Nigel McGuinness Signs With AEW

Written by Sondra Ruth • Published 5th April 2023
Nigel McGuinness AEW

At ROH Supercard of Honor, former WWE commentator Nigel McGuinness made a shock return to the company to serve as color commentator.

The star has a long history with Ring of Honor, where his feuds with Bryan Danielson became the stuff of legend. He later worked for IMPACT Wrestling as well as numerous independent companies. However, following numerous injuries and health complications, McGuinness retired from in-ring competition in 2011, turning his attention instead to the commentary booth.

After commentating in ROH for a number of years, he signed with WWE in 2016, finally realizing his childhood dream of working for the largest wrestling company in the world. He commentated various programs during his time with the company including NXT, NXT UK, 205 Live, and Main Event. He was released from his WWE contract in October of 2022.

Now, AEW President Tony Khan has taken to social media to announce that McGuinness’ appearance at Supercard of Honor was not a one-off and the star is officially All Elite.

“Nigel McGuiness is a legend in pro wrestling, and now @McGuinnessNigel is All Elite!

See you all TONIGHT on @TBSNetwork for a massive Wednesday Night #AEWDynamite, and I’ll have a very important announcement on TBS tonight!”

Khan has been hyping his major announcement for days, saying it’s one of the most important in company history.

Nigel McGuinness Wasn’t Shocked By His WWE Release

Speaking in a recent interview with Hannibal TV, McGuinness was asked about being released from WWE and whether the move came as a surprise to him.

“It wasn’t a huge shock to me, I don’t think so. I think with the NXT UK brand being put on hiatus and moving a lot of the guys over to NXT, I kind of wasn’t being used as much as I might be and so I understood that certainly, you know, I’m not sure how much longer that role was going to be there.

“I was very grateful to still be employed as long as I was, doing the smallest shows in terms of Level Up or 205, the ability to work with younger guys and stuff like that and then watch younger guys just breaking in to this industry, that was a great experience in and of itself.

“But to your point, it wasn’t a huge shock. Again, I just felt very grateful for everything that had happened there and very appreciative of the six years of the learning and the education and the experience.” (h/t F4WOnline)

Ahead of the landmark Wembley Stadium show, McGuinness revealed that he would have come out of retirement had Danielson not conveniently gotten injured.