Nigel McGuinness might be back for more than just ‘one more match.’
During a recent interview with Scott Fishman of TV Insider, the U.K. wrestling legend and All Elite Wrestling broadcast team member spoke about his expected in-ring return for a singles match against Bryan Danielson at AEW Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium, his surprise return at Wembley Stadium and whether or not he plans to continue after his upcoming showdown against the AEW World Champion.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On his long-awaited return to the ring and Tony Khan’s response to his desire to face Bryan Danielson in AEW: “There was excitement. Old Tony is a really big professional wrestling fan and has been for most of his life. And thank God. There is a notion elsewhere that what happens outside there isn’t important. Tony Khan is a wrestling fan who studies everything that happens in the wrestling industry. When I jumped on his flight headed to New York to announce the first Wembley show, he mentioned it. I can’t remember what I said. I think to the effect of if we get a sellout, then maybe I could dust the boots up. He perked up and said, “Would you be interested? Is that a possibility?” We had a brief discussion at that point. I tried to hunt Bryan Danielson down that day to see if it was a possibility. That was a long time ago. Tony was ecstatic at the possibility. It just took a lot longer to come to fruition than either of us thought or planned.”
On whether he intends to continue wrestling after the potential Danielson bout at Grand Slam: “It’s definitely a wait-and-see. I’m not going to rule it out. 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. If Bryan is able to compete as he is legitimately pretty banged up. Hopefully, it comes to fruition when he honors the booking. I think we’ll see how things play out after that. 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.”
In addition to the interview, the AEW Collision commentator also returned on X on Wednesday ahead of tonight’s AEW Dynamite with another entry in his “#AmericanCoward” “Fragile Countdown” campaign aimed at “The American Dragon.”