Various: Nigel McGuinness on In-Ring Career Future, Updated ROH Supercard of Honor 2023 Card, Indies

WWE

Mar 28, 2023

Nigel McGuinness Comments on WWE Release & In-Ring Career Future

A recent episode of the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast had former WWE commentator Nigel McGuinness as the guest. One of the topics discussed included McGuinness’ thoughts on his release from WWE in October of 2022.

“It wasn’t a huge shock to me (being released from WWE). I don’t think so. I think with the NXT U.K. brand being put on hiatus and moving a lot of guys over to NXT, I kind of wasn’t being used as much as I might be and so I understood. Certainly, I’m not sure how much longer that role was gonna be there. I was very grateful to still be employed as long as I was, doing the smaller shows in terms of (NXT) Level Up or 205 (Live). The ability to work with younger guys and stuff like that and watch younger guys just breaking into this industry, that was a great experience in and of itself but to answer your point, there wasn’t a huge shock. Again, I just had felt very grateful about everything that had happened there and very appreciative of the six years of the learning and the education and the experience.”

McGuinness also gave his thoughts on the future of his in-ring career.

“That’s the million dollar question isn’t it? Exactly, yeah. Everybody’s asked me that as soon as I went my separate ways from WWE as well. I can’t give a definitive answer other than to say that I certainly feel my strengths at this point in my life are in other aspects of the industry but I wouldn’t rule it out 100 percent either, you know? There’s always that part of you that wants to have that final moment but sometimes, cooler and smarter heads have to prevail. So, it’s a cliché of course just to never say never. See a lot of people, Edge, Lita, Trish (Stratus) of course, a lot of people come back and have really, really good matches and have a really positive influence on the industry and in a way they are able to help the next generation. I think that’s fantastic so, only time will tell what really happens from here. I got a lot of strings to my boat. Getting ready to fire.
It would be amazing to me (if I returned to the ring). Someone said to me when I was actually at WWE, they said, ‘You know, Nigel, I bet you could get in the ring tomorrow.’ I said, ‘Absolutely. I’m just not sure if I could get back out.’”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

Two New Matches Added to ROH Supercard of Honor 2023

Ring of Honor owner Tony Khan recently announced two new matches for the card of Supercard of Honor 2023, which takes place on March 31st in Los Angeles, California.

The first new match announced is a ROH Six-Man Tag Team Championship match of AR Fox, Blake Christian, & Metalik vs. The Embassy (c).

This Friday, 3/31
ROH Supercard of Honor PPV
Los Angeles, CA

ROH World 6-Man Tag Team Championship@briancagegmsi/@thekaun/@ToaLiona vs@ARealFoxx/@_BlakeChristian/@Mascaradorada24

After their altercations on ROH TV, The Embassy defend the titles Friday vs AR Fox/Blake/Metalik! pic.twitter.com/KAXTLuAdLb
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) March 27, 2023

The second and final new match announced is a ROH Pure Championship match of Katsuyori Shibata vs. Wheeler Yuta (c).

This Friday, 3/31#ROH Supercard of Honor PPV
Los Angeles, CA

ROH Pure Championship Match@WheelerYuta vs @K_Shibata2022

The challenge has been answered!
Legendary Katsuyori Shibata will come to #ROH in LA to challenge the BCC's Wheeler Yuta for the ROH Pure Title, THIS Friday! pic.twitter.com/fJpiUwX7Cd
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) March 27, 2023

Updated card for ROH Supercard of Honor 2023:

ROH World Championship – Eddie Kingston vs. Claudio Castagnoli (c)
AAA Mega Championship – Komander vs. El Hijo del Vikingo (c)
ROH World Tag Team Championship “Reach for the Sky” Ladder match – Lucha Brothers (Rey Fenix & Penta El Zero Miedo) vs. Top Flight (Dante & Darius Martin) vs. The Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) vs. Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) vs. RUSH & Dralistico
ROH World Television Championship – Mark Briscoe vs. Samoa Joe (c)
ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship – AR Fox, Blake Christian, & Metalik vs. The Embassy (Kaun, Toa Liona, & Brian Cage) (c)
ROH Pure Championship – Katsuyori Shibata vs. Wheeler Yuta (c)

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

As noted before, Josh Alexander recently suffered a torn triceps injury and relinquished his Impact World Championship due to the severity of his injury. UK clothing store BLCKSMTH Apparel recently announced on Twitter that all proceeds generated from their Josh Alexander themed clothing collection will go directly towards helping financially support Alexander’s medical costs.

This past Sunday’s Revolution Rumble event for Revolution Pro Wrestling in London, England featured former WWE NXT talent Eddie Dennis announcing his official retirement from wrestling. Going into the show, Dennis stated that he would retire from wrestling if he did not win the Revolution Rumble match, which resulted in Michael Oku being victorious instead. While responding to a fan on Twitter, Dennis confirmed that his retirement was real.

This past Sunday’s RevPro Revolution Rumble event in London also featured Dan Moloney being revealed as the newest member of NJPW’s United Empire group. Following Moloney’s victory against Francesco Akira in a singles match at the event, Will Ospreay offered Moloney an official United Empire armband as membership into his group, which Moloney accepted. Following the event, Ospreay gave his thoughts on Twitter about Moloney joining his group. Ospreay stated “Dan Moloney is a guy that was fired from NXT:U.K. back in 2019. The work ethic he put in after, throughout the pandemic, when the crowd returned & now is a real testament to the man he is. Never took shortcuts, he showed up and grafted in a scene pronounced DOA. Be scared Jrs.“

SANADA’s new modified DDT style finisher in New Japan Pro Wrestling reportedly was recently given the official name of Death Fall, according to the Wrestling Observer.

As noted before, El Hijo del Vikingo and Komander are currently expected to be in attendance at Ring of Honor’s upcoming new set of ROH TV tapings this Wednesday in St. Louis, Missouri. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that Komander is no longer expected to be making an appearance at ROH’s upcoming tapings due to him being currently booked to work at an indies event that same night in Los Angeles, California.

ROH recently announced a new match for the card of this week’s ROH TV show on March 30th in St. Louis, Missouri: