Nigel McGuinness Only Interested In Coming Out Of Retirement For Bryan Danielson Match, Doesn't Think It Will Happen

Nigel McGuinness rekindled his long-running animosity with Bryan Danielson once they ended up in the same promotion again in 2023, with McGuinness often taking shots at Danielson while on commentary during AEW Collision, including one moment where he mentioned Bryan Danielson used to be a vegan "but he couldn't give up eating Brie." Danielson's wife, of course, is Brie Garcia. 

A potential match between the longtime rivals at AEW All In has long been speculated upon, particularly ahead of the 2023 event, but Danielson ultimately missed the show with a broken arm. The match is unlikely to happen inside Wembley Stadium at All In 2024 unless Danielson decides to pull double duty since 'The American Dragon' is already scheduled to challenge Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Title in All In's main event. 

Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, McGuinness noted he was open to coming out of retirement but the only opponent that made sense was Bryan Danielson. 

"I was open to the suggestion, open to the idea. When I originally signed with AEW, I took a flight cross country with Tony and he said, 'I've got to swear you to secrecy, I'm telling you something you can't tell another soul. We're doing Wembley Stadium', and I was like, Oh, my God. Then just the idea occurred to me. Could you, should you, because Wembley Stadium 1992. That was an epiphany for me. That was a moment. I went there with my friend and I sat back 50 rows back, and I just remember having this strange sensation, I talk about it during my magic show how I just have this weird feeling, this belief that somehow I knew I was going to be a professional wrestler. I think maybe you've had a similar idea yourself, but it stuck with me, certainly. So to go back to that venue and wrestle would just be off the charts. But the only thing that really made sense was Bryan, and he broke his arm because he's got osteoporosis," McGuinness noted.

The former ROH World Champion admitted he is unsure if he would have faced Danielson at All In 2023 and he doesn't believe his career-defining rival will ever wrestle him again. 

"I don't know. I mean, there's so much of it is out of my control, really is whether he wants to wrestle me. I always thought it was kind of funny. Someone asked him about that time if he'd ever wrestle me again and he said if I ever wrestled Nigel, I'd break his neck. Then three weeks later he breaks his arm, which I thought was karma. I've always thought as well, sometimes, you get couples and the girl is always jealous and blaming the guy for cheating. You're cheating on me. You are thinking of cheating. I mean, it always turns out, she was thinking of it. So I think maybe when Bryan said, if I wrestle him I'll break his neck, he probably remembers those lariats and thinks, doesn't want that. Go back and watch that match at Liverpool where we had that incredible match. There was a time after he ran my head into the ring post, I rolled back in, blood pouring, looked him in the face and perhaps the only time I've ever seen true fear in his eyes. So yeah, I think he was having a flashback, PTSD from that. So I make jokes about it, don't think he's ever going to wrestle me to be perfectly honest," Nigel continued.

McGuinness has been back in the ring since joining All Elite Wrestling but he doesn't really want to wrestle anymore unless it's for a match with Danielson. 

"Getting back in the ring I felt like, wow, it is so strange realisation when you figure out that the only thing stopping you being a wrestler is you. Now, having said that, I've certainly got no desire to step away from the announcing booth. I don't want to become a full-time wrestler. I don't really want to wrestle anymore, to be honest with you. Other than beating Bryan, obviously, because that’s our story. There's our history," McGuinness added.

Nigel McGuinness and Bryan Danielson faced each other on several occasions from 2006 until 2009, including a famous unification match in Liverpool, England which Danielson won to unify the ROH World and Pure championships. 

Bryan Danielson is set to end his full-time in-ring career in 2024, while Nigel McGuinness hasn't wrestled since his retirement tour in 2011.