MLW announced last week that former Impact Wrestling and WWE star Austin Aries is coming to the company. He will be competing at their upcoming Fury Road event and TV tapings at the Waukesha Expo Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 1.
It was revealed that his opponent will be Australian wrestler Adam Brooks.
Last night Impact Wrestling ended their biggest PPV of the year, Bound For Glory, by crowning a new Impact Wrestling Champion in Johnny Impact. Johnny captured the title by defeating Austin Aries in a match that was the culmination of a controversial and heated feud. Including Aries taking personal shots at Johnny’s wife, Taya Valkyrie, on Twitter.
Almost immediately after being pinned Aries leapt to his feet, stepped out of the ring, yelled a profanity at Don Callis and left while flipping off the crowd. It was a bizarre scene that left many at home, and in the ring, scratching their heads. Was this real? Or part of some outside the box story?
Bryan Alvarez notes in the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live that Aries has, “gone home,” and will not be attending the Impact Wrestling TV tapings today, or tomorrow. Since Impact tapes weeks, sometimes months, in advance this means that Aries will not be included on Impact Wrestling TV for as long as the tapings are set to run.
To the best of Alvarez’s knowledge Aries has not been fired by Impact Wrestling. This led Alvarez to speculate that while aspects of the feud may have been real, Aries and Johnny are likely working together now. With that said, the press conference brawl that the two engaged in before BFG does appear to have gotten, “a little out of control.” Including one of the sponsors being pushed to the ground in the fracas. Apparently, Anthem and the sponsors had issues with how that press conference went down.
Source: WrestlingINC
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Aries’ Impact Wrestling contracted allegedly ended at Bound For Glory.
Producer Petey Williams talked about everything surrounding the incident on the newest episode of Petey’s Wrestling Perspective Podcast that dropped on Monday. During the show, Williams revealed he was the agent for Aries vs. Impact and called everything in the production truck.
In regards to the finish of the match, Williams added: “Austin Aries’ contract is done. That’s all I’ll say. That match was his last match under contract with Impact.” Petey also claims Aries confirmed his contract status during a backstage conversation after the event where the wrestler explained he wouldn’t be at the next set of TV tapings.
For what it’s worth, Pro Wrestling Sheet spoke with multiple sources in the company following the incident who claim the no-sell moment was legit … not scripted.
Aries returned to Impact in early 2018 following his exit from WWE.
Listen to the FULL EPISODE HERE.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Austin Aries is set to defend his title at Slammiversary on this Sunday. Aries will put his Impact World Championship on the line against Moose in front of a sold-out Toronto crowd.
Aries was released from WWE in 2017 after a year-and-a-half with the company. He never picked up a title in WWE, but that soon changed when he hit the independent wrestling scene.
The Belt Collector took part in a media call today where I had the chance to ask about other WWE Superstars who might not be happy and ready to strike out on their own. Aries said at this point there is such a vibrant array of options that it gives someone a world of possibilities outside of Vince McMahon and Company.
“I mean listen, if there’s a number of men and women over there who feel they’re in a position where they’re spinning their wheels,” Aries said. “Or maybe not getting the opportunities they feel they earned that are immensely talented. I’m not gonna name names but I think anyone in that position who wants to better themselves, I think Impact Wrestling provides a platform at least that’s not gonna tie you down and lock you in and give you the opportunities to actually go and prove that.”
While Aries declined providing specifics, he noted that talent have other options if they feel that they’re not being utilized properly.
“They go and do that also independently across the world. So you know it’s a unique opportunity. Listen, there’s a lot — they have a huge roster and there’s a lot of talent on there. There’s only so many spots and so many hours of television. So you know I’m sure there are people who feel like they’re getting left out or they’re not getting the shots that they want, and if they find themselves free and clear, it’s cool. There’s a nice vibrate professional landscape right now for people to go out and apply their craft.”
Source: WrestlingINC
On last night’s episode of Impact on Pop TV, Austin Aries made his return to Impact Wrestling and pinned Eli Drake to become the new Impact World Champion.
Thursday was described by the company as a “new era” for Impact going forward, especially with the title no longer being referred to as the Global Championship.
Now that he’s a free agent, Austin Aries decided it was time to change up his look … by shaving his head and trademark beard!
The former WWE cruiserweight posted a photo of his shaved head and face on Monday night as a promotion for a new shirt over at Pro Wrestling Tees.
As we previously reported, Aries was released from his WWE contract on July 7. There’s no word yet on where the former TNA and ROH world champion will end up next, though he has kept himself busy by promoting his new book, “Food Fight.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
WWE announced that they have released Austin Aries. No other details were made available. Below is their full statement:
“WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Austin Aries. WWE wishes Aries the best in all of his future endeavors”
Aries officially signed with WWE in January of 2016 and debuted on NXT on the March 2nd episode. He suffered a large orbital socket injury at the hands of Shinsuke Nakamura during a NXT live event last October which put him out of action for nearly five months. He re-surfaced on the main roster as a commentator for Cruiserweight matches, before making his main roster debut as a Cruiserweight this past March.
Aries went on to challenge Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 33 in a pre-show match, which Neville won. Aries’ last WWE match was a losing effort against Neville at WWE Extreme Rules on June 4th, 2017. Aries appeared on 205 Live the following week and said that he had been dealing with knee and neck injuries, and has not appeared on WWE television since.
“I’ve got some stuff going on, but just to be fair you could probably say that for a lot of the locker room,” Aries said on Busted Open Radio last month. “It’s kind of part of what we do, I don’t think anyone is ever 100%. So I got a couple things going on and obviously at this point it might be a good time to take a little break which really could consist of two days to just adjust some of those things, try and get my mind and my body right and then come back and figure out what’s gonna be next and what the direction’s gonna be.”
Source: WrestlingINC
Shortly after WWE announced Aries’ release, Aries posted the following tweets:
The rumors of Austin Aries coming to the WWE 205 Live ring are true. WWE aired a promo for his impending debut and Aries said that whether he’s on the mic doing commentary or in the ring, the show will never be the same:
Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Austin Aries has been cleared to wrestle. Aries has been out of action since suffering an orbital fracture in a match with Shinsuke Nakamura at an NXT live event on October 27, 2016.
It was noted that there has been talk of doing an Aries vs. Neville match for the Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania. It is not a done deal, however Aries has been given an increased on-camera role, and his recent post-match interviews could be a way to get a feud between Aries and Neville started.
Below is a photo of Aries after suffering the injury last October:
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE NXT Star Austin Aries (who is recovery from an injury he sustained last month in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura, where he was hit with a devastating super kick, which Aries stated will require permanent titanium plates), has joined the commentary team of Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves for 205 Live. Aries said that that until he is cleared to compete, he will be commentating, then once he is cleared, he will win the WWE Cruiserweight Title.
Austin Aries gave an update about his injury on Twitter. He noted that he would need permanent titanium plates. Aries was injured during his match last month with Shinsuke Nakamura after taking a devastating super kick from the former NXT champion.
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