Nigel McGuinness has been pulled from Friday’s ROH Death Before Dishonor and will no longer challenge Lee Moriarty for the ROH Pure Championship at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
According to PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, McGuinness was removed from the pay-per-view and Moriarty will face a new challenger. Wheeler Yuta and Katsuyori Shibata are the two names being discussed as replacements, though ROH has not officially confirmed who will take the spot.
The move comes just days after McGuinness surfaced with a foot problem during his run in the AEW Continental Challenge Cup. He defeated Shibata in the first round of the tournament on the August 15 Collision.
Drainmaker @TheDrainmaker Follow Moriarty's new opponent will either be Wheeler Yuta or Katsuyori Shibata.
5:03 AM · Aug 20, 2026Although the foot problem has been worked into the TV storyline, McGuinness competed again on the August 19 Dynamite with his foot wrapped, defeating Hechicero in the quarterfinals to advance to the Cup semifinals. Whether his removal from Death Before Dishonor is directly tied to the foot issue remains unclear.
The bout against Moriarty carried a major stipulation: a McGuinness loss would have meant he could never compete in ROH again. Moriarty also held a 2-0 singles record over McGuinness heading into what would have been their third match, with one of those victories coming in a 30-minute Iron Man Match.
Death Before Dishonor starts at 7 p.m. ET on Friday and also features Bandido defending the ROH World Championship against Nick Wayne, along with Athena putting the ROH Women’s World Championship on the line against Hazuki.