William Regal thinks wrestling has a credibility problem, and this time his concern is not about ratings, booking, or which company is winning the weekly argument. He is talking about the audience itself, and he believes wrestlers are giving fans too many reasons to stop buying into what they see.
On October 16, 2026, Regal posted a lengthy message aimed at wrestlers across the entire industry. He made it clear right away that this was not a shot at one locker room, because even though he works for WWE, he watches wrestling from all over the world.
“I work for WWE but watch a lot of wrestling worldwide. This goes for all wrestlers in all companies. I have worked in Wrestling for 42 years. An observation.”
Regal’s biggest issue is the way wrestlers handle pins and kickouts. In his view, if the audience is supposed to believe these performers are trained fighters, then every cover should look like somebody is desperately trying to win, and every kickout should look like somebody is desperately trying to survive.
“We are portraying trained pro fighters with instincts (even comedy bouts). If you don’t win you would make less money in the story we’re telling. Every TV bout, if there’s a pin, the cameras focus in. Please pin and kick out like your life and career depend on it. In story, it does.”
Regal then reached back to the early 2000s and brought up AJ Styles and Amazing Red as an example of what he thinks modern wrestlers should be studying. He said he recently watched one of their matches and noticed something basic that stuck out immediately. The pins looked aggressive, the shoulders were covered, and the kickouts looked like they actually mattered.
“I recently watch AJ Styles v Amazing Red from the early 2000’s. I see how many people copied them. What I saw was every pin was aggressively applied and shoulders covered and stacked. Every kick out they kicked out like their life depended on it.”
That was the setup for Regal’s bigger point. He believes wrestling has lost something over the last two decades, and fans are smart enough to notice when performers stop protecting the illusion.
“Something has been lost in the last 20 + years. Let’s not insult the intelligence of our audience who are giving us their precious time.”
Regal then used a movie fight scene as the comparison. Fans know professional wrestling is entertainment, just like they know actors are not really beating each other senseless in a film. His point was that the audience still expects the performers to make it look real enough to stay invested.
“In a fight scene in a movie (which is what wrestling is) we know the punches don’t really hit but if we saw that we would eventually stop watching it.”
That is where Regal’s message got even more direct. In his mind, fans are already giving wrestlers something valuable every time they tune in: their time. He does not think performers should repay that by getting lazy with the details that are supposed to make the whole thing work.
“Your audience and fans deserve better.”
Regal then finished with a line that was basically a challenge to anybody who does not want to put in the effort to make those moments look convincing.
“If you can’t be uncomfortable for a few seconds being stacked up in a pin, maybe this isn’t for you.”
Regal’s message was not complicated. Fans know what wrestling is, but they still want to believe while they are watching it. If the wrestlers stop making the little things look important, Regal thinks the audience will eventually stop treating the big things like they matter too.
What do you think about William Regal warning wrestlers not to insult the audience’s intelligence? Do you think modern wrestling has gotten too loose with the small details that keep fans invested? Leave your feedback below.
