Nigel McGuinness Steven Haworth ( January 23 , 1976 ) , better known by the ring name Nigel McGuinness , is an English retired professional wrestler , currently signed to WWE as an announcer . As McGuinness , Haworth first gained notoriety working for Ring of Honor ( ROH ) in the United States and Pro Wrestling Noah ( NOAH ) in Japan . He was the longest reigning ROH Pure Champion , holding the title for 350 days , while also being a former ROH World Champion , holding the championship for 545 days and also making him the second English World Heavyweight Champion in professional wrestling history after Gary Steele . In October 2009 , he signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , where he worked as Desmond Wolfe until June 2011 . The following August , again working as Nigel McGuinness , he returned to ROH to work as a color commentator . He retired from in - ring competition on December 17 , 2011 . After leaving ROH in December 2016 , Haworth signed with WWE . Early life . Haworth , born in London , grew up in Staplehurst , Kent , where he attended Maidstone Grammar School . He was a wrestling fan from the age of 12 , particularly enjoying The Hart Foundation and British Bulldogs , and attended SummerSlam in 1992 while wearing The Ultimate Warrior face paint . After attending Les University , he relocated to the United States in the 1990s in order to attend Kent State University , where he graduated in 1997 with a degree in chemistry . Professional wrestling career . Heartland Wrestling Association ( 1998 – 2004 ) . In September 1998 , Haworth began training under Les Thatcher in the Heartland Wrestling Association ( HWA ) in Cincinnati , Ohio , incurring large debts in the process . After debuting in September 1999 , working under the ring name Nigel McGuinness and defeating GQ Masters III in a match that was featured on ABC ' s " 20 / 20 " , he spent a year wrestling in the mid west . Haworth returned to England where he worked two full - time jobs to earn enough money to be able to return to the United States to wrestle , and wrestled for All Star promotions between September and December 2001 , where he learned from wrestlers such as Robbie Brookside . McGuinness developed a heel character which he described as " a punk rock soccer hooligan . . . Billy Idol meets Johnny Saint " . On July 10 , 2001 , McGuinness defeated Dean Jablonski in a singles match with the HWA Tag Team Championship on the line ( the co - holder of the title , Chet Jablonski , was indisposed ) , claiming the title for himself and his partner , The Human Time Bomb . McGuinness and The Bomb held the title until August 7 , when the Jablonski brothers regained the title . McGuinness and The Bomb would become champions for a second time on July 23 , 2002 , defeating the Jablonski brothers once more . They lost the title to Southern Breeze later that year . In 2003 , McGuinness introduced the HWA European Championship to HWA . He held the title until September 30 , 2003 , when he lost to Hoss . He regained the title on November 4 and promptly retired it . McGuinness won the HWA Heavyweight Championship on September 6 , 2003 in Batavia , Ohio , defeating Chad Collyer , He held the title until January 3 , 2004 , when he lost the title to Hoss . McGuinness defeated Hoss to begin a second reign with the title on January 6 , and held it until March 17 , 2004 , when he lost to El Temor . Ring of Honor . Pure Champion ( 2003 – 2006 ) . McGuinness debuted in Ring of Honor ( ROH ) on August 9 , 2003 , defeating Chet Jablonski . He wrestled for ROH throughout 2004 , but had limited success . In March 2005 , McGuinness and Colt Cabana teamed together to challenge for the ROH Tag Team Championship , but lost to the incumbents , Dan Maff and B . J . Whitmer . Cabana and McGuinness then began fighting one another , with McGuinness defeating Cabana on May 7 , 2005 , with an accidental low blow for a shot at the ROH Pure Championship . He challenged the champion , Samoa Joe , on June 12 , 2005 , but was defeated . He faced Joe once more on August 27 , and defeated him to win the Pure Championship . After becoming champion , McGuinness turned heel and for several months was engaged in a feud with Claudio Castagnoli , instigated by a non - title match on October 14 where Castagnoli was able to use his knowledge of McGuinness ' s European wrestling style to score a pinfall on the champion . This led to a series of matches for the title , with McGuinness using underhanded tactics to avoid losing the championship belt . On March 25 , 2006 , McGuinness defeated Castagnoli in a match billed as the latter ' s last chance to win the championship as long as McGuinness was champion . During his Pure Championship run , McGuinness regularly carried an iron ( decorated with the Union Jack ) to ringside . When asked , the typical story given was that a group of men once broke into his home to attack him , but he was able to defend himself with the iron . In reality , he began carrying the iron after a girlfriend ' s mother asked him why some wrestlers carried weapons to ringside , and then inquired as to whether anyone had ever carried an iron before . He would often use the iron as a weapon to win his matches . McGuinness also had a malapropistic gimmick in ROH of mispronouncing words . An example would be at " Survival of the Fittest 2005 " in Dorchester , Massachusetts , when he said the fans appreciated him as much as " their beloved Boston Red Stockings " . During the rest of 2006 , McGuinness was mostly uninvolved in the war between ROH and Combat Zone Wrestling ( CZW ) , instead developing a new gimmick where he would win his matches by countout by using ( often unfair ) methods of preventing opponents from returning to the ring . McGuinness received a shot at the ROH World Championship against Bryan Danielson with his own Pure Championship on the line and contested under pure wrestling rules on April 29 . McGuinness again won by countout , by which only the Pure title could be won , but not Danielson ' s World title . The victory was enough to earn a rematch under regular rules on July 29 , in which Danielson narrowly managed to retain his title . A month later in Liverpool , England , ROH arranged a unification match between the two titles and guaranteed there would be a winner , with both titles able to change hands due to countout or disqualification under pure wrestling rules . McGuinness lost the match on August 12 and the Pure Championship was unified and retired . McGuinness reign of 350 days is the longest in the two - year history of the Pure Championship . After the match , Danielson offered McGuinness one more shot at the unified ROH World Championship and on August 25 the two of them wrestled a two - out - of - three - falls match to a 60 - minute time limit and as a result McGuinness could no longer challenge for the title as long as Danielson was the champion . After the match , Danielson recognized McGuinness ' efforts and gave him the now retired Pure Championship belt as a trophy . Feud with Jimmy Rave and Chris Hero ( 2006 – 2007 ) . After losing the Pure Championship , McGuinness , now a face , challenged for Pro Wrestling Noah ' s ( NOAH ) GHC Heavyweight Championship on September 16 , 2006 , at ROH ' s " Glory by Honor V – Night 2 " , but was defeated by the defending champion Naomichi Marufuji . The rest of the year saw McGuinness feuding with Jimmy Rave , who , using his new submission maneuver , the " Heel Hook " ( a single leg Boston crab and twisting ankle lock combination ) , forced him to tap out on two separate occasions , first on December 8 , 2006 , at " The Chicago Spectacular Night 1 " and then on December 23 , 2006 , at " Final Battle 2006 " . Rave followed that up with another victory over McGuinness on January 27 , 2007 , this time in an " I Quit " match , which he won via referee stoppage . In February , McGuinness began acting as a representative of NOAH and as a spokesperson and tag team partner of NOAH talent Takeshi Morishima , upon his arrival to the company . On March 4 in Liverpool , McGuinness ended his feud with Jimmy Rave by defeating him with a " Rebound " " Lariat " , which in storyline resulted in Rave suffering a broken jaw and earned the move the new name of " Jawbreaker Lariat " , when in reality Rave had broken his jaw a month earlier . McGuinness ' next feud would be with Chris Hero , who had dubbed himself the best pure wrestler in the world . During this feud McGuinness also received two shots at the ROH World Championship , on April 14 and July 16 , but was both times defeated by champion Takeshi Morishima . On June 23 , McGuinness defeated Hero in a 30 - minute time limit match , but Hero came back on August 10 and defeated McGuinness with help from his agent Larry Sweeney and the Sweet ' n ' Sour Inc . in a match contested under pure wrestling rules . ROH World Champion ( 2007 – 2009 ) . On September 15 , 2007 , at Man Up , ROH ' s third pay - per - view , McGuinness defeated Chris Hero , Claudio Castagnoli and Naomichi Marufuji in a four - way match to earn one more shot at Takeshi Morishima ' s ROH World Championship , hich McGuinness won at Undeniable on October 6 , 2007 In late 2007 , ROH confirmed that McGuinness had suffered a torn biceps and would be out of action until " Final Battle 2007 " , however he would not be stripped of the ROH World Championship . On November 2 , the first night of ROH ' s " Glory by Honor VI " event in Philadelphia , Chris Hero and his agent Larry Sweeney complained of McGuinness ' injury , calling him a fluke champion . Sweeney felt that Hero ' s victory of the Survival of the Fittest in Las Vegas earned him a title shot any time he wanted . McGuinness , in street clothes , accepted the challenge . He successfully retained the title against Hero , despite first losing the match due to the referee failing to notice McGuinness ' foot on the rope while Hero made him tap out to submission . On December 29 , 2007 , McGuinness returned to the ring full - time at ROH fifth pay - per - view , Rising Above . During his defense of the ROH World Championship against Austin Aries , however , McGuinness injured his head when Aries dove from the ring onto him , which resulted in him hitting his head on the metal guard rail . The impact gave McGuinness a concussion , broke his nose , opened his eyebrow , and required 14 stitches . On January 25 , 2008 , McGuinness wrapped up his feud with Chris Hero by successfully defending his title against him in a steel cage match . In February at ROH ' s " Sixth Anniversary Show " , McGuinness turned heel during his successful title defense against Bryan Danielson by breaking an earlier agreement and targeting his head , injured earlier at the hands of Morishima . Throughout the rest of the year , McGuinness successfully defended his title against the likes of Tyler Black , Austin Aries , Kevin Steen , Claudio Castagnoli , Go Shiozaki , Jerry Lynn , Roderick Strong , El Generico and on November 22 , 2008 , at Rising Above , in a grudge match against Bryan Danielson . On March 20 , 2009 , McGuinness sustained an arm injury competing in a tag team match . However , despite the injury reportedly requiring surgery , he still wrestled at the " Seventh Anniversary Show " the next night and defeated KENTA to retain his title . Finally , on April 3 , 2009 at " Supercard of Honor IV " , McGuinness lost the ROH World Championship to Jerry Lynn at his 39th defense , ending his reign at 545 days . Injuries and departure ( 2009 ) . After a hiatus to recover from the injury , McGuinness returned to wrestling a few months later . On July 24 , McGuinness suffered a minor injury during a four - way match after his " spine got compacted taking a piledriver " , and was unable to wrestle the following night . On September 4 , ROH announced that McGuinness had " in principle " agreed to a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) , but confirmed that he would continue to wrestle for ROH until the end of September . McGuinness wrestled his last ROH match on September 26 at " Glory by Honor VIII : The Final Countdown " , losing to Bryan Danielson , who was also making his final appearance for the company . Independent circuit ( 2004 – 2009 ) . While still in ROH , McGuinness continued to compete in various other independent promotions like IWA Mid - South , New Era Pro Wrestling , Italian Championship Wrestling , and American All - Star Wrestling , as well as tours in various countries . McGuinness would also make appearances for some major promotions . On August 11 , 2004 , McGuinness appeared in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) , debuting in a 22 - man Gauntlet for the Gold for the TNA X Division Championship , which was won by Petey Williams . On August 31 , 2005 , McGuinness competed in Ohio Valley Wrestling , WWE ' s developmental territory , on episode of its " OVW TV " , losing to Elijah Burke . He would go on to wrestle Danny Basham on the September 11 , 2005 , episode of " Sunday Night Heat " , taped prior to " Raw " on September 5 , losing after Basham hit an inverted DDT . On November 13 , 2005 , McGuinness returned to TNA at the pre - show prior to the Genesis pay - per - view in a losing effort to Shark Boy , before leaving America to tour Japan with NOAH in November and December 2005 . He wrestled nine matches in total , seven of which he won , and teamed with fellow gaijin Doug Williams , 2 Cold Scorpio and Bison Smith . During his tour of Japan , McGuinness was supposed to compete in TNA ' s 2006 World X Cup Tournament , but Team UK was replaced by Team Canada , after McGuinness and Williams could not appear because both were booked in Japan . In 2007 , McGuinness represented ROH in the King of Europe Cup . He made his way through to the final and , in his home country , defeated fellow Brit and tag - team partner Doug Williams to win the 2007 tournament final . On October 14 , 2007 , McGuiness wrestled James Tighe in the first round of the British National Championship held by ( IPW : UK ) , however McGuiness was disqualified for the use of brass knuckles and eliminated from the tournament . McGuinness won the 1PW Openweight Championship , his first title in a British promotion , on April 19 , 2009 , by defeating Johnny Moss . Return to TNA . Feud with Kurt Angle ( 2009 ) . On September 4 , 2009 , ROH announced that Haworth had agreed to a contract with the WWE " in principle " . On October 20 , 2009 , it was reported that Haworth ' s deal with the WWE had fallen through due to him failing a pre - screening physical test and that he had decided to sign with TNA instead . He officially made his TNA return as a heel under the ring name Desmond Wolfe on the October 22 episode of " Impact ! " by attacking Kurt Angle . The following week , Wolfe defeated Angle in a street fight via referee stoppage , following a lariat . On November 12 , Wolfe won a third exchange with Angle as he laid him out with a DDT . At Turning Point , Angle defeated Wolfe via submission . The following month at Final Resolution , Wolfe faced Angle in a " Three Degrees of Pain " two - out - of - three - falls match . Wolfe managed to gain the first fall by pinning Angle following the " Tower of London " , but tapped out to the ankle lock in the second fall to make it even . In the final fall , which could only be won by escaping the cage , Angle managed to escape first and won the match and the feud . Fourtune and London Brawling ( 2010 ) . Following the loss to Angle , Wolfe moved on to feuding with D ' Angelo Dinero , who defeated him on the January 4 , 2010 , three - hour , Monday night episode of " Impact ! " . At Genesis , Wolfe debuted a new valet , who was later named Chelsea , and defeated Dinero in a rematch . At Against All Odds , Wolfe entered the 8 Card Stud Tournament to crown a new number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , but was defeated in the first round by the evantual winner of the whole tournament , Dinero . On the February 25 episode of " Impact ! " , Wolfe aligned himself with Ric Flair and then TNA World Heavyweight Champion A . J . Styles in their battle with Hulk Hogan , Abyss and D ' Angelo Dinero . On the March 4 episode of " Impact ! " , Wolfe received his first shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , held by Styles , in a four - way match , which also included Dinero and Abyss , but Styles was able to retain his title by defeating Dinero via referee stoppage . The following week on " Impact ! " , Wolfe and Dinero were scheduled to once again face each other , but the match was cancelled after Wolfe attacked Dinero during an interview and re - injured his ankle . Wolfe and Dinero finally had their fourth singles match together on the March 29 episode of " Impact ! " , and this time Wolfe was able to pin the number one contender after hitting him with a chain , while Chelsea was distracting the referee , but on the following episode of " Impact ! " Dinero defeated Wolfe in a rematch in just two minutes . At Lockdown , along with Sting , Robert Roode and James Storm , Wolfe represented Team Flair in the annual Lethal Lockdown match , where they were defeated by Team Hogan ( Abyss , Jeff Jarrett , Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy ) , when Abyss pinned Wolfe . On April 26 , TNA introduced a new " Championship Ranking " system , where fans were allowed to vote on the number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship . Surprisingly , Wolfe led the first poll from start to finish , ahead of the likes of Jeff Hardy , Mr . Anderson , Sting , A . J . Styles , Kurt Angle , D ' Angelo Dinero and Abyss , and on the May 3 episode of " Impact ! " was granted a shot at the title , held by Rob Van Dam . However , Wolfe was defeated in the title match . At Sacrifice , Wolfe was defeated by Abyss , who as a result won Chelsea ' s services for 30 days . On the following episode of " Impact ! " , Chelsea started showing sympathy towards Abyss , when he was being brutalized by Wolfe . The following month at Slammiversary VIII , Wolfe was defeated by Abyss in a Monster ' s Ball match , when Chelsea turned on him and helped Abyss pick up the victory . On the following episode of " Impact ! " , Ric Flair , who had aligned himself with Wolfe , Styles , Roode , Storm and Kazarian , announced that he would reform the Four Horsemen under the new name Fourtune , stating that each of them would have to earn their spots in the group and that in order for Wolfe to earn his spot , he needed to become the Lex Luger of the group . Later in the night , Chelsea reluctantly returned to Wolfe after her 30 days with Abyss were up . Wolfe gave her a chance to redeem herself , but her behaviour outside the ring provided a distraction , which cost Wolfe his match against Flair ' s nemesis Jay Lethal . After a series of losses , Wolfe attempted to get back in good graces with Flair by helping Styles and Kazarian defeat Samoa Joe and Rob Terry at Victory Road to earn their spots in Fourtune , only to get a muscle buster from Joe after the match . On the following episode of " Impact ! " , Wolfe confronted Flair when he inducted Styles and Kazarian into Fourtune , demanding to be included in the stable . Two weeks later on " Impact ! " , Flair revealed Robert Roode and James Storm as the final two members of Fourtune , leaving Wolfe out of the stable . After failing to make it into Fourtune , Wolfe went on to form a tag team with fellow Briton Magnus and together the two not only ended Wolfe ' s losing streak , but also started a winning streak , defeating teams like Amazing Red and Suicide , Hernandez and Rob Terry and Ink Inc . ( Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore ) on episodes of " Xplosion " , and in the process earned themselves the right to challenge for the TNA World Tag Team Championship . On the August 26 episode of " Impact ! " , the team was named London Brawling . They were scheduled to receive their shot at The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin ) and the TNA World Tag Team Championship at No Surrender , but were at the last minute pulled from the event , with TNA citing a " personal issue " as the reason . It was later reported that Wolfe was pulled from the event due to an undisclosed medical situation that would sideline him for the next few months . On a December 2014 podcast , McGuinness revealed that at this time , he tested positive for Hepatitis B . On - screen his absence was explained by Magnus , who claimed that in an attempt to become a dual athlete , Wolfe had travelled to London to try out for Chelsea F . C . On November 21 , 2010 , TNA president Dixie Carter announced that Wolfe was close to a comeback . On the December 16 episode of " Impact ! " , Magnus met his former tag team partner Doug Williams and informed him that Wolfe was now done with football and would be coming back soon , while also telling him that they had gotten rid of Chelsea . Wolfe finally made his return in a non – televised segment on December 10 , 2010 , at the tapings of the January 6 , 2011 , episode of " Impact ! " , when he and Magnus saved Williams from Fortune members A . J . Styles and Rob Terry . Xplosion Commissioner ( 2011 ) . On May 16 , 2011 , Wolfe made his return to TNA , when he was announced as the new commissioner of " Xplosion " , turning face in the process . During his time as the commissioner , Wolfe also served as the third member of the " Xplosion " announcing team , working beside Jeremy Borash and Taz . However , on June 17 it was reported that Wolfe had been released from his TNA contract . Return to ROH and retirement ( 2011 – 2016 ) . On August 13 , 2011 , Haworth , returning to his Nigel McGuinness ring name , returned to ROH at the promotion ' s first " Ring of Honor Wrestling " tapings under the Sinclair Broadcast Group banner , working as the color commentator beside Kevin Kelly . The tapings concluded with McGuinness saving Eddie Edwards from the House of Truth . After a fourteen - month break from in - ring competition , it was announced on October 24 that McGuinness would be making his return to the ring on November 11 at a Squared Circle Wrestling ( 2CW ) event in Watertown , New York , starting a two - month - long string of shows billed as the " Nigel McGuinness Retirement Tour " . In his return match , McGuinness faced Eddie Edwards in a losing effort . The following day , McGuinness was defeated by Chad Collyer at a HWA event in Hamilton , Ohio . A week later Haworth , performing as Desmond Wolfe , was defeated by Jebediah at a Main Event Championship Wrestling event in Alliance , Ohio . On November 25 , McGuinness returned to the United Kingdom , when he was defeated by Eddie Edwards in a Fight Club : Pro Championship three - way match in Wolverhampton , which also included Trent Seven . The following day , McGuinness was defeated by Jon Ryan at a Westside Xtreme Wrestling ( wXw ) event in Oberhausen , Germany , before returning to lose to Joel Redman at an ( IPW : UK ) event in Sittingbourne on November 27 . After two more weekends of shows in the United Kingdom , McGuinness returned to the United States for his final match , which took place at an American Pro Wrestling Alliance ( APWA ) event in Clarksburg , West Virginia on December 17 , 2011 . At the November 3 , 2012 , tapings of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , McGuinness was named the new " Matchmaker " of Ring of Honor , replacing Jim Cornette as the main on - screen authority figure . In December 2012 , McGuinness released a documentary titled " The Last of McGuinness " on his final days as an in - ring performer , during which he revealed that WWE had rescinded his contract after feeling an old biceps injury needed surgery , while his in - ring career in TNA ended after contracting hepatitis B during his time there . In late May 2013 , McGuinness toured the United Kingdom with the shorter final cut of his documentary and has become an advocate for hepatitis B vaccination and an end to the use of intentional blood loss in wrestling . In 2014 , following the success of his documentary , McGuinness began working in the film industry as an Assistant Editor and Production Assistant on various television shows and in December of that year launched a Kickstart campaign for his new creative project , L . A . Fights , described as a scripted show about " a diverse group of amateur fighters and their morally ambivalent promoter struggle to coexist in their upstart fight league " . In December 2016 , ROH announced McGuinness had resigned as the promotion ' s matchmaker . McGuinness ' position was a storyline and he will remain with the promotion in another role going forward . WWE ( 2016 – present ) . On December 15 , 2016 , WWE announced that McGuinness had signed with the company as an announcer , debuting at the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament on January 14 and 15 , 2017 . During pre - show , McGuinness joined NXT as announcer , by replacing Corey Graves due to other commitments in the WWE Universe , starting on February 8 , 2017 TV airing ( February 2 , 2017 TV taping ) .