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Nigel McGuinness clarifies the circumstances surrounding his original retirement.
In 2011, Nigel McGuinness made the decision to step away from in-ring competition — something that many attributed to a series of health concerns, including Hepatitis B and concussions. As McGuinness recently revealed, though, this move actually stems other reasons.
“There is a lot of confusion and misinformation,” McGuinness told Scott Fishman of TV Insider. “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.”
“I didn’t step away because of concussions”
“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.
More than 12 years after his initial retirement, McGuinness returned to action in the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In. Now, he looks to rekindle his rivalry with “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson as the two will face each other at AEW Grand Slam, if doctors clear Danielson for action in time.
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