Why Nigel McGuinness didn’t sign with WWE
According to reports, the reason Nigel McGuinness ended up signing with TNA instead of WWE is because WWE withdrew its contract offer after he failed the company’s pre-screening test. This does not mean that McGuinness, who was believed to be WWE-bound last month, failed a drug test. The speculation is that it was a medical issue that caused the deal to fall through.
Whether TNA knew about McGuinness’ test failure is unknown, and apparently the company does not have a pre-screening test. Hopefully, McGuinness is not putting his health at risk by wrestling.
The former Ring of Honor champion makes his TNA debut on Thursday’s episode of Impact under the name of Desmond Wolf.
Comments
I am disappointed that I won't see him in action on Smackdown or ECW. I have seen him wrestle only one time, that being a youtube clip which another poster linked to, yet that was enough for me to become moderately interested in him.
Posted by: Christopher | October 22, 2009 1:00 AM
I remember watching this guy about 7 years ago in the HWA. He had the goods back then and I'm surprised it's taken this long for him to get a long term deal with TNA or WWE. Personally I think TNA is a good fit for his style.
Posted by: jt | October 22, 2009 11:01 AM
Don't buy this at all. This story was broke by, as most sites, a WWE-biased wrestling site. Some people will do anything to downplay any success TNA has, ESPECIALLY when it comes at the expense of WWE. The original story is Nigel chose TNA over WWE because WWE took to long to offer him a contract.
RESPONSE FROM KE: That's the story Nigel apparently told to people at TNA. Why would you believe that one when the same sites reported that story, too?
Posted by: Eric | October 22, 2009 12:50 PM
TNA is so pathetic. They had a chance to make a splash here, ruffle some feathers. I'd have had Nigel debut as NIGEL and say he turned down Vince McMahon because he wanted to go where the competition was, not where wanna-be sitcom actors & no talent rappers play. Even if it was total crap the only way the general public would know was if Vince addresses it on air, which would be a double win for TNA. No but of course they go the TNA route and give him a stupid name and well..you know the rest. I swear Steve Austin could walk into TNA and declare himself fit to wrestle full-time again and only for them and they'd call him "Brother Stone" and have him do backstage interviews.
Posted by: MechanicalBull | October 22, 2009 1:00 PM
Nigel's got some seriously messed up biceps, plus a long history of concussions. I can see why he failed the test.
That doesn't change the fact that I'll be watching my first Impact in several months tonight.
Posted by: Joe Mathieson | October 22, 2009 1:45 PM
Didn't he already work for WWE? I thought he was that WWE jobber who came in, and the fanboys were all up-in-arms that WWE weren't using this Internet Darling correctly, and then he got injured and those fanboys were all up-in-arms again, and then he was released after he recovered, and the same fanboys were up-in-arms again that WWE would release him.
Who was that? Wasn't that Nigel McGuinness or was it an earlier model of the same group's adoration? I think he was given an Internet-only show on WWE.com (like The Dirt Sheet, but not good enough to keep him on the roster).
RESPONSE FROM KE: That was Colt Cabana aka Scotty Goldman.
Posted by: Mr. Sarcasm | October 22, 2009 4:34 PM
Nigel McGuinness kept telling Tylenol Black, I mean Tyler Black, to keep his eyes on the ball or he would continue to fumble at the goal line. The WWE should have followed that advice, because TNA swooped in and won the gold.
Mark out moment right there.
The WWE had to have known about Nigel's whole history of injuries since they hardly have been covered up to any degree. If they couldn't let Nigel rest and get to 100% before eventually debuting him on SmackDown, then the WWE deserved to lose out. The WWE can just stick to their "Flip the Channel Wrestling" stars (I think that's what FCW stands for now).
If the missed opportunity is "Wellness" related, then that's disturbing. It probably just has to do with his more recent arm injuries.
How great would it be if Danielson quietly showed up on Impact as Nigel's partner and gave either AJ Styles, Kurt Angle, or some other big name a roaring elbow?
Posted by: Another Wrestling Mark | October 22, 2009 5:19 PM
Didn't he already work for WWE? I thought he was that WWE jobber who came in, and the fanboys were all up-in-arms that WWE weren't using this Internet Darling correctly, and then he got injured and those fanboys were all up-in-arms again, and then he was released after he recovered, and the same fanboys were up-in-arms again that WWE would release him.
Who was that? Wasn't that Nigel McGuinness or was it an earlier model of the same group's adoration? I think he was given an Internet-only show on WWE.com (like The Dirt Sheet, but not good enough to keep him on the roster).
I love when people who frequent wrestling blogs and internet news sites pretend not to know who someone is.
Posted by: MechanicalBull | October 22, 2009 7:39 PM
His new name is AWFUL but I'm glad to see him on TV again. Time Warner canceled HDNET so I'm not getting ROH TV anymore, bummer.
Posted by: Mark | October 23, 2009 9:38 AM