How Nigel McGuinness Kept His AEW Debut a Secret

Quite a few unexpected talents were released by WWE last year, and this included Nigel McGuinness. Many fans were surprised to see McGuinness released from the company, but not all was lost. After all, he eventually made his return to ROH during the Supercard of Honor event and officially became part of the AEW family. Now it appears McGuiness was not even backstage before his debut.

Nigel McGuinness was one of the most exciting superstars to make a name for themselves in Ring of Honor. The former WWE color commentator is also known to hang in the ring with the likes of Bryan Danielson, Jimmy Rave, and Chris Hero.

During Ring Of Honor’s Supercard Of Honor event this year, Nigel McGuinness returned as part of the commentary team. At the time, Tony Khan had stated that they brought him back only for the event. Of course, Khan would eventually sign him to the company for good.

While speaking during a recent conversation with Stephanie Chase, Nigel McGuiness provided details regarding his appearance at the Supercard Of Honor event. McGuiness recalled how he was hidden away and not even backstage before the show.

“It was very exciting (being at ROH Supercard of Honor) in the sense of, I thought about it for a while. Obviously, as soon as Tony (Khan) came on with AEW and got them going, everybody in the business thinks, oh, maybe at some point I could work there, you know? And so, it was exciting in that respect but at the same time, I didn’t get to be backstage before the show.

They kept me in one of the production trucks and no one knew I was gonna be there so I was kind of just sat back there with my girlfriend, going over notes, getting ready for the show, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

So it was very nerve-wracking in that regard but once I walked out on stage — people have said to me, ‘You look the most like you that we’ve seen you in like a decade,’ you know? And there’s certainly something to that.

It’s a different environment and I think Ring of Honor is viewed very differently in AEW obviously than in WWE for various reasons and so, yeah, I felt like I had that more cachet from being a world champion there than I had in the past.”

Nigel McGuiness also recently addressed whether he would come out of retirement for AEW All In. McGuiness is a worthy addition to Tony Khan’s company and it remains to be seen how he will fare in the coming weeks.

What’s your take on Nigel McGuiness in AEW? Do you think he will find success there? Sound off in the comments!