AEW President Tony Khan has addressed the reports about William Regal’s departure from the promotion to make a return to WWE.
As previously reported, Regalis returning to WWE after the new year when his contract with AEW expires this month, where he will be working in a backstage role.
Regal turned on Jon Moxley by costing him the AEW World Heavyweight Title by aiding MJF at AEW Full Gear. The AEW World Heavyweight Champion attacked Regal last week on Dynamite, which was done to write him off television.
During the ROH Final Battle media scrum, Khan addressed Regal’s departure from the promotion.
Khan revealed that his mother suffered a stroke between All Out PPV and the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite. She was improving after getting treatment, but had a second stroke around the time of his birthday. Khan learned around this time that Regal approached Megha Parekh, who is part of AEW’s legal team, with a request for the promotion not to renew his deal as he wanted to return to WWE to be where his son is working and to coach alongside some of his old friends in his golden years. Khan said that this happened when doctors found a spot on his mom’s heart that they thought surgery to fix would help prevent the strokes.
On October 16, Regal sent him a message asking to talk while Khan was at the Mayo Clinic. Khan noted that they had a good talk but needed to consider Regal’s request and decided that major changes would need to be made to accommodate his request.
Khan wished Regal the best in his future and they talked as recently as this week. The AEW President noted that they both enjoyed their time together, but Regal’ is not gone just yet from the company. He said he felt it was the best thing to do for Regal. He added that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill every similar situation for a family reunion but was happy to do that in this case.
Regal’s son, Bailey, started training in February 2020 before signing with WWE. He scored his first win in a WWE ring in last month.
