Update on Austin Aries, Not Taking Time Off?

Not so fast. Wrestling is built on the idea of saying things that aren’t exactly true. Over their careers, wrestlers are taught to mislead people and that can get a bit confusing. At the same time, there are instances where things are simply misunderstood, which leads to some issues as well. It’s the latter in this case.

Yesterday, it was reported that Austin Aries would be taking time off. This was due to an appearance he made on a radio show where he said he needed some time to get his mind and personal life right. Now Aries is clarifying his comments to say that he is in fact not taking time off and that his original statement was misinterpreted. Here are his new comments in an interview with “USA Today”:

“If you look at the full quote and what I said was, Everyone is dealing with various stuff. I don’t think there is anyone in the locker room is 100%. We’re all nicked and banged up to various degrees. Like anything else, you pick and choose the times you need address when it needs to be addressed and some times are better than others. I figure no matter what interview I do, the real good ‘journalists’ are going to find the completely irrelevant quotes that will drum up some controversy and stick it on their page to get some clicks and completely miss the real context of what the interview is about. That’s what we do nowadays and call it ‘journalism.’”

Opinion: I can’t say I’d be complaining if Aries is still around. He’s a top star on “205 Live” and it’s not like they really have the room to spare at the moment. As for his initial comments, when I read them I certainly thought he was taking time away and I’m assuming that’s what was implied. If that’s not what he meant, then it’s a good thing he can make such a quick clarification.