Nigel McGuinness surprised the pro wrestling world when he came out of retirement and returned to the ring for his first match in years in All Elite Wrestling.
And he’s not ruling out additional squared circle comebacks in the future.
During a recent appearance on The Wombreezy Wrestling Podcast for an in-depth interview, the AEW commentator and U.K. wrestling legend was asked about the possibility of a full-time return to the ring in AEW.
“Of wrestling? No, good lord, no,” McGuinness said with a laugh. “My full years of wrestling are long, long gone. Good lord, you could have asked me probably ten years ago and I would have said the ship has truly sailed when it comes to me even wrestling again.”
McGuinness gave credit to AEW President Tony Khan for even getting the chance to return to the ring after so long in the first place.
“But I guess, truthfully, without AEW and specifically Tony Khan, I never would have got this opportunity again,” he said.
As the discussion continued, McGuinness spoke about how he doesn’t see a benefit of taking on a full-time schedule at this point in his career, but made it clear that if the right set of circumstances presents itself, he isn’t ruling out another possible return to the ring.
“I don’t think there’s any benefit to me wrestling a full-time schedule,” he said. “[The] sort of part-time schedule that I’m currently on, you know, if an opportunity presents itself and it makes sense from a storyline perspective, then I’ll do it. I love doing it.”
“But, yeah, not full-time,” he added. “There’s too many guys on the roster anyway, younger guys, who deserve more of those spots than me. But if I can add a little bit of flavor, little bit of spice, to what else is going on with my experience and the fact that they see me on TV every week as a commentator, then I think that’s the best way they can use me.”
Nigel McGuinness is a former world champion in Ring Of Honor, and decorated veteran of multiple other high-profile promotions before retiring in 2011.
In 2024, he returned to the ring for the first time in almost 13 years for a match at the historic AEW All Out: London show at Wembley Stadium in England.
He also returned a second time at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door: London show at the O2 Arena in England earlier this year.
(H/T to Joseph Currier and F4WOnline.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
