William Regal Explains How He's Like A Jazz Performer In The Ring
AEW's William Regal recently appeared on Talk Is Jericho, where he discussed what it has been like joining the company. The former NXT General Manager was released by WWE in early January, however, he quickly got back into the business. Regal debuted for AEW at Revolution and has been working in the Blackpool Combat Club faction.
He admits he is still waiting for his wrestling brain to get going, and he has also been questioning himself in regards to if talent thinks he's a hotline back to WWE.
"When I was asked to come here, it's like, 'can you just give me like a month to get my legs underneath me a little bit?' You know what I am like, I can't help my wrestling brain. I don't feel like it's up to where it needs to be," he confessed. "But it's getting there. It's just figuring it out. I'm in a new company, there are a lot of things.
"I'll be honest about this, I've just been in the job that I've been in, you're coming in here and you've got to go, 'what's everybody going to think?' Or, 'do they think I am going to be a direct hotline back to the old company?' Which is not my way, and enough people know me to know that. My word is my word, I've come in here and I work here now."
William Regal has been working closely with both Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley since joining AEW. They're two men he has a lot of history with, and the Englishman admits that he's fortunate for that, with Regal being pleased with the freedom he's received.
"I am fortunate enough that you're in with these fellas," he said on Moxley and Danielson. "Getting told that is why you're coming in is one thing. But actually, 'oh wow, we're not giving that away here but I am just watching what's going on.' It's mind-blowing. I am sat, and I am getting giddy over it again. You couldn't ask for anything better.
"I've got the freedom to just be me again and have my little nuances and little twitches, and ticks, and stuff when I am out there. Or just talking, which I go all over the place with. I have no idea where I am going to go when I go out there, same when I used to work."
Freedom is something that William Regal believes he thrives on. That's because he sees himself as a jazz wrestler, who would just go along with the flow, and he's happy to have that back again.
"Basically, although I am not a jazz music fan, I like listening to it live. But I was a jazz wrestler," he said. "I just used to go out there and go wherever it went. Now, I've got that freedom to do that again, I can be in there with them, and the people around me are the greatest thing I could be involved in. And not overshadow it, not try and takeaway, it's fantastic. I hope that's coming across right, part of the act."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.