William Regal Explains Why WWE Signed Other Talents Instead Of MJF

AEW

MJF and William Regal’s onscreen relationship is fractured, to say the least, with the story sitting somewhere between fiction and reality.

The source of the fiction, however, isn’t necessarily the creation of the writers in AEW, but something that MJF has come up with himself, a version of reality where he was cast aside by William Regal when Regal worked for WWE and didn’t hire the 19-year-old wrestling hopeful.

Speaking about the difficulty of working with such a young talent, Regal made a pertinent point about the rise of WWE NXT and how attracting the right wrestlers to that product at the right time was important to its ongoing success.

He would say, on the Gentlemen Villain podcast, that:

“NXT was a big part of the (WWE) Network and some people have said ‘you took people from here, you took people from there.’ Yeah, they were the ones who made a name for themselves and they are more valuable.”

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The use of these valuable names to work amongst the ‘homegrown’ wrestlers elevated the product for everyone and gives a reason for a fanbase to be engaged by said product.

It’s this fanbase, and growing it, that Regal knew was necessary to the importance of NXT to the corporate side of WWE.

Regal would explain that:

“And, anyone who has half got a brain who works in this industry will understand that if (the wrestlers have) already got a fan base and that fan base joins (them in WWE), and they’re on the Network and they’re on NXT and they bring in a 1,000 people that’s $10,000 per month that they’re bringing in.”

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This leads us to the seemingly thorny issue of why WWE wouldn’t have put its resources behind a young MJF at that point in his career and why he should be thankful for AEW, with Regal explaining:

“A 19 year old, mate, you haven’t got a following yet, I can see all these skills, but… fortunately for him, whatever nonsense he’s done with AEW, he should be kissing the feet of Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, The Bucks, Kenny Omega and Cody. He should be down, showering them with praise straight away because if this company hadn’t opened up, he probably wouldn’t have been hired by WWE for another year or two.”

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• AEW
• nxt
• mjf
• william regal

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