Vince McMahon Allowed AEW Star to Use His WWE Name

While All Elite Wrestling has a number of homegrown stars at the forefront of the company in 2022, the roster remains populated by talent who made their names in World Wrestling Entertainment. Locker room leaders like Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley spent decades in WWE as Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose, respectively, before leaping to Tony Khan's promotion. Being under a new roof usually means the talent need new names, but in Danielson and Moxley's case, it simply meant reverting back to the monickers they used during their independent days. Others opted to keep a version of their WWE ring names with slight alterations, like Malakai Black changing just his first name or Andrade El Idolo adding a last name.

Those aforementioned wrestlers got their names in AEW with ease, as WWE had no trademark claims. That said, one AEW talent felt uncomfortable using a name that he popularized in WWE without the boss's approval.

William Regal revealed at a K & S WrestleFest virtual signing that even though he owns his ring name, he only felt comfortable using it in AEW with Vince McMahon's blessing.

"I own William Regal, but if Mr. McMahon asked me not to use it, I wouldn't use it," Regal said. "I'd be just Steven Regal. He gave me his blessing. No problems with me and Mr. McMahon at all."

The founder of the Blackpool Combat Club's real name is Darren Matthews, but he is known to audiences worldwide with some variation of Regal. Before his WWE career, he wrestled for World Championship Wrestling as "Steven Regal."

Before joining AEW this past March, Regal worked with WWE for over two decades. His final wrestling matches came around a decade ago, but he remained an on-screen presence as the general manager of NXT.

Now, Regal finds himself in the crosshairs of AEW's main event storyline. The brass knuckle wielder turned on Jon Moxley at AEW Full Gear, slipping Maxwell Jacob Friedman his signature weapon. Regal remained tight-lipped on the turn on the AEW Dynamite that followed the pay-per-view, but assured that MJF will reveal all in due time.

Following the November 23rd AEW Dynamite, many questioned Regal's AEW future as Moxley instructed him to "run" and never come back. Recent reports have shut down this speculation, as Regal is under a three-year contract with AEW.

AEW Dynamite airs tonight at 8 PM ET on TBS.