AEW's William Regal Reportedly Expected to Return to WWE
William Regal's AEW future is up in the air. The former WWE Intercontinental Champion and NXT General Manager debuted for the promotion just nine months ago at AEW Revolution, helping ease tensions between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson. This led to the formation of the Blackpool Combat Club, a stable bent on violence. The BCC quickly added new blood to its ranks, such as Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli. While the faction dominated the summer, collecting the AEW and ROH World Titles, things began to unravel in the fall when Maxwell Jacob Friedman set his sights on Moxley.
The tension within the ranks reached a fever pitch at AEW Full Gear, as Regal turned on Moxley by helping MJF capture the AEW World Title. The following week on AEW Dynamite, Moxley kept his frustrations at bay, but instructed Regal to "run" and never come back.
While some took that as AEW writing Regal off of television, His Lordship returned this week on Dynamite alongside MJF. This villainous partnership would last about 15 minutes, as Friedman struck Regal with brass knuckles at the end of their segment. Regal was then stretchered out of the ring and into an ambulance as a concerned Danielson accompanied him. The physical nature of this week's segment all but confirms that Regal is written off of AEW television for the foreseeable future.
Fightful Select reports that AEW talent are under the impression that William Regal's contract is up "in December of this year," adding that this was "speculated at this past weekend's WrestleCade event." PWInsider also reported that "all signs" point to Regal being WWE-bound but emphasized that nothing has been made official just yet.
Regal previously worked for WWE for over two decades, both in a wrestling and behind the scenes capacity. His last matches came in 2013, and he would move to be the on-screen NXT General Manager just one year later. Regal's developmental responsibilities extended beyond what was seen on television, as he helped train wrestlers at the WWE Performance Center and was given the official title of WWE Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting.
As mentioned by MJF in a previous AEW Dynamite promo, Regal has "put his name" on several independent stars that would go on to become massive successes in WWE, those being Moxley, Danielson, and Castagnoli.
Stay tuned for updates on William Regal's professional wrestling future.