Austin Aries On WWE Signing Being A "Drawn-Out" Process, Doing Commentary Full-Time
Austin Aries was recently a guest on Ring Rust Radio and he talked about the signing process with WWE and about possibly making a full-time transition to commentary.
"The signing process [with WWE] can be a little drawn out obviously," said Aries. "From initial contact and finding if there's interest and having some meetings, where you fit in, what the opportunity is, and then being such a large entity there's a lot of paperwork and stuff involved with background checks. It's a drawn-out process, but it's well worth it obviously because once you get there, it is the pinnacle of what we do."
Aries officially signed with WWE in January 2016. Four years earlier, he had worked with the company's video game partner, 2KSports, to voice the main character Jacob Cass in the Road to WrestleMania mode of WWE '12. Aries made a name for himself working for Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling, before eventually getting the deal done with WWE to work in NXT.
"I have been fortunate to perform for lots of different companies in different promotions all over the place, but at the end of the day, this is the top of the iceberg," Aries explained. "To finally achieve that after my journey was rewarding and created a whole new opportunity for me in front of a larger fan base and people who maybe don't know anything about Austin Aries and here's the opportunity for them to find out."
In October 2016, Aries suffered a large orbital socket injury while working with Shinsuke Nakamura at an NXT live event in Fresno, California. The injury put him on the shelf for the rest of the year and through the first part of this year. While out, WWE gave him the opportunity to provide commentary for cruiserweights on Raw and on 205 Live as well as on Main Event. Commentary is something Aries enjoyed.
"I had a lot of fun doing that and it was a new opportunity for me," said Aries. "I learned a lot and I got to work with some cool people that I would never have had the chance to work with as an in-ring competitor. A lot of respect for what those guys do. There's a lot going on that people don't know about in those headsets while those guys are trying to manage while they are also trying to narrate a story."
When asked if he had any interest in potentially becoming a full-time commentator after his wrestling career, Aries remarked, "I think at a certain point when the time is right, if that opportunity is there for me, it's something I would like to pursue."
You can listen to Austin Aries on Ring Rust Radio in the video embedded above. The complete show is available by clicking here.