During an interview with Metro UK, where topics ran the gamut from what WWE tryouts are like, to his travel schedule, to him refusing to name exactly which independent stars the WWE is currently targeting, William Regal was asked a difficult question:
If you had to pick one wrestler who's come through NXT that you're most proud of, who would it be?
This was his answer:
"I don’t really like singling anyone out, but Sasha Banks. I’ve known her since she was 18, and the previous people that were doing what I’m doing now wouldn’t even give her the time of day.
When I was asked by Triple H to be part of that team, of which there is nobody still here who was in the team at the time, I kept asking to bring her in, to which people replied ‘oh no, there is nothing in her, she’s useless.’
Sasha was the first person I went to bat for, and her development is a great thing to see."
It's odd to think how his predecessors in the NXT talent development role viewed Sasha Banks as "useless," but it might be even weirder to think that William Regal came up with the idea for the Bayley character without having the right performer to play it.
"I had the idea for the (Bayley) character but I didn’t have anyone to fill the role.
I saw there was an open market because everything was pushed towards young boys, but we had nothing for young girls. That was a role that could be filled, and finding Bayley helped.
That was one of the first tryouts we did in LA. Seeing her and going ‘she’s the perfect person for that role’.
It’s not an act with her, it’s real. We just had to make it right. She created the character along with Dusty Rhodes, but I had the idea for her."
You can read the entire interview at this link.
