This past Sunday, AEW ran one of their finest PPV events yet with AEW Revolution 2022. A show with virtually no weak moments from the start of the Buy-In until the end of the main event – but one moment shined above all else. This was the shock debut of professional wrestling legend William Regal.
Following his release from WWE, where he served as the general manager of their NXT brand for years – fans didn’t know where to expect him next. He got a job offer from Impact Wrestling, but surprised everyone when he strolled out to bring order following the finish of Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson. His debut was a well kept secret – and even AEW announcer Tony Schiavone had no clue it was coming.
Tony Schiavone Didn’t Know This Was Coming
Schiavone would admit as much during the “What Happened When” podcast, where he’d say the following about the AEW debut of William Regal.
“I was absolutely stunned about William Regal. I did not see him prior to that. Then all of a sudden, the live interview I had done with Bryan Danielson a few weeks prior made sense because he mentioned Regal’s name.
I remember in that interview thinking, ‘Wow, that’s some inside baseball talk there. I don’t know if he got permission to say Regal’s name or not.’ It just didn’t dawn on me that Regal would show up.
When he walked in, the fans went bananas chanting his name. It was a great scene. Before I went back and did my thing with Swerve, I ran back real fast and asked one of our producers backstage where Regal was. He said around the corner. Regal was standing there. I went up to him and grabbed him, hugged him, and said, ‘Well you son of a b*tch. You kayfabing son of a b*tch.”
What Is The Role Of Regal In AEW?
Following the finish of Bryan Danielson & Jon Moxley, William Regal would confront two men he previously mentored – and forced them to shake hands. In the weeks building up to this, Danielson & Moxley have been teasing a partnership where they will mould the future of AEW.
Regal could be the glue that holds these two proud men together, and we could see him now have a hand in mentoring the likes of Lee Moriarty & Daniel Garcia. This will be similar to what he was doing in WWE, where he was also one of the head trainers in the WWE Performance Center.
Did you expect to see William Regal make his debut at AEW Revolution? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
SUBSCRIBE NOW: Get TheOvertimer’s Hottest Stories, Breaking News and Special Features in your email, CLICK HERE!
