We’ve got a guy named Nigel joining Marquette men’s basketball this fall, so let’s celebrate with a tour through the best Nigel McGuinness matches from Ring of Honor.
I haven’t been particularly shy about the fact that I enjoy watching professional wrestling on this website. I don’t post about it much, but there’s a reference or two that drops in here and there. So, much like when Sandy Cohen and Dawson Garcia joined Marquette men’s basketball, the addition of Nigel James in the 2025 recruiting class tripped a wire in my brain. “Hey, Nigel! Just like former Ring Of Honor champion Nigel McGuinness!”
I had a very good idea for a silly summer series: Check out Nigel’s page on Cage Match, find the top rated ROH matches on ROH Honor Club, subscribe to Honor Club, watch them, write about them.
And then I found THIS:
Shouts to All Elite Wrestling, ROH’s current parent company, for posting a NEARLY TWELVE HOUR LONG compilation of what they’re calling The Best Of Nigel McGuinness. 25 Nigel matches, just sitting there for free on YouTube.
Yeah, I’m doing that.
We’ll go a match at a time, and they’re all in chronological order in the video, which is neat.
A CELEBRATION OF GUYS NAMED NIGEL: PART 14
Nigel McGuinness vs Takeshi Morishima
ROH World Championship
July 16, 2007
ROH Live In Tokyo
Differ Ariake
Tokyo, Japan
Timelines are weird.
Okay, so look.
Back on June 9th, Nigel McGuinness lost to Bryan Danielson in a #1 contender’s match. However, that match was part of the ROH Driven Pay Per View, the rest of which was taped on June 23…… but didn’t air on PPV until September…… but Danielson got that shot at the ROH World Title on August 25th.
SOMEHOW this all leads to McGuinness challenging Morishima on this show, possibly because he got the pin on the champ in the last match we watched, even though Danielson is on this show wrestling Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Go Shiozaki. This is Nigel’s first title shot since losing to Morishima back in April, and it is Morishima’s eighth title defense, although I don’t know if you really want to count the collective 12 minutes of action against BJ Whitmer, Jimmy Rave, or Adam Pearce as true defense, even if the belt was officially on the line.
After introductions and the Code Of Honor pre-match handshake, the two men make it clear that they know exactly what each other’s deal is right out of the gate. McGuinness goes for the Jawbreaker Lariat, Morishima catches him coming in to turn it into the backdrop driver that he used to win the ROH title, McGuinness pivots in midair to fall on top of Morishima for the match’s first pinfall attempt. This may turn into a battle of attrition if the combatants have done their homework on each other.
Nigel gets an advantage as they re-engage, and he starts attacking Morishima’s arm. Can’t do the backdrop driver or do his cartwheel elbow even if he’s got a bad arm, after all. McGuinness thought he had something going and got fancy, thinking he could get a sunset flip powerbomb over the top ropes to the outside, but Morishima had enough strength in his arms to hold onto the ropes and drop down onto McGuinness’ chest to take over. Sheesh, McGuinness is taking a beating on the outside as a result of his over-estimation of his impact on the champ.
Morishima grabs ahold of McGuinness as he comes back into the ring and uses his weight as an advantage in a chinlock, and eventually Nigel gets out and heads back outside for a break. Morishima follows off the apron with a monsterous shoulder block, but McGuinness gets a lesser version of the Jawbreaker when his opponent tries to throw him back into the ring. It seems that Nigel’s well aware that he has to take a few risks here, as he immediately goes off the post for a high cross to the floor. That gets two back inside, and McGuinness goes back to Morishima’s arm…. at least until he gets ahead of himself and starts strikes, which Morishima cuts off with a rolling elbow of his own. The crowd starts booing Morishima as he attacks the challenger, which does lead to him doing a move then posing with thumbs down, taunting his own countrymen. Not much in the way of a hometown advantage for Morishima, who has Tokyo listed as his birthplace.
McGuinness dodges the cartwheel into the corner and lariats Morishima to the mat to take over. His offense is doing a number on Morishima, right up until he goes for the headstand in the corner, and Morishima cuts him off with a drop kick. The ROH World Champion makes a mistake and goes to the high rent district to attack from there, and that lets McGuinness score with the Tower of London for two. Morishima cuts him off and hits a missile dropkick, but McGuinness pops right up for a lariat. Nigel goes for the Jawbreaker, which gets blocked, and this time, McGuinness can’t counter the backdrop driver, and both men are down.
It’s Nigel with the advantage off the double down, and after Morishima tries to set something up off the turnbuckles, McGuinness gets a two count off the rope straddle lariat that he keeps working his way into in every match. Nigel tries for something off the top, but after Morishima interrupts him, McGuinness manages to turn that into a Tower of London ONTO THE APRON and both men tumble to the outside. The Differ Ariake crew turning on the spotlight as the move gets going definitely lends some extra drama to things, but McGuinness lets Morishima decide when he’s getting back in the ring, and so that risk only pays off with a two count. The two end up fighting on the apron again, and while McGuinness avoids the backdrop driver out there, Morishima GETS A SIDESLAM TO THE FLOOR OH MY GOD WHY.
Neither guy is doing well after that, but Morishima does get up and back in the ring first. He pins Nigel, but he’s basically in the ropes and easily grabs on to break it up. Morishima batters McGuinness in the corner and he wipes out referee Todd Sinclair with a shove when admonished to get the fighting out of there. No ref for a pinfall attempt, but the champ just picks Nigel up for a backdrop driver….. WHICH GETS TWO.
JAWBREAKER! Two!
Jawbreaker attempt blocked, backdrop driver countered into a small package for Nigel, TWO.
They’re just smashing each other with elbows now, and when Nigel goes for a discus lariat, Morishima gets a lariat of his own, then a running clothesline for two. He yanks McGuinness up, Backdrop Driver, 1-2-3.
I was right! Battle of attrition as both guys had to dig into wells of both spirit and offensive ingenuity to try to get the victory here. That was a hellacious battle, as Jim Ross might say, and Cage Match users rate the match at 8.37 out of 10.
Bryan Danielson rolls into the ring wearing khaki shorts and flip flops, carrying the ROH title. He shouts that it is his title, not Morishima’s, and he slaps the champ. Realizing he’s in trouble now, he turns to leave, and McGuinness crushes him with a European uppercut. That gets a “WHAT THE F*** IS YOUR PROBLEM” from Danielson as he rolls/falls outside, and Nigel picks up the belt. “This is your belt,” as he points to the belt and Morishima, and gracefully hands the title over. That earns McGuinness a post-match/Code of Honor handshake from the champ.
NEXT TIME: Three months later, Nigel McGuinness finds his way back into the ring to face Takeshi Morishima for the ROH World Title as we take a slight detour from the AEW YouTube compilation. Join us in three days for a very special entry into this series, won’t you?
Follow Anonymous Eagle on social media
Facebook: AnonymousEagle
Instagram: AnonymousEagleSBN
Bluesky: AnonymousEagle