Nigel McGuinness shocked the world earlier this year when he ended his more than decade-long absence from the ring as part of a match at Wembley Stadium.
McGuinness appeared in front of his home country as part of AEW All In London 2024, wrestling in the promotion’s casino gauntlet bout.
After the match, many wondered what would be next for 48-year-old McGuinness. Was his appearance just a one-off to give him a Wembley moment? Or the beginning of something more?
In the weeks that followed, we learned that McGuinness would at the very least have one more match: A meeting against long-time rival and current AEW World Champion Bryan Danielson at AEW Grand Slam on September 25.
With an upcoming singles appearance on his schedule, TV Insider recently put the question to McGuinness of if he was beginning what would be a much lengthier run overall in wrestling. He didn’t shut down the idea, but said that we’ll have to “wait-and-see.”
“I’m not going to rule it out,” he told TV Insider. “I think for the longest time there has been the saying of never say never and never really meaning it. I think we’ll see how the match goes … People asked me after the match in Wembley how I was feeling. I felt fantastic. It will be different going into a gauntlet match like that versus a one-on-one with expectations. I feel confident about it. I don’t know. I was looking at quotes from Arthur Ashe this morning because we’re doing this at Arthur Ashe Stadium. He said ‘One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.’ I’ve had 18 months to prepare for this both mentally and physically. I just feel I’m ready to go. Once I’m out there, there is a legitimate emotion that comes with standing across the ring with Bryan Danielson, given his level of success and story compared to mine.”
McGuinness has a lengthy history with Danielson, having met more than a dozen times in the past. The duo notably faced off numerous times in ROH during the late 2000s, producing some of the most highly acclaimed performances of their careers.
