Early yesterday afternoon, July 7, 2017, Austin Aries of WWE was released from his contract with WWE, to the shock of millions of wrestling fans worldwide.
Austin played an integral part in WWE’s newly formed cruiserweight division and was formerly apart of WWE NXT, the WWE’s “farm system” for their main roster. Austin recently finished a 4-month feud with Cruiserweight Champion Neville and had his first WrestleMania match of his career this year at WrestleMania 33 where he and Neville stole the show, even though they were on the free to watch pre-show that aired on the USA Network.
Austin has world class talent and is a “law abiding citizen” in the wrestling world so one would have to speculate that he requested his release from the wrestling titan that is WWE. He was being pigeonholed in the cruiserweight division and his talent was not being fully shown during his time in WWE.
With Austin’s release going into effect immediately, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to think we won’t see him for a little while. Aries, 39, has gone through the grueling WWE schedule for over a year and as he puts it “doesn’t believe anyone is 100 percent.” With Aries being on the older side of this business going away from the WWE probably added a few extra years to what is left of his career as his body won’t have to endure 300 days of wrestling and travel.
Look for the now free agent Aries to land in his former promotion Ring of Honor Wrestling, where he was the first ever 2-time ROH World Campion as well as a ROH Tag Team Champion. Also, don’t be shocked if Aries finds a home in Global Force Wrestling, formerly Impact, granted that company is having its ups and downs the schedule is very conducive to Aries. He would work primarily out of Orlando, he already has a working relationship with the company, and the new management of the company may be able to offer him something the old management couldn’t.
Whichever way Austin decides to go post WWE this will allow Aries to finish his career on a high note and have the freedom to display his world class talent across the globe. With potential dream matches looming on rosters like Global Force Wrestling, Ring of Honor Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, ROH’s partner in business, we wish the best to Austin and cannot wait to see what his future holds.