Austin Aries was the guest on this week’s Impact Wrestling media teleconference. He left all of us on the call with a great piece of advice. “The more that we can accentuate the positives, and keep putting that energy out there, I think that’s a plus for everybody.” He continued to add to “champion the things that you love.” Since he left the WWE, A Double has been doing just that. One of those things is professional wrestling.
Today, he finds himself champion all over the world. He is the world champion at Impact, Defiant Wrestling and IPW:UK in the United Kingdom, and World Series Wrestling in Australia. “I say it tongue in cheek, but (I’m) the belt collector, right? I’m going around to all these promotions and trying to collect titles. That, for me, was the opportunity that was appealing to me. I wasn’t coming in with restrictions… it was ‘hey, we like what you’re doing, we like the philosophy of what you’re doing, and we’d like to work together in a mutually beneficial partnership that allows us both to hopefully come out ahead.'”
“I’m really enjoying my life right now. Having the freedoms to go and do those things, it’s funny, for this country especially. We talk about freedom, we talk about independence, which is one of the big things this country was founded on. Somewhere along the way with professional wrestling, if you were an indie wrestler, it had this negative connotation like you’re not quite good enough. You’re not quite in the big leagues. But yet, I would think if you asked anyone who had a nine-to-five job, or who is beholden to The Man, if they could have more independence in their life, they’d surely take it and probably give up a lot of things to have that.”
Since his last run with Impact, The Greatest Man That Ever Lived hasn’t changed much. “I try to be more mindful of how I handle situations. My convictions are my convictions, my philosophies on how you treat people, how you go about business, haven’t really changed.” A straight shooter, sometimes his willingness to share his opinion might not make him the most popular man in the room. “But luckily for me now, I’m in a position where I don’t have to win popularity contests to be successful. I can rely on my skill, my passion, and my philosophies on wrestling.”
Free to be himself and do what he loves, we can expect to see great things coming from Aries. Johnny Impact and Alberto El Patron are both Impact stars that have never faced off against A Double. He still hasn’t had a proper match with Eli Drake either. Now that he isn’t confined by any weight limits, expect Austin Aries to prove why he’s known as The Common Denominator of Greatness.
