"How did I pull this off?" William Regal talks about how he put together the WWE UK Tournament.
William Regal recently spoke about how the WWE UK Championship Tournament was put together in a matter of days. He also stated that he brought in 16 wrestlers to take part in the elimination-style tournament.
Appearing on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, the veteran British wrestler talked about many things, one being how many of the tournaments WWE organized were put together in very short time spans. He then went on to say that he was asked to bring in 16 wrestlers to participate in the UK Tournament 2 days before the announcement, and that he was in Australia at the time.
“I was in Australia, I get a call, ‘Can you fly back – you cut the tour short, fly back, we’re announcing it in two days, we’re announcing the tournament’ – this is December in Australia – ‘We’re announcing the tournament in two days at the O2, can you get 16 British wrestlers, in two days, we’re gonna announce this tournament, and it’s gonna happen in January in Blackpool’. And I’m like, ‘Okay’." said Regal. (H/T WrestleTalk)
The tournament to be crowned the inaugural WWE UK Champion was announced in December 2016. It was held at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, Lancashire, England on 14 and 15 January 2017.
The 2008 King of the Ring winner then talked about watching the tournament on TV in his hospital room, as he was admitted for chest pains in January 2017. He remembers texting Triple H during the tournament itself.
The finale saw Tyler Bate take on Pete Dunne (now known as Butch) with Bate winning to become the first WWE UK Champion. Off the back of this tournament, WWE launched NXT UK in October 2017.
Today's @TalkIsJericho is with new @AEW signing @RealKingRegal, who is discussing how he required extremely rare heart surgery to beat death. Additionally, he tells @IAmJericho all about working in NXT scouting talent, and holding tryouts. webisjericho.com/talk-is-jerich…
William Regal made his AEW debut on Revolution
I have experience many wonderful moments in my time in @AEW but this! THIS is one of the best ever. I love @RealKingRegal I cannot express how much he means to me. https://t.co/KKaJXOWwBt
William Regal made his debut for AEW at the Revolution pay-per-view on March 6. He came to the ring after the match between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson. As the two wrestlers were brawling after Moxley's win, Regal walked out and slapped some sense into the both of them.
Regal then appeared on the following week's episode of AEW Dynamite and introduced the two as a team. He also thanked the fans in a live interview with Tony Schiavone.
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