BrutalBarrett
Occasional Pre-Show
WWE have to come to terms with the release of Austin Aries.
Gutted is an understatement!
Thoughts?
Gutted is an understatement!
Thoughts?
Austin Aries
- Thread starter BrutalBarrett
- Start date
BrutalBarrett
Occasional Pre-Show
Me too, maybe he was only supposed to have a short stint with the E but still, he was one of the better talents on the roster and definitely could of had a main roster run!
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
I think I remember something about Aries was going to take time off but yeah, this definitely comes out of left field. Aries is a talented guy, but this is hardly a crippling blow to WWE though I won't be at all surprised if some react as if it is, just as they seem to do whenever anyone that's viewed as an internet darling gets released.
OYDK
King Of The Ring
He probably wasn't thinking that he was going to be used as a cruiserweight when he signed and realized he could likely make a lot more money on the indy scene. He got his Wrestlemania match and now he's out.
It sucks, but I'd much rather see him in ROH or somewhere else than have him be completely wasted in WWE's void of irrelevancy that is the CW division.
It sucks, but I'd much rather see him in ROH or somewhere else than have him be completely wasted in WWE's void of irrelevancy that is the CW division.
It's been a strange day today. First the news on Dixie Carter and then Austin Aries leaving.
I really expected him to go over Neville in their last match and now it all makes sense why he didn't. I liked Aries, he was good in the ring and good on commentary as well.
Do we know why he left? Did the WWE cut him or did he ask for his release? If he asked then maybe he didn't like the way he was being booked and figured he could do better elsewhere. If the WWE just decided he wasn't for them, the they are fools. Whole arena's full of fans would disagree with them.
It seems though that he left on good terms to there is always the possibility of him coming back at a later date. We can hope right.
I really expected him to go over Neville in their last match and now it all makes sense why he didn't. I liked Aries, he was good in the ring and good on commentary as well.
Do we know why he left? Did the WWE cut him or did he ask for his release? If he asked then maybe he didn't like the way he was being booked and figured he could do better elsewhere. If the WWE just decided he wasn't for them, the they are fools. Whole arena's full of fans would disagree with them.
It seems though that he left on good terms to there is always the possibility of him coming back at a later date. We can hope right.
Jeff Deliverer of Mail
Money for nothin, chicks for free
AA probably said "Fuck this, I don't want to be in 205 Live for the rest of my career, floundering in the mid card." What a waste of talent, easily could hang with the main roster with his in ring talents, his mic skills and character. It was pretty shitty booking by WWE giving him three title shots but never beating the CW Champion. Now what the hell did they expect him to do? There was a wall of nothing right in front of him.
BrutalBarrett
Occasional Pre-Show
Well he's just tweeting indicating he asked for his release...
"it's a beautiful day"
"it's a beautiful day"
Well if they parted because he asked like I said before, then maybe at some point down the road he can come back.
Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.
Kamehamehaaaaa!!
Aries is just protecting his legacy. Being on the D show doesn't cut it for him. He got his Wrestlemania appearence, like every wrestler dreams of getting. Now he's off to bigger things.
Sai the Uganda Guy
Has-been
Sad to see him go, but hopefully he will return when the CW division gets scrapped... Or, you know, remodeled in HHH's vision and with his say.
I laugh at the idea of Vince letting the reins on that one go though.
I laugh at the idea of Vince letting the reins on that one go though.
Richard Blonoff
Make America Rassle Again
I like Aries, I've been a fan since his second run as ROH champ. Something about a guy wearing pink trunks and calling himself The Greatest Man to Ever Life was just captivating.
I think one of the issues with Aries was that was never going to succeed in WWE. Now the times are changing in Vince's Land of Giants, but there were still so many factors working against him from the start. Obviously his size was one of them. Like I said, we aren't in that era where you have to 6'4 260 just to sniff a win in WWE anymore, but it still helps. He was also brought in at a time when a fair number of other indie darlings were brought in. That meant competition for a spot. Guys like Punk and DBry opened the doors for guys like Rollins and Ambrose to make an impact, and guys like AJ, Shinsuke, and Joe, have shown that WWE is willing to push outside talent, but Aries wasn't exactly a top name like those last three. He certainly had the skill, but to me at least he never felt like he had the same name value as other indie darlings. Probably due to the way TNA never really pulled the trigger with him. Anyway, his age didn't help either. Now I know you can say "But Yaz, AJ, Joe, and a lot of other indie darlings are pushing 40" and that is true but when you combine all those factors it wasn't gonna be easy for him.
We hear rumors that a lot of those indie guys are brought in only to exists in NXT. So far none have been true, but if that had been the plan with Aries I wouldn't have been surprised. He was having a good run until Shin caved in his eye socket, and I think that is where things took a turn. It was around this time that WWE decided to fuck up everything that made the CWC interesting. Putting Aries on commentary and building to his main roster debut was a good idea. I think having him not go over Neville was the final nail though. See, despite Neville having an interesting gimmick at the moment, no one and I mean no one gives a shit about the cruiser weights. How can you? They are just a joke and presented awfully. They had built up Aries to be great, a super established veteran who had seen it all. And he accomplished nothing in the feud. It killed all his momentum.
So I'm not at all surprised he asked to be let go. As sad as it is, the second they threw him into the cruiser weight abyss, he hit his very low ceiling. How many guys are on the cruiser weight roster? Because in a year when Vince decides that those guys who get five minutes on Raw and a show no one watches just aren't getting over, he is going to release them all, save maybe Neville who is going to have the stink of being a cruiser weight on him the rest of his career. So Aries got out while his name still meant something and I don't blame him.
I think one of the issues with Aries was that was never going to succeed in WWE. Now the times are changing in Vince's Land of Giants, but there were still so many factors working against him from the start. Obviously his size was one of them. Like I said, we aren't in that era where you have to 6'4 260 just to sniff a win in WWE anymore, but it still helps. He was also brought in at a time when a fair number of other indie darlings were brought in. That meant competition for a spot. Guys like Punk and DBry opened the doors for guys like Rollins and Ambrose to make an impact, and guys like AJ, Shinsuke, and Joe, have shown that WWE is willing to push outside talent, but Aries wasn't exactly a top name like those last three. He certainly had the skill, but to me at least he never felt like he had the same name value as other indie darlings. Probably due to the way TNA never really pulled the trigger with him. Anyway, his age didn't help either. Now I know you can say "But Yaz, AJ, Joe, and a lot of other indie darlings are pushing 40" and that is true but when you combine all those factors it wasn't gonna be easy for him.
We hear rumors that a lot of those indie guys are brought in only to exists in NXT. So far none have been true, but if that had been the plan with Aries I wouldn't have been surprised. He was having a good run until Shin caved in his eye socket, and I think that is where things took a turn. It was around this time that WWE decided to fuck up everything that made the CWC interesting. Putting Aries on commentary and building to his main roster debut was a good idea. I think having him not go over Neville was the final nail though. See, despite Neville having an interesting gimmick at the moment, no one and I mean no one gives a shit about the cruiser weights. How can you? They are just a joke and presented awfully. They had built up Aries to be great, a super established veteran who had seen it all. And he accomplished nothing in the feud. It killed all his momentum.
So I'm not at all surprised he asked to be let go. As sad as it is, the second they threw him into the cruiser weight abyss, he hit his very low ceiling. How many guys are on the cruiser weight roster? Because in a year when Vince decides that those guys who get five minutes on Raw and a show no one watches just aren't getting over, he is going to release them all, save maybe Neville who is going to have the stink of being a cruiser weight on him the rest of his career. So Aries got out while his name still meant something and I don't blame him.
Damn. He's one of my favorite TNA alumni. He's good on mic and good in ring. He isn't a big star like Nakamura or AJ Styles but he's significant, thanks to his talent. Can't really blame him for asking for release since he and Neville did everything possible for this division. He should've won the title from Neville.
He'll easily be in IMPACT or ROH main event scene if he ever choses to return.
He'll easily be in IMPACT or ROH main event scene if he ever choses to return.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
The problem is he was being pigeonholed and he knew it... the longer he remained on 205, the harder it would be to go back to that main event level in WWE or anywhere else.
You can imagine him being pissed off they didn't give him the belt, but at the same time it's hard to knock Neville as champion... I could see Aries thinking "That IS me...but it isn't..." of Neville's character and push.
The other side of this no one has mentioned is that on the totem of ex TNA talents in WWE, he's pretty much the lowest and that is gonna rankle... Joe is getting a major push, Roode is being groomed for superstardom, AJ is the success story of the last 2 years and even guys like Roderick Strong, Consequences/Xavier Woods and Mike Bennett are getting bigger pushes than him... with new TNA guys inbound like Gunner and Bobby Fish it's hard to see Aries wanting to still be "bottom of the totem"
There is talk of his attitude being poor, and this could feed into that... It reminds me of when Joey Styles did his rant, only instead of "I'm not good enough to call Backlash..." it's "I'm not good enough for SD Live? But Mike Bennett and Consequences Creed are? I carried both their asses" (he didn't)
At the end of the day, AA was always the one most likely to leave early into his run with WWE, either through his own doing or just not "making it". The injury hurt him no doubt, but ultimately he just doesn't "fit in" WWE... he got his Mania moment he got to be in a memorable feud with Neville... even guys like Batista have walked cos they felt they didn't get their due, so AA's got nothing to be ashamed of... go to GFW or Japan and ride that Bullet Club train...
You can imagine him being pissed off they didn't give him the belt, but at the same time it's hard to knock Neville as champion... I could see Aries thinking "That IS me...but it isn't..." of Neville's character and push.
The other side of this no one has mentioned is that on the totem of ex TNA talents in WWE, he's pretty much the lowest and that is gonna rankle... Joe is getting a major push, Roode is being groomed for superstardom, AJ is the success story of the last 2 years and even guys like Roderick Strong, Consequences/Xavier Woods and Mike Bennett are getting bigger pushes than him... with new TNA guys inbound like Gunner and Bobby Fish it's hard to see Aries wanting to still be "bottom of the totem"
There is talk of his attitude being poor, and this could feed into that... It reminds me of when Joey Styles did his rant, only instead of "I'm not good enough to call Backlash..." it's "I'm not good enough for SD Live? But Mike Bennett and Consequences Creed are? I carried both their asses" (he didn't)
At the end of the day, AA was always the one most likely to leave early into his run with WWE, either through his own doing or just not "making it". The injury hurt him no doubt, but ultimately he just doesn't "fit in" WWE... he got his Mania moment he got to be in a memorable feud with Neville... even guys like Batista have walked cos they felt they didn't get their due, so AA's got nothing to be ashamed of... go to GFW or Japan and ride that Bullet Club train...
I think it was the case of aries being aries and when something doesn't go his way, he takes his ball and leaves. He did it in tna twice and did it in roh as well. The guy always believed his own hype and thought he was a bigger star then he actually is.
The problem with aries s that he really doesn't stand out like the other indy guys like finn balor, samoa joe and aj styles. He just blend in. That's what happened during his whole nxt run and I happened during his whole stint on the main roster. If he would have embraced this opportunity in the cruiserweight division instead of fighting it, it probably would have lead to bigger things for him but his ego couldn't take it and he left another place.
The problem with aries s that he really doesn't stand out like the other indy guys like finn balor, samoa joe and aj styles. He just blend in. That's what happened during his whole nxt run and I happened during his whole stint on the main roster. If he would have embraced this opportunity in the cruiserweight division instead of fighting it, it probably would have lead to bigger things for him but his ego couldn't take it and he left another place.
I'm not sure what Aries imagined where he'd be in WWE, he was never getting onto the main-event scene and he had very little chance of being chosen as an IC/US Title contender with the likes of Sami Zayn, The Miz, Dean Ambrose etc. on the roster.
I can understand his frustration, but he's not AJ Styles or Samoa Joe, he just doesn't have the look or the character to get over in WWE.
I can understand his frustration, but he's not AJ Styles or Samoa Joe, he just doesn't have the look or the character to get over in WWE.
Just Do It
Getting Noticed By Management
Didn't expect to wake up to this!? Shame, him and Nevill were doing some really great stuff around Wrestlemania time and it proved he could get over with the WWE audience. Good on him for showing some balls and stating that he wants to progress beyond this 205 Live nonsense.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
If a report via PWTorch is correct, then this may be one of the reasons why he was granted his release. The report mentioned that Aries did feel he had more to offer than 205 Live and wasn't happy just being there. It also brought up his history of bringing a bad attitude backstage, such as he did in TNA and ROH, and brought it with him to WWE.
One thing I hope doesn't happen is Aries developing diarrhea of the mouth the way Alberto Del Rio has. Del Rio goes out of his way to insult WWE despite the fact that Paige still works for them. I don't blame Aries if he's got some hard feelings, he's human after all, but he's also a 40 year old man who should have the maturity to keep certain things to himself so as not to make things difficult for his fiancé, Thea Trinidad, who only signed with WWE a few weeks ago.
I don't blame Aries whatsoever. I like the guy, but he has to do what is best for him. So, if he felt that being stuck on 205 Live with very limited appearances on Raw, wasn't good enough then he has every right to go somewhere that he would be booked properly. I liked his TNA run back when I still watched their show. The whole Option C angle was great and his in-ring work has always been good. After the Neville feud what was he going to do? Be part of a show that nobody cares about? It's better for Aries to get out now instead of continue to be improperly booked for an extended time. He could have gone on to the Intercontinental Championship scene after facing some Raw midcard guys or get moved to Smackdown or even back down to NXT. Very few people watch 205 Live let alone care about it. Aries deserved better, he knows it, and made the right decision. It's a shame really. I don't see this being the first departure due to the idiocy of how the Cruiserweights are handled either.
Aeon Mathix
Has Ascended
It's pretty well known that Aries is a piece of shit backstage. This shouldn't come as too much of a shock. I don't mind it. I could care less about the Cruiserweight Division and that influences a lot with my opinion, but I was also never a fan of Austin Aries. Personal feelings aside, The guy had talent, and was one of the only bright spots in a division that has been relegated to what the Divas division was years ago. AA and Neville made it must see a few months ago and had some great encounters.
A shame for the division, but like Stone Cold once said "you are a gear in the machine, you take the old gear out throw it in a pile of old gears, put a new gear in the machine keeps rolling".
A shame for the division, but like Stone Cold once said "you are a gear in the machine, you take the old gear out throw it in a pile of old gears, put a new gear in the machine keeps rolling".
Exactly. As much as Aries is known to have a shit backstage attitude, I can't fault him for requesting his release here. Where was he going to go with the company? If they put the strap on him and let him go over Neville, it could have been used to push him more against "main roster" opponents and let him build more. Aries can absolutely hang with them in the ring and has the charisma to be a main roster star. But they didn't have him go over for whatever reason so where was he to go? 205 Live is basically the D show so he wasn't going to suddenly jump from unsuccessful challenger on the D show to main roster success. Aries was likely going to head back down the card or realistic best case was him to be featured back on NXT.
He would likely find more success back on the indy scene. He got his Mania match but sometimes there really is that ceiling directly above a performer for a variety of reasons and Aries was hitting it.
This just makes me further question what happened with 205 Live. Aries and Neville were pretty much the only interesting parts of that division.
Aries doesn't seem like the guy who would bad mouth someone for his past underachievements though. As much of an ass he is claimed to be, at least he's a professional ass; which is more than I can say about Alberto.
Wrestlingaholic
Championship Contender
One of the best western wrestlers in the world, but unfortunately lost his way due to several factors: he joined NXT at the wrong time, so whilst he was mostly undefeated, he never got to that top of the card phase since Balor, Joe and Nakamura had that tied up; his introduction of Roderick Strong would surely have led to a classic series between those two, if it wasn't for his eye socket injury, and when he came back, 205 Live was in more need of star power than NXT
Unfortunately, whilst 205 isn't a bad show and has some good wrestlers on it (Jack Gallagher and Mustafa Ali are both highly underrated IMO), it IS the least watched show - mainly due to its positioning I believe. But there's no reason the cruiserweights shouldn't intermingle with the main roster in between cruiser feuds. That's a big error from WWE.
Finally, GFW/TNA seem to be getting their shit together, and is now once again considered a genuine option for even name value wrestlers after a couple of years in the doldrums, so Aries I'm sure will return there for a spell, and maybe even rock up in Lucha Underground of NJPW US. At the end of the day, there are now more serious options than ever for wrestlers once they leave WWE. Aries will have no problem finding a home, and has 'ticked' that WWE box, meaning he will now make more money than ever before too
Unfortunately, whilst 205 isn't a bad show and has some good wrestlers on it (Jack Gallagher and Mustafa Ali are both highly underrated IMO), it IS the least watched show - mainly due to its positioning I believe. But there's no reason the cruiserweights shouldn't intermingle with the main roster in between cruiser feuds. That's a big error from WWE.
Finally, GFW/TNA seem to be getting their shit together, and is now once again considered a genuine option for even name value wrestlers after a couple of years in the doldrums, so Aries I'm sure will return there for a spell, and maybe even rock up in Lucha Underground of NJPW US. At the end of the day, there are now more serious options than ever for wrestlers once they leave WWE. Aries will have no problem finding a home, and has 'ticked' that WWE box, meaning he will now make more money than ever before too
HORRORHOLIC
Pre-Show Stalwart
But not really haha!! He never made the actual show.