AEW star sends a message to WWE legend William Regal about last-ever match
AEW star Claudio Castagnoli has issued a response to William Regal after the legend marked the 10th anniversary of their match in WWE NXT.
Yesterday marked 10 years since the current WWE Vice President of Global Talent Development wrestled the former Cesaro at the NXT TV tapings held on November 21st, 2013. The match aired on December 25th, and was the final match of Regal's 30-year in-ring career. Regal vs. Cesaro went just over 21 minutes, and was the only bout to air on this Christmas Week NXT Rewind episode.
After an emotional moment, Cesaro finished off the former Lord Regal with The Neutralizer, and pinned him for the win. A post-match stare-down ended with a respectful handshake, and that was the end of an in-ring career that included a King of the Ring win in 2008.
Regal took to X earlier this week to remember his retirement match. He praised and thanked his former Blackpool Combat Club stablemate, and everyone else who made his life possible.
Castagnoli has now responded with a thank-you message of his own. He revealed how he felt about the match, and how the former RAW & NXT General Manager has helped his career.
"One of my favorite matches/moments of my career against someone who advanced my career so much, and still keeps me on my toes. Thank you," Castagnoli wrote in response.
WWE had made budget cuts in January 2022, and unfortunately Regal wss on the list, which put an end to his 22-year run with the company. He then signed with AEW in March of that year, and ended up forming the Blackpool Combat Club with Castagnoli, Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Yuta, and Jon Moxley. Regal left AEW that December, and returned to WWE for a behind-the-scenes role so that he can be closer to his son, NXT Superstar Charlie Dempsey.
WWE holds big match with William Regal backstage
While the loss to Claudio Castagnoli on NXT TV was technically the retirement match for William Regal, he did wrestle a top WWE Superstar not long after.
WWE sent a crew to Dubai in June 2014 for a set of tryouts with potential recruits. Sami Zayn was part of the team that made the trip, and he was brought over because he spoke Arabic. It was later revealed that Regal and Zayn had an impromptu match backstage. Regal discussed the match and told during an apeisode of Talk Is Jericho that the action went down in front of around 30 people.
"I had a match with Cesaro, someone I've known for a long time and think the world of. Got to put him over. That wasn't actually my last match, because the following year, 2014, we went to Dubai to do a tryout and Sami Zayn came. At the end of it, pretty much everybody there, none of them had seen pro wrestling."
He also added:
"I had a match with Sami. That was actually my last match, in Dubai in front of about 30 people at the tryout," he said.
The former four-time WWE European Champion said having his last match against Zayn was all he had needed.
What is your favorite William Regal memory? Do you wish he would have stayed in AEW, or are you waiting for his WWE TV return? Sound off in the comments section below!