Nigel McGuinness is best known for work with Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Noah and WWE.
44 Facts About Nigel McGuinness
2.
Nigel McGuinness would begin to work with ROH in 2003.
3.
Nigel McGuinness won the World Championship in 2007 and held the title for 545 days.
4.
Nigel McGuinness returned to ROH in August 2011 as a colour commentator and on-screen authority figure.
5.
Nigel McGuinness was a wrestling fan from the age of 12, particularly enjoying The Hart Foundation and The British Bulldogs, and attended SummerSlam in 1992 while wearing The Ultimate Warrior face paint.
6.
Nigel McGuinness studied at the University of Leicester in the 1990s and spent a sandwich year at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, graduating in 1997 with a 2:1 degree in chemistry.
7.
On 10 July 2001, Nigel McGuinness defeated Dean Jablonski in a singles match with the HWA Tag Team Championship on the line, claiming the title for himself and his partner, The Human Time Bomb.
8.
In 2003, Nigel McGuinness introduced the HWA European Championship to HWA.
9.
Nigel McGuinness held the title until 30 September 2003, when he lost to Hoss.
10.
Nigel McGuinness won the HWA Heavyweight Championship on 6 September 2003 in Batavia, Ohio, defeating Chad Collyer, He held the title until 3 January 2004, when he lost the title to Hoss.
11.
Nigel McGuinness defeated Hoss to begin a second reign with the title on 6 January, and held it until 17 March 2004, when he lost to El Temor.
12.
Nigel McGuinness debuted in Ring of Honor on 9 August 2003, defeating Chet Jablonski.
13.
Nigel McGuinness wrestled for ROH throughout 2004, but had limited success.
14.
Cabana and Nigel McGuinness then began fighting one another, with Nigel McGuinness defeating Cabana on 7 May 2005, with an accidental low blow for a shot at the ROH Pure Championship.
15.
Nigel McGuinness challenged the champion, Samoa Joe, on 12 June 2005, but was defeated.
16.
On 25 March 2006, Nigel McGuinness defeated Castagnoli in a match billed as the latter's last chance to win the championship as long as Nigel McGuinness was champion.
17.
Nigel McGuinness had a malapropistic gimmick in ROH of mispronouncing words.
18.
Nigel McGuinness again won by countout, by which only the Pure title could be won, but not Danielson's World title.
19.
The rest of the year saw Nigel McGuinness feuding with Jimmy Rave, who, using his new submission manoeuvre, the Heel Hook, forced him to tap out on two separate occasions, first on 8 December 2006, at The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 and then on 23 December 2006, at Final Battle 2006.
20.
On 15 September 2007, at Man Up, ROH's third pay-per-view, Nigel McGuinness defeated Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli and Naomichi Marufuji in a four-way match to earn one more shot at Takeshi Morishima's ROH World Championship, which Nigel McGuinness won at Undeniable on 6 October 2007.
21.
In late 2007, ROH confirmed that Nigel McGuinness had suffered a torn biceps and would be out of action until Final Battle 2007, however he would not be stripped of the ROH World Championship.
22.
Nigel McGuinness successfully retained the title against Hero, despite first losing the match due to the referee failing to notice McGuinness' foot on the rope while Hero made him tap out to submission.
23.
On 29 December 2007, Nigel McGuinness returned to the ring full-time at ROH fifth pay-per-view, Rising Above.
24.
On 25 January 2008, Nigel McGuinness wrapped up his feud with Chris Hero by successfully defending his title against him in a steel cage match.
25.
On 20 March 2009, Nigel McGuinness sustained an arm injury competing in a tag team match.
26.
Finally, on 3 April 2009 at Supercard of Honor IV, Nigel McGuinness lost the ROH World Championship to Jerry Lynn at his 39th defence, ending his reign at 545 days.
27.
On 11 August 2004, Nigel McGuinness appeared in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, debuting in a 22-man Gauntlet for the Gold for the TNA X Division Championship, which was won by Petey Williams.
28.
On 31 August 2005, Nigel McGuinness competed in Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, on episode of its OVW TV, losing to Elijah Burke.
29.
Nigel McGuinness would go on to wrestle Danny Basham on 11 September 2005, episode of Sunday Night Heat, taped prior to Raw on 5 September, losing after Basham hit an inverted DDT.
30.
On 13 November 2005, Nigel McGuinness returned to TNA at the pre-show prior to the Genesis pay-per-view in a losing effort to Shark Boy, before leaving America to tour Japan with NOAH in November and December 2005.
31.
Nigel McGuinness wrestled nine matches in total, seven of which he won, and teamed with fellow gaijin Doug Williams, 2 Cold Scorpio and Bison Smith.
32.
In 2007, Nigel McGuinness represented ROH in the King of Europe Cup.
33.
Nigel McGuinness made his way through to the final and, in his home country, defeated fellow Brit and tag-team partner Doug Williams to win the 2007 tournament final.
34.
Nigel McGuinness won the 1PW Openweight Championship, his first title in a British promotion, on 19 April 2009, by defeating Johnny Moss.
35.
Nigel McGuinness decided to retire since WWE didn't sign him, he didn't want to return to TNA and he couldn't continue to use the wrestling style he used in ROH.
36.
Nigel McGuinness would compete in his final matches at APWA's 3rd Annual Holiday Grand Prix, which was a two-night show in Clarksburg, WV.
37.
The tapings concluded with Nigel McGuinness saving Eddie Edwards from the House of Truth.
38.
At the 3 November 2012, tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Nigel McGuinness was named the new "Matchmaker" of Ring of Honor, replacing Jim Cornette as the main on-screen authority figure.
39.
In December 2012, Nigel McGuinness released a documentary titled The Last of Nigel McGuinness on his final days as an in-ring performer, during which he revealed that WWE had rescinded his contract after feeling an old biceps injury needed surgery, while his in-ring career in TNA ended after contracting hepatitis B during his time there.
40.
In late May 2013, Nigel McGuinness toured the United Kingdom with the shorter final cut of his documentary and has become an advocate for hepatitis B vaccination and an end to the use of intentional blood loss in wrestling.
41.
In December 2016, ROH announced Nigel McGuinness had resigned as the promotion's matchmaker.
42.
Nigel McGuinness made his commentary debut at the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament on 14 and 15 January 2017, alongside Michael Cole.
43.
Nigel McGuinness was released from WWE on October 22,2022, ending his six year tenure with the company.
44.
Nigel McGuinness put on a one-man show that is partly spoken word and part magic exhibition.