William Regal Addresses His Email to MJF, Why He Wasn’t Hired by WWE

– During the latest edition of his Gentleman Villain podcast, William Regal addressed the highly praised promo segment he had with MJF last week on AEW Dynamite. Regal addressed the email MJF spoke about during the segment when Regal still worked for WWE after MJF had a tryout when he was 19 years old. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

William Regal on his email to MJF: “After two emails, I told him, ‘You’re 19, go make a name for yourself. I’ve spent a lot of time telling him all these things he needed to work on,’ and being a really good microphone guy is one of them, but he was already good. That’s how he came onto my radar. When he sent me the third email, which was basically the same thing I had already seen. Everyone I’ve ever met, I’ve done stuff for. I’ve already told the lad, ‘send me an email.’ I’ve told him twice. Sending me another one, when I have 200 or more people trying to get a job, and the people I’m already dealing with, he’s just taking up my time now. He even said that. He sent me two emails, I told him not to send any more, and he sent another one. Why send me another one? He went out, did all the things that whoever has taught him, and the time he’s spent with me, did all that and got himself into position. That’s what I wanted, but he sent me a third one, on a day where I was probably 15 emails in for other people that I wish I could have gotten an opportunity for when I’ve already gotten him an opportunity, it’s just going to take awhile, and he needs to go out and make a name for himself.”

Regal on what he told him: “What I said was real. If all it took was for you to get an extra email, that I told you not to send me, to get you fired up to be this good as what you’re doing, job done. It’s actually sad that you let that be a problem for seven years. He doesn’t remember this, it’s common knowledge now. Not long after we met, I had two bleeds on the brain and WWE kept me completely isolated and stopped emails from coming in, being incredibly brilliant to me because I was having treatment. I was having amnesia and two bleeds on the brain. They stopped all emails coming to me. There were a lot of people, Ricky Starks being one of them. Sammy Guevara being another. That sort of went on the missing list for a long time. You don’t hear them moaning about me. He’s made it into something else.”

Regal on why MJF is an “entitled prick”: “How come he’s the only person in the entire industry who has some gripe against me about that? Perhaps he’s just a prick. Perhaps he’s just an entitled prick who needs to grow up a bit. That’s what he needs. He’s 26. If he’s still whining and moaning about that, good for him. Good for him when he gets in the ring with someone like Jon Moxley, who has never acted entitled and has grown up very hard. Good for him. He’s going to get battered. Not just physically but mentally. Jon Moxley is ahead of the game.”

Regal on WWE not signing MJF: “NXT was a big part of the Network. Some people have said, ‘you just took people for here and there.’ Yeah, they were the ones the Adam Coles, Kevin Steens, Sami Zayns, Kyle O’Reillys, Fergal Devitts, made a name for themselves and they are more valuable. One thing that everyone understands is, if they already have a fanbase, and that fanbase joins them and they are on the Network and NXT and bring in 1,000 people, that’s $10,000 a month. This is business sense. At 19, you haven’t got a following. Fortunately for him, this is another thing, whatever nonsense he’s done with AEW, he should be kissing the feet of Tony Khan and anybody who started. Chris Jericho, the Bucks, Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, he should be down showering them with praise night and day. They started a company that he got hired in straight away because of what he’s been doing in another company. If [AEW] hadn’t started up, he probably still wouldn’t have gotten hired in WWE straight away, it would have been a year or two and he wouldn’t be in this position now. Perhaps he’s just an asshole. No matter how talented he is, has he got the mental capacity to handle all of it? We’ve seen how he reacts over an email.”

On what could happen to MJF as world champion: “If an email, I don’t care what age he was, if one email sent him off the deep end, what’s he going to be like when he’s the World Champion and everyone in that locker room is wanting his spot? If he gets through that, great. If he can beat Jon Moxley, that’s going to prove something to me, I don’t care how he does it. If he can last, not just become World Champion, but stay World Champion, I’ve seen it send a lot of people off the deep end because they can’t handle it.”

William Regal on the reactions to the MJF promo: “As much as that was, as far as I’m concerned, it was another day at work and it turned into…everyone has their own interpretation as to what they think it was. It is a nice thing, as a professional, to know that it’s gripping television or it’s got the audience. This was a different thing all together. What was going on between us, it’s another level of me as a professional where you know you’re taking your audience on a ride. On top of the fact that I was laughing because I was reading him, I’m a bit joyous on how good he was, how incredibly good he was because he was taking the audience and they were cheering him and booing me, which he managed to do. The reason that made me think a little differently about the audience, maybe they are a little more entitled, a different audience. It took me, as a professional, just one line to get them laughing and turning around. As a professional, that’s something great, and he has that ability. That’s how good he is. Whatever it is, if it was my email that fired him up. To take them on that kind of rollercoaster and to do that verbally and make them feel so much and make them love you and hate you, he’s mastered that. Well, he hasn’t, because he’ll never master it, but he’s incredible at what he’s doing. You can never master anything. If he keeps on that path, imagine what he’s going to be like in a few years. Same with his wrestling.”

As noted, MJF is set to appear on tomorrow night’s edition of AEW Dynamite. He’s also scheduled to challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship next month at Full Gear. You can also check out the video of the MJF and William Regal AEW Dynamite segment below: