The wrestling world was dealt another shock yesterday when WWE released more personnel, and while all of the names were surprising and unfortunate, the name that drew the most backlash was unquestionably William Regal. Regal was the on-screen General Manager for NXT since 2014 and also had the position of Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting, but during the newest round of cuts, he was released from his WWE contract. Today Regal addressed the release, and you can read his response below.
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“Thank you to @WWE for a wonderful 21 year run. You gave a lad who was happy and in wonderland wrestling on a carnival have a charmed life for 21 years. No complaints and please no one waste time replying as I won’t have a bad work said against the company.x”
Regal received a flood of support from the wrestling world, and many who either still call NXT home or did at one time shared their memories and support for the man who was instrumental in their careers. Meanwhile, fans who have seen Regal become a staple of NXT’s Black and Gold era shared their disappointment that he would no longer be a part of NXT.
Released alongside Regal were names like Samoa Joe, Road Dogg Jesse James, Ace Steel, Ryan Katz, Scott Armstrong, Allison Danger, Sarah Cummins, Ranjin Singh, George Carroll, Gabe Sapolsky, Hideki Suzuki, and Danny Burch. You can find their statement on the release below.
“With the continued evolution of NXT 2.0, we’ve decided to part ways with some of the staff based in our Performance Center,” WWE said in a statement. “We thank them for their many contributions throughout the years and wish them the best.”
Over the past few months, quite a few of the building blocks of the Black and Gold era have either left or been released, though a few do remain. The latest releases consisted of many Triple H people that were alongside him or direct hires during that era, and it seems to be another step away and towards a new direction.
