William Regal Concedes Time With AEW Didn't Go As Expected

William Regal is officially back with WWE as Vice President of Global Talent Development. He previously served as Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting until he was released in January 2022. In March, he debuted at AEW Revolution and became onscreen manager for the Blackpool Combat Club. After turning on Jon Moxley at Full Gear, reports emerged that Regal was returning to his former employer. In one of his final podcast recordings before resuming his behind-the-scenes duties with WWE, Regal appeared on "Distraction Pieces" and discussed how his time in AEW played out differently than he planned.

"That was one of the things, in the last months of AEW, it was getting far too much about me," Regal said. 'It should have been about the talent I was with, not about me. I'm quite happy being in the background. All it is is grief. I've had my run. I couldn't have had a better last few months as far as TV and doing that, but I didn't go there with that intention. The intention was to do something different, and it started off the way it did, but I didn't expect it to end up being this thing that it was for the last seven months where I just became talent. I went there with a different plan because I was asked to go there to help out in a different capacity, and that never transpired."

AEW boss Tony Khan decided not to renew Regal's contract, after Regal expressed a desire to return to WWE and be part of his son's development as a talent. His son, Charlie Dempsey, is a featured member of the "WWE NXT" roster. Per the release agreement with Khan, Regal cannot appear on WWE programming during 2023.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Distraction Pieces" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.