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EXCLUSIVE: Nigel McGuiness Is Going From Retirement To The Pinnacle Of His Career At AEW Grand Slam

Nigel McGuiness is getting the moment he's dreamed of against Bryan Danielson at Wednesday's AEW Grand Slam.

Steven Muelhausen

Nigel McGuiness cuts a promo on AEW Heavyweight Champion, Bryan Danielson.
Nigel McGuiness cuts a promo on AEW Heavyweight Champion, Bryan Danielson. / Ricky Havlik - All Elite Wrestling

Rivalries in sports are created by two competitors or teams who desire to be the best. Think of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning beginning their rivalry in the early 2000s, and currently, the Kansas City Chiefs against the Cincinnati Bengals.

In the world of professional wrestling from May 2005 to September 2009, fans had Bryan Danielson and Nigel McGuiness. In that timeframe, Danielson and McGuiness met 24 times, with 20 happening in Ring of Honor, owned by AEW head Tony Khan. Overall, in ROH, Danielson and McGuiness had ten singles matches, five tag matches, one trios match, and various multi-man contests. Out of those one-on-one matches, Danielson won five, McGuiness notched three victories, and they had two time-limit draws.

Now, one day shy of the 15th anniversary of their last singles matchup, Danielson and McGuiness will likely battle inside the squared circle one final 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 explained to The Takedown.

Long before AEW Grand Slam, McGuiness started his wrestling journey by venturing from his native England to America in September 1998 for the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in Cincinnati under the guidance of famed trainer Les Thatcher.

McGuiness was struggling in 2003. He had been thinking maybe that the United States wasn't the place where he needed to be to move forward in his career. But someone he'd met in HWA changed his perspective and led him to the person he needed to be to succeed as a wrestler. Fellow wrestler Brian Kendrick gave McGuiness something that led him to the man who ended up being his fiercest rival.

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"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 explained. "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, through going back to England, through watching Japanese wrestling tapes, I started to realize and understand that this was the direction that not only could I go, (but) I had to go. It was a real baptism of fire to develop my style in that direction. I went back to England and learned the technical British style and then tried to add in elements of All Japan and New Japan in what became pro wrestling now as well, with more of that hard-hitting, realistic style that you 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 think it was only supposed to be one match, but it got over so well," McGuiness said. "I always knew it would, and I don't know how I always knew it would. But I remember the first time I saw him. Ring of Honor had their first Ohio show. I was on this show. I got to the building early, as I always did to help set up or whatever I needed to do. Bryan was there because he was living on the west coast at the time, so he always flew in red eye, and was there first thing in the morning as well. He just sat backstage reading a book. I just had this strange sense of not even foreboding or deja vu, the opposite of deja vu, prescience, if you will, that in some way this guy was going to have a huge impact on my career, and we were just going to be some way connected. And it has certainly played out that way. 

"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 last time Danielson and McGuiness had appeared to face off. Both men were about to achieve their dream at the time of going to WWE. The great matches they were having around the world now would be seen by a larger audience. Heading into that bout, doubt was creeping into McGuiness because of an old injury and then receiving an unusual phone call before he was about to walk through the curtain. All of this affected his performance in what was set to be a memorable moment.

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"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 actually thinking that. I remember warming up for the match and getting a phone call 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."

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McGuiness' intuition proved to be correct. WWE ended up not signing McGuiness because of the medical disclosures of his old injury while Danielson went to WWE as Daniel Bryan and had a great career there, despite the odds working against him at every turn. McGuiness ended up going to TNA for a two-year stint before retiring at the end of 2011.

Being on the verge of accomplishing a goal with the opportunity for financial freedom is crushing for any human being. Making life changing money is the dream. Danielson and McGuiness were set to take on the world and show the world their version of wrestling can get over in a company that had always perceived looks more than skill inside the squared circle.

McGuiness didn't watch any of Danielson's feats in WWE, including winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 30. Many would play would play the "what if and why not me" card in seeing someone who you admired now accomplish and have the success that you also seemed destined to have. It was a tough pill for McGuiness to swallow and understandably so, considering how connected he and Danielson were.

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"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 said it on a promo, actually recently saying you hear that no one knows you used to be a wrestler, enough, and you start to believe 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, but in the latter's words, they didn't speak. McGuiness felt the days of them being on the same playing field were over as he was at one stage in his wrestling life while Danielson was living out the dream they were both supposed to share together.

"For me, it always felt a little odd and a little bit weird, a little embarrassing," McGuiness said. "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 was on Tony Khan's plane flying across to make the announcement about Wembley (first All In London) when he told me about that," McGuiness proclaimed. "The idea suddenly sprung in my mind. I just said it flippantly, ‘If it sells out, maybe I'll have to dust off the old boots’.

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

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While a return being a distinct possibility, McGuiness only had one opponent in mind for that event.

"For me, it had to be Bryan," McGuiness said. "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 didn't come to be 13 months ago as Danielson suffered a broken arm against Kazuchika Okada at Forbidden Door in June 2023.

Again, McGuiness had his dreams taken away from him. He could have quickly buried his head again and felt bad for himself. It would have been easy not to blame him. One can only take so much negativity in life.

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Not McGuiness. He had a plan that not many people knew about. McGuiness continued to launch insult after insult anytime he was on commentary for a match Danielson was in. He'd find an opening and go on the attack. Part of the idea was executed when McGuiness made a shocking return to the ring for the first time in nearly 13 years in the Casino Gauntlet Match last month at AEW All In 2024. The crowd inside London's Wembley Stadium went bonkers for their countryman and continued their vocal support throughout the match.

McGuiness didn't win the match but being back home in the ring, competing in an arena he'd longed since 1992, helped prepare him for what is 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 said. But either way, I was ready because I prepared. They say failing to prepare is preparing to fail. For the last 18 months, ever since I realized it was an option, I've been getting in the ring, I've been working on my diet, I've been lifting, I've been stretching, I've been doing everything I can to be in tip-top condition if and when the opportunity presents itself. So I've got that level 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.

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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 hard not to for me given my opponent, given our history and just giving father time as well," McGuiness said. "Bryan is legitimately banged up. His neck is screwed. He's probably going to have to have surgery. I would say he's definitely going to have to have surgery. And whether he'll ever wrestle again afterward remains to be seen. I think he's stupid enough to try.

"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"

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Steven Muelhausen

STEVEN MUELHAUSEN

: Steven Muehlhausen is a veteran combat sports writer for various outlets including Sporting News and Yahoo Sports. He can be reached at stevemuehlhausen@yahoo.com and followed on Twitter @SMuehlhausenJr.

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