In this WrestleTalk News, why an AEW star is leaving for WWE, Kevin Owens PROVES MY
CONSPIRACY THEORY and more.
Subscribe and enable notifications to always on not just for daily wrestling news videos,
but also to become an Honorary Oli!
It’s great being an Honorary Oli.
You get to have all the things I, Oli Davis, have.
Like bad blood circulation, a full collection of Sight and Sound magazines from 2002 to
2014, and, of course, this awesome hat.
Just in case you thought you’d skip the week after Survivor Series last week, let
me catch you up on the latest biggest story in wrestling: William Regal, who is entangled
in AEW’s main feud, has left the promotion.
This comes just weeks after Regal turned on his Blackpool Combat Club faction to help
MJF become AEW World Champion.
Then on last Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, Regal was written off TV when MJF then turned
on Regal - prompting AEW to replace their theme music with:
It was a shocking development, not just considering how prominently featured Regal was in AEW
programming - first leading their highest profile faction with the likes of Jon Moxley,
Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castignoli, and then joining their biggest star and world
champion MJF.
It’s not like anyone else in AEW this year has suddenly disappeared following a big angle!
But also because Regal’s contract was said to be three years long, and he’d only signed
in early 2022.
Either there was an early-out clause that nobody knew about, or Regal had actively asked
for his release, which was granted by Tony Khan.
The major wrestling news sites Wrestling Observer, PWInsider and Fightful keep going back and
forth on how long the contract was really for, but there is one consistent fact amongst
their reports: William Regal really is done with AEW, with Fightful writing he is likely
returning to WWE imminently to be with his best buddy Triple H.
The report notes that Regal was considered a “lifer” in WWE, particularly in the
developmental NXT brand, where he excelled in mentoring young talent as the Director
of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting, but he was shockingly released at the beginning
of the year.
The report describes Triple H as been “very unhappy” [QUOTE] with that decision.
At the time, Vince McMahon was on a mission to dismantle the NXT Triple H and William
Regal had built, following its defeat to AEW in the Wednesday Night Wars.
He gave it a multi-coloured midlife crisis, which saw many Triple H guys either leave
on their own terms, or get released like Regal.
But because 2022 has been wrestling’s craziest year since, well, since 2021, Vince McMahon
himself got pushed out of WWE in July.
Now Triple H has replaced Vince as head of creative, Hunter has been bringing back all
his Triple H guys that were released.
And with Regal as Triple H’s right hand man in NXT, the Pat Patterson to his Vince,
and their close real life friendship, The Gentleman Villain was top of that list.
Which is why PWInsider is reporting Regal is “finalizing a new deal with WWE and is
currently expected to officially start after the New Year.”
This is said to be a backstage role.
The motivation for Regal to return to WWE is clearly there.
His best mate is now in charge, it was the job he thought he’d be in for life, he can
focus on his passion of developing new talent.
But there are rumours of an opposite force, not one that pulled Regal towards WWE, but
one that might have pushed him away from AEW…
In the Wrestling Outlaws podcast with Sportskeeda, former WWE star EC3, who worked with Regal
in NXT, spoke about how much Regal loved working in developmental, describing him as “super
comfortable and super proficient.”
But then Carter started to talk about how AEW didn’t use those superpowers of Regal,
and it possibly led to some resentment.
“If people are actually paid money to listen to him, maybe they’ll actually listen to
him.
I don’t think his value was utlised at what he can do in the industry onscreen in AEW,
as he’s probably - I will tell you, here’s my little stooge report - he would probably
be there for advice and those that ask, he’d give them his heart and his soul and every
word he can, but nobody’s really asking.
Hmm…”
Fascinately, a lack of appreciation for Regal’s experience has been mentioned in a separate
report from Justin LaBar, who tweeted: “So what I'm picking up is Regal done w/
AEW, back to WWE soon.
Close w/ HHH but also his wisdom & coaching not appreciated/received the way you would
think by some in AEW locker room who feel they have 6-figure multi year deals & Regal's
advice is behind times or beneath them.”
Before you dismiss this as just more noise in a very crowded story, this is one of the
only details so far that we’ve had confirmed publicly via an active AEW star - as Brian
Pillman Jr. responded: “This is not entirely true.
There are several of us, myself included, who spent multiple hours before TV working
with Regal and learning from him.
Should there have been more?
Maybe, but he and Danielson always had a solid audience around the ring before TV.”
Pillman’s reply at first seems defensive, like he’s shutting down LaBar’s original
report, but the exchange between the two men continued - where Pillman explained he agrees,
just that he was amongst the few people that showed up for Regal’s coaching sessions,
replying: “I know you said “some”, I just didn’t
want the narrative to be that he was just standing there preaching to the air.
Some days there would be 10 guys out there soaking it in, some days it would just be
me and wheeler and Lee.
I didn’t mind when his attention wasn’t spread as thin”
And “I wasn’t trying to argue just wanted to add some context.”
The idea of the AEW roster not valuing an ex-WWE talent’s experience and advice is
not new.
In fact, it was one of the major gripes CM Punk had in his BitchBomb promo following
All Out - where he felt other members of the roster weren’t taking his advice onboard.
It sounds as though Regal’s passion for mentoring new talent would go unfulfilled,
only talking to a handful of wrestlers every Wednesday before Dynamite, as opposed to the
daily wrestling classes of NXT, where recruits were required to show up and learn.
But going back to EC3’s comments on Sportskeeda, Regal might’ve also had an issue with the
very top of the company.
“When he went over to AEW, the word was he said ‘I immediately regret this decision,
there’s very much a maturity issue here with the management.’”
Management is, of course, AEW President Tony Khan.
Do you think AEW have dropped the ball with Regal?
Let me know in the comments down below.
Regal’s departure isn’t the only crisis facing the company, as last Wednesday’s
Dynamite - the promotion’s first TV episode featuring MJF as its world champion - drew
a record low rating, pulling in the lowest 18-49 demographic figure since NXT was moved
off the opposing Wednesday night slot.
WWE, meanwhile, is experiencing a nice-Triple H honeymoon ratings bump - which Stephanie
McMahon recently praised Bray Wyatt’s return for at a corporate summit.
“We were bringing back one of our biggest stars named Bray Wyatt.
We used a multimedia approach and hired a horror writer to come in and really help us
craft this narrative so our fans were engaged.”
But WrestleNomics has no time for your distorting narratives.
Digging into the cold, hard numbers, they’ve found the SmackDown doesn’t make financial
sense for Fox, tweeting: “Smackdown's ad sales almost certainly doesn't
cover the ~$205M/yr Fox pays WWE.
Even adding in a proportionate value for retransmission fees, Smackdown seems to be a loss leader.”
- with an accompanying graph estimating the blue brand only brings in $115 million per
year to Fox in advertising.
Having a big name loss leading product isn’t uncommon, though.
Supermarkets often lose money on multi-pack beer deals, as they know they’ll make money
from their customers as they’ll buy other products, that make the supermarket more money,
once they’re in the store.
The theory is the same for TV.
The monetised views won’t just apply for the broadcast episode.
It’ll make viewers tune in more often, and perhaps stay to watch the programme on next.
Where it does become complicated, though, is in negotiations.
WWE signed a five year, $1 billion deal with Fox back in 2018 - a deal so impressive, it
led to Nick Khan, the agent who brokered it, becoming the co-CEO of WWE right now.
That deal expires in October 2024, though - and with TV money becoming ever restricted
in the face of streaming competition and advertising budgets going down in a potential recession,
Fox have provable numbers to demand a lower price for WWE programming.
Like William Regal, network money is just another precious resource in the WWE vs AEW
war.
And going by a new interview on the After the Bell podcast, WWE might have picked its
next battle.
Speaking on the WWE-produced podcast, meaning anything said there would’ve been cleared
by higher-ups, Kevin Owens spoke about his love for independent wrestling, and said him
getting to do a date here and there “feels like more of a possibility than ever.”
This follows WWE talents Karl Anderson and Shinsuke Nakamura being allowed to wrestle
for New Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH, respectively, next month.
I’ve long been saying that Triple H will start to pick apart any unique offering that
AEW has, like letting their wrestlers work in Japan or on independent shows.
It’s a smart strategy for undermining AEW’s special appeal in the minds of hardcore wrestling
fans, and it provides another benefit for talent weighing up offers from both companies.
But don’t just take my word for it, take my word for it - and watch my conspiracy theory
video for how WWE is screwing with AEW, and how Triple H might have actually caused Punk’s
exit…