William Regal describes why Bryan Danielson is the wrestler he wished he could be.
Regal and Danielson have had a close relationship for many years, as the veteran has been a mentor to the latter, dating back to the early days of his career. Regal previously called Danielson a perfect wrestler, and he has also stated that "The American Dragon" is the wrestler he wished he could be.
In an interview with Kenny McIntosh for ITR Magazine, Regal was asked to elaborate on these comments. He initially responded by explaining that Danielson doesn't have any bad habits. Regal looked back on the day he met Danielson and noted that, even then, the young wrestler has at a different stage compared to where he had been. Regal also briefly stated that Danielson didn't struggle with addiction the way he did.
“Because he’s got no bad habits, and there have been times when he’s had problems injury-wise, and he’s been out, but he’s overcome it all. I’ve got to where I’ve got to by, that’s what I was like when I was younger. I was never as good as him when I first met him when he was, in 2000, he was 19 or 20. First night I watched him, I’m like, ‘Wow, he’s in a different league to what I was at this stage of the game. I wanted to be a wrestler as good as him, but I wasn’t built for it. I wanted to be a junior heavyweight like Rollerball Rocco and Fit Finlay, but I grew to 6’3", and I didn’t have the athletic ability, so I went the traditional British heavyweight route, and that changed over time with different things, but I had to grow into that. Bryan has got no kind of, whatever that I had going on, and things that have set me on the wrong path. It’s 22 years since I did any of that, and it seems to follow me around. It affected my health later on, and different things at that. So there’s no downside to him," Regal said.
Regal then described how he has followed a set of standards throughout his wrestling career, and he can see that Danielson has remained faithful to a similar approach. He stated that Danielson has gotten to where he is today by being remarkably talented, whereas others have had to do "certain things" to elevate their position.
"I set a set of standards out for myself once I was 18, and I was starting to figure this out, and I’ve never broken them. I don’t want to get too deep into that, but it’s why people look at me the way I am now. I’m never gonna say ‘yes’ when the answer’s ‘no’. It’s one of the reasons why I had the job I had before [at WWE], but it’s also maybe one of the reasons I don’t have it now. But I’m quite happy understanding my role in wrestling. Sometimes, you’ve gotta do things to bother people and do whatever to get to a high position. That’s in any form of entertainment or sports. Bryan, since I’ve met him, has stayed polite, kind, helpful, done everything right, and has never broken. He has the same kind of set of standards as me. He’s got to where he got to on his talent and his way of doing it without doing any… I mentioned Chris Jericho before. Chris has wrote in his books how he had to do certain things to get to the position he got to. There’s nothing wrong with that. You have to do that. That’s not me. I’m just quite happy doing, ‘What do you need? Yes, thank you very much.’ Bryan’s never done any of that. He never had to, and got to where he got to. So that’s what I mean when I say he’s the wrestler [I wished I could be] because he’s better than I ever was," Regal said.
Additionally, Regal noted that Danielson had a better brain for the sport, and he emphasized that "The American Dragon" can still look himself in the mirror because he has stayed true to himself.
Regal reunited wirh Danielson when he signed with AEW and debuted at AEW Revolution 2022. They were founding members of the Blackpool Combat Club alongside Jon Moxley, and the stable later added Wheeler Yuta and Claudio Castagnoli. Regal turned on the group by helping MJF beat Moxley and win the AEW World Championship at AEW Full Gear 2022. MJF then betrayed Regal and attacked him to conclude their brief alliance.
AEW President Tony Khan subsequently confirmed that Regal asked the company not to renew his contract so he could return to WWE. More information is available here.
Regal is reportedly set to start with WWE in the first week of January.
Ricky Starks recently commented on Regal's departure from AEW. Click here to see what he had to say.
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