Bryan Danielson will not be battling Darby Allin as originally planned at AEW Grand Slam, but will instead be taking on longtime rival Nigel McGuinness.
The fallout after AEW All Out were a little rocky after Danielson was choked out by a plastic bag courtesy of Jon Moxley and it appeared Danielson was going to be unable to compete against Allin at Grand Slam. Instead on AEW Dynamite Moxley challenged Allin to put his title shot on the line at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Allin accepted so it appeared that Danielson would indeed be unable to compete and Mox would headline against Darby.
Not so fast. Nigel McGuinness had different plans as in a backstage segment expressed his desire to speak to Tony Khan. Later on in the evening, we see Nigel standing in the ring with a piece of paper in hand. He comments on Danielson’s hatred toward him and then says the World Champion should compete at Grand Slam. He reveals that he has a contract for a match against Danielson at the event if Bryan has the guts to compete. Later on the match is confirmed with the caveat the Bryan is able to wrestle.
McGuinness may arguably be Danielson’s greatest rival of all time due to the memorable matches they had while both in Ring Of Honor. Injuries plagued Nigel’s career in the ring and made the decision to retire from in-ring action. However, McGuiness made the exception when he came out during the Casino Royale Gauntlet at ALL IN. McGuiness came out to Oasis in Wembley to a massive crowd reaction and had a great showing in the match before it was Christian Cage who captured the contract.
