Austin Aries Discusses His Favorite Opponents, Status Of X-Division, Impact Going Live & More
Austin Aries recently appeared on Just Another Goddamn Rasslin Show with hosts Jed Shaffer and Scott Barry. Here are some highlights:
Who he has enjoyed working with: "I wouldn't say there's one, I mean there's always a handful of guys that you have certain chemistry in the ring with, that I always enjoy getting in the ring with. You talk about Brian Danielson, Samoa Joe, just to name a couple. There are other guys as well I have a good time with: Jimmy Jacobs, even though I usually end up spilling some blood in those encounters. But yeah there's usually a group of guys, upper echelon guys that's always fun to get in the ring with.
His evolving gimmick through the years: "I don't know if my gimmick has changed per se. I think I've evolved as a wrestler; I've evolved as an entertainer and performer as far as my character. It's just different parts of my life; when you're talking about Generation Next days, my demeanor was just very singularly focused on making it myself. We were kind of no nonsense, all business; we were new to the scene and making people take notice. Fast forward now-a-days, I've obviously got 12-years under my belt and I have some accolades, I'm a lot more comfortable in the ring. So, you can see a lot more confidence exuded in my demeanor. I enjoy them all; I just enjoy getting in the ring and having a lot of range."
What he thinks about TNA Impact doing live shows this summer: "I hope it is (a full time move). This period shows that being live makes a big difference, all across the board. It's hard to surprise people if they already know what's going to happen, and I think that element of surprise is something that we can definitely capitalize on and we can get people interested in the product. I think it's a great move; hopefully when the summer's over, they can decide it was a profitable move and continue to push forward. Going live is the first big step and I think (other people have mentioned it and I kind of agree) that eventually the next step is taking the show live on the road; it would be the big leap I think we'd all like to make."
The status of the X-Division and where it's headed: "It's carved its niche in the promotion; historically it has a lot of lineage and importance and hope it continues to have its own segment in the show, focused on the X Division. Obviously, through some injures and departures, the X Division roster has been depleted, so I think there's going to be an attempt to restock coming up here and Destination X could be a place to start that."