William Regal was looking to hire two of AEW’s future stars during his time in charge of developmental at WWE.
Wheeler Yuta and Daniel Garcia are two big parts of AEW TV right now. Garcia is a part of the new Jericho Appreciation Society. Yuta is a member of the Blackpool Combat Club with Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and William Regal.
Both Garcia and Yuta made name for themselves on the independents before getting signed by AEW.
William Regal’s Interest In Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta
Regal was previous the Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting during his time in WWE. He was released by the company in January. However, before his release, Regal took notice of both stars.
William Regal recently spoke with Alex McCarthy of TalkSport.
The Blackpool Combat Club leader said, “They got themselves noticed on COVID. I was going to hire them last year in WWE. I had them and was ready to [sign them], but then a change in philosophy happened. I was going to hire both of them then, I wanted to hire them.
“I’m so happy that whatever he [Yuta] has done, he’s doing an incredible job and now we’re all focused on giving him everything we’ve got so he can get there a lot quicker than we got there. He’s getting good so quick because we can all tell him over the past 20 years what not to do.”
NXT To NXT 2.0 Rebrand
In September of 2021, WWE began to rebrand NXT to NXT 2.0. This also led to a shift in the athletes that they hire.
We are now beginning to see athletes from other sports, younger competitors, and more entertainment-based characters as opposed to the previous thread of signing wrestlers off the independents.
