William Regal's Son Gains An Ally On WWE NXT

In an interesting turn of events, Charlie Dempsey, the son of legendary wrestler William Regal, aligned himself with Drew Gulak on this week's edition of "WWE NXT."

Over the past month or so, Gulak has regularly been ringside for Dempsey's matches, seemingly studying and analyzing the in-ring prowess of the second-generational wrestler. Dempsey would ultimately take issue with the veteran wrestler for stalking him, challenging both Gulak and Hank Walker — Gulak's student on "NXT" programming — to a series of matches on December 28. While Dempsey put away Walker at the "New Year's Evil" special episode on January 10, he lost to Gulak in a back-and-forth match on January 31 due to his momentary lapse in judgment that allowed Gulak to roll him up with a schoolboy.

On this week's show, Dempsey once again defeated Walker in convincing fashion, following which he apparently gained the respect of Gulak. After the match, Dempsey locked in his submission on a helpless Walker, as the announcers implored Gulak to save his student.

"What is Gualk doing?" Vic Joseph yelled on commentary. "Help your student!"

Once Dempsey released the submission hold, he and Gualk stared each other down for several seconds before walking away together. Walker was stranded in the ring as his mentor left with Dempsey.  

Dempsey's actions also seemed to hint at a heel turn or character change. The grappling specialist has been racking up wins since debuting for "NXT" last year, defeating the likes of Andre Chase, Bodhi Hayward and Oro Mensah at TV tapings and live events. Most recently, he also wrestled on WWE Main Event, which could be a sign of his imminent main roster debut. Prior to his move to the United States, Dempsey spent nearly 18 months on the "WWE NXT UK" brand, where he maintained an 8-2 win-loss record, with his only defeats coming against Tyler Bate and Oliver Carter. The young wrestler started training in 2018.