 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 29 December 2007, McGuinness returned to the ring full-time at ROH fifth pay-per-view, Rising Above.During his defence 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.