Former ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness may be making an in-ring comeback soon.
According to a new report from Fightful Select, McGuinness has been taking steps to return to the ring. McGuinness has not been medically cleared to return to the ring, but he has taken steps that indicate he is considering a return.
McGuinness was mentioned as a possible competitor on the AEW All In card from London in recent months. However, it could not be confirmed whether or not plans for McGuinness to wrestle have been discussed internally by AEW. McGuinness mentioned a ring return in April, saying he wouldn’t rule out working the big All In show at Wembley Stadium on August 27.
After Danielson knocked McGuinness during the AEW Double Or Nothing media scrum in late May, there was speculation that the two would rekindle their rivalry. McGuinness then discussed Danielson on the AEW Unrestricted podcast earlier this month, saying that wrestling Danielson at Wembley was the only way he’d come out of retirement. As PWExclusive.com previously reported, McGuinness also discussed the karma of Danielson’s broken arm and more on their history.
McGuinness, 47, signed a contract with ROH/AEW in April. He has done some ROH TV commentary and currently hosts the AEW Collision show on a weekly basis.
McGuinness, who began wrestling in 1999, was a top talent for ROH from 2003 to 2009, holding the ROH World Title and the ROH Pure Title. He went on to work for TNA before being forced to retire from in-ring action in late 2011 after a tour of the independents. McGuinness’ last televised match was a TNA Xplosion victory over Stevie Richards in September 2010 (taped August 23, 2010). McGuinness returned to ROH in August 2011 as an on-screen matchmaker and commentator, where he remained until December 2016. WWE hired McGuinness as a commentator on various shows in December 2016 thanks to Michael Cole. He was furloughed in April 2020 due to COVID-19, but returned later that fall. WWE then released Nigel on October 22, 2022. McGuinness is now doing his own one-man magic and speaking shows, as well as hosting pro wrestling seminars in the United States and Europe, in addition to working for ROH/AEW.
