ROH Says That Nigel McGuinness Is No Longer Matchmaker, Matt Sydal Legal Update, PROGRESS Film
- Dale Beaumont-Brown directed the 22-minute documentary short above called THIS.IS.PROGRESS, which explores the inner workings of the UK's leading independent wrestling promotion, PROGRESS WRESTLING. Beaumont-Brown was granted unrestricted access to document the trials and tribulations of running a wrestling promotion from the perspective of the promoters, wrestlers and their fans.
- Ring of Honor announced this past weekend that Nigel McGuinness has resigned from his position as the matchmaker of the promotion. McGuinness was appointed as the on-screen ROH matchmaker after working a brief stint in the company as a commentator. The position is a storyline one, and PWInsider noted that McGuiness was still with the promotion. They noted that the primary reason that the move was made was in case they need him to take over from Steve Corino on commentary. As noted, Corino is slated to work at the WWE Performance Center in 2017. Below is the statement from ROH:
Earlier this evening, with heavy hearts, Ring of Honor officials accepted the resignation of ROH Matchmaker Nigel McGuinness.
Speculation surrounding McGuinness' sudden resignation has begun to boil among ROH officials. While some chastised his leniency toward Bullet Club's behavior in the summer, others believe that now McGuinness may be under extreme duress from Bullet Club's Adam Cole for changing the stipulations of the Final Battle main event just days in advance.
One of ROH's all-time greats, the former ROH World Champion has resigned. ROH management has announced it is forming an executive committee to oversee matchmaking in ROH. We wish Nigel McGuinness the best of luck in his future.
- As noted, Japanese wrestling journalist Fumi Saito recently reported on Sean Waltman's X-Pac 1,2,360 show, that Matt Sydal would plead guilty for possession of liquid cannabis and receive 3 years probation. As noted, he was arrested in late September after customs found liquid cannabis in a hidden pipe. Sydal was convicted and sentenced to prison in mid-October. Sydal posted the photo below noting that he was back home. Sydal told Pro Wrestling Sheet that he received "no actual punishment" and was done with NJPW.
"It's all finished," Sydal said of his legal issues. "I received probation, which applies only if I'm in Japan. So no actual punishment. I was just held until they had the trial. I wasn't ever in jail either, only police detention centers and the Osaka immigration detention center."
"I'm no longer with NJPW," he said. "I still love the Japanese people, but I won't be working there in the near future."
Back from Japan – 'Let's meet in the USA' #freesydal pic.twitter.com/Y1LUVhpWVB
? Matt Sydal (@findevan) December 12, 2016
@KOllomani and Erik Acosta contributed to this article.