Austin Aries Talks Controversial Exit From Impact Wrestling
VOC Nation's "In the Room" podcast spoke with Austin Aries to discuss his career as well as his views on wrestling today. Aries talked about the end of kayfabe the magic of wrestling that he wanted to maintain.
"Most of us, our love for wrestling gets traced back to our childhood," Aries stated. "The wrestling I grew up on was the NWA. I grew up watching The Horsemen and Dusty [Rhodes], Tony Schiavone. That for me will always be rassin'. That for me will always be what captivated my attention. Everything changes. When you get in the industry and you start working, you start to view it differently.
"At least for me, you [had to] change your perspective and no longer look at it and approach it like a fan, you [are supposed to] look at it like someone who is behind the curtain. For me, it was never about trying to fool people [into thinking that] what I did was real, but it was about not giving them the satisfaction of winking at them and telling them it was fake. The magic was in making them believe."
He also have his view of the wrestling business. He said that he has already accomplished so much in wrestling and how his perspective on pro wrestling has constantly changed.
"I haven't been disenfranchised," Aries admits. "My perspective on pro wrestling has changed. My perspective on where it slots into my life has changed a little bit. I'm 42. I've done basically everything in my career that I've ever set out to do and more. I'm very content and happy if we close the chapter now with what I've accomplished."
Aries addressed his controversial exit from Impact Wrestling. He talked about how things didn't go the way he wanted and how he always tries to step on the line.
"It was never intended for me, the way I walked out at Bound for Glory, that was not supposed to be the last that you saw me [there]. That was never the intention," Aries stated. "I certainly wouldn't be trying to create a bunch of controversy for no payoff.
"Did it come off exactly as I envisioned in my head before hand? Probably not. Could I have done a couple of things that still would have maybe gotten the point across, without maybe taking on some of the criticism that I've seen? Potentially.
"Tweets I put out, they started that controversy for that whole angle. You're always taking risks. If you don't step on the line enough, people don't care and they don't notice and it didn't happen. You step over the line too much, and especially in this culture they want to cut your head off."