From Retirement to the Pinnacle: Nigel McGuiness’ Career Comeback | retirement

Rivalries in sports activities are created by two opponents or groups who need to be the finest. Think of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the Eighties, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning starting their rivalry in the early 2000s, and at present, the Kansas City Chiefs towards the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the world {of professional} wrestling from May 2005 to September 2009, followers had Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuiness. In that timeframe, Danielson and McGuiness met 24 instances, with 20 occurring in Ring of Honor, owned by AEW head Tony Khan. Overall, in ROH, Danielson and McGuiness had ten singles matches, 5 tag matches, one trios match, and varied multi-man contests. Out of these one-on-one matches, Danielson gained 5, McGuiness notched three victories, they usually had two time-limit attracts.

Now, in the future shy of the fifteenth anniversary of their final singles matchup, Danielson and McGuiness will probably battle inside the squared circle one remaining time on Wednesday at AEW Grand Slam from Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY (8 p.m. ET, TBS).

“So this match, Wednesday, is going to be a very, very different experience,” McGuiness defined to The Takedown.

Long earlier than AEW Grand Slam, McGuiness began his wrestling journey by venturing from his native England to America in September 1998 for the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in Cincinnati beneath the steerage of famed coach Les Thatcher.

McGuiness was struggling in 2003. He had been pondering possibly that the United States wasn't the place the place he wanted to be to transfer ahead in his profession. But somebody he'd met in HWA modified his perspective and led him to the particular person he wanted to be to succeed as a wrestler. Fellow wrestler Brian Kendrick gave McGuiness one thing that led him to the man who ended up being his fiercest rival.

MORE: Tony Khan Teases AEW On Max Plans

“He showed me the very first VHS cassette of the first Ring of Honor show with Bryan Danielson in the main event, in that triple threat with Low Ki and Christopher Daniels,” McGuiness defined. “I went home, and I watched it. I thought, ‘Never in my f—ing life am I doing that (and) killing each other’.

“Little by little, by means of going again to England, by means of watching Japanese wrestling tapes, I began to notice and perceive that this was the path that not solely may I am going, (however) I had to go. It was an actual baptism of fireplace to develop my type in that path. I went again to England and discovered the technical British type after which tried to add in components of All Japan and New Japan in what turned professional wrestling now as effectively, with extra of that hard-hitting, life like type that you just see now with guys like Eddie Kingston.”

After watching Danielson and reworking his style to one where McGuiness had more than enough confidence, they finally squared off in one-on-one competition on April 29, 2006 at ROH Weekend of Champions from Cleveland Grays Armory in Cleveland. McGuiness was the Pure titlist while Danielson was the World Champion.

McGuiness won the match by countout. Once he gathered his thoughts about the entire day and the match, McGuiness had this feeling inside his soul that him and Danielson were kindred spirits.

“I feel it was solely supposed to be one match, but it surely obtained over so effectively,” McGuiness said. “I at all times knew it will, and I do not know the way I at all times knew it will. But I bear in mind the first time I noticed him. Ring of Honor had their first Ohio present. I used to be on this present. I obtained to the constructing early, as I at all times did to assist arrange or no matter I wanted to do. Bryan was there as a result of he was dwelling on the west coast at the time, so he at all times flew in pink eye, and was there very first thing in the morning as effectively. He simply sat backstage studying a ebook. I simply had this unusual sense of not even foreboding or deja vu, the reverse of deja vu, prescience, if you'll, that indirectly this man was going to have a big impact on my profession, and we had been simply going to be a way related. And it has definitely performed out that method. 

“We have the sort of personalities that we bickered a lot backstage. We argued about things just for the sake of arguing about them as well. That sort of chemistry plays out in the ring because there is that competitive nature when you're going out there. But there was that sense of a friendship or a camaraderie from traveling up and down the road together.”

September 26, 2009 at ROH Glory By Honor VIII: The Final Countdown from the Manhattan Center in New York City was the final time Danielson and McGuiness had appeared to face off. Both males had been about to obtain their dream at the time of going to WWE. The nice matches they had been having round the world now can be seen by a bigger viewers. Heading into that bout, doubt was creeping into McGuiness due to an outdated harm after which receiving an uncommon telephone name earlier than he was about to stroll by means of the curtain. All of this affected his efficiency in what was set to be a memorable second.

MORE: Swerve Strickland on Bryan Danielson: ‘He’s The Greatest of All Time’

“I got knocked out, and can't remember half of what happened in the match,” McGuiness admits. “I think my head was already looking forward rather than being present in that match. To be honest with you, if I can shoot with you, the truth of the matter is at that point, I already had this unerring feeling because of the partial biceps tear in the past. I think at that juncture, their doctor had asked to see new MRIs of the arm. So my head was already spinning like, ‘Oh, my god, is this going to happen? There's surely no way, after all these years’.

“So I'm really pondering that. I bear in mind warming up for the match and getting a telephone name from Terry Taylor at TNA saying, ‘I heard you being signed by WWF, or if you haven't, or if it doesn't work out, then give us a call because we'd love to have you’. 

“My mind was already all over the place. I wasn't in the right place mentally for it.”

MORE: Lumberjack Strap Match Announced For AEW Grand Slam; Sammy Guevara Issues Challenge

McGuiness' instinct proved to be right. WWE ended up not signing McGuiness due to the medical disclosures of his outdated harm whereas Danielson went to WWE as Daniel Bryan and had an excellent profession there, regardless of the odds working towards him at each flip. McGuiness ended up going to TNA for a two-year stint earlier than retiring at the finish of 2011.

Being on the verge of carrying out a aim with the alternative for monetary freedom is crushing for any human being. Making life altering cash is the dream. Danielson and McGuiness had been set to tackle the world and present the world their model of wrestling can recover from in an organization that had at all times perceived appears greater than talent inside the squared circle.

McGuiness did not watch any of Danielson's feats in WWE, together with successful the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 30. Many would play would play the “what if and why not me” card in seeing somebody who you admired now accomplish and have the success that you just additionally appeared destined to have. It was a troublesome tablet for McGuiness to swallow and understandably so, contemplating how related he and Danielson had been.

MORE: AEW Announces Dr. Britt Baker's Return To Action

“I did have that for the longest time, certainly for a few years after I retired, that sort of played through my head,” McGuiness admits. “It was really odd. I remember even a couple of years after retiring, just thinking, ‘Well, it's too late. I can't go back now’. 

Instead of sulking in despair and continuing to harbor these strong, emotional feelings, McGuiness did something about it that led him to doing his documentary, The Last of McGuinness. It was doing the fan funded project that led him into the second phase which in turn, led him to Wednesday evening.

“I mentioned it on a promo, really just lately saying you hear that nobody is aware of you used to be a wrestler, sufficient, and also you begin to imagine it,” McGuiness said. Then, eventually, that voice telling you is your own. And then one day, and for me, this happened a long time later, one day, you realize it was your voice all along, and nobody else gave a shit. That's the truth of the matter. Mentally, as I said, the only person stopping me was me. But I did come to a resolution. I filmed my retirement tour. I made The Last of McGuiness documentary, which was an incredible experience. That pushed me into doing commentary.” 

McGuiness ventured into commentary which led him to getting signed by WWE. He donned the headset to do commentary for NXT, NXT UK, and Main Event. Occasionally, Danielson and McGuiness would cross paths, however in the latter's phrases, they did not converse. McGuiness felt the days of them being on the identical taking part in subject had been over as he was at one stage in his wrestling life whereas Danielson was dwelling out the dream they had been each supposed to share collectively.

“For me, it always felt a little odd and a little bit weird, a little embarrassing,” McGuiness mentioned. “His level of success versus now mine because WWE has that mentality that if it didn't happen in WWE, it doesn't matter. It doesn't count. So that was their representation of me, and anything you did in the ring doesn't matter. For me and Bryan to be there, we obviously were no longer on that same sort of level. And I don't know if he felt sad for me or embarrassed for me, or just maybe didn't give a shit and was just glad I had a job.

After a surprising release from WWE in October 2022, there were questions of what McGuiness would do. An in-ring return seemed unlikely as WWE had made it clear to McGuiness that they only wanted him for commentary.

So McGuiness went in another direction and followed Danielson to his new wrestling home, All Elite Wrestling in April 2023, appearing at ROH: Supercard Of Honor. McGuiness then went on to start commentating on AEW Collision and certain matches at AEW pay-per-events. Still, a return to the ring didn't cross McGuiness' mind. That is until a trip he took with Khan to formally announce the first AEW All In London for August 2023.

“I used to be on Tony Khan's aircraft flying throughout to make the announcement about Wembley (first All In London) when he informed me about that,” McGuiness proclaimed. “The thought all of a sudden sprung in my thoughts. I simply mentioned it flippantly, ‘If it sells out, maybe I'll have to dust off the old boots’.

Tony sparked up and requested me, ‘Is that a possibility? Are you able to do that’? And I mentioned, ‘Sure. The only thing stopping me wrestling is me’. 

MORE: Details Of AEW's TV Deal With WBD Emerge: TV Networks, Money, Contract Length

While a return being a definite risk, McGuiness solely had one opponent in thoughts for that occasion.

“For me, it had to be Bryan,” McGuiness mentioned. “That was the only thing that really made sense because of our history, and because there's so much talent in AEW deserve those spots anyway. It's got to be about building these guys up. I don't want to take a spot from somebody else. So that being the case, way before we'd even gone to Wembley, the idea of me wrestling Bryan the first show was in my head.”

Unfortunately the match did not come to be 13 months in the past as Danielson suffered a damaged arm towards Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door in June 2023.

Again, McGuiness had his desires taken away from him. He may have rapidly buried his head once more and felt unhealthy for himself. It would have been simple not to blame him. One can solely take a lot negativity in life.

MORE: Miro Asks for His Release from AEW [REPORT]

Not McGuiness. He had a plan that not many individuals knew about. McGuiness continued to launch insult after insult anytime he was on commentary for a match Danielson was in. He'd discover a gap and go on the assault. Part of the thought was executed when McGuiness made a stunning return to the ring for the first time in almost 13 years in the Casino Gauntlet Match final month at AEW All In 2024. The crowd inside London's Wembley Stadium went bonkers for his or her countryman and continued their vocal assist all through the match.

McGuiness did not win the match however being again residence in the ring, competing in an area he'd longed since 1992, helped put together him for what's to come on Wednesday.

“It's probably a good match to have back after 15 years rather than a long dragged-out one-on-one encounter,” McGuiness mentioned. But both method, I used to be prepared as a result of I ready. They say failing to put together is making ready to fail. For the final 18 months, ever since I spotted it was an possibility, I've been getting in the ring, I've been engaged on my weight loss program, I've been lifting, I've been stretching, I've been doing every little thing I can to be in tip-top situation if and when the alternative presents itself. So I've obtained that degree of confidence.”

On the Sept. 11 edition of AEW Dynamite, McGuiness laid down the gauntlet for Danielson to meet him at Grand Slam. Khan made the match with the caveat that it would happen if Danielson would get medically cleared in a non-title contest. He's badgered Danielson at every turn leading up to Grand Slam, whether in a promo or on social media.

Danielson, who won the AEW heavyweight championship at AEW All In, is dealing with a series of injuries including his neck being the most serious of them all. Whenever he loses the title, Danielson will no longer be wrestling full time and is likely to be appear occasionally. Even as of this writing, he's still working without an AEW contract, which expired in August.

MORE: Bryan Danielson's Wife Brie Bella Reveals Kids' Reaction To All In World Championship Match

The story of McGuiness comes to Arthur Ashe Stadium. It comes down to AEW Grand Slam. Many people felt we'd never see this match ever again for various reasons, including health issues, and being at different promotions. Two people who have been intertwined for 19 years will stand across the ring from one another in an area where they had their last matchup. And it will very likely be the last time they create the magic they made 24 previous times.

This time, it will be under the brightest lights and on a stage that eluded McGuiness 15 years ago. McGuiness has reached the apex of his career that he's always longed for and deserved. He gets to finish the story on his terms.

“It'd be arduous not to for me given my opponent, given our historical past and simply giving father time as effectively,” McGuiness said. “Bryan is legitimately banged up. His neck is screwed. He's most likely going to have to have surgical procedure. I'd say he is undoubtedly going to have to have surgical procedure. And whether or not he'll ever wrestle once more afterward stays to be seen. I feel he is silly sufficient to attempt.

“I think we will look back on this match, and certainly for me, it will be the pinnacle of my story. Whatever the outcome—Win, Lose, or Draw—I'll be able to say that I had a dream that was unimaginable to that boy who sat in Wembley Stadium and first vowed to be a professional wrestler”