William Regal put his job on the line to get WWE to sign Sasha Banks

We’ve been big fans of William Regal for a long time around these parts, from his Lord Steven Regal days in WCW up through his current turn as the best dang kayfabe authority figure in wrestling.

But even for someone who’s already set the bar as high as the old villain and real man’s man has, this is cool.

The story Regal told The Daily Star comes from his “real” job in WWE Talent Development (a department he now heads up). It’s about the wrestler who will carry the SmackDown Women’s title in WrestleMania 37 in main event-worthy match - Sasha mf’n Banks.

“She was the first person I went to bat for to hire, because the people who were doing the job that I do now wouldn’t even give her the time of day.

“I’ve known her since she was 19 and she used to be an extra at Boston. The first day, I was in catering and she came and sat and said ‘do you mind if I ask you some questions about wrestling?’

“I wasn’t doing this job then but in the afternoon at the shows, I’d always be training outside the ring and she’d be one of the ones who would always come and talk.

“When it came to me getting this job… I went to them [about Sasha] and said ‘look, if this doesn’t work out, you can fire me.’

“To see the way she has come through this, and to see what she’s done [is] incredible.”

Regal also tells a story about an interaction he had with The Boss that sounds like it happened around the time of her post-WrestleMania 35 hiatus:

“I’m sure she doesn’t mind me telling you this. But there are times when this job gets to be a bit of a grind – any job does.

“I don’t see her as much and we certainly don’t call and text one another, but I saw her a while ago, several years ago and I’d heard she wasn’t so happy.

“I said to her ‘how are you doing?’ She said ‘Alright’. I said ‘how many times have you been world champion? She said ‘Five…’

“I said: “And was the cheque in the bank on Monday?” and she just said “That’s all I needed, thank you very much!

“Just to see that she’s come through all this and become the star she has been very fulfilling.”

Sasha deserves the bulk of the credit for her current position in the industry, but no one gets to the top alone. It sounds like on a couple occasions, Regal was one of the people who helped make sure Banks got - and stayed - there.

And we thought we couldn’t love him any more than we already did.