As one of the best wrestlers to never be world champion, William Regal in NXT was a perfect fit.
The English travelled the world in his quest to become a professional wrestler and honed his craft so well that he earned a shot in the United States with WWE and WCW.
Drug issues plagued his time with the company although he did still manage a number of honours including winning the Intercontinental Championship and the King of the Ring during his time in WWE.
He is one of the best British wrestlers of all time and helped train the young stars of tomorrow as one of the head trainers in NXT. William Regal was a chief scout in NXT and also helped train the up and coming wrestlers in WWE. A number of stars spoke out about his firing in 2022 and gave thanks to his teachings, which he is now giving out in AEW which he was signed for in February 2022.
Before he signed for AEW, William Regal spotted a number of AEW stars on the indies before they were famous. William Regal wanted to sign these wrestlers for NXT but was shot down by the higher ups. His instincts proved correct as they all become great talents in AEW.
WWE Wanted Ricky Starks To Sign For NXT
Alex McCarthy of TalkSport claimed on Twitter that he was informed by William Regal that he wanted to sign three now-AEW stars to the NXT roster during his time with WWE. William Regal was one of the head coaches in NXT as well as NXT’s chief scout. He would regularly attend indie matches and scout talent for the WWE, and spotted AEW talents Ricky Starks, Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta as potential signings for the promotion.
The three were not given contracts, however, as WWE pivoted instead into the failure that was NXT 2.0. They moved away from signing independent wrestlers and instead signed athletes they could train to be wrestlers, hoping for success like they did in 2002 with Batista, Brock Lesnar and John Cena.
McCarthy Tweeted “William Regal told me he was planning to sign Daniel Garcia, Ricky Starks and Wheeler Yuta to NXT before WWE “changed directive”.
WWE will be kicking themselves over missing out on three of AEW’s top young stars. William Regal in NXT had a great eye for talent, spotting the wrestlers before they broke out on the big stage in AEW.
In particular Wheeler Yuta, who was turned down by NXT after a try out, has impressed the wrestling world. He is part of the Blackpool Combat Club with Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and William Regal and will see it as a sign of good luck that he was turned down by William Regal’s NXT.
Ricky Starks and Daniel Garcia have also impressed in AEW. Garcia is teaming with the legendary Chris Jericho as part of the Jericho Appreciation Society whilst Starks is the number one contender for the AEW Championship and will wrestle MJF at Winter Is Coming.
Wheeler Yuta joined up with fellow BCC members and learnt more from William Regal in the ring than he ever could inside the NXT performance centre. William Regal in NXT had an eye for talent but his real strength has been teaching talent in the ring, one slap at a time.
All three men have gone on to great things in AEW. Ricky Starks vs MJF is set to take place at AEW Winter Is Coming, giving him his first chance at winning the AEW Championship in his three years with the promotion.
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