5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (April 18)

3. Austin Aries Responds To WWE Crack By Smoking It

Rusev Wutka II
WWE

Austin Aries is a d*mn good pro wrestler, and his 205 Live commentary stint was a riot for the 205 or so folks watching. Any suggestion that Aries is a rare polymath figure, however, was recently quashed; Austin's attempts to fire back at WWE's "TNA is hiring" jibe proved that the Greatest Man That Ever Lived is Absolutely Sh*te At Public Relations.

He said that the "joke was outdated," which somewhat missed the point in that it no longer matters what moniker Impact Wrestling goes by these days. It is far removed from its position as the #2 promotion in North America. A Japanese pro wrestling company is bigger in North America than Impact. Aries continued on, it should be mentioned, during a media teleconference:

"It's cool, man. We are hiring. If you come here we won't test you, or take money out of your pocket for smoking marijuana."

This was... misjudged.

It's fairly obvious that there is no Wellness Policy in place - just look at Brian Cage - but publicising this as an incentive was moronic, given that WWE's Wellness Policy is the primary reason why the grim spate of wrestling deaths has waned in the last decade. This is a good thing. Bragging to the contrary is an edgelord take of which Aries should be embarrassed.

Perhaps he'll moan about Ronda Rousey stealing focus from the Women's division next.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!