On the October 18 episode of AEW Dynamite, William Regal and MJF engaged in a promo battle where they told their side of the story regarding MJF trying to get signed by WWE when he was 19.
MJF was upset that Regal had ignored an email after Regal asked him to send monthly emails updating him on his progress. MJF said that Regal ignoring his email fueled him throughout his career as he wanted to prove Regal wrong. Regal fired back, saying he had seen enough, told MJF what he needed to work on, and to stop emailing him. He also said if MJF got that upset by an email, then he was lucky and had it easy.
On the latest episode of The Gentleman Villain, Regal gave more to the story.
"After two emails, I told him, 'You're 19, go make a name for yourself. I've spent a lot of time telling him all these things he needed to work on,' and being a really good microphone guy is one of them, but he was already good. That's how he came onto my radar. When he sent me the third email, which was basically the same thing I had already seen. Everyone I've ever met, I've done stuff for. I've already told the lad, 'send me an email.' I've told him twice. Sending me another one, when I have 200 or more people trying to get a job, and the people I'm already dealing with, he's just taking up my time now. He even said that. He sent me two emails, I told him not to send any more, and he sent another one. Why send me another one? He went out, did all the things that whoever has taught him, and the time he's spent with me, did all that and got himself into position. That's what I wanted, but he sent me a third one, on a day where I was probably 15 emails in for other people that I wish I could have gotten an opportunity for when I've already gotten him an opportunity, it's just going to take awhile, and he needs to go out and make a name for himself," said Regal.
He continued, "What I said was real. If all it took was for you to get an extra email, that I told you not to send me, to get you fired up to be this good as what you're doing, job done. It's actually sad that you let that be a problem for seven years. He doesn't remember this, it's common knowledge now. Not long after we met, I had two bleeds on the brain and WWE kept me completely isolated and stopped emails from coming in, being incredibly brilliant to me because I was having treatment. I was having amnesia and two bleeds on the brain. They stopped all emails coming to me. There were a lot of people, Ricky Starks being one of them. Sammy Guevara being another. That sort of went on the missing list for a long time. You don't hear them moaning about me. He's made it into something else."
Regal previously opened up about his health issues, which began to be serious at the end of 2018 and he was told he had 24 hours to live.
"How come he's the only person in the entire industry who has some gripe against me about that? Perhaps he's just a prick. Perhaps he's just an entitled prick who needs to grow up a bit. That's what he needs. He's 26. If he's still whining and moaning about that, good for him. Good for him when he gets in the ring with someone like Jon Moxley, who has never acted entitled and has grown up very hard. Good for him. He's going to get battered. Not just physically but mentally. Jon Moxley is ahead of the game," said Regal before he praised Moxley for being where he's at.
Regal circled back to MJF not being signed by WWE at age 19, explaining part of the process and telling MJF that he should be thankful to those who gave him the opportunity that they did.
"NXT was a big part of the Network. Some people have said, 'you just took people for here and there.' Yeah, they were the ones the Adam Coles, Kevin Steens, Sami Zayns, Kyle O'Reillys, Fergal Devitts, made a name for themselves and they are more valuable. One thing that everyone understands is, if they already have a fanbase, and that fanbase joins them and they are on the Network and NXT and bring in 1,000 people, that's $10,000 a month. This is business sense. At 19, you haven't got a following. Fortunately for him, this is another thing, whatever nonsense he's done with AEW, he should be kissing the feet of Tony Khan and anybody who started. Chris Jericho, the Bucks, Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, he should be down showering them with praise night and day. They started a company that he got hired in straight away because of what he's been doing in another company. If [AEW] hadn't started up, he probably still wouldn't have gotten hired in WWE straight away, it would have been a year or two and he wouldn't be in this position now. Perhaps he's just an asshole. No matter how talented he is, has he got the mental capacity to handle all of it? We've seen how he reacts over an email," he said.
Regal said he would be fine if MJF defeated Moxley to win the AEW World Title at AEW Full Gear. He wouldn't be happy because it meant Moxley lost, but he would be happy that MJF proved himself.
He did warn MJF that there would be even more pressure should he win the title.
"If an email, I don't care what age he was, if one email sent him off the deep end, what's he going to be like when he's the World Champion and everyone in that locker room is wanting his spot? If he gets through that, great. If he can beat Jon Moxley, that's going to prove something to me, I don't care how he does it. If he can last, not just become World Champion, but stay World Champion, I've seen it send a lot of people off the deep end because they can't handle it," he said.
In discussing the promo from Tuesday's AEW Dynamite, Regal explained why he was smiling while MJF spoke.
"This week, I was close to him. I met him when he was younger. I haven't had anything to do with him until the last few weeks. He was kept away from me, for obvious reasons. People who know me well know that I can read people quicker than they wish I could. That's another reason why I was smiling a lot this week. I was watching him blow his top in a high-pressure situation. It made for good TV, now he's gotta face Jon Moxley. I got him screaming and shouting. The more I was smiling in his face, the worse he was getting. The more the story came out, he could have happily told me the story, but I got to him. I read him," said Regal.
He noted that he spoke with Moxley about MJF breaking over an email and how he's rattled.
"He flipped out over an email. I'm a 54-year-old man and I'm game. I'm game for him. I turned my back on him. You wanna be the devil? Knock me out. I would have gone down smiling if he would have hit me. He didn't. He's also conflicted," he said.
Speaking on the actual promo segment and the crowd reactions, Regal said, "As much as that was, as far as I'm concerned, it was another day at work and it turned into...everyone has their own interpretation as to what they think it was. It is a nice thing, as a professional, to know that it's gripping television or it's got the audience. This was a different thing all together. What was going on between us, it's another level of me as a professional where you know you're taking your audience on a ride. On top of the fact that I was laughing because I was reading him, I'm a bit joyous on how good he was, how incredibly good he was because he was taking the audience and they were cheering him and booing me, which he managed to do. The reason that made me think a little differently about the audience, maybe they are a little more entitled, a different audience. It took me, as a professional, just one line to get them laughing and turning around. As a professional, that's something great, and he has that ability. That's how good he is. Whatever it is, if it was my email that fired him up. To take them on that kind of rollercoaster and to do that verbally and make them feel so much and make them love you and hate you, he's mastered that. Well, he hasn't, because he'll never master it, but he's incredible at what he's doing. You can never master anything. If he keeps on that path, imagine what he's going to be like in a few years. Same with his wrestling."
Regal said he believes he can stand toe-to-toe with anybody on the mic and it felt good to get the reactions they got.
Throughout the podcast, Regal consistently praised MJF's talent and said he's happy that he's getting an opportunity and doing well. He also consistently questioned whether MJF can handle the pressure of being World Champion if he's this rattled over an email.
MJF is set to speak on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite. Fans can check out the current lineup for the show by clicking here.
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