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William Regal Issues Statement On AEW Departure, Thanks Tony Khan

By John Canton • Published 30th December 2022
William Regal

William Regal has issued an official statement about leaving All Elite Wrestling while also delivering messages to Tony Khan and the Blackpool Combat Club.

Over the last month, it was revealed that William Regal is leaving AEW and heading back to WWE. Prior to ROH Final Battle earlier this month, AEW’s Owner Tony Khan confirmed that he had agreed to not exercise the option to extend Regal’s AEW contract at the English star’s request.

When Regal was released by WWE in January 2022, it was a decision made by former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Now that Regal’s good friend and a man he worked closely with to develop NXT, Triple H, is WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Regal wanted to go back to WWE. Since wanted to bring him back, Regal requested that AEW not exercise the option in his contract. AEW granted Regal that request out of respect for him. Regal will also get the chance to work with his son Charlie Dempsey, who works for WWE in NXT.

William Regal debuted in AEW in March 2022 and became an on-screen character that would eventually lead to the Blackpool Combat Club being formed because Regal is from Blackpool, England. However, at Full Gear in November, Regal turned his back on the BCC by helping MJF beat Jon Moxley to become the AEW World Title. MJF would go on to attack Regal two weeks later, which led to Regal being taken out on a stretcher as his AEW departure.

After reports came out about Regal returning to WWE along with a potential Vice President job title, Regal fired back against some of those reports although he didn’t specifically state what he was angry about. After all, Tony Khan did confirm that Regal was going back to WWE, so Regal likely wasn’t denying that.

On his @RealKingRegal Twitter account, William Regal sent out two tweets with statements regarding his AEW departure while noting that December 29th was his last official day as part of AEW. Regal had kind words to say about AEW’s Owner/President/GM Tony Khan. Regal also had a message for the Blackpool Combat Club group that he formed with Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta.

“Yesterday was my last official day with @AEW. I’d like to thank @TonyKhan, Megha and all the hard working crew. Contrary to people who’ve never spoken to me or have their information from people who don’t know me or are trying to make themselves noticed, I had a lovely time working there and had a great time.”

“Lots of talented Wrestlers, and lovely people to work for. To my fellow BCC members, it was a special, albeit brief few months but it cemented our already strong friendship. To everyone there, thank you for welcoming me. Best wishes.”