William Regal Reveals Vince McMahon Ended His WWE Non-Compete Early So He Could Join AEW

Vince McMahon was ultimately a very important piece in William Regal making his All Elite Wrestling debut at March's Revolution pay-per-view.

Regal appeared in AEW following the match between Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley, stopping both men from fighting by slapping them. The Gentleman Villain would then get the two former world champions to shake hands and the three men would go on to form Blackpool Combat Club.

Regal's AEW debut came two months after his release from WWE in early January and the former Director of Talent Development was bound to a 90-day non-compete clause due to his time on NXT as the on-screen general manager. This ultimately meant he wouldn't have been able to debut at Revolution but Regal revealed to Inside The Ropes in October that Vince McMahon ended his non-compete early.

"Mr McMahon was very good to me, to the point of, I will say this because whatever he's going through, he was excellent to me. I had a talent contract, as well as an employee contract and it didn't run out until the end of April because I played William Regal. I started for AEW on the seventh of March. I didn't call anybody else, I sent a message straight to the boss, 'Hey Boss, I've got this thing with Bryan,' and he loves Bryan as well. 'Absolutely, you go' and still paid me until the end of my talent contract. I was the only person who ever got paid by both companies at the same time," Regal said.

Regal is now heading back to WWE, having asked Tony Khan to not renew his AEW contract at the end of 2022. Tony Khan accepted his request and Regal will start with WWE in the first week of January in a backstage role. He is unable to appear on-screen in 2023.

H/T to Fightful