Recently on ROH tv Nigel and Kevin Kelly have openly talked during commentary about Nigel's career being ended due to the amount of concussions/head trauma that he recieved during his wrestling career. Leading a sports fan to liken his retirement to that of former NFL QB's like Steve Young or Troy Aikman, or more recently to compare his situation to that of the one that the Penguin's Sidney Crosby is dealing with.
However, hearing Nigel speak in interviews regarding the matter, the one posted here being a prime example, his level of reluctance to speak on the reasons he retired would lead me to believe that the concussion "excuse" that ROH has been reporting is possibly only a work- which makes sense being as it has coincided with Jim Cornett's on air push to increase safety by further cracking down on extreme violence elements like chairshots to the head.
It is possible that Nigel did retire due to fear of permanent brain damage or other life long complications that can arise from multiple serious concussions, but it also very possible that it is due to something far less simple or innocent than that.
I have no reason to believe that it is something along the lines of HIV or Hep-C as many people have alluded to, and I agree with Nigel that the reason(s) and the way in which it is revealed should be strictly left to him to address when he is ready. Either way, as a fan it sucks to see Nigel not get to continue his TNA run as Desmond Wolfe as he was really doing a nice job, and was good for the company. He is constantly improving as color commentator on ROH tv, and has shown to be a good asset for them. I hope for Nigel's sake that he is healthy enough to lead a comfortable life even if he's not healthy enough to compete between the ropes for TNA or back in ROH.
