Jimmy Smith apparently wasn’t the only person who lost their job in WWE’s commentary shake-up.
PWInsider reported, and Fightful says they’ve confirmed, that former NXT and NXT UK announcer Nigel McGuinness was released earlier this week. McGuinness had been doing color commentary for Level Up (the NXT b-show that replaced 205 Live) since NXT UK was shuttered.
The 46 year old from London joined WWE in 2016, and debuted alongside Michael Cole to call the United Kingdom Championship Tournament in January of the following year. Prior to that McGuinness was known as a wrestler. One of Ring of Honor’s biggest stars in the early 2000s along with people like Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe & CM Punk, he also had a stint in TNA as Desmond Wolfe.
Unfortunately, injuries and illness played a huge role in McGuinness’ in-ring career. A biceps injury led to a 2006 offer from WWE being withdrawn, and his TNA run ended when he was diagnosed with hepatitis C (of which he’s since been cured). Nigel, whose real name is Steven Haworth, chronicled his journey in two documentaries: the self-produced & directed Last of McGuinness, and WWE’s Chasing The Magic.
Though he was briefly furloughed during the pandemic, signing with WWE as an announcer seemed to be a happy ending to his story.
We’ll see if McGuinness decides to write a new chapter of his wrestling career post-WWE.
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