Though it feels like William Regal has been out of AEW for months, as his request not to have his contract renewed has been one of the hottest stories in wrestling this year, His Lordship was still technically an employee of Tony Khan's company until December 29th, even if he wasn't a featured part of the company's televised output.
Taking to Twitter on the penultimate day of the 2022 calendar year, Regal officially thanked the AEW Galaxy for having him as a member, with a special tip of the cap going to his buddies in the Blackpool Combat Club.
“Yesterday was my last official day with AEW,” Regal said. “I’d like to thank Tony Khan, Megha, and all the hard working crew. Contrary to people who’ve never spoken to me or have their information from people who don’t know me or are trying to make themselves noticed, I had a lovely time working there and had a great time. Lots of talented Wrestlers, and lovely people to work for. To my fellow BCC members, it was a special, albeit brief few months, but it cemented our already strong friendship. To everyone there, thank you for welcoming me. Best wishes.”
While Bryan Danielson may not want to believe it, as he still holds Regal in special regard, it looks like all of the reporting is true, much of the speculation has been confirmed, and the bits of innuendo that were up in the air have been resolved, as if Regal's previous comments on not believing everything you read on social media didn't do that already. Goodbye Mr.Regal, good luck back in WWE.
Yesterday was my last official day with @AEW. I’d like to thank @TonyKhan, Megha and all the hard working crew. Contrary to people who’ve never spoken to me or have their information from people who don’t know me or are trying to make themselves noticed,I had a lovely time..(1/2)
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) December 30, 2022
William Regal finally explains his AEW commentary flirtations with Excaliber.
The absence of Regal from AEW television will certainly be noticeable on the mic, around the ring, and in backstage promos, but the one area fans will miss the “Gentleman Villian” most is on commentary, where he got downright PG-13 with the promotion's lead announcer, Excaliber.
Fortunately, Regal was a guest at an Inside the Ropes live event earlier this year and finally let the cat out of the bag on why he decided to flirt so frequently with the “Man in the Mask.”
“What happened, the first week or whatever, me just being me, not a thought, mentioned something to Excalibur, and it went from there,” Regal said via Fightful. “At the time, I was watching ‘Brassic', and everybody’s calling everybody sweetheart in the house on that show, and I thought, ‘Oh, l like that.’ I’ve always called people Sunshine and flower and petal, and northern sayings. So I thought, ‘Ah.’ So I did it once, and I’ve never once put any thought for the slightest bit in what I’m gonna say. If you actually watched, I had no idea what I was gonna say, and a second [later], and then I went, ‘Blah blah blah,' which I’ve done every single week, and it’s become a thing now. I’ve left it alone for a few weeks because I felt the matches were too serious to do it. But don’t keep expecting it because I don’t put any thought into it.”
Having a good time appears to have been the MO of Lord Regal in AEW, as he called his time with the Blackpool Combat Club some of the best times of his life.
“Am I having the time of my life? Yes, I am,” Regal said. “I’m having the time of my life because I get on with all the people that are in that group, and it’s a real thing. We are there training with Wheeler at 10 o’clock. I’m not messing about with that because me and Bryan are there, and Claudio started coming out. Jon turns up when Jon wants, but that’s why I like him. He has his role in our group, but when he comes backstage, and he’ll put things into a perspective to me and Wheeler after he’s come out of the ring because he’s firing on all cylinders. I go, ‘That’s stuff I wouldn’t know because he’s lived a different life to me.’ Now all of a sudden there’s a group of other people that are listening because we’re trying to just make this whatever it is. Basically, it’s no different than how NXT started. Let’s just try to make everybody as good as they can be, and that’s what it is. [I] just happened to be able to do all this stuff that I do and just say stupid stuff. Those announcers have a brutal job of just calling stuff. If I can go out and make Excalibur smile for 20 seconds, he’s got all these things that he’s got to get out there and word perfect. I want to just go out, just lighten the load. If I see him smile through that or the other two laugh or whatever, good. If I’ve took five seconds of them and make them not go [frustrated sound], that’s no different than me helping you or teaching a wrestler how to do something a certain way. I’m doing my bit to lighten the load a little bit. That’s why I do it.”
Oh Lord Regal, though your time in AEW may be over, the memories will remain forever.
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