Austin Aries Discusses CM Punk’s Move to MMA, Not Being Deterred by His Size for WWE, and More

– As previously reported, Austin Aries was recently a guest on Jim Ross’ The Ross Report podcast. Below are some more highlights from his appearance, where Aries discusses possibly being undersized for WWE, his thoughts on CM Punk moving into MMA, and more (transcript via WrestlingInc.com).

Aries on who he wants to wrestle in WWE: “I have some history with some of the guys that are there. It would be fun to revisit some of that whether Sami Zayn, obviously just got called up [to WWE’s main roster]. Me and Samoa Joe have had some real classic battles over the years. I’ve actually never really competed with Finn Bálor, so I think that right now, considering his position in NXT, I think that our skill sets match up and I think he’s a guy who I haven’t wrestled who I think would be fun to get in there with and give the fans some excitement. Chris Jericho is a guy who I grew up really appreciating what he did in the ring. Again, maybe it’s a similar skill set to mine and he’s still going strong, so that’s a guy who would be fun to get in there with who I haven’t had the opportunity to. Seth Rollins when he comes back [from injury]. We did some stuff back in the Ring Of Honor days, but he [has] grown so much as a performer. I’m in a lot different point in my career, so that might be fun to kind of revisit and see what kind of match up that would give us now.”

Aries on being under-sized for WWE: “When I first started training, I guess the fact that I was undersized, it just didn’t register initially. Obviously, I knew I wasn’t huge and there were some bigger guys in the territories at the time, but I guess I never looked at it as a hindrance. I just took it as all different. I had a different skill set because I could do things those other guys couldn’t do, just like they could do certain things I couldn’t do. And to me, that was always the beauty of [professional] wrestling, match one guy’s skill set against another guy’s skill set and [see] how that meshes and how that gives you a different story. And so, I never looked at it as something that would be held against me. Obviously then, fast forward a few years when I had some dark matches with WWE. Basically, I found out in a roundabout way that I wasn’t big enough. And that was really the first time that concept kind of hit me, like, ‘oh wow! Like, I might not be big enough to get certain opportunities’, but it really didn’t deter me.”

Aries on CM Punk’s move to WWE: “I know he [has] been a fan of Mixed Martial Arts for a long, long time. I remember going by his place back in our early Ring Of Honor days just to hang out a couple of times and he had a lot of books on jiu-jitsu and things like that, so I mean, it’s something he [has] always had interest in. And what I do know about Punk is that he always marched to the beat of his own drum and he always likes a challenge and he wants to do things that people say he can’t do, so I think when you put those things together, it probably led him to where he’s at. Obviously, he has an uphill battle. I mean, he’s not getting in the game at a young age. He’s not a particularly high level athlete, but he is a smart guy and if anybody’s going to find a way to succeed, I imagine he will.”

Aries on what’s next for Daniel Bryan: “I’ve known Bryan long enough, and again, we’re not super close outside of the [professional] wrestling world, but I know enough about him that anything he wants to do, he will accomplish and he [has] got such a unique outlook on life that he’s always happy. He doesn’t take things for granted. He doesn’t let the fame and those types of things, that’s not what drives that guy and anything he wants to do in life, he’ll tackle and he’ll be successful. [He is] just a unique person and a great all around guy.”