William Regal Recalls Jon Moxley Joining FCW In 2011, How Moxley’s Promo Skills Got Him Noticed

In a recent interview on Talk Is Jericho, William Regal discussed Jon Moxley joining FCW in 2011, how Moxley’s promo skills got him noticed, and much more. You can read his comments below.

William Regal on Jon Moxley joining FCW in 2011: “That was before I had the opportunity to be involved in hiring anybody. There were two people when I got there that I knew before anybody knew that things were changing WWE and that was with [Triple H]. He asked me to do that job. Nobody else seemed to know. We went to FCW and it was like reckoning day where he is in charge of this now and I’m going to be doing this. There was a showcase. I don’t think the person who was hiring them before would have hired Seth Rollins or Jon Moxley. I get there, and Jon has only just got there. It used to take a month before anybody knew your name because it’s just the way it is. There were so many, maybe 40 or 50 at the time, but it was a small building and it was great. It was fantastic. Steve Keirn had a great thing going there. Norman [Smiley] was there.”

On how Moxley’s promo skills got him noticed: “So they put on a showcase for H and I sat there with him. They all did matches and they all did promos, and then he said, ‘Is there anybody who wants to say anything?’ Now, I’ve seen Jon do a lot of promos. That’s our game, right? I’d heard about how good this fellow was, so I looked him up. I’ve gone, wow. I said, ‘Can we see Jon Moxley?’ The people there at the time were going, ‘Who?’ He was just sitting right in the corner. Now, as soon as this comes out of my mouth, I’m thinking this is day one on the job. I hope he’s as good as I think he is. He got in the ring and he didn’t look like he looks now. He was thin and he had a denim jacket and jeans.”

“He got in the ring, and they went ‘one minute’ and he started. Within 10 seconds there was a relief that came over me that he is that good. In 20 seconds, I looked across at H, and he looked at me and he rubbed his forearm like his hair was standing up on the back of his forearm. It used to take a long while before you could get on TV. The next week, we were doing TV and I was doing the commentating and I’d been doing it for about a year. We did three tapings. He was on the first one doing a promo. He was on the second one doing an enhancement match. He was on the third tape and doing another promo.”

On the importance of promo ability in wrestling: “That’s a lesson hopefully that people take from this is that you need to work on your whole game. Everything in wrestling is a constant thing. But that promo ability can get you noticed instantly. That’s that lesson to take from that. If you’re not working on that, that’s what can get you noticed very quickly. Wrestling got me to America, but the wrestling wasn’t working. I had to work on the talking and the character. That promo stuff can get you noticed instantly.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.