AEW's Nigel McGuinness Recently Returned To The Ring

So you're telling us there's a chance...

by Andrew Pollard
Tony Khan Nigel McGuinness
AEW

With plentiful wrestling fans hopeful of maybe, possibly, somehow seeing Nigel McGuinness lace up the boots one more time to face Bryan Danielson at AEW All In later this year, McGuinness has continued to stir that pot by revealing he was back in a wrestling ring just last week.

Speaking during a recent appearance on Wrestling Weekly, the former ROH World Champion stated:

"When I was in WWE, seeing so many of my peers coming up and having that level of success, and that level of fame and fortune was very difficult for me, certainly, to sort of accept. Especially when I could still wrestle today. I got in the ring last week and just felt perfectly okay. Sometimes, people say it’s a lot easier if you choose yourself to quit and I don’t think that it’s the case."

However, McGuinness did add that, with his history of concussions, there are certain things he sees in matches and says he "couldn't do that anymore".

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It's worth noting, the Londoner's retirement didn't come about due to those concussions or any injury issues. Instead, McGuinness hung up his boots in 2011 after it became clear WWE wouldn't sign him, he didn't want to return to TNA - where he'd performed under the Desmond Wolfe mantle - and he was no longer able to work the physical style that brought him such success in Ring of Honor and beyond. For those unaware, Nigel had a contract "in principle" with WWE in 2009, but that fell through due to an old bicep injury requiring surgery. After that, his time with TNA saw McGuinness test positive for Hepatitis B, meaning signing with WWE simply wasn't an option.

As alluded to, many are hopeful that we'll get one final match between Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson when All In rolls around this August. While newer fans may only be aware of McGuinness regularly, brilliantly poking fun at Bryan at any given opportunity during AEW commentary, these two had some absolute wars back in the day for ROH, including several matches for the ROH World Title, and Danielson even defeating Nigel in 2006 to unify McGuinness' ROH Pure Title with Bryan's ROH World Title.

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Ahead of last year's All In, Nigel McGuinness actually had new gear made for one more match against Bryan Danielson. Unfortunately, that bout didn't happen due to injuries to Danielson, and McGuinness decided against lacing up his boots to wrestle anybody else at that Wembley Stadium show.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.