Retired Former World Champion Training For A Return - Could He Wrestle At AEW All In?

Could this hugely popular former World Champ lace up his boots once more at All In?

by Andrew Pollard
AEW All In Nigel McGuinness
AEW

Having not wrestled for 12 years, Nigel McGuinness is looking to return to in-ring action.

As per Fightful Select, McGuinness has been "taking measures" to return to the ring.

Advertisement

This report notes how there's no concrete confirmation yet on whether or not the former ROH World Champion has been cleared to resume his in-ring career, but that the Brit's name was at one point brought up as a potential competitor at AEW All In later this month.

Of course, All In takes place from London's Wembley Stadium, and fans would absolutely lap up the chance to see Nigel McGuinness lace up his boots once more in his home country and his home city.

Advertisement

Not just is England Nigel's home country, mind, but it's also home to one of the star's most memorable matches, with McGuinness losing to Bryan Danielson at Liverpool's Olympia back in August 2006 at ROH Unified. That bout unified Danielson's ROH World Title with the ROH Pure Title held by McGuinness going into the event.

This Fightful report adds that while Nigel McGuinness was brought up in recent months as potentially wrestling at All In, it's unknown whether there are actually plans for this to happen or if the subject has been "broached internally" by AEW as of yet.

Advertisement

Away from his time cementing himself as one of the greatest stars in the history of Ring of Honor, McGuinness - as Desmond Wolfe - also impressed in the then-TNA between 2009 and 2011. Unfortunately, the London-born grappler's in-ring career was brought to a halt in 2011 due to Hepatitis B.

Since hanging up his boots, McGuinness has operated as a commissioner and authority figure for TNA and ROH, in addition to serving as a commentator in ROH, WWE, and nowadays in AEW as part of the Collision announce team.

As it stands, the 47-year-old's last match was a defeat to TJ Phillips back in December 2011 for American Pro Wrestling Alliance out of West Virginia. Prior to that, McGuinness' final televised contest was a win over Stevie Richards on a September 2010 episode of TNA Xplosion.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.