How many of you remember when William Regal was the figurehead commissioner of the then-World Wrestling Federation? Regal held this post for much of 2001, in between Mick Foley's two terms. Aside from the obligatory-at-the-time feud with Chris Jericho and the side gig managing Yoshihiro Tajiri, Regal didn't see a whole lot of time in the ring during this period, but the role seemed to fit him like a glove. Six years later, it appears that Regal is poised to take a similar role on Raw. Stress "appears".

On the July 2 Raw, Regal was booked as "acting GM" while "Executive Assistant" Jonathan Coachman was "on holiday", which is how the British refer to going on vacation. A week later, Regal & Coachman were comparing notes on Raw, and that led to Coachman putting Regal in vs. the Sandman. Regal bragged about how he'd been told he was a "breath of fresh air" filling in for Coachman. Not that hard to do, considering that since becoming Raw's answer to Waylon Smithers 4 years ago, Coachman has been about as over as a defective battery. He's routinely been exposed as in over his head and an ineffective leader. Funny, the same thing's been said about a certain President. Now, left to his own devices, shall we say, Coachman is more vulnerable than ever. It's safe to assume that his time is up.

Not only does Regal have his past experience as Commissioner in hand, but he has a certain presence that Coachman badly lacks. Coach's whole gimmick has been that of a pseudo-player, essentially basing his character on Leon "The Ladies' Man" Phelps (Tim Meadows' "Saturday Night Live" character) and Carlton Banks (the brilliant Alfonso Ribiero on "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"). As Jim Ross might put it, Coachman has sizzle but no steak. Even Carlton had charisma. Coachman doesn't. Regal does.

Add to this Regal's new dry look hairstyle. He's hit on backstage reporter Maria Kanellis and dusted off the well-tailored suits that were his trademark when he began his current run 7 years ago. I really hope Raw head writer Brian Gewirtz realizes what he's got here. Regal doesn't have to turn full babyface to take over as GM of Raw. Leaving him as a heel or making him a tweener will do just fine, thank you. What it comes down to, effendis, is we have a possibility of Regal being rebooted as a latter-day Simon Templar ("The Saint", of course). Come to think of it, that hairstyle might be derived from a near-similar 'do sported by "Saint" star Roger Moore. And what would Coach be in comparison? Well, "Tenspeed" Turner, the con-man-turned-detective from "Tenspeed & Brown Shoe", comes to mind immediately, except that again, Coachman doesn't have the charisma that goes with the character (played brilliantly by Ben Vereen). Given that "Tenspeed" didn't last long in the 80's should tell you something else.

So here's the challenge for Gewirtz and the Raw writing team. The pieces are in place. Coachman has overstayed his welcome in Raw's executive suite. What better way to justify granting Regal's wish to move to Raw than to make him a major player to the effect of making him a full-on GM. With college football season around the corner, Coachman's likely to miss some weeks anyway if he's still calling games for College Sports TV. At the very least, he will miss some house shows, and Regal can easily fill that void. The seeds for a feud have been planted. Let the fun begin!