All Elite Wrestling recently posted a new mini-documentary looking at Nigel McGuinness.
During the documentary, McGuinness commented on his decision to retire from the ring. He said,
“Before I came to AEW, my career was done. ‘That ship has sailed,’ I told so many people. I just thought there was no way, because no one believed in me, because I didn’t believe in me, so why should anyone? But life works in mysterious ways, doesn’t it? I never could have imagined this would happen. I will forever feel blessed to have gotten to stand there and face off with him one more time. But God, I can give all the epitaphs and soliloquies in the world… It’s still fucking hurts to lose him. Seeing Bryan’s career trajectory and all the success that he had, it certainly gave me a little bit of happiness to come up with him, be one of his peers, and see him succeed. As I said, he’s one of the guys that proves that if you have a dream and you never give up, you can make it. It’s hard to know, because here I am in 2024, [fifteen years later], however long, to be on that same stage with him. It took me a long time to meet him, but maybe I got there eventually. Two paths diverged in a wood, and I chose the road less traveled, and it has made all the difference.”
During a recent appearance on the “Close Up with Renee Paquette” podcast, Kris Statlander commented on the pressure she puts on herself in the AEW women’s division. She stated,
“I feel the pressure. I feel satisfaction with knowing that I know what I’m doing and then I feel the pressure like, ‘Oh my god, now everyone wants more of this.’ Now I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m tired.’ But, I lost twice to Mercedes now. If there’s a chance that I go for her again, am I going to — how do I step up my game even more for a third time if that were to happen. It’s a never ending cycle of constant pressure but I think I do pretty well under pressure and I have such a desire to prove people wrong, even if no one is doubting me. I have this need to prove, maybe even to myself, that I’m deserving of the spot I’m in and that everything I’ve done up to this point is worth it and that I haven’t wasted any of my time. I feel like I’ve been thankfully far removed from my injuries at this point, but I do feel like I lost so much time because of my injuries and it just puts you in such a bad mental place. I see how injuries can affect people in negative and positive ways, some people really let the negativity get to them and they lose passion and interest and it’s disheartening to see because — I don’t like to like put myself in a position where I’m like, ‘Oh, I prevailed where other people failed.’ I was just so enraged at the circumstances that I was given by destiny if you will that I had to always have a constant like, ‘I will never let this happen to me again, I will do everything I can to be stronger than this, be stronger than any injury that’s ever happened to me.’ It’s hard to maintain that motivation and that passion when everything hurts all the time. It’s so hard.”
And finally, Anthony Bowens took to Bluesky today to announce that he’ll be missing tonight’s AEW Collision TV tapings. The reason for this is because the Palisades Fire in California has started moving towards his home.
Hey everyone, I unfortunately won't be making it to Collision today. The Palisades Fire started moving towards my home last night & as a precaution Michael & I had to pack up & leave the area. We are safe & so is the neighborhood as of now. Hopefully it stays that way. ✂️
— Anthony Bowens (@bowensofficial.bsky.social) 2025-01-11T21:56:20.756Z
