Wheeler Yuta says the Blackpool Combat Club will evolve and refocus in the aftermath of William Regal's departure.
The group formed shortly after Regal made his debut at AEW Revolution 2022, where he slapped Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson after their match. With Regal's guidance, the duo established a united front, and Yuta joined the mix in April after he faced Moxley in a brutal match on the April 8 episode of AEW Rampage. He earned the trio's respect after he competed in multiple hard-hitting battles against both Moxley and Danielson. Claudio Castagnoli joined the faction at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, and the stable feuded with the Jericho Appreciation Society for the second half of 2022.
The Blackpool Combat Club endured a major change when Regal turned on Moxley and helped MJF win the AEW World Championship at AEW Full Gear. Tony Khan subsequently confirmed that Regal will leave AEW at the end of 2022, and the veteran sent one final message to the stable on the December 7 episode of AEW Dynamite.
Speaking on the Battleground Podcast, which was recorded before ROH Final Battle, Yuta discussed Regal's departure from AEW. When asked whether this version of the Blackpool Combat Club is coming to an end, Yuta responded by sharing his belief that the stable will evolve and refocus. He noted that that every member of the group is hungry and focused. Yuta stated that, moving forward, they will be more vicious and aggressive.
“I think it’s just gonna evolve a little bit. If anything, it’s refocusing. We’ve been so tied up with the Jericho Appreciation Society that I think we almost forgot what we’re here for and what we’re trying to do, and that’s to set forth our vision of wrestling. It’s to leave our scar and leave our mark on pro wrestling. Now I think that obviously we no longer have the world championship, but I think that we’re more focused and more hungry than ever. We’re starving. We want that. We want these opportunities, we want that gold. Claudio wants the Ring of Honor World Championship, Mox wants to get his world title back. I think that we’re all very focused and we’re all very hungry. So I’m not sure if the Blackpool Combat Club 2.0 is gonna be all that different, except that it might be a little bit more aggressive, a little bit more vicious, and a little bit more focused," Yuta said.
Yuta was then asked whether the group could look for a new mentor to replace Regal, and former ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness was suggested as one possibility. Yuta emphasized that he's not ruling anything out, but he expects the Blackpool Combat Club to move forward with its current four members. He also stated that McGuinness' style would have fit in with the group.
“I think that Nigel’s awesome, but I think that we’re probably gonna wind up doing with the BCC is just taking it forward ourselves. We’ve already learned a lot, and now it’s up to those three to continue to help continue to mentor me. You heard Regal say it himself. So I think that is gonna probably be the four of us going from now on, but we’ll see where it ends. I’m certainly not ruling it out. Like I said, Nigel’s awesome, and I think his style, obviously he’s not active anymore, but his style fit in great with what we were doing. So yeah, I think he’s great. But I think for right now, it’ll be the four of us," Yuta said.
Yuta defeated Daniel Garcia to regain the ROH Pure Championship at ROH Final Battle. More information is available here.
Catch up on our coverage of ROH Final Battle here.
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