The latest guest on Talk Is Jericho was the legendary William Regal, who spoke with the Demo God about the promo ability of former world champion Jon Moxley, and how it was quickly recognized during Mox’s time in FCW, which would eventually morph into NXT. Highlights from their conversation can be found below.
Recalls asking Moxley to cut a promo in FCW:
“So they put on a showcase for H and I sat there with him. They all did matches and they all did promos, and then he said, ‘Is there anybody who wants to say anything?’ Now, I’ve seen Jon do a lot of promos. That’s our game, right? I’d heard about how good this fellow was. So I looked him up. I’ve gone, wow. I said, ‘Can we see Jon Moxley’, and the people there at the time were going, ‘Who?’ He was just sitting right in the corner. Now, as soon as this comes out of my mouth, I’m thinking this is day one on the job. I hope he’s as good as I think he is. He got in the ring and he didn’t look like he looks now. He was thin and he had a denim jacket and jeans.”
How Moxley’s promo talent was instantly recognized:
“He got in the ring, and they said, ‘About one minute’, and he started. Within 10 seconds there was a relief that came over me that he is that good. In 20 seconds. I looked across at H. He looked at me and he rubbed his forearm like his hair was standing up on the back of his forearm.”
How Moxley was immediately put on TV after that:
“It used to take a long while before you could get on TV. The next week, we were doing TV and I was doing the commentary. I’ve been doing it for about a year. We did three tapings. He was on the first one doing a promo. He was on the second one doing an enhancement match. He was on the third tape and doing another promo.”
Hopes talents understand the importance of working on your whole game:
“That’s a lesson hopefully that people take from this is that you need to work on your whole game. Everything in wrestling is a constant thing. But that promo ability can get you noticed instantly. That’s that lesson to take from that. If you’re not working on that, that’s what can get you noticed very quickly. Wrestling got me to America, but the wrestling wasn’t working. I had to work on the talking and the character. That promo stuff can get you noticed instantly.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestlingNews.Co)