William Regal has spoken out on his time wit AEW in 2022 and how his leaving of the company came about.
In December 2022, Tony Khan revealed that Regal would be leaving AEW in January 2023. Khan went on to explain that Regal had requested to be released sohe could return to WWE to spend more time with his son Baily, who competes in NXT under Charlie Dempsey.
On television, Regal had turned on the Blackpool Combat Club to align himself with MJF to assist him in winning the AEW World Championship. Due to Regal’s intention to leave the company, plans changed for Regal’s character with him explaining that he turned on the BCC because they wouldn’t have let him leave. His final words to BCC was to “always stay one step ahead and make sure you have eyes in the back of your head. I’m Blackpool Combat Club until the day I die.”
Since his return to WWE, Regal’s role has been different to what Khan said in December. This has led to speculation that Regal wasn’t forthcoming in what he told Khan in order to arrange his release. He is currently the Vice President of Global Talent Development and has reportedly been at every RAW and SmackDown to take notes and then meet with talent about their matches.
On Saturday, Regal took to Twitter to once again clarify what happened with Khan for “anyone who wants to know the truth.” Across several unthreaded tweets, he said that Khan called him on a Saturday at 9 PM and that’s when he learned Khan was at the hospital with this mother (Khan previously revealed that his mother had a stroke before AEW Grand Slam and another one before she was due to be released). Regal says that he told Khan to get off the phone and to take care of his family.
Regal goes on to say they talked about him leaving two weeks later in Jacksonville. “Time and time spent was the reasons for my leaving, no agenda for anything else. I have lived through some serious times in 2018/19 and realize time is all I have.” He stated that he “had a great time in AEW and are thankful for the time I spent there with many of my close friends and the amazing crew. I just want to make that public so people stop misinterpreting it.”
Regal ended his tweets by saying “AEW were very kind to me and I enjoyed my time there. I made the most of my time there and NEVER double crossed anyone.”