Tony Schiavone had no idea that William Regal had joined All Elite Wrestling until just before the former NXT General Manager made his AEW debut at the company's Revolution pay-per-view on March 6.
Schiavone reflected on Revolution and addressed Regal's debut on a recent episode of his What Happened When podcast. “I was absolutely stunned about William Regal,” recalled Schiavone, who was legitimately surprised to see his former WCW colleague in Orlando's Addition Financial Arena. “I did not see him prior to that. Then all of a sudden, the live interview I had done with Bryan Danielson a few weeks prior made sense because he mentioned Regal’s name.”
In case you missed it, William Regal made his unannounced AEW debut at Revolution immediately following Jon Moxley's victory over Bryan Danielson. Moxley and Danielson were brawling after the bell when Regal came to the ring to chastise his former proteges. Regal delivered a stiff slap to both men and ordered them to shake hands, which they did -- obviously.
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In the aforementioned What Happened When episode, Schiavone recalled reconnecting with his old friend backstage. “Regal was standing there. I went up to him and grabbed him, hugged him, and said, ‘Well you son of a b**ch. You kayfabing son of a b**ch.’ He said, ‘How are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m doing excellent.’”
After his debut, AEW president Tony Khan confirmed that Regal has officially signed with AEW and it's safe to say that Schiavone is more than happy to be working alongside Regal once again.
"It was a very good surprise for me personally because when he got the ax from the WWE, another unwarranted ax, I got in contact with him," Tony said. "I called him and we talked. He’s always been a good friend. He’s one of the great guys and actually one of the funniest guys that I’ve ever been around in my life.”
