Why WWE Didn't Sign A 19-Year-Old MJF (According To William Regal)
William Regal unpacks WWE's decision to sign other talents over a teenage MJF.
William Regal overlooking MJF as a potential WWE hire at 19 years old has formed part of the current AEW star's ongoing feud with Regal's stablemate, Jon Moxley, on weekly television. Now, the Englishman has unpacked why WWE opted to sign other talents instead of MJF despite the AEW World Title contender seemingly impressing during a tryout seven years ago.
On his Gentleman Villain podcast, Regal, whose old role in WWE involved talent scouting and recruitment, explained the process that went into deciding which wrestlers the promotion would sign to supplement homegrown NXT talent (h/t WrestleTalk):-
“NXT was a big part of the (WWE) Network and some people have said ‘you took people from here, you took people from there.’ Yeah, they were the ones who made a name for themselves and they are more valuable.”
Continuing, Regal, who was likely at least partially working, spoke of the benefits of recruiting talent with established fanbases:-
“And, anyone who has half got a brain who works in this industry will understand that if (the wrestlers have) already got a fan base and that fan base joins (them in WWE), and they’re on the Network and they’re on NXT and they bring in a 1,000 people that’s $10,000 per month that they’re bringing in.”
According to the Blackpool Combat Club's doyen, a 19-year-old MJF hadn't yet built that kind of following. And, in his most kayfabe-heavy comments, Regal suggested that no matter what he has going on with the company, MJF should now be "kissing the feet" of the people who started AEW:-
“A 19 year old, mate, you haven’t got a following yet, I can see all these skills, but… fortunately for him, whatever nonsense he’s done with AEW, he should be kissing the feet of Tony Khan, Chris Jericho, The Bucks, Kenny Omega and Cody. He should be down, showering them with praise straight away because if this company hadn’t opened up, he probably wouldn’t have been hired by WWE for another year or two.”
MJF will challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear 2022 (Saturday, 19 November). Last week's Dynamite featured an acclaimed in-ring segment featuring Regal and MJF, drawing on the situation outlined by Regal above, ultimately prompting MJF to decide to challenge Moxley at the pay-per-view.