It was excellent catching up with my friend, pro-wrestler, and greatest man that ever lived, Austin Aries. He’s one of those guys that makes you go, “Damn. We’ve known each other way longer than I thought!” One of my goals with RPadTV 3000 is to introduce you guys and gals to some cool people and I absolutely did that with this conversation. I love that the podcast had very little to do with pro-wrestling and gave you some insight into the man behind the gimmick.
Some of the topics Austin Aries and I chatted about in RPadTV 3000 episode 10 included:
TNA Wrestling’s Austin Aries has been fined for an on-air incident with announcer Christy Hemme. On the last episode of Impact Wrestling, Hemme announced the wrong tag-team while Aries and partner Bobby Roode were making their way to the ring. A-Double played up his heel persona by getting in Hemme’s face, telling her to announce the correct team, and eventually putting his crotch in her face. TNA president Dixie Carter tweeted that the company “has ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior.” According to TMZ, Aries has been…more
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TNA Wrestling’s Austin Aries has been fined for an on-air incident with announcer Christy Hemme. On the last episode of Impact Wrestling, Hemme announced the wrong tag-team while Aries and partner Bobby Roode were making their way to the ring. A-Double played up his heel persona by getting in Hemme’s face, telling her to announce the correct team, and putting his crotch in her face. TNA president Dixie Carter tweeted that the company “has ZERO tolerance for inappropriate behavior.” According to TMZ, Aries has been slapped with a “severe fine.”
Some of the Internet reactions have been harsh. Some have accused Aries of bullying and sexual harassment. That seems ridiculous to me. Aries is a heel — a pro-wrestler that’s actslike a villain. He’s playing a part. This is, after all, a character that refers to himself as, “The greatest man that has ever lived.” Of course he’s going to get annoyed and act like a dick when the announcer botches his entrance. Hemme’s mistake was insulting, so Austin Aries — the character — insulted her in retribution.
A few people have compared the situation to Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) getting fired from the WWE for choking announcer Justin Roberts with a necktie. Certainly there are similarities, but ultimately both punishments were stupid. That said, I understand WWE’s stance more than I do TNA’s. WWE has been upfront about making its programming “PG.” Danielson crossed a (vague) line and was unemployed for a short time before being rehired by WWE. As far as I know, TNA doesn’t have the self-imposed restrictions that the WWE has.
While Aries’ actions were improved, a crotch to the face isn’t the worse thing wrestling fans have seen. Triple H once simulated necrophilia. Kane covered Jim Ross in gasoline and set him on fire. Paul Bearer was buried alive. From that standpoint, I don’t see what the big deal is here. Some are claiming that Hemme was put in an uncomfortable situation. I would completely agree with that…if Aries and Hemme weren’t characters that were part of a show. While I don’t condone men shoving their crotches in women’s faces, the act made sense for the Austin Aries persona. They’re actors on a stage, not accountants in an office.
Obviously I’m biased. Some of you are aware that I know and like Dan Solwold, the gentleman that portrays Austin Aries. As a friend, I’m supposed to stand by him when he’s wrong. The thing is, I really don’t think he did anything wrong. Of course, I’d love to hear your take on the matter. Do you think that Austin Aries crossed a line? Was the alleged “severe fine” by TNA appropriate? Or do you agree with me and think that it’s ridiculous that an actor is being punished for playing his part? Do you think this is all an elaborate angle that will help TNA, Aries, and Hemme get some mainstream press? Am I part of the angle? Shout it out in the comments section (please), but don’t put your crotch in my face or I will fine you.
Roger Federer won Wimbledon. The Yankees beat the Red Sox. Those were sweet happenings, but not as sweet as Austin Aries winning the TNA World Heavyweight Championship! I’m so thrilled, happy, and proud of Aries for reaching to top of TNA. He has been the best part of the company — both in the ring and on the mic — for a long stretch. It’s fantastic to see his hard work and incredible talent rewarded. He totally deserves it. Now please join me in giving it up to A-Double, the vascular vegetarian, and quite possibly the greatest man that ever lived — Austin Aries!!!
If you haven’t been watching Impact Wrestling — and I know that most of you haven’t — then I urge you to give it a go. Yeah, there’s still a bunch of crap like Ric Flair and Sting embarrassing themselves in their advanced age, the uncertainty of whether Jeff Hardy will wrestle or traffic drugs, every segment with Hulk Hogan, and 84 percent of what Vince Russo comes up with. All that aside, there’s one glorious bright spot in all of TNA Entertainment — Austin Aries.
Obviously I’m biased, but Aries is the best thing — by far — about Impact Wrestling. I’m thrilled that he’s the new X-Division Champion. He absolutely deserves this success and more. He’s putting on great matches and cutting great promos. He’s been consistently great since returning to TNA. While other wrestlers in the company are busy trafficking drugs or getting DUIs, Aries has been providing high-quality entertainment in and out of the ring.
So yeah, I’m watching TNA these days…but only to catch Austin Aries matches and promos. Screw Kurt Angle. A-Double is the one that’s that…damn…good.
My second-favorite indie-wrestler Austin Aries is making his NWA Hollywood debut tonight. To prepare you for this momentous event, he posted an excellent video about his excellent self. Watch it! All the cool kids are doing it.
You know, now that I have all this video gear, I’m going to bug him for another interview. A-Double = traffic!!!
A friend notified me that my IMDB listing has been updated to include my writing credits for SmackDown vs. Raw 2011. Naturally, I went ahead and perused the listing. I was surprised to see that the motion-capture actors were listed. The entry noted that former WWE Superstar Paul London, my friend Austin Aries, and my favorite wrestler Claudio Castagnoli did mo-cap work for the game. This surprised me since I didn’t think that THQ and WWE would want the world to know that indie wrestlers were doing the in-game moves for current WWE talent.
According to IMDB, Aries did the mo-cap work for Evan Bourne, Chris Jericho, and Santino Marella. London portrayed Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston. Castagnoli donned the capture suit for Edge and Jack Swagger.
Last Friday I went to a Ring of Honor show in Los Angeles and caught up with world champion Austin Aries, fresh off his victory over Jushin “Thunder” Liger. Whether you call him the RoH champion, A-Double, the vascular vegetarian, or MV3, there’s no denying that Aries is one of the most talented wrestlers in the world. It was an honor chatting about videogames, karaoke, being vegetarian, being pro-choice, naked Shawn Michaels, women with meat in their mouth, and the writing in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw with Aries. It was also fun goofing off with a friend (ha!). Check out this very special RPad.tv PadCast with the master of the brainbuster and the owner of the most devastating 450 splash in the universe!
