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Nigel McGuinness Interview

ROH CHAMPION NIGEL MCGUIINNESS DISCUSSES HIS ROH TITLE WIN, THE PHYSICALITY OF THE BUSINESS, BRby Fight Network Radio @ 9:40:15 AM on 10/13/2007

New Ring of Honor Champion joined Mauro Ranallo on Fight Network Radio this past week. Catch Fight Network Radio every Monday – Friday on Hardcore Sports Radio on Sirius

www.hardcoresportsradio.com

Mauro Ranallo: There's a change in Ring Of Honor as well, there is a change at the top in fact. There is a new Ring of Honor wrestling champion and unlike other organizations, the heavyweight championship belt means something at ROH. My guest at this time is the new champ, he is Nigel McGuiness. Nigel, first of all, congratulations on this huge title win saturday night in Edison , New Jersey . I guess it goes without saying, the highlight of your career?

Nigel McGuiness: Yeah, I would have to say so. It was a fantastic victory for me, I'm real proud of it. Yeah.

Ranallo: How long was this in the works Nigel? When did you know you'd be given the "torch", so to speak?

McGuinness: You know, it's been a long, long while in the making actually. It was probably six months to a year ago when I heard I would get the victory.

Ranallo: And now talk about the match-up on Saturday in New Jersey , I know it's going to be part of the fourth pay per view offering, Undeniable, coming up in January. We just watched you and ["The American Dragon"] Bryan Danielson in what is being heralded as a "Match of the Year" candidate, a just brutal, grueling, awesome display of wrestling, but how did this match-up with Morishima compare with the match at Driven with Danielson?

McGuinness: It's a different type of match you know, "Dragon" is much more of a technical wrestler, so it's a different style, you pace yourself differently. With Morishima, it's 100% balls to the wall. Every time he hits you, you know, he could knock you out. There were a couple times in the match, you know, where he came pretty close. He kicked me in the face. He hit me in the face If you follow Ring of Honor anytime recently; you know that "Dragon" got the bones broken in his face by Morishima when they were wrestling. So it was a lot more of a brutal match. Something to see, I'm told.

Ranallo: Talk a little bit about, though, the difference in styles because with Morishima, coming from Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan , there is what is termed the "Strong" style. What exactly is the "Strong" style, for people who maybe aren't as familiar with the machinations of pro wrestling? How do you describe the differences between wrestling in Japan and the style we're used to in North America ? Although, you, of course, come from a different background in Britain where many styles are involved, but how would you describe the Japanese "Strong" style?

McGuinness: Well, it's difficult to describe really. Ummm, really, largely, it's just more hard-hitting I guess you want to say. Wrestling has generally been described as somewhat fake. Strong style has a lot more heavy contact. Every time someone hits you, they're hitting you for real, pretty much as hard as they can, just in an area where it's a lot safer to do so.

Ranallo: Now how many, uhhh, Mc—I was going to say how many McGuinesses did you enjoy on saturday night? But, uh, what was the celebration like in the locker room when you were crowned champion? You must've been—you must still be—on cloud nine.

McGuinness: Yeah you know, it was really great once we got to the back and everyone was clapping, everyone shook my hand and that was pretty good, but I didn't really have a chance to celebrate. I went back to the hotel that night and the hotel had been overbooked, so there were actually no rooms for anybody. We ended up spending the night in the Holiday Inn bar, just having a couple of drinks, relaxing and nursing a few head shots I had taken in the match. You know what I mean? I didn't really, start to really enjoy myself 'til I got home and got to settle back into the normality of things, you know?

Ranallo: You know I've been taken to task before, and I also work as a mixed martial arts announcer Nigel, for making comparisons. Even now saying, "You must be on cloud nine." People are saying, "Well it's all predetermined, he didn't really win anything," but being given the belt in Ring of Honor, and really in any organization, shows that the promoters, the bookers, have confidence in you to be a draw, to lead the crew and really, it always seems to get under my skin and piss me off frankly, when I hear people say, "How can you celebrate such a thing when its all part of the show?" But this really is an indication and an illustration of how you are looked upon by Ring of Honor's promoters.

McGuinness: Yeah, I mean you summed it up perfectly there, you summed it up perfectly. Your right, it is predetermined and you didn't win anything as such, but you did win the opportunity to be in that situation where they do tell you you're going to win. You have to go out there, you have to bust your ass and put your body on the line, much the same way as the MMA guys.

Ranallo: Now when it comes to working with the guys from Japan , or Mexico , or any place where english isn't there first language, is it hard putting together a match, or communicating during the match? Even with the Morishima match for instance, was it all laid out prior, or did you call the match during the event itself?

McGuinness: Um, to be honest with you, it is difficult to communicate during the match because one of the advantages you have with someone who speaks your own language is if something breaks down while you are out there, you have the ability to change and do things on the fly, you know, but, of course, in Japan they learn to do things by feel and off the holds. Often times you do have some of an idea going in because you're doing things off feel and the common sense progression of the match, often times that's when you have the best matches.

Ranallo: Now, ROH fans are salivating about Oct. 19th. You and Bryan Danielson will engage in a rematch of your "Match of the Year" candidate from this past June that we talked about. Is there pressure on you, coming off that match back in Philadelphia, to, if not equate what you did, even surpass it, or do you guys take every match as its own entity and hope for the best?

McGuinness: Um, well yeah, absolutely, there's going to be a lot of pressure I'm sure. The difference is going into that one there wasn't much expectation, but now once people watch the pay per view and they see the quality of the match that we had before, yeah there's obviously going to be a lot more pressure. Well, I talked to a couple of people, people who won the belt, about how the belt was won and they said, to a certain extent, once you've won the belt it puts you on that next level. It makes sense that once you've won the belt, and you go through that curtain, People already see you as somebody, so you don't necessarily have to put your body through the same risk to get the same result. Does that make sense?

Ranallo: Yes, it does for sure. We are talking to the Ring of Honor Champion—the new champion—Nigel McGuiness. Nigel, I know with some of the matches I call, and even this very radio show, I can't go back and listen to myself without finding every little mistake. Is it the same for you coming off a match like you had with Bryan Danielson? Obviously universally praised as one of the best matches of the past few years, do you get excited when you watch that, knowing you guys did put on a work of art, or do you find things wrong and do you find yourself criticizing certain parts of the match that maybe oblivious to the rest of us.

McGuinness: Yeah, Yeah, absolutely. I don't think anybody who loves what they do can look at their performance without finding certain things wrong with it. Um, as a rule I generally don't watch my own matches unless I think that they were pretty well received, but even then, like you say, there's always something that I go—But more so, I like watching matches from other people. You know, I see what they did to get over and I try to adapt my own self. I compare myself to other people a lot.

Ranallo: Whose idea was it, and I know this was taped in June, before tragedies that that have befallen the business, and all this talk of brain damage, and concussions that has befallen professional wrestling and what happened with Chris Benoit, but whose idea was it to do the spot with the battering ram, so to speak. Those shoot head butts. I have to admit Nigel, that while I do love you guys and what you did, it did make me cringe and I hope that doesn't become a regular part of your wrestling repertoire.

McGuinness: It seems like a double-edged sword doesn't it? When you find something that gets over like that, people come to expect it and if you don't do it, then you have to find something else that entertains them as much. It was actually something we had done before. We had a match in England .

Ranallo: That was the one in England , you're right.

McGuinness: It was the same deal in England , and it was actually a spot that Chris Benoit and William Regal did when they wrestled in the Brian Pillman show in 2001, I believe it was, where they busted each other open the hard way as well, you know. So, we're not the first people to do it. I always thought it was a relatively safe spot to do because I use to play soccer as a kid and we were always taught that to when you hit a ball, you hit it with the front of your head because that's the safest place. If you hit things with the sides or the back of your head that's where your going to cause some trouble. Touch wood, I don't know what to say here, but touch wood. I've never really had a problem with that spot. I've never really felt much from the head butts, but I have taken a really simple back bump and that has knocked me silly. I think you just got to be smart. I'm doing a lot of research into it as well, just trying to find out what exactly the dangers are and how to adapt my style, while keeping it "Strong" style, while keeping it Ring of Honor, while keeping it different from everything else, where it can still be safe. I hope, at least.

Ranallo: Nigel, you know that Ring of Honor is known for its strong work rate, emphasizing the sport in professional wrestling, and in speaking of the Benoit suicide and double murder, I know that that had to hit everyone in the Ring Of Honor locker room especially hard because many of the wrestlers, and maybe yourself, pattern their styles off of him. I know I don't think I should go into it too much because I think we should just leave that in the past, but I think that I do want to get your take on what happened in the Ring of Honor locker room when you heard what happened to the Benoit family back there in Georgia .

McGuinness: Uh, I believe, and my memory is never the greatest, but I believe I was actually just starting a tour in Japan when the news broke over there, so there were only about three or four people who had actually seen the coverage up here in America . So it was somewhat muffled, the response, we didn't really have the full brunt of the media frenzy as it was over here. It was when we got back from the tour that we really comprehended it. You know, actually, something that a lot of people talk about, especially those who did a lot of his spots and have actually tried to emulate him, now they actually feel queasy. They sometimes feel queasy doing the same spots and that can kill the heat in the match, you know?

Ranallo: That's right, and now that you've ascended to the top of the mountain at Ring of Honor, and now that Ring of Honor is on pay per view and you've had two pay per views that have done universally well. Wondering though, what's it like in Ring of Honor with the pay per views. Do you guys get an idea of the buy rates, does the promotion, "The Powers that Be" let you know how things are going? Is it a good experiment so far? Is it going to be something long term? Give me your take on the pay per view experiment.

McGuinness: Um, I haven't actually heard. No one's actually talked to me about numbers. Um, from what I understand, it's a complex thing in terms of getting numbers because there are a few different table systems that are involved and a few different ways, you know. It's over the whole month some places, or just a couple nights in other places, so it's not exactly like I've heard what the results were. I don't think it was necessarily actually meant as a system for revenue itself. It was a way of expanding the fan base who will buy the DVDs and attend the live shows, instead of just simply buying the Pay Per views. I'm sure with buying the pay per views more people are watching, but it's going to take time to get the results because without a national TV product, it's difficult to get people to watch and get the numbers right away. But, over time, if you have a product that works and is more entertaining to people than what else is out there, then, eventually you're going to be successful, you know? I don't think people need to be worried about the pay per views. I think they're doing pretty well.

Ranallo: You mentioned it, there is really a hole waiting to be filled in the pro wrestling market because fans, from what I understand and even for myself, are disappointed with what WWE and TNA are delivering for the most part. Do you feel that Ring of Honor has an opportunity, now that you guys have hit pay per view and the rallying cry has been heard, to present that real pro wrestling alternative and put your stamp on the wrestling landscape?

McGuinness: Yes, Yes, absolutely it's a big opportunity I mean, everything in life comes about because opportunities come about by chance, you just have to be in the right place at the right time, you hear that a lot. I really believe that the peak in wrestling was around '98-'99 and it was up for a good six or seven years. ECW had a big influence on its popularity around that time and I think Ring Of Honor will be involved in the next upswing, whenever that will be. I really believe it you know, and I think the other people there do too. I don't think there are many people who are just seeing it as a way to get more exposure, so that eventually they can move into the WWE. I think most people there just want to stay in Ring Of Honor and help them become successful and become a company where you don't have to wrestle four days a week; you don't have to leave your friends and family so much. Now maybe you're not going to be a superstar on TV, maybe you're not going to earn billions of dollars, but if you can earn a nice, happy living and still have a family and still have a quality of life outside of wrestling, that's definitely a goal we should all choose from.

Ranallo: Very well put Nigel McGuiness, but before I let you go Nigel, every worker now a days has their trademark maneuvers, yours of course being The Tower of London: the face crusher off the top turnbuckle. What was the genesis of the move and how did you come up with it?

McGuinness: Originally it was a spot I came up with in a match with Jimmy Jacobs. I never thought of using it as a finisher, he actually kicked out of it during that occasion. It was just a spot where he ran into the corner, I put my boot out and stood him up and put him in the DDT position and I flipped up all the way over his head and dropped him off the turnbuckle. I thought it'd be just a good spot in the match, but hats off to Jimmy Jacobs because he took such a good bump from it that and it went over so well that people came up to me and said, "That's your finisher, that should've been the end of the match," so I just started incorporating it after that. As far as the name goes, I honestly don't remember. Most of my signature stuff I try to find English names for them.

Ranallo: Right.

McGuinness: and it just got over.

Ranallo: Well it fits, and you certainly fit as the Ring Of Honor Heavyweight Champion my friend.

McGuinness: Thanks

Ranallo: Great performance every week. We see you here, on the Fight Network in Canada , on a daily basis and you and Ring Of Honor are doing a great job. Congratulations on becoming Champion and thanks for joining us here, today.

McGuinness: I appreciate it man. I appreciate it.

Ranallo: All right, Nigel McGuiness, new Ring of Honor Champion, joining us here on Fight Network Radio on Hardcore Sports Radio Chan nel 186.

[tazzmaschine]

Echt intresant da hast du recht Adam.
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