British wrestling legend Nigel McGuinness celebrates his first major victory since his comeback for AEW. At Forbidden Door in London, fans will now be treated to a dream duel between two English technical masters.
A year ago, he surprised the wrestling world with an emotional comeback at London’s Wembley Stadium – now it’s culminating in a match that will have die-hard showfighting fans salivating.
At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 in London a week from Sunday, two British technical masters will face off in a “dream match”: Nigel McGuinness challenges Zack Sabre Jr., the reigning IWGP World Champion of Japan’s traditional NJPW league – a feast for wrestling purists at the crossover show co-hosted with WWE rival AEW.
Forbidden Door: Nigel McGuinness challenges Zack Sabre Jr.
On Sunday night’s AEW Collision TV show, McGuinness celebrated his first victory since returning to the ring at All In last year, winning a four-way match against Lee Moriarty, Daniel Garcia, and Mexico’s Hechicero, with a title match against Sabre at stake.
Who’s going to the O2 to face @ZackSabreJr for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at ForbiddenDoor?!
Watch AEWCollision on TNT & HBO Max pic.twitter.com/yQEsuYjLsN
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) August 17, 2025
McGuinness defeated Moriarty with a submission move and then challenged Garcia, who had narrowly missed out on victory himself, to stand in his corner at Forbidden Door. The two stylistically similar stars from different generations had last worked together as a tag team at Double or Nothing, where they suffered defeat against FTR.
The Sabre vs. McGuinness match was the second major development at Collision alongside the debut of newly signed Ace Austin: The former TNA X Division and Tag Team Champion made his debut for his new employer with a (lost) match against Ricochet.
McGuinness rounds off his unfinished career at AEW
The 49-year-old McGuinness (real name: Steven Haworth) established his fame as a top wrestler around 20 years ago in the Ring of Honor (ROH) league, which has since been bought by AEW.
The trained chemist was world champion of the league, which also produced numerous future WWE and AEW stars such as Danielson, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, and many others. His outstanding matches against Danielson are classics, considered by many to be one of the best and most intense match series in history.
While Danielson and other companions made it big in WWE, McGuinness’ career ended on a bitter note: In 2009, a deal that had already been agreed fell through because McGuinness failed the medical examination due to muscle damage.
Retirement two years after WWE deal fell through
McGuinness joined then-rival TNA, where he made a big splash as Desmond Wolfe with two big matches against WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, but then hit a rough patch. When he left on bad terms in 2011, he saw no future for his career and retired after a farewell tour of smaller leagues.
Between 2016 and 2022, McGuinness worked as a commentator for WWE, and after his dismissal, he joined AEW in the same role.
In August 2024, speculation about an active comeback by McGuinness proved true, and he has since returned to the ring at irregular intervals, including for a final duel with Danielson, who has since retired himself.