Former ROH World Champion and Pure Champion Nigel McGuinness has returned to the company as a color commentator.
McGuinness returned to the company for the first time in six-plus years at Friday's Supercard of Honor event as a color commentator, making his re-debut on the Zero Hour pre-show in Los Angeles. McGuinness joined Ian Riccaboni and Caprice Coleman at the commentary desk for the broadcast.
ROH owner Tony Khan welcomed McGuinness back to the company with a tweet:
In his first run with ROH from 2003 to 2009, McGuinness captured both the World and Pure titles and established himself as one of the preeminent in-ring talents of his generation. He left the company after agreeing in principle to a WWE deal, but WWE later pulled the offer after McGuinness failed the company's physical due to an old biceps injury.
McGuinness then moved to TNA, where he wrestled in 2009 and 2010 as Desmond Wolfe. McGuinness later revealed that he tested positive for Hepatitis B, and was pulled from TNA's 2010 No Surrender pay-per-view. After a brief run as an on-screen authority figure and commentator on TNA Explosion, he was released from his TNA contract in 2011.
The end of 2011 also saw the end of McGuinness's in-ring career, as he embarked on a retirement tour on the indies in November and December of that year.
McGuinness returned to Ring of Honor as a commentator and on-screen matchmaker in late 2011 and stayed with the promotion until 2016.
WWE announced McGuinness had signed with the company in December 2016, and he debuted for the company as a color commentator in January 2017 at WWE's United Kingdom Championship Tournament. The next month, he joined the NXT brand as a commentator.
He would remain with the company until being furloughed during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. He was brought back later in the year as a commentator on NXT UK and 205 Live, before ultimately being released in October 2022.
More must-reads: