Butch Credits AEW Stars For His Current Presentation

"Pete Dunne" is no more, long live, "Butch."

The former WWE United Kingdom Champion recently spoke with The Metro in the UK, discussing how his new presentation as "Butch," alongside Sheamus & Ridge Holland is "refreshing," noting that he'd been presented as "The Bruiserweight" Pete Dunne for years, since his WWE debut in 2016. "It's been so long," the British superstar said about his old presentation.

Butch cites former-WWE Superstars, now-AEW stars William Regal & Bryan Danielson for showing him that in-ring acumen is only half of the equation.

"Part of what got him, where he was, was the stuff with Kane," Butch said about Danielson's cartoony partnership with Kane in 2012 that saw the two form the wildly popular "Team Hell NO!"

Butch made the same assessment of Regal, saying "some of his best work was the straightlaced stuff later in his career, right? But earlier in his run, he was the commissioner doing all sorts of funny stuff," referring to Regal's early days in the then-WWF as the commissioner, as well as his tenure as the "Real Man's Man."

Butch felt that both examples showed the way a sense of humor can bring a talented wrestler's personality to the forefront, and connect with an entirely different end of the audience, even going so far as to suggest that Bryan Danielson would not have become a WWE main event talent and eventual WWE Champion had it not been for the colorful vignettes.

Butch talked wistfully about his WWE days as "Pete Dunne," saying "It will never be forgotten," but noting that people "will also appreciate the work that's gonna be done under Butch."

Dunne officially debuted under the "Butch" moniker on March 11th, 2022, after 6 years in "WWE NXT" where Butch held the WWE United Kingdom Championship, as well as the WWE NXT Tag Team Championship alongside Matt Riddle. Riddle & Dunne also won the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic.