Austin Aries On Eye Injury Being A Blessing In Disguise, Samoa Joe "Doesn't Fear" Brock Lesnar
Austin Aries spoke with Sports Illustrated's "Extra Mustard" section on a number of wrestling topics. Here are some of the highlights:
His WrestleMania 33 experience:
"WrestleMania is the pinnacle. My music was the very first thing that hit that night, and there was an energy when I walked out there that was unlike anything I've ever walked out in front of. The enormity hit me, and it was a very special moment."
Eye injury he received during match against Shinsuke Nakamura:
"Nakamura didn't kick me that hard, or at least not as hard as he kicked me other times. It just happened to catch me at the right spot, and I didn't protect as I would have liked. We'll just add it to the list of sacrifices that anyone who has done this for a length of time has made, physically, with our bodies. We accept that because we love what we do. In some ways, it may be a blessing in disguise. I don't know where my path would have taken me had that not happened. I do know where it took me after it did ? to go into commentary on 205 Live, then transition onto Raw, which led to my opportunity at WrestleMania and a great series of matches with Neville. If that came out of the broken eye hole, it's a fair trade-off."
Samoa Joe going up against Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship:
"Joe is a man who doesn't fear Brock Lesnar. He has been doing this a long time, and he's been in the ring with legends, main eventers, and Hall of Famers. Joe is a cool cat and a cool customer. I'm sure he's preparing, but I don't think he's sweating it. I think he's looking forward to it as much as I'm looking forward to watching."
Austin Aries also discussed his book, Food Fight. You can read the full interview by clicking here.
Source: Sports Illustrated