One of the most consistent things in AEW right now is Nigel McGuinness and his insistence of calling Bryan Danielson a “Clamdigger” as much as humanly possible.
Nigel McGuinness told RJ City on Hey! (EW) that the reason he calls Bryan Danielson a clamdigger is that his hobby his digging clams.
The juxtaposition between being this violent wrestler and enjoying digging clams was too funny to him, and he had to mention it as often as possible.
“Cause that is his hobby and I always thought, he’s always seen as this tough badass wrestler and that’s his hobby. To dig up these molluscs, stand on the sand with this silly looking spade.”
However, that isn’t the only reason. RJ City pointed out that “clamdigger” is also a euphemism for somebody with unclean genitals. McGuinness said he knew this, but that he previously used the insult for Danielson that the word implies.
“It is a euphemism but I’ve already told you the word that it’s a euphemism for.”
That word was used earlier in the interview.
Bryan Danielson Used To Dig Razor Clams With His Father
While Nigel McGuinness claims he calls Bryan Danielson a clamdigger as an insult, the actual story behind it is rather sweet.
It is literal. Bryan Danielson enjoys digging for razor clams. Despite famously being a vegan, the AEW star enjoyed days on the beach with his late father digging clams, as detailed in his book.
In “Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania“, he explained how he used to love digging razor clams as a child. While Bryan got better and better, he was never as good as it than his dad.
They would look for holes that began to bubble in the sand. These indicated the clams were breathing underneath. Next, they’d shove their shovel in the sand, exposing the razor clam for the taking.
He’d have to quickly stick his arm in the hole to grab it, before the clam dug itself back into the sand, hiding away from the predatory American Dragon once again.
“One of the things I especially loved doing with him was going clam-digging. In the Pacific Northwest, we have razor clams, a meaty shellfish that can grow up to six inches long. To find them, you look for little indentions in the sand and pound your shovel next to them. If a hole starts bubbling, it’s a clam hole. Then all you have to do is start digging, and if you’re fast enough and get your arm into the hole, you can grab the clam before he digs away—and they are fast diggers. “
“My dad was great at it since he’d been doing it ever since he was young. He’d dig some, then people-watch some; dig some more, then people-watch some more. It’s kind of the way I’ve always approached life. As a kid, I was never very good at clam-digging, but I loved playing in the sand. The older I got, the better I got, yet my dad was always much better than I ever was. I still tend to break the clam’s shell when I’m digging. After getting our limits of fifteen clams per person, we’d go back home, and within a day or two we’d be having fried razor clams for dinner, which has always been one of my favorites.”
Kevin Kelly backed this up in an interview with Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. The former AEW commentator confirmed it was because Danielson is from an area where they farm shellfish, and he engages in clam digging during his spare time.
“He calls him a clam digger, which of course is basically shellfish farming in the Pacific Northwest. That was where that phrase came from, he heard that Bryan did this, you know, just like you and I might have a backyard garden. Out in the Pacific Northwest, there are a lot of shellfish farmers, so that’s where clam digger came from. Oh boy, yeah.”
So, while it sounds like an insult, being called a clamdigger isn’t really one. It harks back to an early time in Bryan Danielson’s life, where he got to spend time with his late father on the beach.
That won’t stop Nigel McGuinness calling him a clamdigger as an insult though.
