William Regal announces which NXT wrestler WWE is sending to All Japan

On Saturday, All Japan Pro Wrestling revealed that a wrestler from WWE NXT would be challenging their Triple Crown champion at their Jan. 3 New Year Giant Series 2024 show.

The announcement generated a lot of interest — mostly for the implications of WWE working with a prominent international promotion like AJPW, but also for who’s be making the trip from Orlando to Tokyo. The wrestler was described to All Japan President Tsuyoki Fukuda as a “submission assassin” with a “killer catch style”, which prompted a lot of speculation it would be Drew Gulak or a member of his new No Quarter Catch Crew, specifically Charlie Dempsey.

Turns out it will be Dempsey making the trip to face the winner of Dec. 31’s match between current champ Katsuhiko Nakajima and Kento Miyahara. But few predicted the announcement would come from his father, William Regal.

As Regal points out in the video announcing Dempsey, this is the first time he’s publicly acknowledged that they’re father and son. It’s an appropriate time to do so, as fka Sir Steven also recounts his own history training in the “old European and Lancashire [catch-as-catch-can] style” and working in Japan. His son has been training to follow in his father’s footsteps for years. Now he’ll follow them across the Pacific.

It’s an exciting opportunity for Dempsey, and one that obviously makes his old man proud. Where will it lead him, and/or WWE?

We’ll start to find that out next week.