NXT general manager William Regal has every reason to be excited about the WWE announcing a tournament for the new U.K. championship a couple of days ago as he hails from that part of the world. In a recent interview with WhatCulture Wrestling, Regal spoke in detail about various aspects relating to the newest title in the WWE.
Talking about the future of the championship, he said that nothing had been finalised apart from the fact that the person who wins the 16-man tournament for the title will be crowned the first ever WWE U.K. Champion. However, Regal opined that they would get a fair idea about how to proceed by the time the tournament takes place. Here’s what he said:
“To be determined. There is going to be a champion after that tournament and he will be the first UK WWE Champion and then we will see where it goes from there. I'm sure by the tournament we will know. I got a good idea now, I'm one of the two or three people who know now. This is a very exciting time for us.”
William Regal was questioned about whether the competitors will be barred from working with other promotions. In response, he said that there would be no restrictions imposed on the wrestlers and they can continue to function independently.
Also Read: WWE News: WWE announce UK tournament to crown UK Champion in February 2017
He claimed that the WWE did not intend to show their authority over competitors in the U.K. but instead wanted to give the performers there an opportunity to earn some more money.
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion said:
“There is zero restriction on anybody working anywhere, except for these companies who won't let these fellas work for that one. They are free agents, just as long as we need them for certain dates, we'll give them plenty of notice. This is not the "Big Bad Wolf" coming in to try and take away everything from anybody. This is to give these fellas, who we think are the best, some money in their pockets.”
On being asked why the WWE decided to jump on the British wrestling bandwagon, he explained that it has been on the cards for a long time and a lot of time went behind planning how things would work out. Regal said that it was similar to how they introduced the new Cruiserweight division and such things cannot happen in a flash.
“I've been over here looking at people for a long time, this has been a long time in the planning, this has not been thrown together to try and disrupt anything, it's been a long time. No different from the Cruiserweight thing, you can't throw together these things in two minutes,” concluded William Regal.
