William Regal spent some time on the latest episode of his official “Gentleman Villain” podcast talking about the recent critically-acclaimed AEW Dynamite television promo segment with MJF.
During the show, the pro wrestling legend spoke at length about the segment itself, MJF not being signed by WWE when he was 19, whether he could handle being world champion and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the episode where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On recalling an email exchange with MJF years ago: “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.”
On WWE not signing MJF when he was 19: “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 whether or not he thinks MJF could handle being 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.”
On why he was smiling during the promo exchange with MJF: “This week, I was close to him. I met him when he was younger. I haven’t had anything to do with him until the last few weeks. He was kept away from me, for obvious reasons. People who know me well know that I can read people quicker than they wish I could. That’s another reason why I was smiling a lot this week. I was watching him blow his top in a high-pressure situation. It made for good TV, now he’s gotta face Jon Moxley. I got him screaming and shouting. The more I was smiling in his face, the worse he was getting. The more the story came out, he could have happily told me the story, but I got to him. I read him.”
Check out the complete episode of the Gentleman Villain with William Regal podcast by visiting Patreon.com. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
