When William Regal slid a pair of brass knuckles to MJF during the pivotal moment of his main event match with Jon Moxley during Full Gear, it changed the tenor of AEW forever. Suddenly, the Blackpool Combat Club was forever changed, as was the relationship fans had with MJF, who was in the middle of a rapidly emerging “Stone Cold” Steve Austin-style anti-hero run against AEW's authority figure, Tony Khan, and Regal's status as a lovably hard-edged babyface manager who loved nothing more than to flirt on commentary with Excalibur was forever wiped away. Gone was the Gentleman the fans had come to love, and in his place was nothing but The Villian, a character he has played exceptionally well throughout his career but barely in AEW.

So naturally, when Regal opened AEW's first episode of Dynamite post-Full Gear with a microphone in the middle of the ring, it drew an unusual reaction. Some fans wanted to boo Regal for his villainous ways, others wanted to cheer for CM Punk, and others still wanted to antagonize the members of The Elite despite not even being in the ring. Fortunately, after Regal rambled on for a few minutes and informed fans that their champion, MJF, was not going to be in Chicago due to a previous commitment to film a movie – presumably Iron Claw for A24 – before being interrupted by none other than CM Punk Jon Moxley, who hit the ring ready to kill his former manager.

Jon Moxley wants William Regal gone from AEW.

When Moxley took the ring opposite Regal, he was out for blood; he didn't request a mic, didn't mosey his way through the crowd to “Wild Thing,” and didn't even really interact with the crowd, period, instead locked in like a predator in the middle of a hunt. He stepped through the ropes, stared down Regal, and inched forward with a fierce intensity.

Needless to say, things were looking bleak for Regal, who, as Excalibur said on commentary, has a brain bleed and other medical issues, but before he could be decimated by one of the scariest dudes on the AEW roster, who but Bryan Danielson emerged from the back to plead for leniency. Sure, what Regal did was horrible, but, as Danielson explained, the “Gentleman Villian” taught him how to have a good relationship with his father, who he was able to reconnect with before his death. This, unfortunately, didn't play well with Moxley; who knows, maybe Mox is one of the lucky son of a guns with an actually good relationship with his father – sorry Austin and Colton – but his push persisted and “The American Dragon” had to literally slap his faction mate to slow him down.

When Moxley actually got the mic and was afforded a chance to address his former mentor once and for all, Moxley had a simple message for Regal: Run.

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Jon Moxley, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins in front of the WrestleMania 40 logo.

Matty Breisch ·

Dave Meltzer with a text bubble reading "Those Triple H comments, they aged like milk" with Will Ospreay on his left and Triple H on his right with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Will Ospreay next to Triple H with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“I want you to run,” Moxley said. “Run far away, as far away as you can, and you never, ever come back. Right now, walk and keep on walking.”

Oh snap, was Disco Inferno right? Is Regal really planning on leaving AEW to return to WWE either to work with his son, Charlie Dempsey, or to revive his old gimmick in NXT? Or will Regal return next week with the biggest star in the promotion, MJF, by his side? Either way, it looks like the times are a-changin' in AEW.