I was delighted to see William Regal’s new ally on SmackDown this Friday. As a fan of pure technical wrestlers and a fan of British wrestlers (being a Brit myself) I was really pleased to see one of the most internationally decorated British technical wrestlers of all time in the form of one Dave Taylor. A third generation star, Taylor has made his long and fruitful journey to SmackDown via his native UK scene, the rings of Germany and the mid card (at best) of WCW, very much like his fellow Brits Dave Finlay and William Regal. Also like Finlay and Regal, Taylor’s role in WWE and specifically SmackDown will be two fold – an experienced and classic upper mid card heel and a mentor to the next generation of WWE superstars.
A lot has been said about legends like Hogan and Undertaker refusing to lie down for the next generation of stars in the company. Some say they’re holding back the younger guys by making sporadic appearances and taking the win in pay per views sabotaging any hard work that people have put in for months on end to convince the often sceptical fans that they’re the next breakout star. In some cases, I couldn’t agree more but where legends like the two I mentioned seem to be neglecting the future of the business that has made them so much money and allowed them to carve their legacy, guys like Finlay, Regal and now Taylor are helping WWE build for the future in a much more thorough way than lying on your back for three seconds would ever achieve.
When Finlay made his debut in January I immediately thought he was going to come in to job to mid carders so WWE could cheaply elevate them to the next level…how wrong I was! Finlay was brought in and very quickly pushed to the upper mid card and has stayed there, working with guys like Matt Hardy, Benoit, Batista and Lashley. Most importantly, however, is Finlay’s contribution backstage with the younger talent on SmackDown. The only man to make the WWE women’s division look somewhat credible in the last 20 years has taken his expertise to the blue brand and worked hard to help in the development of younger talent, in particular Bobby Lashley. The next breakout babyface star from SmackDown will no doubt owe a lot to Finlay when all is said and done and the heat Finlay easily rakes in when he is in the ring is automatically transferred to cheers for a guy working opposite him like Lashley. When Lashley is finally truly established as a credible main event player, Finlay will surely move on to the next chosen one and make him a true star too. Let me put it this way, if Finlay can’t take you from promising mid carder to main eventer then you ain’t ever gonna draw.
The Finlay / Lashley situation is not too similar from Regal’s most successful feud and in this instance I define success as totally accomplishing what WWE set out to do. Regal worked with an already amazing worker in Chris Jericho in a feud over the Intercontinental Championship that had amazing story telling matches and hilarious backstage segments. Pea in Regal’s tea anyone? Granted Y2J was already a multi-time IC Champ and one of the top bayfaces in the company when he battled the Brit but Regal had standout matches with Jericho and helped prepare him for the main event push he received as the first Undisputed Champion for 40 years. I’m sure many people may question Regal’s contribution in Jericho’s develop or think I’m making Regal’s involvement seem more significant than it was but if you ask Chris Jericho I’m sure he’d be one of the first to admit that his feud with Regal was a key factor in helping him break the glass ceiling.
Now back to Dave Taylor, the man who worked with both Finlay and Regal during and just after the glory days of British wrestling, in Germany when it was the hotbed of European wrestling in the early to mid 90s and in WCW until 2000. Taylor originally joined WWE in 2001 as a trainer and talent scout, mainly working with OVW, but left the company in 2002 after apparently refusing to relocate to Cincinnati to work with the Heartland Wrestling Association. Between leaving and his return to WWE in January 2006, just as Finlay was debuting on SmackDown, Taylor had a hand in training future stars including US indy stalwart Chris Hero and former Ring of Honor Champion and current ECW superstar CM Punk. On his WWE return at the start of the year Taylor was handed a role as a trainer at Deep South Wrestling in Georgia. Taylor occasionally teamed with Regal at DSW shows but few would have expected to see the 49 year old former British Heavyweight Champion in a WWE ring.
Now my motivation for this column wasn’t to rave about three of my fellow Brits, as much as that was a nice additional incentive. The main point I wanted to make is that these three veterans with over 75 years wrestling experience between them in major wrestling countries like England, Germany, Mexico, Japan and of course the USA are making a more significant contribution to the future of WWE’s talent pool than anything ‘Taker or Hogan would ever (and maybe could ever) make. Simply by being in the ring with these three guys will help the future stars understand the psychology of working in front of crowds, how to structure matches, when and where to do certain things in a match…you know what I’m getting at. Learning through osmosis is only possible if the people you’re learning from have the knowledge to pass on and these three guys have it as much as anyone in the company today. Adding the extra flavour of training and working extensively in Europe more than some other veterans who may have spent their time outside the States in Japan or Mexico gives them a different slant on things and they bring a different style and approach compared to many of the more decorated veterans backstage. I’m not saying they’re better than others for having worked in Europe but they’re certainly members of a fairly exclusive club when it comes to WWE veterans with their amount of European experience. In addition, compared to some of the backstage agents, or producers as they’re now known, Regal, Finlay and now Taylor are wrestling on a regular basis where legends like Ricky Steamboat and Ted Dibiase have been out of the ring for years.
Hogan, ‘Taker and any other legend who could but won’t lie down for the next generation of talent could never contribute in the way that Regal, Finlay and Taylor are. Even if either man could be convinced to relinquish creative control long enough for Vince McMahon to talk them into doing the job for the sake of helping to make the next genuine superstar, a victory over someone of that stature would only grant the winner a quick burst of momentum. After the dust had settled and the fanfare was winding down, any flaws that were noticeable would no doubt be exploited and picked up by the smarter WWE fans. Working with guys like Taylor, Regal, Finlay and other veterans such as Benoit will mean there is a much more stable foundation for said superstar to work from meaning they are a much more polished performer when they finally reach the main event level and can comfortably carry long, exciting matches and maybe even a brand.
I see the three British veterans developing SmackDown’s next line of pushees both inside and outside the ring but the big question will always remain…how long will it be before the next generation of mega stars are snatched up for RAW leaving it to the same guys to start all over again?
