Austin Aries was released by WWE in July. There were a lot of rumors circulating about his departure from the company. Some suggested that Aries left WWE on his own terms because he was unhappy. Others suggested that it was not his decision and he was let go. Aries was recently a guest on the Talk is Jericho podcast, where he cleared up the rumors about his departure.
Aries first cleared up that he wasn’t disgruntled because he was left off the Wrestlemania 33 DVD (which was a rumor circulating about why he was unhappy). He says that he was proud of his match with Neville at Wrestlemania and they made it their goal to make the kickoff show must-see.
Aries also revealed that he never asked to be released from WWE:
“I mean, long story short, and I can’t speak to stuff that I’ve read or that people have read because those things were never brought to me personally, so that’s really… I don’t like to deal with speculation. Just plain and simple, I was told that they had nothing for me creatively. I was set to start… I just started rehabbing some nagging injuries on my neck. I’m obviously finishing up the program with Neville, and it left me… they didn’t have anything solid for me creatively, so speaking with the doctors, that it was a good time to give me a little time off, let me rehab, get some strength back. I had lost some size. And I was looking forward to that and then I got a call actually the day after I started doing that and just said that there was nothing for me creatively and that was really it. I was just told they have nothing for me and they’re going to let me go. And I expressed that, obviously, that was unfortunate. I wasn’t completely surprised. I felt maybe from things leading up to it that that maybe the direction we’re going to head, but, hey man, that’s a business decision and the bottom line is I think I appreciate the opportunities that I was given there. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t ask to be released. It never crossed my mind. I never had that conversation with anybody. I was more than happy to spend the time getting healthy and figuring out what they had for me next because, literally, I was happy to do whatever. I’ll go to NXT, put me as a mouthpiece, take me out of 205 [Live]. You can do anything with me. Like, I’m open and I’m at a point in my career where I’ve won championships, I’ve done all these things, and it’s cool, and I realized that I take pride in being a utility guy. Like, could you build Austin Aries to be the world champion? Well, yeah, you could. Right, but if you asked me, ‘would you build Austin Aries to be the world champion?,’ I’d go, ‘well, there [are] probably 10 other guys I’d do first, but could you do it with me? Sure, against the right opponent, with the right story and the right build, I can handle the load. I know, like, I have the talent, but I wouldn’t be the ideal choice and that’s not lost on me. Luckily for me, I can do a lot of things and be a valuable asset that has nothing to do with winning titles or championships or any of that, so that [has] never been an issue. It was a business decision and I respect that.”
Aries also says that he doesn’t worry about the speculation that there was more to the story of his release:
“There could or could not be more to that story and I will never know and it doesn’t really matter because you’re always the last one to find out anything anyway. So to worry about the things I’ve heard, or the speculation, or the things that have been written about me, man, I’m just going to go with the facts.”
Aries also says that WWE allowed him to rehab his injury at the Performance Center during the 90-day period where he was still being paid by WWE after being released.
Let us know what you think in the comment section below. [h/t to Wrestling INC]
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