In a recent edition of Gentleman Villain, AEW star William Regal spoke about Sami Zayn signing with WWE in the past and how Regal lobbied to get Zayn signed for the company.

William Regal on pushing for WWE to hire Sami Zayn: “One of the reasons I really liked Sami is the strength of the job. He kept the [El Generico] character going. I like that mystique thing. I’ve heard the stories from people that I know – people on the fringes of our industry had met him and he had not taken his mask off and said a few words in Spanish. That goes a long way with me, plus I liked what he did. He came and got a tryout in FCW. I mentioned this before that I did have to go over certain people’s heads to get him hired because there were some people who didn’t see what I saw. I knew there was something special about him. I just knew. There was just something magic about him.”

On Zayn’s contributions to NXT and his admiration for Zayn’s ability to connect with an audience: “He’s something very, very special and I can’t say enough good about what he did for NXT, what he did for independent wrestling before he got there. The way he busted his backside to get all over the world and did everything he had to do, the things that he’s done in his own time to help people, which is very admirable. A lot of things can be said about whatever happened in NXT and the transition to the main roster in WWE, Sami Zayn’s figured it out. Zayn has figured it out and he’s a top WWE superstar. And I just have nothing but admiration for him because to figure it out and how to connect with your audience at whatever is given, he finds a way to do it.”