WHY WON’T THE FANS HONOR
NIGEL McGUINNESS?

By Al Castle

It should have been one of the biggest nights in the career of Nigel McGuinness.

With tens of thousands of wrestling fans converging in Orlando, Florida, for WrestleMania weekend, Ring of Honor debuted in the city, and the opening match sent out heavyweight champion Nigel McGuinness to take on Delirious. He should have received a hero’s welcome from the crowd, but instead he was met with boos.

And it wasn’t the first time. The negative reaction from the fans has followed McGuinness for months as fans have questioned whether their champion possesses that all-important “H” in ROH—honor. Even worse, some wonder whether the once-popular Brit possesses an even more important “H.”

“He’s got no heart,” said ROH fan Justin Mackenzie, who loudly booed the champion from his ringside seat at the Orlando Sports and Recreation Complex. “I wonder what we ever saw in this guy.”

But while it is not uncommon in the colorful world of pro wrestling for a fan favorite to change his stripes right in front of fans’ eyes, the undoubtedly talented McGuinness insists nothing has changed on his part. Rather, McGuinness says if anybody has “turned”—it’s many of the fickle ROH fans.

“It’s the old ‘Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.’ I’ve been busting my bloody tail as hard as I ever have—maybe even harder—since winning this title. But lately, it’s like nothing I do is good enough,” McGuinness said over a pint at an Orlando pub hours after being saluted with catcalls for defeating Delirious. “Maybe I’m losing patience with the fans these days, but who can blame me?”

For McGuinness, the honeymoon was over almost as soon as it began. After years of earning fans’ respect through his never-say-die spirit, ROH enthusiasts exploded in cheers when he beat Takeshi Morishima for the heavyweight title last October. Similarly, McGuinness’ lockerroom colleagues were thrilled for him, and ran to the ring to celebrate the victory. Even the menacing former champion, Morishima, congratulated McGuinness.

But just a week later, McGuinness suffered a torn biceps that, despite his attempts to wrestle through the injury, forced the new champion to the sidelines for two months. For fans excited about a new era in ROH history, McGuinness’ hiatus was disappointing and frustrating.

“What did they want from me? I would have been happy to go out there and defend that title with one arm, but what kind of matches would those be?” McGuinness said, slamming down his mug. “Nevertheless, I chose against getting the surgery I needed just so I could be back in the ring within two months. And what did that get me?”

The setback would be only the first to try fans’ patience. Weeks into his return, McGuinness suffered a concussion when his head was driven into the steel ringside barrier during a title defense against Austin Aries.

As a precaution, McGuinness chose against competing the following night in New York at ROH’s final show of the year. McGuinness’ choice that night proved to be the breaking point for many fans, who openly booed him and chanted, “Drop the title!” when he walked to the ring to explain his decision.

Ironically, just as many fans decided that night that they were through with McGuinness, so did McGuinness decide that he was through with the fans. In a memorable tirade, a flustered McGuinness told his detractors that he planned to hold on to the belt just to spite them. The rhetoric continued when McGuinness wrote an open letter to fans that was published on "http://www.wrestlingobserver.com".

From that point forward, McGuinness was a changed man, motivated less by fan approval and more by simply spiting them and keeping the ROH heavyweight title by any means necessary.

That was the case when McGuinness returned to New York two months later for a highly anticipated title defense against longtime rival “American Dragon” Bryan Danielson. Early in the night, McGuinness came out to the ring and hinted that he was, once again, considering taking the night off because of the fragile state of his head and his history of concussions.

Eager to get his title shot, Danielson went as far as to promise McGuinness that he would not deliver any head shots in their encounter. McGuinness agreed to the stipulation. When match time came, Danielson honored his promise, even at the expense of putting the champion away with his patented flurry of elbows to his opponent’s skull. But in return, McGuinness showed a side of him not seen in a long time—opportunistic, and even slimy.

First, he tried walking out of the match—only to be forced back to the ring by several other wrestlers. Then McGuinness actually pummeled Danielson with the same barrage of elbow strikes to the head that Danielson promised not to use. But, as low as McGuinness’ tactics were, they proved successful.

“There are some guys in the locker room that I like and some I dislike. But regardless, I pride myself on respecting every many who steps in the ring with me,” Danielson later said. “That night, I lost some respect for Nigel. And I don’t blame fans for doing the same.”

Sadly, McGuinness’ questionable sincerity in recent months has served to disguise the high degree of ability and drive that still lie beneath. Even as the boos have grown louder, McGuinness has turned back challenger after challenger, including Tyler Black, Delirious, and Aries.

Still, it seems it may be too late for McGuinness to shift the tide of fans’ growing contempt for him. Not that he’s trying.

“I should be getting a damn reward for all I’ve done for this title. And instead all I’ve gotten is backlash,” McGuinness said, wiping a beer mustache off of his upper lip. “You know, I’m sort of glad it’s all happened this way. Now I realize what my priorities are. And fans aren’t one of them.”