Austin Aries On If He Went Too Far With Controversial Tweets, Were They In Bounds For Pro Wrestling?
Austin Aries got himself into a bit of trouble this weekend with a controversial tweet aimed at Johnny Impact and his wife Taya Valkyrie. In a since-deleted tweet, Aries used the "R" word and called Valkyrie "husky," which ruffled some feathers.
Aries will be a featured guest this Thursday on our WINCLY podcast. During his appearance he goes in-depth regarding the since-deleted tweets. We have released a preview clip, embedded above, where Aries discusses if he went too far with what he wrote.
"Again, nothing I've done to hyper-promote this match was ever take any shots at this guy's deficiencies, his real deficiencies. I guess that's the society we live in," Aries said. "Everyone gets to decide when the line of outrage is drawn for them and when it's too much.
"'Oh, you can say this, but you can't say that.' I don't know. He took a personal shot and I came back with some truth. Yeah, I said it in a way that got people's attention and maybe someone got offended in the process.
"He took his tweet down, I took my tweet down. Now everyone's feelings can not be hurt and we can go wrestle our match on Sunday."
Aries will defend his Impact World Championship against "John" Johnny Impact this Sunday at Bound For Glory.
Aries took lots of flack on social media for his use of the "R" word even though he argues the context he used it in was correct. He discussed if his comments were in bounds for a storyline in pro wrestling.
"I think if you take the time to read it in the context, it makes sense. It makes a point? Context is everything and right now we don't use it when it comes to these things," stated Aries.
"...There was a lady that was very upset because of her daughter and I used the 'R' word, which in my time growing up was the medical term that was used. Before that 'idiot' was and before that 'imbecile' and 'moron' were all medical and scientific terms, before they were used as insults. The mere use of the word in the context was offensive to her, but I could have went, very nicely, and said something like, 'stupid idiot,' which in it of itself wouldn't be offensive. If it was directed with intent and context, it could be very much offensive.
"So it's not the word, but society needs to look at context."
Johnny Impact will also be featured on this Thursday's episode of the WINCLY, available via the Wrestling Inc Audio Channel on iTunes.