Nigel McGuinness on Possibly Coming Out of Retirement for Match at AEW All In London

Nigel McGuinness is one of the most respected and accomplished wrestlers in the history of the sport. He has held multiple championships in Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Noah, and other promotions, and has faced some of the best wrestlers in the world, such as Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle, and AJ Styles.

However, McGuinness retired from active competition in 2011 due to medical complications and injuries. He then transitioned to a career as a commentator, working for Ring of Honor and WWE.

McGuinness signed with AEW on April 5 after returning to ROH as an announcer for Supercard of Honor. He helped Tony Khan announce that AEW All In will be headed to Wembley Stadium in London.

McGuinness recently spoke to Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy where he addressed the possibility of coming out of retirement for All In.

“It’s certainly the event and perhaps a final chapter to my career, to my journey, so Wembley Stadium certainly springs to mind. There are a number of factors, I’m an age now and at a place in my life where I certainly don’t want to harm the rest of my life. I don’t want to get any injuries or anything serious that’s going to impinge my ability to enjoy my life as a parent or to travel. So that’s certainly a concern. You’ve also got to understand that at a show like Wembley, there are so many guys that are super talented and deserve those spots as well, so to take one of those spots for myself I think would be pretty hard. I think if we sell the place out, maybe I’ve got no argument but to go dust the boots off. But it’s so many things, it’s the event, it’s the opponent, it’s the timing and it’s hard to know. I cannot give you a definitive in that regard,” he stated.

Nigel further named Bryan Danielson as a dream opponent if he comes out of retirement. Apart from Danielson, Nigel also named Jonathan Gresham and MJF as potential opponents he would love to face.

“In terms of dream opponents, obviously it would have to be someone like Dragon [Bryan Danielson], given our history and the true story that’s there,” McGuinness said. “I think the best stories, the best angles in wrestling, always have that undercurrent of reality and it’s just so real there. It’s just so real and it’s so honest and authentic and nuanced as well in the sense that, it’s not just as simple as there’s a good guy and a bad guy, you can understand and you can identify with both of our journeys. We were once going in the same direction and now we’ve gone in completely different paths, but there’s a lot of emotion there to establish and even if that means me just being on commentary for a match of his as well. There are guys like Jonathan Gresham or MJF as well, those sort of guys that you go, ‘Yeah, I think I could really have a great match with them,'” McGuinness said.

Nigel McGuinness also stated that while the older version of himself could have a great match with them, he is not so sure he can go in the ring like he used to.

“But then you think to yourself, ‘Well, the old Nigel McGuinness could really have a great match with them. I’m not sure about the Nigel McGuinness now’ Someone said a while ago, ‘I bet you could get in the ring tomorrow, couldn’t you?’ I said, ‘I’m sure I could, I’m just not sure I could get back out afterwards, that’s the reality of it.'”

As of writing this article, no matches have been made official for AEW All In. While it would be great to see Nigel McGuinness lace up his boots one more time, it is unlikely to happen given the lack of time to properly build a story around the match. Stay tuned to Ringside News as we bring you similar stories.

What are your thoughts on Nigel McGuinness possibly coming out of retirement for AEW All In at Wembley Stadium? Who would you like to see him face and why? Sound off in the comments section.