Tag: Nigel McGuiness

Tony Schiavone calls AEW commentator the best color analyst he has ever worked with

Posted on by Jake Skudder

AEW commentator Tony Schiavone recently made a big claim on the latest What Happened When podcast regarding his All Elite Wrestling colleague Nigel McGuinness.

McGuinness was on the show to watch some older Bryan Danielson matches with Schiavone and co-host Conrad Thompson. Nigel stayed in character pretty much the entire time, absolutely ripping into Danielson and even at one point claiming that the American Dragon PAID for the Best Technical Wrestler award in the Wrestling Observer Awards to be changed to the Bryan Danielson Award (sorry Nige but he didn’t, and he also doesn’t have any saucy pictures of Dave).

Tony Schiavone on Nigel McGuinness

Tony was absolutely glowing when it came to his praise for the former Ring of Honor Champion, saying that he is the best color commentator/analyst that he has ever worked with:

“Nigel is probably the best color analyst I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve worked with a lot of them. I say this because no one is prepared to do his job like Nigel McGuinness is. I know that I do not have to always get you [Nigel] up to date on the storylines, because I know Nigel is always prepared to do that [himself]. That means a lot to a guy in my position. An old guy can’t remember everything, and I can always lean on Nigel because he’s got these notes. That’s why I think he’s the best”

If you use any of the quotes on this page then please link back to F4WOnline and credit

Three matches officially added to AEW Double or Nothing

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Three new matches are official for Double or Nothing.

During AEW Collision, it was confirmed that Nigel McGuiness will team with Daniel Garcia to take on FTR. On the most recent episode of Dynamite, Garcia told McGuiness he was going to go after FTR with or without him, but it would be an honor to fight by his side. Stokley Hathaway came out and distracted the duo long enough into getting sneak attacked from behind by FTR. Daddy Magic came out for the save with a crowbar.

On Collision, McGuiness announced he would team with Garcia at Double or Nothing.

It was also announced that Ricochet will face Mark Briscoe in a stretcher match. On Dynamite, Ricochet was about to lay out Zach Gowen with another spirit gun when Mark Briscoe came to the ring to make the save. In a segment that aired after Dynamite, Briscoe issued the challenge for a stretcher match, which was made official Saturday.

After both teams made it clear they wanted to go after the Hurt Syndicate, Cru and Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes battled on Collision, with Guevara & Rhodes picking up the win to become the new number one contenders. It was soon announced the match would take place next Sunday.

The updated card for Double or Nothing:

Current AEW Double or Nothing card | Sunday, May 25, 2025 | Glendale, Arizona

  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Mina Shirakawa
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate defend against Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes
  • Owen Hart Foundation men’s tournament final: Will Ospreay vs. Hangman Page
  • Owen Hart Foundation women’s tournament final: Mercedes Mone vs. Jamie Hayter
  • Stretcher match: Ricochet vs. Mark Briscoe
  • FTR vs. Nigel McGuiness & Daniel Garcia

Wrestling Observer Live: ROH Final Battle, The Rock, ‘The Year of Griftmas,’ a holiday bonus

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s a holiday (almost) weekend edition of Wrestling Observer Live.

ROH Final Battle from the Hammerstein Ballroom took place Friday featuring a strong main event from Athena and Billie Starkz, an excellent Survival of the Fittest match for the men’s TV title, and the pop of the night: Nigel McGuinness challenging Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure title. Let’s discuss.

Als on today’s WOL: The Rock got roasted for a post on X and the annual reading of a Christmas tradition, AEW Rampage & Collision thoughts, WWE SmackDown, and I also provide a little holiday bonus content.

Happy Holidays! Check it out. Ho, ho, ho!

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Nigel McGuiness makes surprise appearance, wrestles Lee Moriarty at ROH Final Battle

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Nigel McGuiness came close to becoming ROH Pure Champion once again.

The former World Champion made a surprise appearance on Friday’s ROH Final Battle event at the Hammerstein Ballroom, challenging Lee Moriarty for the Pure Championship he had previously held for 355 days. After using all of their rope breaks, Moriarty ended up getting the submission victory over McGuiness after applying a crossface and using the bottom rope for leverage.

Moriarty’s match for Final Battle had been promoted as a Pure title match against a mystery challenger. After McGuiness made his entrance, he challenged Moriarty to a match under the old ROH Pure title rules, which includes no judges. After some back and forth between McGuiness and Shane Taylor, the rule changes were agreed to. 

After retiring from in-ring competition in 2011, McGuiness made his return as a wrestler at AEW All In back in August, competing in the Casino Gauntlet match. He made an additional appearance at Grand Slam in September, where he lost to Bryan Danielson.

Wrestling Weekly: AEW All Out thoughts & the road to Grand Slam

Posted on by Victor Sosa

Image: AEW

On this week’s Wrestling Weekly, it’s all about last Saturday’s AEW All Out and the subsequent road to this month’s Grand Slam with a match we can’t wait to see, regardless of how we got there.

Also, we talk about enhancement talents and whether doing that work for the big groups can hinder their ability to be seen as stars in the future.

We do talk some WWE at the onset, looking ahead at tonight’s WWE SmackDown, Bret Hart’s appearance on Raw, and the rest of what’s happening these days.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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Wrestling Weekly: AEW All In fallout & WWE Bash in Berlin predictions

Posted on by Victor Sosa

Image: WWE

On a new Wrestling Weekly, we have two big shows to discuss as we go from the fallout from last Sunday’s AEW All In to predictions for Saturday’s WWE Bash in Berlin.

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

Click here to listen (sub needed)

Nigel McGuinness says WWE release ‘wasn’t a huge shock’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Nigel McGuinness’ WWE release didn’t take him by surprise. 

McGuiness was let go last October after having been with the company since December 2016. He spoke with Hannibal TV about his WWE departure in an interview released on Sunday. 

McGuinness said: 

It wasn’t a huge shock to me, I don’t think so. I think with the NXT UK brand being put on hiatus and moving a lot of the guys over to NXT, I kind of wasn’t being used as much as I might be and so I understood that certainly, you know, I’m not sure how much longer that role was going to be there.

I was very grateful to still be employed as long as I was, doing the smallest shows in terms of Level Up or 205, the ability to work with younger guys and stuff like that and then watch younger guys just breaking in to this industry, that was a great experience in and of itself. 

But to your point, it wasn’t a huge shock. Again, I just felt very grateful for everything that had happened there and very appreciative of the six years of the learning and the education and the experience. 

  

Earlier in the conversation, McGuiness said he can’t “give a definitive answer” regarding if he’ll wrestle again but isn’t ruling it out. However, he added that he feels his strengths are in other aspects of the industry right now. 

There’s always that part of you that wants to have that final moment, but sometimes cooler and smarter heads have to prevail. 

McGuinness is starring in his own one-man show on Thursday, March 30, in Santa Monica, CA. He will take the stage at the Illusion Magic Lounge to perform “CELEBRATION: A Magical Homage to Pro Wrestling – by Nigel McGuinness.” The show’s description states that McGuiness “tell stories of the ring and share his unique brand of magic!”

McGuiness was recently a guest on our own Wrestling Weekly. 

Wrestling Weekly: WWE UK Title, McGuinness to WWE, Mailbag

Posted on by Victor Sosa

There was big news this week for the WWE Network with the announcement of a tournament that will air in January for the newly created WWE United Kingdom Championship — a great opportunity for wrestlers in the UK and also the realization of a dream for Nigel McGuinness, who will be one of the commentators for the tournament. It’s been a long and winding road to WWE for Nigel and as his trainer, Les Thatcher has a lot to say about this opportunity and Nigel’s career. 

After that, we open the mailbag and answer your questions about some of the changes in tv production Les brought to the Knoxville territory in the 70s (28:14), a very unique tournament for a mink coat that Les was a part of (36:17), how often did promotions make money off the concession stands in buildings back in the day and the setup behind that (41:41), how Les handled working with someone who was difficult to understand when calling spots and how often Les called matches as opposed to his opponents (44:57). 

Also, thoughts on Mario Milano and Mark Lewin (46:51), explaining the “spirit of 76” (50:55) and the alleged WWE memo regarding “do’s and don’ts” at house shows (54:17).  Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!


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