This summer, Austin Aries was released from WWE after only a year and a half with the company. Aries made a highly anticipated debut in NXT after spending years in both Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling, winning the World Championship for both promotions. Aries would spend a short time as a babyface before turning heel and feuding with No Way Jose, and later, Hideo Itami. Unfortunately, Aries would suffer an orbital injury during a match with Shinsuke Nakamura at a WWE Live event. This would actually provide him an opportunity to hone his craft as an announcer for 205 Live, which led to his in-ring main roster debut after he was cleared to compete.
On 205 Live, Aries began his first major feud with the champion, Neville. This feud lasted for a number of weeks, even being featured on the pre-show of WrestleMania 33 in Orlando, Florida. Although Aries seemingly had momentum going into the match, he was unable to defeat Neville and never captured the Cruiserweight Championship. In July, it was announced that Aries was released from the company, which was a shock to many.
Aries Reveals Why He Was Released
Aries was a recent guest on the Talk is Jericho podcast to talk about his departure from the WWE. He explained that the decision of him leaving the company was solely made by WWE. This reason was due to the company having no creative direction for him after his feud with Neville. Aries’ doctors suggested that he take a little time off due to a neck injury that left him feeling weaker, as well as causing him to lose size. WWE did allow him to rehab at the Performance Center for months after his release.
Despite reports of being hard to deal with backstage, Aries told Jericho that he was just fine with being a “utility guy” and did not mind being in both NXT or 205 Live. He said that he also did not mind being a mouthpiece and was willing to do whatever the WWE instructed him to do.
The 90-day no compete clause of Aries expired in October, and he is now loading up on independent dates. If his short WWE run was his final time with the company, at least he can say that he was a part of a WrestleMania card once.
[Featured Image by WWE]
