Nigel McGuinness Says He Didn’t Retire Due to Concussions or Hepatitis, Isn’t Ruling Out Full-Time Return

In an interview with TV Insider, Nigel McGuinness cleared up rumors about why he originally retired from wrestling and if he would make a full-time return. McGuinness returned to the ring at AEW All In and is set to wrestle Bryan Danielson at Grand Slam next week. Here are highlights:

On the reason he retired from wrestling: “There is a lot of confusion and misinformation. The truth of the matter is when I stepped away from wrestling, it was purely because I couldn’t make a living as a wrestler anymore. I could have gone back to Ring of Honor and wrestled that style, but I wouldn’t have made enough money to even afford health insurance, let alone save for the rest of my life. That style in Ring of Honor just wasn’t doable. WWE wasn’t interested in me because of an old arm injury, even though it was perfectly healed. I didn’t want to go back to TNA given what happened there. That was it. There was no AEW or anywhere else to make a living wrestling. I had no choice. When I retired and did that documentary The Last of McGuinness, it was partly because if I could get my story out there, perhaps someone would catch on to it and tell the rest of the story. Little did I know it would take until now with Tony Khan and AEW. I didn’t step away because of concussions. I didn’t step away because of hepatitis. I was perfectly okay to wrestle. So it’s all not a factor going in. You obviously are cognizant of the possibility of injuries and stuff like that, but you try to keep it out of your head. It’s just like anything else in life. There are risks involved, but the rewards outweigh them.”

On Tony Khan’s response to Nigel getting back in the ring: “There was excitement. Old Tony is a really big professional wrestling fan and has been for most of his life. And thank God. There is a notion elsewhere that what happens outside there isn’t important. Tony Khan is a wrestling fan who studies everything that happens in the wrestling industry. When I jumped on his flight headed to New York to announce the first Wembley show, he mentioned it. I can’t remember what I said. I think to the effect of if we get a sellout, then maybe I could dust the boots up. He perked up and said, “Would you be interested? Is that a possibility?” We had a brief discussion at that point. I tried to hunt Bryan Danielson down that day to see if it was a possibility. That was a long time ago. Tony was ecstatic at the possibility. It just took a lot longer to come to fruition than either of us thought or planned.”

On if he will return full-time: “It’s definitely a wait-and-see. I’m not going to rule it out. I think for the longest time there has been the saying of never say never and never really meaning it. I think we’ll see how the match goes. If Bryan is able to compete as he is legitimately pretty banged up. Hopefully, it comes to fruition when he honors the booking. I think we’ll see how things play out after that. People asked me after the match in Wembley how I was feeling. I felt fantastic. It will be different going into a gauntlet match like that versus a one-on-one with expectations. I feel confident about it. I don’t know. I was looking at quotes from Arthur Ashe this morning because we’re doing this at Arthur Ashe Stadium. He said, “One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.” I’ve had 18 months to prepare for this both mentally and physically. I just feel I’m ready to go. Once I’m out there, there is a legitimate emotion that comes with standing across the ring with Bryan Danielson, given his level of success and story compared to mine.”