William Regal Says THIS WWE Star Is "The Perfect Heavyweight Lion"
AEW man heaps lavish praise on WWE heavyweight star.
All Elite Wrestling's William Regal is a huge proponent of WWE star Gunther.
Regal showered the Intercontinental Champion withlavish praise during a recent episode of his Gentleman Villain podcast, calling the burly Austrian "the perfect heavyweight lion." Understanding his limitations is key to this, Regal believes, with the Blackpool Combat Club leader adding that the former WALTER has "figured himself out" in recent years, having not quite put the pieces together at the time of his first tryout.
Said the 54-year-old of how Gunther presents himself (h/t Fightful):-
“He knows what he is and he sticks to what he does best. He doesn't expose anything that he doesn't know. He knows exactly what to do that's got him to where he got to. He had a long time to figure it out.”
Continuing, Regal spoke of his experience working with British wrestling legend Terry Rudge, how this informed his pro wrestling philosophy, and how that knowledge ties into his thoughts on Gunther:-
“I remember him having a tryout and he hadn't figured himself out at the time. once he figured it out — WALTER, now Gunther, he is the perfect heavyweight lion. A person that was a huge influence on my wrestling style, and in helping me, was my favorite wrestler to wrestle. I mentioned his name on there before called Terry Rudge. Terry Rudge taught me in my early 20s a lot of things about the way I wrestled and the way he thought — he had ideas about how wrestling should be,” said Regal. “Terry taught me that all wrestlers should wrestle like a big cat. Lightweights should be like a cheetah, middleweights should be like a puma, and light heavyweights should be like a tiger or a panther. Heavyweights should wrestle like either a lion, a tiger, or a cross between the two. If you think of the way a wrestler moves, the way he attacks, and the way — if you're a good wrestler, it makes perfect sense."
The "big cat" Gunther represents is, of course, the aforementioned lion:-
“Well Gunther, as you say, has perfected being a perfect lion. He knows exactly how to be a lion… If you just think about the way a lion is, It'll just stalk, prowl up and down, will swat if it has to, and when it has to sprint, it spreads and it kills, and if you look at him like that, you know, he’s figured out his perfect role. How to be a perfect lion. That's what a really good heavyweight should be."
Gunther has been a main roster success story since transitioning from NXT to SmackDown in April. Managed by former Imperium stablemate Ludwig Kaiser (FKA Marcel Barthel), the 34-year-old is undefeated in seven blue brand matches - including the IC Title win (10 June) and subsequent rematch (24 June) with Ricochet.
AEW recruited Regal shortly after WWE let him go in early 2022, with the legend making his debut at Revolution on 6 March.