With Major League Wrestling Fusion running weekly again, Austin Aries has now secured the latest championship of his storied career. A career which he reflected on in a recent interview with SlamWrestling.net:
“You’re not competing against anyone else but yourself at the end of the day, and so the hunger for me is, can I show up every day and be the best version of who I am professionally, but more importantly, personally?”
Over a quarter of a century into his in-ring career (minus 18 months away from action), Aries has enjoyed maintaining the balance between comeptitive hunger and knowing when to take a breath. His first match back in February 2021 came against Alex Hammerstone. Talk about a welcome back party.
“After I watched that match back, I kind of felt like I’m done. I have a certain level I expect out of myself. When I watched that match back, it was like watching the Rolling Stones. They’re kind of going through the the greatest hits, but it ain’t quite the same.”
Aries seriously contemplated walking away from wrestling for good after seeing himself in that match.
“But I had to give myself a little grace to realize that you don’t just necessarily take 18 months off, then step in the ring with a guy like Hammerstone, and you’re just right back to where you were”, he reflected. “But it was a real conversation of ‘do I want to put my body through this again?'”
As he made his decision, he thought about other wrestlers who have been able to extend their careers:
“Blue Panther, [for one]. This guy’s in his 60s and he’s not in there going through the motions. He still put his body on the line, right? I think back to a colleague of mine for a lot of years, Christopher Daniels, who was a little older than us generation after him. [Daniels] was still able to go for a long time at a high level because he took really good care of his body, and I remember watching him religiously taping his ankles and taping his knees and icing his things, and just being a professional. You can look at guys like Chris Jericho. Again, longevity. So, at a time where a lot of my contemporaries are starting to hang it up, or on their farewell tour, I feel like I still have a lot left.”
The examples of older wrestlers still competing at a high level, or those recently retired, is not short. Names like Samoa Joe, Adam Copeland, and Christian Cage stick out. But one other name stuck out to Aries as well:
“AJ Styles, right? [I have] so much respect for him. We’re only going to know one version of AJ Styles because he was able to step away still at such a high level that, if you watch AJ Styles in the last year of his career, or you watch him 10 years before that, it’s not like it’s two different guys in the ring.”
Aries hopes he can be another example of a wrestling veteran still giving it their all over 20 years into their career.
“As long as I’m enjoying it, I can perform at the level that I expect out of myself. Then you know, I still think there’s a lot in front of me.”
Aries decided that he would return to in-ring action, nullifying the possibility of that Hammerstone match to be a one-off. He recognized that it would be a process to get back up to speed. So far, it’s paid off.
Aries has been busy this year especially, taking independent matches throughout the US, Mexico, and Canada. He’s faced off against a number of independent stand-outs and mentioned some that stood out to him:
“in Canada, there’s a guy I wrestled quite a bit, Cam!!ikaze, who’s got a little bit of a Jeff Hardy vibe to him, but just really talented, really connects with the crowd. So it makes it really easy when you have a strong presence on the good guy’s side and the bad guy’s side, right? It makes the story really easy. He’s full time, he pays his bills doing this. He works hard and he’s great at merchandising and again connecting with the kids.”
“Mexico, that the whole CMLL crew is talented .Getting in there with [Mascara] Dorada for the first time. Templario, just all of them. It’s learning a different psychology, a different style that is new to me. So it’s fun to go to environments where you’re kind of a student again, as opposed to the teacher.”
Now, Austin Aries has other wrestlers in his rear-view, chasing his MLW Openweight Championship. He’s welcoming all challengers:
“I think the cool thing about the Open Weight Championship is it’s open to anybody of any size, and I have a history of wrestling guys that have been bigger than me. The Samoa Joes, the Bubba Rays, right? I’ve never actually been a heavyweight. I’ve learned how to be able to compete against guys bigger than me.”
This was the deciding factor in Aries chasing this title and winning it, defeating Blue Panther.
“What appealed to me about the Open Weight Championship over, say, the Middleweight Championship is it allows for those unique matchups. I can wrestle guys that are more my size and do more of that style. Or, we can have that great David versus Goliath matchup. So, if you’re looking for challengers, we’ll look right to the top. Killer Kross. In his mind, because he is the MLW World Heavyweight Champion, he’s the top guy in the company. We’re going to respectfully disagree on that.”
“I believe, because I’m the Openweight Champion and I’m the best wrestler in the company, that I’m the top guy.”
