Legend William Regal tips former Blackpool boxer RP Davies for a big future in the world of wrestling

The former scrapper, who was forced to retire from boxing five years ago, is now bidding to follow in Regal’s footsteps and make a name for himself in another endeavour involving a ring.

The 35-year-old is already making waves in the Lancashire scene, headlining shows and even challenging for his first title in Morecambe next month.

Speaking exclusively to The Gazette, Regal - a wrestling stalwart who has enjoyed a 39-year career spanning a number of major promotions including WWE and WCW - believes the future is bright for his fellow Sandgrown'un.

“Ryan is very talented,” the 53-year-old said.

“We actually have an interesting backstory. We have a mutual friend in the late, great Bobby Ball. He actually introduced us. I did an NXT show in Blackpool and Bobby came to see me because we had known each other for 30 years.

“He brought Ryan to the show and we had a chat. He had actually just boxed the night before in the Winter Gardens.

“I didn’t hear from him for a while, but he did say he wanted to get into wrestling one day.

“Then another great friend of mine, Alan Levene, a boxing trainer, told me about a friend of his who is a good lad and we ended up at Davies’ boxing gym. It turned out to be Ryan.

“In the meantime he had started wrestling, so now whenever he has a match which is filmed I get him to send it to me and I give him a few pointers.

“It’s obviously been a bit difficult over the last couple of years to do much of that but he keeps in touch with what he is doing and I try and help as much as I can.

“I just wish him the absolute best. Once everything is back running normal and he gets more opportunities, the better and better he is going to get.”

While Regal was born in Staffordshire, the new All Elite Wrestling (AEW) recruit moved to the Fylde coast as a 16-year-old and first learned to wrestle here.

He describes Blackpool as his adopted town and always bases himself here whenever he returns to the UK from the States.

“Blackpool has given me everything good in my life and I’ve done everything I can do to make sure that, regardless of where I went, I was always billed from Blackpool,” Regal said.

“I moved there when I was 16, I spent time there as a child on holidays, I started my wrestling career there, I lived in Blackpool for 10 years, I had a house for 12 years, I met my wife there, my first two children were born at Victoria Hospital, everything good in my life came from Blackpool.

“When I went to Blackpool as a child, I used to see wrestling at the Pleasure Beach, I used to see wrestling at the Tower, but I also saw the circus, shows on the pier and it just seemed like a wonderland to me. It still is.

“I know everyone has a different view on what goes on in that town but I never had anything but good come out of it.”