William Regal reveals first two names he wanted to be part of NXT UK

As a weekly television show, NXT UK has been running for almost 18 months - premiering in October 2018 - but the show was seven years in the making, with the actual inception of the brand taking place three years ago at the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament in Blackpool.

Recently, at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II, I had the pleasure of speaking with NXT General Manager William Regal, who had a large part to play in which stars would be involved in the said tournament and, subsequently, NXT UK as WWE's Director of Talent and Head of Global Recruitment.

In a video commissioned by BBC The Social, Mr. Regal would tell me all about how Scotland has transformed into a hotbed of wrestling talent, pinpointing two stars as the very first names he called for the United Kingdom Championship Tournament.

I met the Coffey brothers seven years ago. The first tryout that I did, in the job that I do now, was in Birmingham, and Robby Brookside had recommended them because Robby was going up there are lots to do seminars for different wrestling schools up there, and Robby recommended them. He said, "You'll like these two. They're in a different league as far as proper hard-working pros."

Regal would go on to say that the Coffeys were joined by a certain Becky Lynch in that tryout.

And I met these two, and I was like," I've got to find a spot for these two." They were the hardest working and, entertaining-wise, promo guys that I'd ever seen. There was also a lot of people on that particular tryout, Becky Lynch was on that tryout as well, that got hired, I couldn't quite find the spot for them. The first Blackpool tournament, the first two people I called was Mark and Joe. They were the first two people I called. Unfortunately, they were signed up to do another thing and they couldn't do it.

Thankfully, for the King of the Ring winner, the third member of the Gallus firm would be available to compete in the tournament.

Then I got to meet Wolfgang and, luckily, he got a spot there. Not luckily for him, luckily for me! The thing is, it was lucky for me that he was able to do it - because he broke out on that and was a star on that, and has become a main player for us now.

You can watch the entire video below, which also features an appearance from SmackDown Superstar Nikki Cross!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 From tiny shows to producing some of the best wrestlers in the world, @RealKingRegal has witnessed an incredible transformation in Scottish wrestling.The @WWE legend opened up about Scotland’s top talents!🎞: @bbcthesocial @WWEUK // @NikkiCrossWWEpic.twitter.com/aFna9M1jJD

— Gary Cassidy (@consciousgary) February 13, 2020