On Monday, WWE told us NXT General Manager William Regal would make a “huge announcement” on tonight’s edition of the black-and-gold brand.
Speculation focused on the reveal of a theme or subtitle for the pre-SummerSlam TakeOver event coming next month, or a storyline which would lead to NXT and North American champion Keith Lee dropping one of his titles.
Then earlier this afternoon, Regal tweeted this:
Serving as the General Manager or #WWENXT has been an incredible honor. To see the men and women of this brand over the last couple of months has been inspiring and invigorating.
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) July 22, 2020
Tonight’s major announcement will be yet another step forward for @WWENXT.
Regal’s served as NXT’s General Manager for almost all of its existence in its current form. Before that, he was a member of its announce team & an occasional in-ring performer - his matches with Cesaro & Kassius “Chris Hero” Ohno from 2013 are a treat, and definitely worth seeking out if you’ve never seem. Or even if you have.
The Old Villain’s been a consistent presence as a straight man in comedy bits and a (largely ineffective) babyface foil to heel acts from The Wyatt Family to Undisputed ERA. For me, a guy whose career as an internet #content creator started with and has always included the NXT beat, Regal is as much a part of the brand’s identity as Dusty Rhodes and Triple H.
During the pandemic era, the Blackpool native has been doing his job remotely. In 2018, Regal was away from the show for a while due to what he later revealed was “open heart surgery to remove a calcified pericardium.” He’s also missed tapings due to his behind-the-scenes role in recruiting and talent development, but those aren’t possible the way they used to be under the current circumstances.
We’ll see what Regal (or as Tyler Breeze used to say back when he was a heel-ish thorn in the GM’s side, “Misssster Regal”) has for us tonight. Join us in the live blog, and we’ll find out together. Hopefully all is well with him regardless of what he has to say.
In the meantime and forever, we have this...
