Exclusive: AEW’s Nigel McGuinness on if he'd come out of retirement for All In
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Nigel McGuinness retired from in-ring competition in 2011, going on to have a career as a commentator in Ring of Honor and then WWE.
Now McGuinness has landed in AEW, where he made his debut as a commentator at ROH's Supercard of Honor, before being at Tony Khan's side earlier this month when he announced the massive All In: London show at Wembley Stadium.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, McGuinness discussed what it would take for him to consider having one more match and whether Wembley Stadium could be the perfect venue.
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When asked what factors would make him consider wrestling again, McGuinness said: "It's certainly the event and perhaps a final chapter to my career, to my journey, so Wembley Stadium certainly springs to mind.
"There are a number of factors, I'm an age now and at a place in my life where I certainly don't want to harm the rest of my life. I don't want to get any injuries or anything serious that's going to impinge my ability to enjoy my life as a parent or to travel. So that's certainly a concern.
"You've also got to understand that at a show like Wembley, there are so many guys that are super talented and deserve those spots as well, so to take one of those spots for myself I think would be pretty hard.
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"I think if we sell the place out, maybe I've got no argument but to go dust the boots off," he added. "But it's so many things, it's the event, it's the opponent, it's the timing and it's hard to know. I cannot give you a definitive in that regard."
If McGuinness does decide to wrestle again, there are many names of potential opponents that fans would salivate over, but McGuinness says he would rather take on someone from his history and there's one man he has in mind.
"In terms of dream opponents, obviously it would have to be someone like Dragon [Bryan Danielson], given our history and the true story that's there," McGuinness said.
"I think the best stories, the best angles in wrestling, always have that undercurrent of reality and it's just so real there.
"It's just so real and it's so honest and authentic and nuanced as well in the sense that, it's not just as simple as there's a good guy and a bad guy, you can understand and you can identify with both of our journeys.
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"We were once going in the same direction and now we've gone in completely different paths, but there's a lot of emotion there to establish and even if that means me just being on commentary for a match of his as well."
When it comes to thinking of new opponents, McGuinness also has names in mind but there's a lot more to consider.
"There are guys like Jonathan Gresham or MJF as well, those sort of guys that you go, 'Yeah, I think I could really have a great match with them,'" McGuinness said.
"But then you think to yourself, 'Well, the old Nigel McGuinness could really have a great match with them. I'm not sure about the Nigel McGuinness now'
"Someone said a while ago, 'I bet you could get in the ring tomorrow, couldn't you?' I said, 'I'm sure I could, I'm just not sure I could get back out afterwards, that's the reality of it.'"
Catch AEW Dynamite live every Thursday at 1am in the UK and Rampage every Saturday at 3am on FITE with an AEW Plus subscription. US customers can also watch Dynamite on TBS and Rampage on TNT, and in the UK, Dynamite repeats air on ITV4.
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