When was William Regal suspended by WWE?

William Regal may not have had the best run as a WWE Superstar, but he surely played a huge part in NXT and other backstage events during his time with the company. However, his time in the promotion wasn't always smooth sailing.

Regal had two runs in the sports entertainment giant, the first from 1998 to 1999 while the other one lasted from 2000 to 2022. His second run was truly more fruitful as both an in-ring performer and eventually in backstage roles. The veteran got a taste of a managerial role in 2007, but that was immediately cut short.

In 2007, William Regal became the General Manager of RAW, however this was also the year he was first suspended for 30 days after violating WWE's Talent Wellness program. It was said that from 2004-2006, he received stanozolol, somatropin, genotropin, and anastrozole.

The second time William Regal was suspended from WWE was on May 20, 2008, this one for 60 days and just moments after winning that year's King of the Ring tournament. It was reported that he failed a drug test, but the former WWE star thought otherwise.

“I still don’t know what it was about, something showed up on my drug test, and again there’s been things said about me ‘oh he relapsed’ no, that’s not true at all...Nobody printed anything about what happened to me at that time because nobody knew. It was a fraction of a slight something that showed up on my drug test. First of all. if you knew the amount of drugs I used to take, I don’t take a fraction of anything.”

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William Regal opens up about his substance abuse

Unfortunately, the current AEW star was one of the wrestlers who suffered from substance abuse in the past. Fortunately, he has since gotten better and even shared some of his experiences.

Regal previously revealed that he was only hired by WWE after his first run with WCW because they didn't know about his problems. He then shared some insights into how a person should take responsibility for their own actions.

“It’s nonsense, you just have to take responsibility for yourself, I don’t care what you grew up with, there’s a point where you just have to go stop it, just behave yourself. Sometimes, people never get out of it, sometimes you snap out of it, some people need a system or a crutch to get through it. Good for them, whatever works for you, just get yourself through it."

William Regal was released from the promotion earlier this year after decades with WWE. However, reports have circulated that he might make his return soon. For now, it's fortunate that the AEW star has had a smooth run in wrestling since.

Would you like to see The Gentleman Villain return to WWE? Sound off in the comments below!