Wrestler William Regal pulls out of final WWE NXT dates

The king of the wrestling ring was back in his adopted hometown on Sunday night as part of the venture, but has left the group to return home to America for further treatment to his neck after a recent operation.

On his Twitter feed the NXT developmental brand general manager said: “I’m incredibly sorry but I have had to return to the US to take care of some final details of my recent neck surgery that couldn’t be avoided any longer.

“Again,I’m sorry that I cannot continue with the current tour but I’ll be back in 2016 to @WWENXT.”

William, real name Darren Matthews, appeared at the Empress Ballroom show on Sunday just over a month after having a ‘c-3 through c-6 laminectomy’ - where part of the vertebral bone is removed.

As well as NXT appearances, he was due to appear in one man shows, and the tour continues.

He made his ring debut at Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Horseshoe Show bar aged 15 going on to achieve worldwide fame as a wrestler.

He hailed the homecoming show on Sunday as ‘incredible’.