Walking a Golden Mile
William Regal and Neil Chandler
Published: 2005
Pages: 307
Synopsis: An autobiography outlining the highs and lows of the life of William Regal.
After a while I plucked up the courage to ask one them, "Where am I?"
"In jail," came the predictable answer.
"I know that," I persisted. "But where am I?"
"Anchorage."
"What? Anchorage where?"
"Anchorage, Alaska."
I thought my informant was winding me up and started getting the hump with him. "Don't f*ck about," I demanded. "Where am I?"
The whole cell erupted in laughter and confirmed he was indeed telling the truth. Anchorage, Alaska? What the hell was I doing there? A screw arrived, telling me to go with him. That I did, shuffling along after him though I was still in a daze. He handcuffed me to a row of twenty other people - women and men together. They put us in a big truck and started driving.
William Regal's background isn't nearly as polished as you'd assume from years of watching the Blackpool native on television. Between wrestling at carnivals, an extended period with drug and alcohol abuse (which included passing out during his first meeting with Vince McMahon) and a mystery ailment that almost killed him, he certainly hasn't had it easy.
Regal is brutally honest about what he went through, and full points to him for coming clean on a number of subjects that too many of his contemporaries either shrug off or ignore.
That said, I still find it difficult to become enthralled in this tale. It could be because of the British lingo peppered throughout the book, or perhaps because he downplays much of what happened to him. But I'm guessing it's more because I'm just not very into the William Regal character the way I would be, say, Stone Cold Steve Austin orRic Flair.
One saving grace: At the end of the book, there is a glossary of terms translated from The Queen's English to the English most North Americans can easily understand.
Overall Rating: Transitional Champion. William Regal the book is much like William Regal the wrestler - a great effort that comes off looking more legit than a lot of what's out there.... yet plain and bland just the same.