any harder than for anyone else once you get
yourself over there. Getting over there is the hard thing. If you've got
the talent it'll shine through. I went over there when there was no-one
there. It was difficult. But I think it helps if anything, just to be
English, just to be a bit different. It definitely helped me. I was the
only English character at the time. Obviously there was the Bulldog, but
he was his own entity - he was a completely different thing away from
what I was doing. It gave me a bit of a boost really."
Wade:
"I think increasingly WWE is a global company - as much as they can
they want to push out into new markets like Europe. I think it's
definitely been a help in a sense that I'm English. But again it's
ultimately down to talent. Being English helped me get a foot in the
door, but ultimately it's down to my talent and hard work in trying to
get to that top level."
What would you love to do or see at WrestleMania XXX in 2014?
Wade:
"Personally I'd love to be in one of the title matches. Obviously we've
got two main titles in WWE - the World Heavyweight Championship and the
WWE Title. We've never had an English winner of those. In my opinion we
should have had the British Bulldog as World Champion. Mr Regal next to
me should have been a World Champion. It has never quite never happened
for Mr Regal yet, although it still could."
William: "Don't hold your breath."
Wade:
"I'd love to be the first English World Champion. When you look at the
history of English professional wrestling and all the things that have
gone on in the past, going back decades, it's incredible we've never had
a recognized World Champion here. I think that needs to change and
obviously I'd love to be the first one."
William:
"I'm just happy being there at WrestleMania. I've never had a big role
at any WrestleMania, but I've been at 11-odd. Just to be there is
special. The week beforehand and all the promotions and stuff. I don't
really think about the big events, being in them any more. I'm 44, so
it's my autumn years of my career, so I'm just happy to be there to be
honest. What I'd like to see? It'd be nice to see Wade and Sheamus in a
main event. It'd be nice to see Daniel Bryan in a main event, just
because of the time I've spent with him in the last 12 years."
What is it that people have always loved about the WWE?
William:
"People from the beginning of time have always loved to watch two
people in competition with each other. You go back to the gladiatorial
shows, there's just something about it. You can go into a village in the
world where they've never seen wrestlers, two young boys will be
rolling around in headlocks. It's just a natural thing to do and to
watch and that basically captures people's imaginations. A lot of the
time they can't do it themselves but they like to see other people doing
it. If it's packaged in the right way they'll come to watch... there's
just something about the whole spectacle."
Wade:
"For me personally, when I was 10 years old, I remember watching it and
just being attracted to the fact that these were real-life cartoon
characters. It sounds a bit of a cliché to say it. I think it was only
when I was about 19 years old when I read a book by Mick Foley, his
first book Have a Nice Day, and it kind of deconstructed the whole story
of pro-wrestling to me - what happens behind the scenes.
"It was
only at that age that it kind of clicked for me that these were
real-life human beings who grew up with regular families, who came up
and decided they wanted to do that. That was really the trigger for me
to decide that I wanted to do that too. When I was a kid it was just
like watching a real-life cartoon with these crazy characters and that's
what drew me in at first. The longer I stuck with it the more aspects
of it I discovered and the more I liked, and I ended up here."