Nigel McGuinness made his in-ring return for the first time since 2011 when he competed in the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In. Moving forward, he hopes to have one more match.
Speaking with Raj Prashad for Uproxx Sports, Nigel McGuinness looked back on how there was ” a bit of discussion” about his potential in-ring return being at AEW All In. However, the plans changed when his slated opponent, Bryan Danielson, suffered a broken arm.
“Then, obviously what happened with Bryan breaking his arm (at Forbidden Door) and not being able to wrestle because Lord knows he’s got 205 perfectly good bones in his body and he needs all 206. So, that wasn’t gonna happen last year,” Nigel McGuinness said. “Once we realized that Bryan wasn’t an option (this year) because of him in the Owen and challenging for the title. That’s when I think the idea of doing a Casino Gauntlet match was broached. And after a little bit of thought and discussions back and forth, we decided to move forward in that direction. So I’m forever glad that I did.”
Nigel McGuinness On AEW All In
McGuinness went on to discuss competing in the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In 2024, as he called it an “incredible” moment.
“It’s one thing, certainly the year prior, to come back and announce the world record attendance. But to actually be in the ring. It was just a different feeling altogether. And that reaction was just something that I will take with me for the rest of my life,” McGuinness said. “It gave me an incredible sense of, I wouldn’t say closure because that makes it sound like the last thing for me. But it certainly has given me peace and a sense of surreal reality that this was able to happen. I had a lot of blessings in my life and a lot of obstacles as well. And to be as lucky as I was to have that opportunity – thanks to Tony Khan – it meant so much.”
Nigel McGuinness On Potential In-Ring Return
McGuinness then stated that he felt great physically. Per Prashad, he went into AEW All In with aspirations of competing in another match and that’s still the case.
“Bryan’s certainly head of line because of our history, there’s so much emotion tied up in a match with him,” McGuinness said. “Zack Sabre Jr. would be a dream match. Adam Copeland, he’s got another of those ‘broken bones.’ There are so many great talents, Lee Moriarty has been gracious enough to get in the ring with me before the shows at Collision, and that’s helped me a great deal.”
For now, Nigel McGuinness remains part of the AEW broadcast team, and he continues to troll Bryan Danielson on commentary.
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