Austin Aries is ready to let people in.
The former WWE and Impact star, now working for Major League Wrestling, has been labeled unprofessional and hard to work with during his nearly 20-year career. It’s a stigma he’d like to clear up and debunk.
“If you want to think I’m an a–hole that’s cool, but let’s get the full picture,” said Aries, who will wrestle Teddy Hart for the middleweight championship on MLW’s first pay-per-view “Saturday Night SuperFight” (Nov. 2, 8 p.m.) in Chicago and broadcast on all major providers.
Aries recently did a candid Instagram Live video from his home talking with fellow wrestler Killer Kross. He peeled back the curtain more than he’s ever had — no longer being overly concerned with protecting the “magic of the business.” It is something he plans on doing more through that medium. Aries’ experience has taught him that working the audience can often be a disadvantage for a wrestler because fans will begin to believe the character is the real person, which goes against the grain of traditional thinking in pro wrestling. Aries calls himself an “opinionated guy” who goes out of his way to not be difficult.
“I think I’m gonna start revealing a little more of the full scope of who I am,” the 41-year-old Aries said. “Not many people have really met me. Because if you meet me at a show if you meet me somewhere at the store or at the airport and come up and say, ‘Hey ‘Austin Aries,’ than that’s who you get.”
He’s learned from being released from WWE in 2017 and not re-signing with Impact last year after a second go-around with the company. Aries, who was with NXT and 205 Live in WWE, said he was in NXT at a time when WWE was still trying to figure out the best way to integrate veteran talents into its Performance Center. He said he wasn’t on a five-day-a-week schedule there, but was allowed to show up “sporadically.”
“I wish I would have had an opportunity to sink my teeth in more,” he said.
Aries prides himself on being able to add personal touches and tweaks to his matches and character. It’s something he said wasn’t always wanted in the corporate structure and machine that is WWE.
“I kind of equate it to McDonald’s and not as a slight,” Aries said. “When you’ve sold a billion hamburgers, some cook in the back is talking to you about how maybe to steam the buns so they taste better isn’t something they’re interested in hearing. They don’t want chefs there. They want cooks.”
A disagreement over creative and a “short-shaming” tweet from John Morrison put events in motion that led to Aries, who is billed as 5-foot-10, 202 pounds, not re-signing with Impact. Aries also took criticism for quickly getting up and exiting the ring after taking Morrison’s finisher to end their match at last year’s Bound for Glory. He’s since defended it by saying it was a not no-sell because he was pinned clean without a hint of kicking out.
“When communications starts breaking down sometimes it’s better to move on,” he said.
It led him in February to MLW, the growing New Rochelle-based company run by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The company has a television deal with beIN Sports for “MLW Fusion” and has a roster filled with a mix of young stars such Brian Pillman Jr., Davey Boy Smith Jr., heavyweight champion Jacob Fatu and AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Freidman along, with veterans such as Aries, LA Park and Low Ki. The package was enticing to Aries.
“I think MLW tries to keep the sport foundation of what pro wrestling is in the sport and the athletic competition and they try to present it from that standpoint, which appeals to me,” Aries said. “It fits in with my philosophy and my style of pro wrestling.”
The feud with Hart, that saw Aries continually call out the champion and attack him until he finally gave him a title shot, made sense for him. Aries, a top champion in Ring of Honor twice and Impact three times, said he likes to “collect belts” wherever he goes. He and Hart, the nephew of wrestling legend Bret Hart, have never wrestled before.
“He’ll do anything in the ring,” Aries said. “Some people try to preserve their own safety a little bit when they step through the ropes and Teddy’s not really concerned with his, so obviously it’s not a concern of my safety or well-being either.”
Aries agreed to a short-term deal with MLW starting with a show in his hometown of Wabasha, Wisconsin. He said it allows him to do the things he wants to do outside of wrestling. He is a vocal advocate for a plant-based diet and is a training partner/manager for Bellator MMA fighter Frank Mir, who defeated Roy Nelson by unanimous decision at Bellator 231 at Mohegan Sun this past Friday.
Aries and Mir, who made his pro-wrestling debut at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport in April, plan to sit down and try to assess the landscape and see if there is an opportunity for them as a potential “package deal” in wrestling.
Aries said Mir would have interest in WWE, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and AEW, saying Brock Lesnar versus Mir could be intriguing because of their history in the UFC. A number of current and former MMA fighters have ventured into wrestling, including Ronda Rousey, Cain Velasquez, Shayna Baszler and Matt Riddle.
“[WWE is] gonna go Velasquez [versus Lesnar] beforehand. Maybe that’s a good warm up for Frank,” Aries said. “They’re 1-1, the rubber match in WWE would make a lot of sense.”
Aries has made it a point to watch AEW to see what the company was about. He’s been left impressed.
“I think you see more than anything else a fanbase that’s engaged that wants to be there,” Aries said. “They’re excited to be there and that’s contagious.”
Where Aries wants to be is in the center of the ring holding the MLW middleweight championship, adding another accolade to his career.
“The nice thing is, once you have one of those [belts] around your waist you kind of force them to have to bring you back and use you again,” Aries said. “As long as you have the title, you’ve got work. That’s how I look at it.”