On tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network, William Regal was revealed to be the new NXT General Manager. As a result, Regal will be overseeing the upcoming NXT Takeover 2 live special on the WWE Network, which is scheduled for September 11th.

Additionally, new NXT GM Regal announced the main event for the Takeover 2 special, which will see Sami Zayn vs. Tyson Kidd vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Adrian Neville for the NXT World Heavyweight Championship.

It was announced at the NXT television taping tonight in Winter Park, Florida that William Regal is the new NXT General Manager.

Additionally, the following matches were announced for the third NXT live special, “NXT Takeover 2,” which airs on the WWE Network:

NXT Championship
– Adrian Neville (c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd

NXT Women’s Championship
– Charlotte (c) vs. Bayley

NXT Tag Team Championship
– The Ascension (c) vs. Sin Cara and Kalisto

Hair vs. Hair Match
Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louis

– Chris Jericho was called by WWE this past week about making a return to the company. Jericho told WWE that he had too many schedule commitments on other projects to come back at this time.

– William Regal went to Brazil with Canyon Ceman recently to scout some potential future talents for WWE. The guys that Regal liked from the shows in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo may be brought to Orlando for a tryout in the near future.

Former WCW and WWE star Dave Taylor recently appeared on the Inside The Ropes podcast and spoke about his time in WCW, wrestling for WWE at 49 years old, becoming a trainer at NXT, drug issues people had in WCW and much more. Below are some highlights of what Taylor said about William Regal and the drug culture in WCW:

“[William] Regal came here (US) in 1992 or 93,” Taylor said. “Then I came across to visit him and did my first show which was World War 3 in 95. He’d called me and said they’re wanting guys to come over and they’ll pay for your ticket and everything, no problem and put you in World War 3. I said ‘Yeah I’ll do it, no problem.’ So I came and I stayed with him. He’d had some injuries with his knee and that, and he’d started taking pills and that sorta stuff. I saw that side of him. There’s nothing you can do about it. There’s nothing I could say. Guys always have an excuse, who are doing that sorta thing. Then I came back home and the year after I came back to live here and he’d got really bad. I’m surprised he didn’t die. But he got through it all. I’ve seen some bad things with him. It wasn’t just him then.

There were a lot of guys, a lot. A lot of them have passed away. The guys who were into what people call ‘the demons.’ They’d all say that they got injured and started taking pain pills and it started from there. When I got injured, I wouldn’t take pain pills or anything like that. Neither did Finlay. Me and Finlay were pretty much the only guys in WCW that never took a drug of any kind. I remember getting on a plane one morning and one of the guys passed me a box of pills, 6 o’clock in the morning, and said, “Here you go, you and Finlay take some of these and get yourself a nice little buzz.” I passed them back and said “Nah you’re OK, we don’t do this s–t.” He asked what we do for the pain, I told him we just suffer. They’re thinking, god they must be tough. But it’s not that at all. It’s that you see what that stuff does and you think to yourself, ‘I don’t wanna get involved in that s–t.”

Since the launch of the WWE Network, over 600,000 fans have subscribed to the service. While it’s a bit below the one million subscribers they were hoping for, it’s still an admirable number for a service that is still only available in the United States.

With live access to every pay-per-view and a vault containing every special event in WWE, WCW, and ECW history, it is safe to assume that most fans signed up in order to gain access to the special events, and at the reduced price of only $9.99 per month, who can blame them?

There is a lot more to the WWE Network than just a vault of old events and live access to each month’s pay-per-view, however. There is also a boatload of original content. Here is a list of some of the must-see original content on the Network.

5. Legends of Wrestling: Families – Watching a bunch of old-timers talk about the good old days is usually about as exciting as watching paint dry, but some of these are actually pretty entertaining. One of the best round-table discussions includes a panel consisting of Sergeant Slaughter, Jim Ross, Ted DiBiase, and James J. Dillon. The group discusses the importance and prevalence of families in the WWE. It is interesting to hear DiBiase discuss how having a father in the business influenced him to become a professional wrestler.

Daniel Bryan’s journey to WrestleMania is something most fans will be able to enjoy.

4. Journey to WrestleMania: Daniel Bryan – This is obviously one of the newest pieces of original content on the Network. It follows Daniel Bryan on his week leading up to this year’s WrestleMania and provides a number of exclusive interviews leading up to the event. It also discusses his rise to the top after initially being terminated from the company, with commentary from William Regal and Pat Patterson discussing how the company made a mistake in his firing. The most interesting parts of this documentary are the backstage scenes and hearing his fellow wrestlers praise him for his accomplishments.

– The official WWE website recently published a new article called, “The untold stories behind 10 WrestleMania matches that almost happened,” which as the title states, tells the story behind some of the biggest WrestleMania matches that never actually took place. You can check that out at WWE.com.

– Also new from WWE is another installment of their “My First WrestleMania” YouTube series, which looks at William Regal’s debut at the big show. You can watch that below:

As previously reported, WWE held another tryout camp at the WWE Performance Center earlier this month. The tryouts were held by Bill DeMott, Norman Smiley, Matt “Tensai” Bloom, Billy Gunn, William Regal and Dean Malenko.

One of the participants in the camp was Matt Dawson, a professional bodybuilder who stands 6’3” and weighs in at 282lbs. Dawson wrote the following blog recently at JTStrong.com about his experience.

“Incredible experience, but the most difficult thing I have EVER done, as far as athletics go.

I arrived in Orlando on Wednesday evening. Met my roommate and several others who were attending the camp at the car rental place inside the airport. We got our car and headed back to the hotel to unpack. Several of us then went out to eat, and turned in pretty early, as we knew we were about to go through hell.

Hell just might be an understatement. We arrived to the WWE Performance Center at 7:30am, as we did not want to be late for the 8am start time. We checked in and immediately had full physicals to ensure we were all healthy enough for the camp. I measured in at 6? 2 3/4? and 282lbs. I was the second largest athlete there. There was somebody they brought in from Russia who was at least 6’4? and 320lbs.

There was 30 of us in total. 20 of the guys were experienced “professional” style wrestlers, who have been doing this type of wrestling for years and years (some as long as 10 years). They were professional wrestlers from Japan, and various countries around Europe, as well as the US. These are the people who have worked their entire lives and are 100% dedicated for the sole purpose of making it into the WWE. Almost all of them have impressive amateur athletic backgrounds, from All State and All American amateur wrestlers, football, track and field and other athletic endeavors. Several of them even majored in theater while in college for the sole purpose of trying to make it into the WWE.

The other 10 of us were referred to as “athletes.” We have no “professional” style wrestling experience at all, but all have extremely various athletic backgrounds ranging from former NFL football players, All American amateur wrestlers, bodybuilders, powerlifters, Olympic bobsledders, All American college football players and even All American gymnasts.

I was extremely impressed with the coaches, as they knew ALL of us right when we walked in. They definitely did their homework as they knew our entire athletic backgrounds and all of our previous experiences. For all you wrestling fans, the coaches were Bill Demott, William Regal, Billy Gunn, Dean Malenko, Normal Smiley, Matt Bloom (Prince Albert) and several others.

Anyways, day 1 and 2 were broken down into two, 3 hour training sessions, with a 90 minute lunch break or so. After all the physicals were complete they immediately began our training which consisted of 3 hours of pure, 100% conditioning. This certainly isn’t my forte, as all my training for the past 15 years has been geared towards lifting maximal weights, and no conditioning work longer than 30 second bursts. There were 3 wrestling rings set up and we went nonstop from one ring to the other to the other doing various wrestling style conditioning drills. Let me emphasize that this was 3 hours of practically non stop conditioning with various rolls, jumps, flips, slams, updowns etc… I thought I was going to die at least 5 times, but I never quit or gave up. I couldn’t believe the extent that they pushed us, as this was by far the hardest thing I have ever done athletically. I would rather go through 2 months of college football 2-a-days then experience another 3 days of this. Brutal is an extreme understatement.

After each and every training session I honestly didn’t know if i was going to survive. Every single muscle, joint, tendon, and ligament was screaming.

Day 3 was a bit easier as it was the final day, and we only had one session, half of it consisting of doing our “promos” and photoshoots. I did my promo as a crazy school teacher who was fed up with children who were spoiled, parents who don’t discipline their children, and kids running the show while the parents sit back, hopeless and afraid to set rules and guidelines for their kids. Apparently it went extremely well, as everybody was super impressed with the promo I gave….little did they know it wasn’t that far off of what I truly believe anyways!

At the end of the camp, the coaches gave us a great speech. Basically they all said that this was one of the best camps they have ever had (they hold 3 camps per year). Nobody quit, and we all powered through the training. They knew all of our backgrounds and knew many of us were not designed for that crazy level of conditioning. They simply wanted to weed us out, see who was tough enough, and who wouldn’t quit. The WWE is a great company, and they took very good care of us while we were down there. I was totally impressed with the professionalism and dedication of the WWE. They said they will let us know, one way or another, if they want to offer us a contract or not within 6-8 weeks.

All in all it was an amazing experience, but an experience I never want to repeat. I have an entire new respect for all the WWE superstars, and the brutal training they put their bodies through day in and day out.”

– Former WWE Diva Michelle McCool, trainer Sara Del Rey and William Regal worked out with the NXT Divas at the WWE Performance Center on Tuesday.

– Jim Ross’ latest podcast is now online at PodcastOne.com. His guest this week is Trish Stratus.

He tweeted the following about interviewing Lita for a show that will air in two weeks::

Just finished podcast chat w/ @AmyDumas aka Lita, 2014 WWE HOFer. An amazing woman who's made life an adventure. She went for it! Airs 3/26

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) March 12, 2014

Throughout the course of WWE history, many have had the chance to latch onto the most coveted prize in sports entertainment: the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Many former champions have been memorable. Others have been downright Miz-erable. Unfortunately, some of the most talented and entertaining superstars in the history of the company never had the chance to obtain the sport’s prized possession. Here are five of the most talented superstars to never hold the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

5. William Regal

Regal holds the dubious distinction of being the first inductee into the much-respected “Kiss My Ass Club.” If only that honor were as distinguished as holding the WWE Championship…

Despite never holding the top prize, Regal was no stranger to gold in the WWE, having been a champion on 15 different occasions although he is, in my opinion, criminally underrated.

With all of the skills necessary to have a run as the face of the company, Regal’s situation is likely similar to that of Jake “The Snake” Roberts or Scott Hall, where the wrestler’s personal problems prevented the company from being able to fully commit.

4. Owen Hart

Bret Hart called himself “The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be.” One man who could always match him step-for-step in the ring, however, was his little brother Owen.

The so-called “Black Hart,” Owen was one of the best in-ring technicians of his generation, was great on the microphone, and was surprisingly hilarious when guesting as a color commentator (e.g., 1996 King of the Ring).

As we all know, his life was tragically cut short before ever reaching the pinnacle of sports entertainment, but I think most will agree he would have carried the strap well had he been granted the opportunity.

3. Roddy Piper

“The Hot Rod” revolutionized the role of the heel during the 1980s. I mean, who else had the balls to break a coconut over Jimmy Snuka’s head?

His uncouth tactics and lack of respect for those around him would be an inspiration for those who followed, including Steve Austin and CM Punk.

As one of the most recognizable superstars of his era, it seems hard to believe that Piper never got a run as champ, but he was at a disadvantage by wrestling in an era where faces almost always came out on top.

– Part two of William Regal on the “Steve Austin Show” podcast is now available. You can download that show at PodcastOne.com.

– Also new on PodcastOne.com is the latest edition of “30 Years Of WrestleMania,” which features Renee Young interviewing WWE Hall Of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart. You can also check that one out at PodcastOne.com.

– Last Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown scored a final cable rating of 2.05, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 2.05 final draw is up from the previous week’s number. Friday’s SmackDown drew 2.796 million viewers, which was also an increase from the previous week.

– WWE Superstar Tensai, who as previously reported is likely being transitioned into a television announcer, worked last night’s set of WWE NXT television tapings. Tensai was announced as Jason Alberts. Also on commentary last night were William Regal, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips and Alex Riley. The commentary team for the first set of tapings included Phillips, Saxton and Regal. The second set featured Phillips, Riley and Alberts.

– Speaking of last night’s NXT television tapings, NFL star of the New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski was reportedly in attendance during the show.

– There are several notable WWE Superstar birthdays today. WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T celebrates his 49th birthday today. Booker was born on March 1, 1965. Also celebrating birthdays today are WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E. (28), WWE Diva Emma (25) and former WCW star Scotty Riggs (43).

– WWE Superstar Ezekiel Jackson is now seven weeks out from hernia surgery and has resumed working out. There is no real definitive word yet as to when Jackson will be making his WWE return.

– WWE Hall Of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin noted in a recent tweet that part one of his interview with William Regal will be available on tomorrow’s edition of his “Steve Austin Show” podcast. Austin tweeted the following earlier today:

@RealKingRegal Part 1 coming to #steveaustinshow tomorrow on @PodcastOne and iTunes. A bloody Royal good listen.

— Steve Austin (@steveaustinBSR) February 24, 2014

Although the upcoming live NXT special “Arrival” will be airing on the WWE Network, William Regal noted on Twitter that it will also be available through your usual NXT outlets. Regal tweeted the following:

As far as I know,The NXT Arrival-Live Special on 2-27 on the @WWENetwork will be seen around the world on NXT on your normal NXT channel.

— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) February 13, 2014

It will not be live apart from on @WWENetwork.It will be split up and seen at the usual times outside the US on NXT.

— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) February 13, 2014

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s latest podcast is now available. The latest show features Austin discussing his backstage experience at Monday’s RAW in-depth.

Austin also noted during the podcast that while at the RAW show in Los Angeles this past Monday, he recorded future shows with Zeb Colter, Big Show, William Regal and John Cena. He also noted that he extended an offer to Kevin Dunn to appear on the show, but is still waiting on his answer.

You can check out Austin’s latest podcast at PodcastOne.com.

– As seen on RAW last night, there were two pretty noticable mistakes from the commentary team during the show. First, Michael Cole plugged the free week trial for the WWE Network as starting last night at WWE.com. He later corrected himself. Second, Jerry Lawler mentioned that Betty White had switched her tea with Road Dogg’s cup in the backstage vignette, when it was actually Billy Gunn. Lawler corrected himself as well.

– WWE veteran William Regal noted via his official Twitter account that Mexican wrestling star Cassandro was backstage at Monday’s RAW in Los Angeles, California. Regal tweeted the following:

Nice to meet Cassandro El Exotico tonight in LA.Mexican Wrestling’s Danny La Rue.Lovely fella with a great story. pic.twitter.com/zlrmt1WsMM

— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) February 11, 2014

– On Monday’s RAW, JBL had a line on commentary where he called East Carolina University the “Harvard of the South.” The remark was a nod to Vince and Linda McMahon, who both attended the school.

– Despite Sin Cara’s renewed push on WWE television, f4wonline.com reports that WWE has essentially given up on the character. The reason Sin Cara remains on television is due to strong merchandise sales and the character appearing in WWE’s upcoming Scooby Doo animated movie.

– William Regal tweeted the following about Antonio Cesaro on Monday night:

I've said it before and know(because he made mincemeat out of me)@AntonioCesaro is 10 times the man and wrestler I've ever been.

— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) January 28, 2014

– Former Ring Of Honor Tag-Team Champion Rhett Titus received a tryout with WWE earlier this week. Titus popped up in a backstage cameo a few months ago during a WWE television taping. No word yet as to how Titus’ tryout went.

– William Regal recently posted the following tweet regarding footage he filmed for a future documentary to air on the WWE Network:

Great news about the #WWENetwork.I filmed the other day for a documentary about me and the evolution of my character from "Lord"till now.

— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) January 9, 2014

– WWE.com has an article up looking at “Action Figure Firsts” in 2013 – Superstars who got their first WWE action figures this year.

– WWE’s William Regal posted an essay on Twitter about what young wrestlers should do in order to make it in WWE. Regal encourages talent to find a good wrestling school with a reputable trainer, get the basics down first, study the greats, become a great talker and train for endurance and strength instead of bodybuilding. You can read the full essay here.

– Former WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase Jr. is working on a movie about the career of his father called “The Price Of Fame”. Here’s the trailer:

WWE Superstar Kane was at the WWE Performance Center yesterday.

As previously reported, the former ROH tag team champions the American Wolves (Davey Richards & Eddie Edwards) were also there getting tryouts, as well as Colt Cabana, who is trying out to be a WWE announcer.

WWE NXT will have another TV taping tonight from Winter Park, Florida. The taping will include the 200th episode of NXT. There will be a pre-show meet & greet with Kofi Kingston, Natalya, Eva Marie and Jo Jo. The first 200 fans in the building will receive a free item signed by Sheamus.

Announced for the tapings:

• William Regal vs. Antonio Cesaro
• NXT Champion Bo Dallas vs. Adrian Neville
• Appearances from Kofi Kingston and Kane

– The return of Total Divas Sunday night on E! averaged 1.3 million viewers, according to a press release issued by the cable network. The was in line with the premiere episode in July, which averaged 1.343 million viewers. While the show has yet to be renewed for a second season, many people within the company feel it will be due to Sunday’s figure and kick off during WrestleMania season.

– In this “Rank’d” video, WWE counts down the most outrageous vignettes in company history. “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Perfect, The Mountie, Duke “The Dumpster” Droese, Steven Regal and Skinner are featured.

– WWE has launched a Twitter feed for UK fans at wweuk.

WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has updated the Q&A section JRsBarBQ.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

David Benoit Getting Into Pro Wrestling: “I don’t speak for WWE. Just expressed my personal opinion. Not sure the kid finds happiness in his dad’s old business plus over 90% of those that try out for wwe don’t make it no matter their name. I’d say same to my kids.”

Is Great Khali A Hall of Famer?“Strictly as a guess, I’d say not likely.”

Not Wanting to Run His Own Wrestling Promotion: “To invest my money and my time in a wrestling promotion isn’t something that I would ever consider. The lack of talent that’s available…TV production costs…dwenling crowds…the baby sitting that’s involved, etc isn’t something that interests me whatsoever. Plus, small promotions are challenged to even break even financially and I’m not a break even guy.”

WhoThe Undertaker Final Opponent Should Be: “Brock…Cena…Rock would be on my short list.”

His Favorite William Regal moment: “My favorite Regal moment was being able to help him salvage his career because of personal demons.”

• JOHN CENA Working In Tremendous Pain

– WWE pushed an article earlier this week featuring several top superstars, as well as Triple H, talking about their respect for William Regal. They have now published an interview with the man himself. Here’s what William Regal said about the future of the business:

“WWE NXT is something incredible and special. It’s just great to see the fellows get there and work hard and do everything that they’ve got to do. You get to see them flourish. When it gets down to brass tacks, the same people who are making it now, if they had been around in my generation, would have made it just the same.”

“I’m not one of those guys that goes knocking everything and everybody saying, ‘Back in my day … ” I can safely say at this point in my career that I’ve done as much, if not more, than anybody in this job. But there’s nothing I hate worse than all that nonsense. The ones who make it now; they earn it. They all earn their spots. They all work hard, they all create. They all have to be really good at this. You could coast through this a few years ago by just looking a certain way or genetics, but not anymore. You look in that ring now and these fellows can all go, and go as good as anyone.”

– The official theme song for WWE Survivor Series is “How I Feel” by Flo Rida. WWE has publishd the following video of past Survivor Series highlights featuring the song:

Wade Barrett, who has not appeared on WWE’s television shows since August, defeated Damien Sandow in a dark match prior to tonight’s Raw taping in Manchester, England at Phones 4u Arena. Fellow countryman William Regal handled ring announcing duties.

In a match taped for WWE Superstars, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and The Great Khali squared off against The Prime Time Players and The Miz.

In Divas action, The Funkadactyls, Cameron and Naomi, squared off against Alicia Fox and Aksana.

Here is a shot from the venue.

Here at #WWEManchester #RAW pic.twitter.com/dhkTLgnfSI

— David Morrison (@DMorrison07) November 11, 2013

WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently took part in a lengthy panel discussion at the Wizard World Comic-Con event in Nashville, Tennessee. Among many other topics, Bryan spoke about the most disappointing moment of his career, being trained by Shawn Michaels and William Regal, the Total Divas reality show, his dream match at WrestleMania and teaming with Kane.

You can check out the complete, 50-minute Daniel Bryan panel discussion from the Nashville Wizard World event below:

http://youtu.be/sCXoECTUTOs

Who Will Daniel Bryan’s Next Feud In WWE Be With? Find Out Here!

According to sources, there were actually rumors of Jim Ross being let go by WWE a few days before it actually took place. On September 10th, the day prior to JR’s release, someone in the WWE book department called an author to inform him that WWE had selected him to write JR’s autobiography.

One source claimed it was odd for WWE to even publicize JR’s retirement due to the fact that most casual viewers never see him on television anyways, and would already assume he had retired.

It was also noted by executives in the company that JR’s release would have never happened as recently as a few years ago, and it’s further proof that Vince McMahon is not worried in the slightest about TNA, in terms of competition.

Regarding JR’s role as the man who worked directly with talents in the WWE NXT developmental system, early speculation is that William Regal will likely take over those duties.

Will Jim Ross End Up In TNA? — Find Out HERE! [>>]

[Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter]