Nigel McGuinness made his surprise return to the ring at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium. Having last wrestled in 2011, the former Ring of Honor World Champion was a huge surprise for the Casino Gauntlet Match. While the star came up short as the Casino Gauntlet Match was won by Christian Cage, he wasn’t done surprising fans.
On the September 11th edition of AEW Dynamite, the star issued a challenge to Bryan Danielson for an AEW World Championship match at Grand Slam on September 25th. AEW later confirmed that the bout between McGuinness and Danielson had been made official.
Speaking about the upcoming match in a recent interview with the Battleground Podcast, McGuinness admitted that he’s unlikely to receive the same ovation in Arthur Ashe Stadium he did inside Wembley Stadium.
“I know it’s not going to be the same reaction, and I’m gonna be plenty of people in New York that don’t like me. I’ve always said when people ask me about getting in the job, what do you need? You just need people to care about you, and it was always the case with me. People either loved me or hated me, but as long as they had an opinion, that was all that mattered.
I think there’s going to be a lot of that, hopefully. I mean, a lot of those people who followed our careers since Ring of Honor are going to come out and really want to see who can prove that today they are the better wrestler. That’s all I’m trying to do. I’m just trying to show that all the success that he’s had, should have, could have, and would have been mine in a different universe.”
“It’s Destiny” – Nigel McGuinness On Facing Bryan Danielson Again
Continuing, Nigel McGuinness likened his upcoming match with Bryan Danielson to a potential meeting between Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant.
“I can promise you this is going to be a monumental match, a monumental night. For me, it’s destiny that’s come about now after sixteen years to your earlier point. Never would have dreamt this would happen. If Bryan’s got the balls to show up, then I guarantee you it’s going to be a match for the ages. You don’t often get an opportunity like this in sports because of the nature of sports, but, to me, this would be, perhaps, like a Michael Jordan against a Kobe Bryant. The ability to see where they are now, and that’s what you’re going to get.
“Bryan’s back is against the wall. That’s often the times where he’s at his best. But I promise you, I’m going to do absolutely everything to just prove my point, the title is not on the line. So you know, whether win, lose or draw, he’s leaving Arthur Ashe with the belt, and he’s heading to WrestleDream to defend it, but I can beat him, and I can prove that I was every bit the wrestler that he is, that he was, and that’s going to be in the back of his mind for the rest of his life, and he deserves it.”
In other AEW News, one champion admitted they missed the Wednesday Night Wars.
h/t Fightful