AEW: Nigel McGuinness on Being Open to Wrestling Again, Taz Underwent Total Knee Replacement Surgery, More News

Oct 9, 2024

Nigel McGuinness Comments on Being Open to Idea of Wrestling Again

A recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast featured Nigel McGuinness as the guest. One of the topics discussed included McGuinness’ thoughts about his match against Bryan Danielson at AEW’s Dynamite Grand Slam 2024 show earlier this month.

Nigel McGuinness – “I was very happy. I was very happy that I got the chance to do it, that I got to face him one more time, to have that sort of experience and my daughter was in the crowd as well, which was the first time she’d ever seen any pro wrestling. She gave me a nine out of ten. So, not five stars but getting close.”
Chris Jericho – “It would’ve been ten out of ten if it’d been in the Tokyo Dome.”

McGuinness also gave his thoughts about if his match gave him closure for his wrestling rivalry with Danielson and wrestling career.

“I kind of had closure before. They say this a lot, ‘If you want something, let it go, and the universe might bring it to you’ and I kind of feel like that’s what happened here.”

McGuinness also gave his thoughts about being open to the idea of potentially wrestling again but is okay if it doesn’t happen.

“There’s always a chance. And certainly now that I’ve realized – I don’t want to say it’s not as difficult as I thought it was because it is obviously very difficult – but I think I didn’t give myself enough credit for being able to do it and I think I listened to too many people.
I said it in a promo relatively recently, you hear that nobody knows you used to be a wrestler enough, and you start to believe it. And then one day, the voice telling you is your own. And then one day, and for me this took a long time, one day you learn it was your voice all alone and nobody else gives a sh*t. So, I’m at the stage now where I feel eternally blessed to have been able to get back in the ring.
Certainly, I’m open to the possibility but if I don’t wrestle again that’s okay as well. As I said, I’ve had closure and we’ll see what happens, what dreams may come.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com

Taz Total Knee Replacement Surgery Update – Taz Underwent Successful Surgery

As noted before, AEW commentator Taz is currently absent from AEW due to him scheduled to undergo total knee replacement surgery

Taz provided an update on Tuesday on Twitter stating that he had underwent successful surgery for his knee.

Look on my face when I requested room 13 and they missed by 5! 😳
Surgery went well, now the work begins.

Watch #AEWDynamite special time & night TONIGHT 9p ET. @AEW @TBSNetwork pic.twitter.com/uP31T8N7MW
— taz (@OfficialTAZ) October 8, 2024

AEW News & Notes

As noted before, Swerve Strickland signed a new contract with AEW during this past August’s All In 2024 event that is currently believed to make him among the highest paid wrestlers in the wrestling industry. This year’s LA Comic Con event on October 4-6 in Los Angeles featured Strickland among the guests. Strickland recently revealed in a now deleted tweet that he officially finalized his new contract with AEW at the convention.

The New York Wrestling Connection recently announced that they will be inducting Willow Nightingale into their Hall of Fame on October 19th as part of their Homecoming of Madness event in Deer Park, New York. Nightingale recently reflected on Twitter about her upcoming NYWC Hall of Fame induction. Nightingale stated “Being recognized in this way by the place I learned my fundamentals, got my start, and grew into the Willow I am today is such an honor. Thank you @NYWCWRESTLING Can’t wait for October 19th♥️✨“

Following Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Title Tuesday 2024 show in Spokane, Washington, AEW CEO Tony Khan thanked everyone who watched the show and praised Team AEW for pulling together despite numerous challenges and changes that were out of their control due to Hurricane Milton. Khan stated “Thank you all who watched Tuesday Night #AEWDynamite tonight! I’m proud of Team AEW pulling together despite numerous challenges and changes out of our control! We appreciate you all who watched tonight + it’s on again SOON 9pm PT/10pm MT/11pm CT/12am ET NEXT on @TBSNetwork West“

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Claudio Castagnoli gave his thoughts about why he feels at peace with the possibility of never holding the AEW World Championship for his AEW career. Castagnoli stated “Everybody should aspire to be the World Heavyweight Champion. I think I may have realized as I’m getting older, that that single-minded focus can actually be a big detriment to me. Not everybody is the main character. Not everybody can be the hero of the story. So to me, it is how can I make the most impact?“

As noted before, Adam Copeland and Beth Phoenix were among those affected by Hurricane Helene’s recent impact and destruction in their hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. In a recent interview with the Busted Open Radio podcast, Copeland revealed that AEW CEO Tony Khan had sent Starlink devices to the Asheville police department to help assist with their Hurricane Helene relief efforts. Copeland stated “And I’m sure he wouldn’t ever want me to tell this but, they needed some stealth Starlinks instead of I guess the big ones that Elon Musk sent aren’t necessarily good for getting out in the mountains. With these things and drones over top to be able to start locating people. So I reached out to Tony Khan, and guess who sent out a bunch of stealth Starlinks to the Asheville Police Department? I’ll say it because, you know… He’s been awesome throughout this whole thing. Just throwing help wherever he can and I mean, so many people have been but, when you get an area that can’t get their hands on Starlinks and these particular ones, it’s like, okay, we gotta reach outside here and you know, I just thought of him, and sure enough, he came through.” (Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com)

In a recent interview with The X at 105.9’s The Mark Madden Show, Don Callis gave his thoughts about AEW being the best locker room and company he has ever worked for during his wrestling career. Callis stated “This is the best locker room and best company I’ve ever worked for, and I’ve worked for all of them, including New Japan, ECW, TNA. This is the best environment. Tony is a great boss. I get very excited to perform. I thought that had been beat out of me a long time ago in wrestling. I get very excited to show up. I love the wrestling here, I think it’s great. Tony really has his finger on the pulse of what the real hardcore wrestling fans like. I think that’s exciting. This rights deal is going to be exciting. I’m pumped about what’s going to happen and what we’re going to do on Max. At the end of the day, you’re going to get to see the Don Callis Family for the foreseeable future on the WBD network and that is great.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

AEW recently announced the full card for this week’s AEW Rampage show on October 11th:

The Conglomeration (Orange Cassidy & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. The Undisputed Kingdom (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven)
Bryan Keith vs. Rocky Romero
The Butcher vs. Beast Mortos
Kris Statlander vs. mystery opponent
Lance Archer vs. mystery opponent