Impact Wrestling star Austin Aries responded to the TNA joke by Kurt Angle this past week on Raw during a media conference call with WrestlingInc President Raj Giri.
On why people should watch:
Aries first provided a few names that have caught his eye in Impact Wrestling that fans should tune in to watch.
“Obviously Brian Cage has stepped in and it’s hard not to notice that guy, a guy that I’ve been in the ring with now a number of times. If you look at his toolbox, it’s overflowing, so he’s a guy, that with opportunity and time, could make a huge impact. He’s one that stands out. Looking at the X Division, I think of Trevor Lee, a guy who’s in the X Division that can maybe branch out. Ishimori, I’ve enjoyed what he’s done. I haven’t seen a lot of Desmond Xavier yet but I hear good things about him, he was over in Japan, so hopefully when he gets back we get to see what he’s about, There’s guys I’m missing, there’s guys like Sami Callihan, who’s not necessarily a young guy but he’s starting to make some waves and make some noise and people are talking about him. Eli Drake, I still think is a tremendous talent and I still think for him the best is still ahead of him. And there’s people I’m missing, and that just shows right now that there’s a good collection of talent there.”
On Impact creating household names:
Aries gave some insight into how Impact Wrestling for many household names was where they first had success or dipped their feet into the business.
“What people don’t understand is that before a lot of these household names that you’re wearing their t-shirts now and you’re huge fans of, they all started somewhere and they all had to make their names somewhere. Right now, there’s a landscape in Impact where a lot of these guys made their names that opportunities are now opening up for a whole new generation of guys and there’s a lot of talent right there that’s gonna step up and be the next generation of household names that we’re talking about.”
On Angle’s Joke:
Finally, as outlined in the headline, Aries was also asked about Angle joking about TNA hiring on Raw this past week.
“I didn’t think a whole lot of it. I think every wrestling company is hiring, they’ve obviously done quite a bit of hiring themselves over the last six months, I think that’s what wrestling companies do. Someone should probably give them a memo and update them that TNA no longer exists, so their writing team was a little outdated on the joke. But hey, it’s cool, yeah we are hiring. If you come here, we won’t test you, take money out of your pockets for smoking marijuana, there’s a lot of perks to coming here. So it’s all about what you want out of your career and for your life, and we’re trying to provide an alternative. The funny thing is, is that you asking that question is about one of the most talked-about things that happened on that show.”
Check out Aries take on Matt Sydal in a title vs. title match on Impact:
Do you think Aries missed the point, as some people have pointed out on WrestlingInc? Do you agree or disagree with the points he made?
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