William Regal helped many of the current generation wrestling stars get an opportunity with WWE. One such talent who finally got on the company’s radar with help from Regal after 10 years in the independent circuit is Johnny Gargano. The former NXT champion has left WWE for now. Though he is still grateful to the former NXT general manager for providing him the opportunity.

The former WWE star was in Dallas for a WrestleCon appearance over the WrestleMania weekend. Chris Van Vliet interviewed him during his trip. The two talked about things such as Gargano’s legacy in wrestling and more. Discussing how he got into WWE, Johnny mentioned that William Regal gave the chance to a lot of undersized guys like himself:

“2015-2016 I think is when I fully got on the radar. That was thanks to a guy named William Regal obviously. William Regal was a great proponent of independent wrestlers and guys like me who are undersized.” said Johnny Gargano, “Who wasn’t given an opportunity during that time period.  It’s so crazy to be in that window, where from 2016 to 2021 where I left. I felt I had a hell of a run. I maximized my time there for sure. Especially in NXT, the matches and opportunities I was given to be able to go out there and main event Takeovers in front of 15,000 seat arenas.

Today being able to do that meet and greet and signing stuff. It’s very reassuring to have people come up to me and share their stories of how I’ve affected their life. because it is wild to think that when I was younger, the boyhood dream, Shawn Michaels is what made me want to be a wrestler. For some kids out there, me winning the NXT title at Takeover: New York is gonna be what made them wanna be a wrestler. So it’s cool to have that kind of legacy in itself.”

More Originals From SEScoops:

If you use the quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription