Austin Aries On Why NFL Protests Wouldn't Happen In WWE And Donald Trump's Response
Sports and politics have intersected more than ever over the past few days after President Donald Trump took aim at NBA and NFL players. Trump's comments have inspired widespread protests across multiple sports, but it's a bit harder for WWE superstars to participate. On the latest episode of The Tomorrow Show, Austin Aries discussed the reasons you won't see wrestlers protesting.
Sean Waltman pointed out that wrestlers are usually in the locker room when the national anthem is played prior to an event. Aries pointed to the fact that as opposed to 32 different teams an NFL player can play for, wrestlers don't usually have as many options.
"It's a little different I think, in some ways," Aries said. "I think my point is that in the NFL right now, if you take a stand and if your owner doesn't like it, you've got 30 other teams you can go play for. And your performance and how good you are would base, it should unless your Colin Kaepernick, if you have a spot or not. In our situation it's a little different because you don't have those luxuries, so more guys might toe the line there for fear of not having a job."
Aries believes that there should be more unity across the entire country, not just sports, when it comes to these protests.
"It'd be nice if we did [protest]. It'd be nice across the board because I think people are missing the point of what this is about," he said. "If you're a patriot you should 100 percent, whether you agree or disagree, be for the right for these people to do whatever they want, even if you feel disrespected. When you say they're disrespecting the soldiers, that's off-base [because] these soldiers have gone and put their lives on the line so these guys have the right to do this. When I went over there and visit these soldiers you realize a lot of them don't agree with why they're over there doing this, they don't agree with the reasoning, but they're doing their job so we all have the right to have these choices."
Aries was especially critical of the fact that Trump took aim at sports leagues that predominantly employ black players.
"And Trump has to be a little more self-aware, especially when you look at the sports he's attacking. He's basically telling them, 'Hey you owners, get your slaves back in place and you tell them when they stand and when they kneel and if they don't, you fire them. If they want to make money off of us, then they do what we say. Except for those very fine people in NASCAR.' And NASCAR only has one minority driver full-time, just one black driver."