Over the weekend, WWE announced that they have come to terms with Austin Aries in regards to his release from the company. Now this was not some situation where creative had nothing for him, or where he was constantly violating the WWE Wellness Policy. This was simply the case of a guy who wanted more of out his time in WWE, and simply chose to move on for the benefit of his own career and his own sanity. He was able to leave the company on his own terms, and he can leave with a clear conscience knowing that he did right by himself. I am sure that he was tired of wrestling in front of those exhausted and apathetic crowds each week during 205 Live. The worst response a match can get is no response. Remember that! That is the thing with WWE; it is not for everyone. Some people have no problems being told how to do their promos or what their characters should be. Some folks also do not have any issues with going along with any of the goofy stuff that creative comes up with. Austin Aries was not one of those folks! The rumor is that he simply did not want to be pigeonholed into the Cruiserweight Division. Anyone who has followed his career can understand why. It is because he can really do such much more. He has been a world champion in the other 2 major companies here in North America. Both Ring of Honor and TNA/Impact had no problems saying, “This is the man we want to book as our top star”, but for some reason WWE just did not feel the same way. I feel that everyone wants that chance to see if they can make it in WWE. After all, it is the Mecca of professional wrestling to so many. They want to be able to see themselves as action figures, on T-Shirts, have a match at WrestleMania, etc., but some people come to WWE and find out that it isn’t everything they thought it would be, so they move on! It has happened to guys like Colt Cabana and Frankie Kazarian, who had their cup of coffee in WWE, and learned that the grass is not always greener on the other side. A lot of workers are starting to realize that they can make more money taking indie bookings and/or working internationally than working for WWE. More money while working whenever they want wherever they want does not sound like a bad deal at all. Ask guys like Cody Rhodes and Matt Hardy who made tons doing it. Now before you say, “But Matt Hardy is in WWE now”, understand that at this point, he may be there just to solidify his legacy since he has already made his money. Nothing wrong with that at all. While Aries recovers from injury (if there truly is one), I am sure that his phone has not stopped ringing, and that his inbox is flooded with emails offering bookings. When he is ready to wrestle again, you can bet that both ROH and GFW are waiting for him. What I do know is that right now, he is the hottest free agent in the wrestling industry. No, it isn’t John Cena because you can’t be a free agent for a company that employs you because, you know, “brand wars” is fake competition. I applaud Austin Aries, right or wrong, whether his backstage rep for being a jerk is true or not because he left the company on his own terms to pursue something better for himself.
So what do you think? As always, you can hit me up on Twitter @whosantcox or you can catch me on Instagram for my dank memes and gym selfies under the name Ultragoldenant. Have a good one, wrestling fans!
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