AEW Performer Nigel McGuinness Sets The Record Straight On Why He Retired In 2011

After a cameo appearance in the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In London, Nigel McGuinness is finally ready to come out of retirement for the match that he has wanted for 15 years: one more round with "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson. Their last meeting took place in 2009, and the two men's careers took very different paths in the immediate aftermath — both were signed to WWE contracts, but while Danielson went on to become WWE Champion and main event WrestleMania, McGuinness' injuries kept him from becoming a member of the roster, and he would retire by the end of 2011.

While the overarching narrative regarding McGuinness' retirement was that he was forced to call time on his career due to a combination of injuries, concussions, and being diagnosed with Hepatitis B, McGuinness revealed the true reason why he had to retire in a recent interview with 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," McGuinness said. "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."

McGuinness admits that even his retirement (complete with a tearjerker documentary) was in some ways an effort to leverage himself back into the ring.

"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," McGuinness said. "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."

The former Ring of Honor World Champion knows that injuries can still happen to him in his return to the ring, but says the rewards ultimately outweigh the risks.

"You obviously are cognizant of the possibility of injuries and stuff like that, but you try to keep it out of your head," he said. "It's just like anything else in life. There are risks involved, but the rewards outweigh them."

Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and thanks to TVInsider for the transcription.