William Regal issues statement on his WWE status; thanks Triple H and other officials

William Regal is a key to WWE's success, and now he has issued an update on his status with the company, along with a very telling correction on why he really left for AEW. The rare statement comes right as the NXT brand ends another era, notable as Regal has played an intricate role in the brand and the developmental system and he continues to work a certain role backstage.

The Gentleman Villain began his career in 1983 at the age of 15. After working the UK scene, Regal joined WCW in January 1993 but was fired by Eric Bischoff almost five years to the day. The Blackpool native debuted for World Wrestling Entertainment five months later and stayed for seven months before briefly returning to WCW. He worked various roles for the company beginning in 2000, until his 22-year tenure ended in January 2022. AEW hired the former King of the Ring three months later, but he returned to WWE in January 2023.

Regal currently works as WWE's Vice President of Global Talent Development, and an occasional on-screen talent. He was known in recent years as the NXT General Manager, a trainer at the Performance Center, and talent recruiter. The 56-year-old has been crucial to NXT's growth for years, and he recalled those early days in a statement ahead of this week's USA Network finale. He gave his thanks to Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Matt Bloom.

"I was part (except for H’s family) of the very beginning of @WWE’s @NXT. I’m still involved but not as much as I was. Thank you to H, Shaun (sic), Matt and everyone else that fought the fight of making a one hour program on the WWE network to traveling the world and making new stars and memories for the fans. It continues today. Doesn’t matter what the colour scheme is or was, or has been, we changed the wrestling world although few will want to admit it. It’s been the best part of a 41 year career being @WWENXT to the core," William Regal wrote.

The Old Pro then joked around about his own social media etiquette, acknowledging his flawed spelling.

"Dictating onto this Twitter thing doesn’t work for me as you can see from my previous @WWENXT love post. Someone sort this out as I’m English and we invented the language. Or, I could just except (sic) I didn’t study enough at school as I was daydreaming about being a Pro Wrestler to pay attention in grammar. What a waste!" William Regal wrote.

Regal is the father of current NXT Superstar Charlie Dempsey. He briefly appeared on NXT TV in late February when Dempsey won the Heritage Cup Championship from Noam Dar. The No Quarter Catch Crew leader is currently in his second reign with the cup after taking it back from Tony D'Angelo in mid-August.

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William Regal corrects WWE fan on AEW situation

William Regal's release from World Wrestling Entertainment after twenty-two years shocked the wrestling world in January 2022. However, another big surprise came when Regal joined AEW as an on-screen manager in March 2022.

A fan on X tweeted at Regal this evening and thanked him for his NXT work. They also accused the 56-year-old of "snaking out" the competition. Regal apparently didn't find this funny as he defended his AEW run, and said he signed because of Bryan Danielson.

"FYI. Although it serves some people’s agenda, and having a massive amount of people who work in AEW that can only back me up, I went to AEW to help because Bryan Danielson asked me to," William Regal wrote.

Regal's lengthy statement can be seen in full below:

In late 2022, Regal asked Tony Khan to let his contract expire as he wanted to return to WWE to work with his son, NXT's Charlie Dempsey. Khan granted the conditional release, which Regal confirmed on December 30 of that same year. The four-time WCW TV Champion then returned to WWE in January 2023 but was unable to appear on television apparently for one year due to a clause in the AEW release.