After retiring from wrestling in 2011, Nigel McGuinness transitioned to the commentary desk.
In 2016, Nigel signed with WWE to provide commentary for the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. He would move on to do commentary for NXT, NXT UK, Main Event, and more. Nigel was released by in October 2022. He then joined AEW and ROH as an announcer in April 2023.
Speaking to Tempest of Wrestletalk, representing Fightful, Nigel was asked about the differences between AEW and ROH commentary.
"If you're under the WWE umbrella, there are certain things you talk about and don't talk about. There is more leeway, more freedom in AEW and you can talk about anything. In some ways that's a good thing, in some ways it's not. Two different flavors of ice cream. I feel a little more artistically able here. Certainly, I'm more able to talk about my history in terms of matches I've had and being a wrestler. There was always a weird dichotomy when I was in WWE because I could vaguely talk about 'I wrestled this guy,' but not where. At the same time, it forced me to lean more heavily into strategy and story, which has helped me out greatly long term as well. I love the lack of a govern here. I love the freedom to just go out there and try different things," he said.
McGuinness is currently part of the AEW Collision commentary team alongside Kevin Kelly.
Elsewhere during the interview, Nigel confirmed that he won't be wrestling at AEW All In. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Watch the full interview with Nigel in the video above.
