Nigel McGuinness Weighs In On AEW’s Place In Wrestling Right Now, His Goal At Grand Slam

Nigel McGuinness recently shared his thoughts on where AEW stands in the current marketplace of wrestling. McGuinness spoke about the topic during his interview with TV Insider promoting his match against Bryan Danielson at AEW Grand Slam, and you can see highlights below:

On where AEW stands in the marketplace: “It’s hard to argue with their success. After five years and without much doubt, next year they will be the second most profitable professional wrestling business in the history of the industry. In terms of what the company is and its product is, yes, to a certain extent it’s always evolving as is the competition. The world is evolving. I have incredible faith in the company and with Tony Khan. It’s funny with all the commentary I did at WWE, I never got a visceral sense for the wrestlers because I was never in the ring with them.

“I could talk about my experience before and the people I was in the ring with. Now I’ve been into the ring, I got to feel what it was like to wrestle Kazuchika Okada or Orange Cassidy or others. You have a palpability of who they are. Their confidence and weaknesses as well. There is so much talent in the AEW locker room. There are people who go you there. Not stealing the show, but playing the role they can in the show. It’s like any company. There are things to work on and room for improvement, finding a way to streamline the entire process and move forward. I’m looking forward to the future. I think we’ll look back at the last five years and the amount of great product put out there and the interest it created. It’s a juggernaut when you think about the money, and the people whose lives that have been influenced by it. I’m extremely blessed to be even a small part of it. ”

On if he has anything left to accomplish as a wrestler: “There isn’t a lot to be honest with you. This is a long journey for me. When I retired back in 2011 and did my documentary, that gave me a sense of closure to some extent. When I was working in WWE, I had so many of my generational peers who went on to such success in terms of fame and money they made and in terms of their ability to wrestle on that stage. There was always an itch there. There was a sense of failure, not achieving my dream. But to a large extent, I found peace with that by the time Wembley came around. There only is Bryan who needs this squaring away in my head…I can’t go back or change history. It’s an odd feeling when you realize the only thing stopping you from being a wrestler is you. All I can do is try to show if I had continued, perhaps I would have the same success as other people. That’s not what it’s all about. It’s not about just the success you have but the journey you take and what you become because of it. I have so many positive things that happened after stepping out of the ring.

“There was the documentary, me becoming a color commentator, and getting to announce the largest paid pro wrestling attendance of all time at Wembley Stadium. A place where at 16 years old I dreamt of being a professional wrestler. I’m not looking for any kind of resolution other than when people call Bryan the best wrestler in the world and lord him and all those awards he has as the best technical wrestler. I think he paid for those, I’m not sure. I want to show I was as good as him and if I can beat him at Arthur Ashe, I can prove that. It’s not about the AEW title. It is prestigious but I’m not coming back to win the title, but coming back to show I was as good as Bryan Danielson. That if fortune had given me the right hand, I would have had the same success. “