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 20
Nigel McGuinness vs Claudio Castagnoli
ROH World Championship
May 10, 2008
ROH A New Level
Hammerstein Ballroom
New York, New York
If you’ve been following along, the build up to this match is quite simple: Claudio Castagnoli — whom you might know as Cesaro from his WWE days — has been pushing to get a shot at Nigel McGuinness because he pinned him in a non-title Four Corners Survival match in March, and the Ring of Honor top brass have signed off on it. The two were in a Four Corner Survival match the night before in Virginia, and here’s what happened, and from what I can tell, neither man was involved in the pinfall:
In a scene more tense than anything they delivered in the preceding match, Castagnoli hands the belt back to McGuinness, who again indicates that Claudio hasn’t proved anything to him and doesn’t deserve his title shot. Claudio chases him out of the building.
That sets the stage for this show at the Hammerstein Ballroom, and it feels like a big deal given the backdrop of the ballroom. There’s the multiple levels above the ring and so on, it might not be a bunch more people than any other ROH show, but this visually looks like an important show. Bobby Cruise does the ring introductions, and when Claudio realizes that Nigel’s not bothering to look at him during intros, he walks over and makes the ROH champ turn and face him. Todd Sinclair separates the two men, presumably telling Castagnoli that he knows better than to act like that during intros.
Intros are done, the Code of Honor is adhered to, Sinclair separates the two men as things get a little tense, and we’re off and running. The early back and forth has the tone of Claudio’s being very serious about this match and Nigel’s half-assing his way through it because he doesn’t take Claudio very seriously. Personally, I’d at least take “defending my ROH World Championship” seriously even if I don’t respect my opponent, but that’s just me. Nigel takes a break outside after an armdrag and a dropkick, and after Claudio plays to the crowd a bit — apparently he likes getting the crowd to shout HEY! — McGuinness drags the challenger out to the floor for a trip into the barricades and then into the post.
The post to the shoulder means Nigel takes things back inside and starts working over Claudio’s arm with the long term goal of setting up the London Dungeon, but also the short term goal of cutting out a little bit of Claudio’s strength advantage. They’re both big guys, but Castagnoli’s definitely got a strength edge. Claudio escapes from Nigel’s collection of arm attacks and gets some offense in, much more showy stuff than we’re used to seeing from McGuinness, but the dropping lariat in the corner after a dodged charge tilts this back to Nigel.
McGuinness casually dumps Claudio to the outside and goes back at the arm out there, including smashing the wrist into the barricades. The advantage shifts back to Claudio when McGuinness tries to send him into the apron and instead, Claudio bounces off the ropes for a European uppercut. Turnabout is fair play, and when Claudio tries to whip Nigel into the side of the ring, he scores with the outside Jawbreaker variant. This prompts a SAME OLD S*** chant from the crowd, which seems very mean, if you think about it. Claudio’s gonna do the Giant Swing in this match, right? Bryan Danielson’s gonna use the Cattle Mutilation. Stone Cold Steve Austin’s gonna hit a Thesz press and win with the Stone Cold Stunner. Guys have favorite and reliable moves, just because McGuinness’ reliables are just clotheslines doesn’t make them worse than anyone else’s.
Back inside, it’s more arm and shoulder attacks from Nigel, both by way of strikes and holds. Claudio fends him off, hits a big boot to counter a Jawbreaker, and then HURLS himself through the ropes for a speedy and powerful tope suicida. Inside, Claudio gets a big crossbody off the top for two. Then a diving European uppercut for two as well. A spinny facebuster thing gets two. Back up to the top turnbuckle for the Swiss Superman, but he’s cut off and Nigel’s Tower of London gets two. Nigel keeps up the attack, and when Claudio tries to counter a whip into the ropes with a springboard something, McGuinness just shoves him over the top to the outside. A short lariat gets two, and Nigel goes to the London Dungeon, but it’s too close to the ropes. The break forced by Sinclair gives Claudio the space to take over, and he gets the GIANT SWING! Rotation after rotation after rotation — no counting from the ROH crowd tho — and after he ejects McGuinness, it all only gets a two count, and McGuinness uses a Divorce Court to counter the continued offense and shifts straight into London Dungeon.
Remember when I said Claudio’s got the strength advantage? Yeah, he just stands up and uses the turnbuckles to free himself from the hold. A big ol’ pop up European uppercut does some major damage to Nigel, and Claudio tries for a superplex. McGuinness fends him off, and then crotches him on the ropes as he tries to run up the ropes to attack again, and yep: Nigel’s crotched lariat shifts this back to the champ, and he follows that up with a superplex, and both men try to hook the other’s leg on the landing. Sinclair counts a pinfall, and I’m not sure if he’s counting both at the same time or not. Someone kicks out/lets go, and a strike exchange eventually turns into a springboard European uppercut for Claudio, and then he counters the Jawbreaker into THE RICOLA BOMB! Wonderful timing by the fans to get the RIIIIIICOLAAAAAA singing in as he executes the move.
Two.
Claudio gets to his feet and attacks first, and he’s got the advantage, but Nigel’s got counters, and Claudio’s got counters to Nigel’s counters. A bridging German suplex gets a two count, and the crowd is firmly behind the challenger. Nigel scores with a lariat or two, grabs Claudio for the London Dungeon, sinks it in, and Castagnoli taps out at 24:57.
I was actually not expecting the end there. It looked like Claudio could have easily gotten the ropes, and the camera work actually cuts off Castagnoli tapping the mat for the submission so I didn’t actually see it the first time. Seems like Nigel’s work on the arm combined with Claudio having to keep using the arm eventually paid off, and McGuinness retains. Pretty good match, even if the ROH fans aren’t excited about seeing him keep the belt. Cage Match users give this one a rating of 7.71 out of 10. Seems fair adjacent at the very least.
NEXT TIME: We jump forward to August, where Nigel McGuinness will have to defend the ROH World Championship in a Four-Way Elimination match against Claudio Castagnoli, Tyler Black, and the American Dragon, Bryan Danielson. That’s gonna be a hoot and a half, I’d bet.