Nigel McGuinness Talks AEW Dynamite Grand Slam Match, Reveals Why He Retired From Wrestling

Nigel McGuinness is set to wrestle his first singles match in thirteen years on the September 25 special Grand Slam edition of AEW Dynamite, following his improbable return in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In. 

With regards to whether the match with Bryan Danielson is a one-off or if he's prepared for a longer run, the former ROH World Champion told TV Insider: 

"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 honours 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". 

Asked whether his history of concussions and other injuries played on his mind while getting ready to take bumps, the 48-year-old sought to clear up some misconceptions about why he retired in 2011, saying: 

"It didn't really. 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". 

A recent report noted that the McGuinness/Danielson match had not been planned for long.