Nigel McGuiness

From the age of 12, Nigel was consumed by wrestling. Growing up admiring the likes of the Bulldogs and hart Foundation, he famously attended Summerslam 1992 wearing Ultimate Warrior facepaint.

After attending University in the UK, he made the choice of moving the the USA, studying chemistry at Kent State University. Living in what was then the wrestling nation of the world proved to be too alluring to ignore, and in 1998 Nigel began training under Les Thatcher in Heartland Wrestling Association. McGuinness acquired large debts around this time, and was forced to return to England after about a year of wrestling in the Mid West territory.

But defeatism was not a word in his vocabulary, and he immediately found himself two jobs, with the sole intention of returning to the US. Between September and December 2001, he wrestled for All Star Promotions, allowing him to learn from the likes of UK wrestling legend Robbie Brrokside.

But it was back in the HWA that he really flourished and found himself, creating the heel character that he would later be remembered for. He described the character aptly as 'a punk rock soccer hooligan... Billy Idol meets Johnny Saint'.

Between 2003 and 2009, Nigel was a member of the Ring of Honour (ROH) roster, and many would say that this was where he flourished the most. In 2005, he defeated Samoa Joe for the ROH Pure Championship, and went on to have an exceptional 350 day title reign, a record for the title. The run would solidify him as a fixture in ROH.

In 2007 he won the ROH World Championship from Takeshi Morishima, and would remain champion for an astounding 545 days, defending against the likes of Austin Aries, Kevin Steen and Go Shiozaki along the way. His reign was wrought with injuries, including concussion, 14 eyebrow stitches and torn biceps, but he took the decision to continue on.

During his ROH run, McGuiness also appeared in many indepent companies, from IWA Mid-South to Italian Championship Wrestling. He also made appearances in TNA and WWE during this period, mainly as enhancement talent (losing to Danny Basham on Sunday Night Heat).

In 2007, he represented ROH in the Kinf of Europe Cup, which he went on to win, defeating Doug Williams.

Late in 2009, Nigel signed with TNA, immediately going into an angle with Kurt Angle, with the new ringname 'Desmond Wolfe'. During the same year, he was ranked #6 in the world by PWI.

TNA introduced a ranking system in the same year, and fans voted him in to face Rob Van Dam for the TNA title, which he did on an episode of Impact, however his shot was unsuccessful. His run in TNA would go on to include teaming with Magnus as 'London Brawling', feuding with Abyss and a short run with Fortune.

In 2011, he announced his retirement from Pro Wrestling 'barring a call from Vince', and he is currently seeing out his farewell tour dates in the UK.