C.S. Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 From WWE.com: WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Austin Aries. WWE wishes Aries the best in all of his future endeavors. http://www.wwe.com/article/austin-aries-released This is a real shocker and I think it deserves its own thread. Wonder what the hell happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 He wants to work in a place where people actually care about his matches so he can sell some merch in the process maybe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted July 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 No one really gives a flying fuck about 205 Live or the Cruiserweight Division, but I thought his feud and matches with Neville got good reactions and a decent amount of airtime. The only problem, I suppose, from Airies' perspective was that he lost three in a row. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammerva Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 Problem is where is Aries going to actually go. He more than burned his bridge with the Jarretts. He didn't leave ROH in the best shape but not sure how many of those people are still left. No idea if he is interested in New Japan or if they would want him Aries biggest problem is himself with his healthy ego. Not being a vocal point of the 205 Live is not what he wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 This is plain weird. Aside from Neville, Austin Aries was arguably the most visible and successful wrestler in the Cruiserweight Division. To my mind, with their rivalry he and Neville pretty much rescued the entire division and kept it from descending into total irrelevancy. What I don't get is that he was off for a long period of time due to his eye injury, during which he debuts as a color commentator, and does pretty well. Then he comes back to challenge Neville, and is over to the point where people are actually chanting his name. Then after losing the submission match, they do that deal where the camera shows him sitting there smiling and laughing. Then he announces that he's burnt out, and needs time off - which is weird since he really hadn't been back on the road all that long. Then he gives an interview where he says he's only taking a bit of time off to promote his vegan book, but he'll be back, and that he never intended to take a lot of time off and that he was misquoted. Then he takes time off. Then he gets released. WTF? I have heard the podcasts and seen the interviews where it is claimed he is reportedly moody, temperamental and difficult to deal with. The thing is, as is mentioned earlier, where the hell else is he going to go? He apparently burned his bridges in ROH and TNA, although there are new people in charge in both places. I'm sure he'd fit right in to the Juniors Division in New Japan, if they would want him. This whole thing just seems weird, I hope the real story of what is going on comes out in time. I don't think it's a wellness thing, though. Unless you can flunk a test due to eating too many bananas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 He apparently asked for his release, which honestly doesn't surprise me. His personality didn't seem to be a good fit for the main roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted July 7, 2017 Report Share Posted July 7, 2017 I'm sure there's multiple reasons he requested a release, but from a fan perspective, I can see how he might've viewed his WWE run as disappointing and not looking like it was going to get any better. With 205 Live being its own "brand" in a sense, I can see Aries feeling like he's been pigeon-holed (meanwhile, the 190-pound Finn Balor is crowned Universal Champion within a couple months of his main roster debut) and that a ceiling was placed on him fairly early (even Aries' debut match seemed more about getting Corbin more over than heralding the arrival of a potential NXT Champion and main roster player, which is the level I'm sure he believes he should be at). I can see the same frustrations eventually getting to Neville and others. I know its been said a million times already, but the problems with the cruiserweight division concept in today's WWE is not just "they don't get stories" or "they need more air time" - its that when you've got Seth Rollins doing the Pheonix Splash and big men like Luke Harper doing suicide dives, the 205 guys aren't giving the audience anything they haven't already seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 He has sort of a rep, but frustration may be deserved in this case. Who knows? Whether he is can be debated, but given the overlapping indy history with so many of them, I can see in his mind how he would think he's at the same level as AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe, and Finn Balor, and wonder why he's not treated like he's at that level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 You look at a guy like Aries, who along with being slotted as a cruiserweight is also very short, already has two strikes against him heading to the main roster. He probably would have been better off staying in NXT where none of that would have been viewed as a negative and he would be near the top of the card. Of course the downside is most people don't make a lot of money in NXT, and I doubt they would want to pay main roster level money and keep him down there. Most likely sequence of events is he probably asked if he's ever going to do anything besides 205 Live in the foreseeable future, and when they said no he peaced out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 IF he asked for his release, I think he made a mistake. Let's look at his WWE history: - He flopped in NXT. After an ill-fated face run, he turned heel and fared only slightly better. - After an injury, he got called right up to the main roster a year before anyone thought he would. - He got to open WrestleMania. Yes, pre-show and all of that, but the fact that he was in that spot instead of still at Full Sail had to be considered a bonus IMO. - Lost three times to Neville, which is admittedly strange, but I was hoping that would be his way out of the CW division - or at least the catalyst for a heel turn since he's one of the worst babyfaces ever (although, to be fair, he was over with the main WWE audience as a face). So, if he wanted out for ego reasons, stupid and silly mistake. I get that you don't want to spend years languishing in the opening card like Cody Rhodes and Jack Swagger did, but Aries could have at least stuck around a little while longer. His run was too brief for him to give WWE a real chance. All of that is, of course, assuming that HE wanted the release. That may not be the case though, especially considering WWE's "Vegans are geeks" culture. Who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 I think he's going to do fine on the indies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 Yeah he's probably looking at the success of Cody and the like on the indies and thinks he can replicate that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 The Observer twitter account confirmed he asked for his release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted July 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 I think he's going to do fine on the indies. Yeah he's probably looking at the success of Cody and the like on the indies and thinks he can replicate that He's been "doing fine on the indies" his entire career. Going back to that feels like a lateral move and stale to me. *Shrug* At least Cody's run on the indies is something new and fresh for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 When near-40 year old recent signee Austin Aries got himself a commentary gig, and did awesome at it, I thought he at least got a nice ten year Tazz gig out of it. Oh well, guess not. FWIW, him and Neville had the best match at Mania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 This is plain weird. Aside from Neville, Austin Aries was arguably the most visible and successful wrestler in the Cruiserweight Division. To my mind, with their rivalry he and Neville pretty much rescued the entire division and kept it from descending into total irrelevancy. Agreed 100%. Afraid it's going to go back to nothingness now. Aries added a lot to that division. He and Neville had some amazing matches, great overall feud. - Lost three times to Neville, which is admittedly strange, but I was hoping that would be his way out of the CW division - or at least the catalyst for a heel turn since he's one of the worst babyfaces ever (although, to be fair, he was over with the main WWE audience as a face). So, if he wanted out for ego reasons, stupid and silly mistake. I get that you don't want to spend years languishing in the opening card like Cody Rhodes and Jack Swagger did, but Aries could have at least stuck around a little while longer. His run was too brief for him to give WWE a real chance. He won the second match by DQ but yeah. I always thought he was very good as a babyface, huge fan of his 2012 TNA run and as mentioned always over. But agreed that the run was far too brief to give it a real chance, a shame as there was a lot of great potential matchups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 If he went to New Japan, there's a lot of fresh match-ups that I would enjoy watching with him. If he goes to TNA or back to ROH, I don't think I'll care all that much. I would watch the hell outta Aries/Naito though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dewar Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 If he went to New Japan, there's a lot of fresh match-ups that I would enjoy watching with him. If he goes to TNA or back to ROH, I don't think I'll care all that much. I would watch the hell outta Aries/Naito though. If he ends up in New Japan, I don't think he's in the heavyweight division, so he's probably not getting singles matches with Naito. Him against Kushida would be fun though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthedoctor Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 From WWE.com: WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Austin Aries. WWE wishes Aries the best in all of his future endeavors. http://www.wwe.com/article/austin-aries-released This is a real shocker and I think it deserves its own thread. Wonder what the hell happened. Im not so sure its a shocker when you look at how many times he was jobbing to Neville. They made a big mistake not putting this match on the big PPV at Mania and actually have Aries win it as thats the reason he was chasing the belt. Sticking it on the preshow was a terrible idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 He's been "doing fine on the indies" his entire career. Going back to that feels like a lateral move and stale to me. *Shrug* Being happy > Being in WWE. These people don't need the WWE anymore. They can have a career without having to deal with their shit. And unless WWE manage to kill the indies, the hardcore scene is stronger than ever, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMKK Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 It makes perfect sense that a guy as small as Aries would be in the cruiserweight division. I know this might be outdated thinking but I can't really imagine him as a threat to Lesnar, Reigns, Strowman etc with his stature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supersonic Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 Talk to Joe and Morishima please. https://youtu.be/99OAe0VvwoU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 Yeah. Aries is good at working big and really good at making his offense believable against bigger guys. He is going to do just fine. Shame he didn't get out for more of the summer tournaments. I imagine he has a no compete clause... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirEdger Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 Even if he burned bridges with TNA/GFW & ROH, I'd be very surprised if WWE didn't include a 90-day no-compete clause in his release. Like everyone, I think Aries will be just fine on the indy circuit. He might find his way back to GFW or ROH when it's all said and done. Stranger things have happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richeyedwards Posted July 9, 2017 Report Share Posted July 9, 2017 According to today's observer radio paraphraseing here, aries did not ask for his release. He was highly unpopular with the writing staff. Will get the 90 days non-compete cause as mentioned by sir edger. So until mid October he will work only approved indies so don't expect him turning up in roh or njpw until after that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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