Austin Aries Released by WWE

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Tom Guycott *willing to... "going to" makes it sound like he wasn't that good and they barely squeezed out any potential they were going to get. There was potential to be more; he could go in the ring, he could do it on the stick, and he could work in the booth. Maybe not enough to carry the entire WWE, but we're back to not building stars and relying on the same people to draw and pretending new stars "just aren't getting over". Seriously, A Double could have at least been a major midcard power. Could have easily been a way to get the Ambrose/Miz feud to end by being in opposition to one (or both) and assuredly ended up with a memorable IC run. Only seeing 205 Live value in him because he happened not to be a couple inches taller is pretty fucking stupid. It's a novel concept, but a dead end for anyone who isn't Neville or pitted against him for the title. "You're small, so you'll never be anything more than flippy floppy guy. We don't like flippy floppy, so you won't be featured barely ever." Actually, I'm starting to wonder if a lot of people should just go back to NXT. Not as a "demotion" or implication that they need more work, but so that they're better utilized and appreciated. And this adds to my belief that WWE just signs guys simply so other organizations don't have them more than they sign guys because they actually see talent and potential. Every day Aries was in WWE was a day he wasn't in TNA or ROH or NJPW or wherever drawing attention to elsewhere.

I agree with some of this, but I will say that most of the main event guys are doing stuff that the cruiserweights do as well. Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins strike me as flippy floppy guys. That's a large part of why many feel the cruiserweights don't really liven up the show. That and they are booked to be geeks.

Aries was clearly put into the division to lend things like his ring skills, mic skills and characterization. He has been the biggest deal opponent for Neville so far. I was surprised they didn't give him the belt at Mania, but they seem to be stretching the Neville thing as long as they can, which is fine, because he's coming out like the one true star of the division.

When they did the shake-up, I could have seen the value in sending Aries to SmackDown and letting him be that one cruiserweight who is outside the division, talking smack on Talking Smack, etc. But when you are 205lbs or under, the Cruiserweight Division is really where you should be. This is why I am against a modern division in the current WWE.

Aries' ego might come into this quite a bit. And he hasn't exactly had an artistically blow-away run. They are jamming a lot of dudes through the door, and they're all getting stuck -- like the diseases Mr. Burns was riddled with in The Simpsons. It's why I'm also against the WWE snapping up every indy talent and saying "Here's another amazing wrestler that has toured the world." At some point that's just your entire mid-card and no one cares about that storied history. Truth be told, I think they did get about as much as they probably needed to out of Aries in that sense. He came in, he actually got to be Austin Aries, he contributed to commentary and he put over their top heel. If Aries is not supposed to be "Mr. 10 Years with the Company" so be it. He did his job well and now both parties can move on.

I do think they snatch up way too much talent, but they also feel very light on stars. I think they really probably do want that monopoly, but they also genuinely hope that something catches real fire. It just gets lost in translation between WWE and NXT, and how crowds are going to accept certain acts, and whether or not they are bulletproof acts or whether 50/50 booking is going to destroy the good will it has built. The WWE will sign a whole bunch of quality guys, but they will use them all the same, so what you end up with is a roster of talented mid-carders.