Injury Update On AEW's Nigel McGuinness After All In 2026

As things went along, the story of AEW's Continental Challenge Cup tournament became about Nigel McGuinness and his bad left foot, especially as McGuinness overcame the injury to make it all the way to the finals before losing to Jon Moxley. For many fans, the story of McGuinness' injury was just that, a story. But according to Bryan Alvarez on the latest "Wrestling Observer Radio," it turns out the injury angle was AEW incorporating real life into kayfabe.

"Nigel McGuinness is injured, he's been injured the entire time," Alvarez said. "He, in fact, legitimately got hurt in the tournament. And I think it actually was a spot where he blocked a PK from Shibata. And the announcers even mentioned it looked like he injured his leg on that spot. And everybody thought it was a spot, I mean, lots of people thought it was a worked injury, including myself. And it turns out, it's not. So I don't know the extent of it, but he's hurt."

When asked by co-host Dave Meltzer about how serious the injury was, Alvarez was unable to confirm that. He did, however, note that the legitimacy of McGuinness' injury explained why he was suddenly removed from the Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor card just a week before All In, where McGuinness was scheduled to challenge Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure Championship. Once McGuinness was injured, Alvarez says AEW made the decision to pull him from the Moriarty match, in order to give McGuinness time to recover and be ready for the C3 matches.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription