Austin Aries On TNA's Ongoing Problems, If He Will Be In WWE's Cruiserweight Tournament, Dream Match
NXT's Austin Aries was recently interviewed by ChicagolandSportsRadio.com's Fightclub Chicago. Aries discussed whether he will take part in WWE's Global Cruiserweight Series, who he would like as a dream opponent, and TNA's ongoing struggles.
During the interview, Aries said that he will not participate in WWE's cruiserweight tournament, as it is meant to showcase up and coming talent.
"As far as I know, I will not be a part of that. I think that they're using this tournament as an opportunity to kind of introduce maybe some more unknown talents to fans. I think the thought might be with where I'm at in my career that, not that I wouldn't love to be a part of it, it is probably with the mindset behind it is that there are probably a lot of other guys that would benefit from that exposure." Aries continued, "I think the idea is that whether it's guys from within the system that maybe, again, haven't been showcased or some guys that are from outside the system that have a chance to make an impression. These are all guys that I should be looking at because they are guys I could be in the ring with down the road."
With respect to who he would like to face as a dream opponent, Aries named the likes of Eddie Guerrero and even Vince McMahon before admitted that picking a dream opponent is too difficult. Instead of naming his number one dream opponent, Aries said that all he is sure about is wanting Bobby Heenan as his manager.
"No matter who the dream match is because there [are] probably 100 of them on the list, I want Bobby Heenan as my manager. As long as I can get Bobby Heenan in my corner, then I'm a happy man because, to me, Bobby Heenan is one of the most underrated performers of all time. He's in my top five of all time performers because I don't think people realize just how good he was."
As for TNA's continuing issues, the TNA Triple Crown Champion stated that he is too far removed from the company to fairly comment before insinuating that the company's issues stem from problems with ownership. Aries compared professional wrestling promotions to professional sports teams insofar as winning teams rarely have bad owners.
"It always goes back to the ownership group. At the end of the day, you can change coaches and managers and players, but if there's something intrinsic, something wrong, then you have to look at what the common denominator is, and, usually, you've got to look at the ownership because everything runs from there." Aries added, "all I can say is I hope they continue to remain a viable company where guys and girls can make a living and make money. The [professional] wrestling industry needs healthy, successful products and the more the better because that's just more opportunities and jobs for the men and women who enjoy [doing] professional wrestling for a living."
Check out the interview here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit ChicagolandSportsRadio.com with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chicagoland Sports Radio