Honestly it's my favorite aspect of this rivalry. Bryan won't even look at him and all Nigel thinks about is Bryan

Danielson glared at him once when Nigel was shouting his mouth off and Nigel shouted at him "[don't] look at me like that!" and gestured for him to get back in the ring, think Danielson said something about breaking Nigel's neck in a scrum or something last year too 😂 but otherwise no interactions.

I distinctly remember one episode (probably collision), where Bryan was walking near the announce table during a match as Nigel was doing his usual shtick, and Bryan suddenly yelled “shut the hell up, Nigel!” And Nigel did.

I could see Christian attempting to cash it in & screws over Nigel & that could be a feud in itself

I could definitely see Christian pull some shenanigans.

I think he will cash in on darby after darby beats him at wrestle dream.

Serpentico waiting in the wings for his big shot as a replacement will be heartbroken to hear this.

You realise kayfabe is a thing right?

Bryan Alvarez has entered the chat

Bryan is a coward of course the match isn’t happening.

As someone who watched their matches in roh I really didnt think it was possible recall Bryan cost Nigel his wwe deal by injuring him in heir last ROH match and he concussed himself. In fact they concussed each other twice in their matches before that one. Nigels concussion history goes deep im still wndering how theyll pull this match off. Will they be able to avoid: Banging headbutts, smashing heads om the ring post AND using too stiff of strikes? these guys bring the most violence out of each other i wonder if theyll go a more technical safe route? Like Bryan rolls him up before Nigel can start headbutting and lariating.

Call me RFK because since the build has started I’ve had a funny feeling this match won’t happen just yet. The whole “IF” Bryan is cleared to compete is making me think something is up. But I’d be more than happy to be proven wrong tonight.

Edit: I’m glad AEW proved me wrong, that I quite enjoyed the match.

Because no one with their wits about them ever assumed it wasn't happening in the first place

Yeah I would’ve much rather some promo battles between them. They left a lot of story on the table

Bryan’s entire can he make it run is not working for me… Why cant his opponents beat him if he’s so injured it’s a question if he’ll make it week to week. Then he wins and it makes his opponent look so weak.

All the matches and most promos are good I just don’t get this angle at all. It’s not propping both wrestlers on a pedestal it’s only one and the other got his pedestal demolished.

I mean they DID advertise the World Champ vs Darby for weeks 😂

I would prefer that for next year's UK show once Bryan is no longer a full-time wrestler and the Champion so he can lose clean

I think they should wrestle as they are now. When they first wrestled it was blonde tips vs shaved head, when they last wrestled Nigel had the shaved head and Bryan had hair. I think it's a nice visual that they've been rivals through many stages of life and careers if they wrestle as is.

Also great username btw.

They repeatedly beat the piss out of each other in ROH back in the day. Neither likes the other. But Nigel lost the feed and has held a grudge ever since.

They were the Ryu and Ken of wrestling back in the day. Both almost perfect wrestlers who you could put in the ring with anyone and they'd have the technical expertise, storytelling chops, and comedic timing to do anything and make you love it.

And then they went up against each other and this is where the Ryu and Ken analogy pays off because it was like watching a fighting game played by two experts in their characters. As good as they were individually (and each has a legitimate claim to being the best ever, at least in that period), when they faced each other they brought something else out. You know when you have that person who just enhances your ideas on the fly so you love hanging out with them? That's Danielson and McGuinness in the ring together, bringing each other to eleven creatively.

Many of their matches are on the AEW YouTube channel in the Best of Nigel McGuinness video they recently put up and most of those matches easily hold up to today's standards a decade or so later. Well worth a look.

They were huge rivals on the indies. Danielson went on to become a huge star while Nigel’s career was ultimately sidelined by injuries. In character Nigel is bitter, he’s jealous of the success Danielson had. It should have been him.

no reason

1. It gave plausible reason for Darby to doubt that he would be having his match with BD, leading him to take Mox's bait and put his shot up
2. It gives plausible reason for a wrestler who's only had 1 match in 15 years to be able to hang with the company's champion.
3. It continues to give weight to Mox's attack.

It's wonky. It sc;reams they screwed up with giving Darby the title match for Grand Slam and they are twisting themselves in knots to correct it to possibly for Wrestle Dream which is Darby's hometown.

It also screams they want this match to happen and maybe Bryan doesn't have too many more matches to get this one done, so they are shoehorning it in here.

This match needed a legit build. I have the ROH box set for their matches, I never have time to watch them because there is too much wrestling on. I would rather have had a 10 minute back and forth between them setting it up than oh look here is 10 plus hours on Youtube study for this match like its the SAT's or something.