Austin Aries Released From WWE

Austin Aries will no longer be working for WWE.

This afternoon, WWE.com released this statement regarding the now former WWE Superstar:

"WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Austin Aries. WWE wishes Aries the best in all of his future endeavors"

As of now, no other details are available. It came out earlier this week that Aries was to be replaced by Cedric Alexander for tonight's show at Madison Square Garden. Aries was slated to fight Neville for his Cruiserweight Championship.

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Although Aries hasn't been on WWE television in weeks, this news comes as a surprise. In his time with WWE, Aries has been bogged down by multiple injuries, so fans had grown accustomed to his prolonged absence. During the latest hiatus, Aries was promoting his book "Food Fight" which is based on his vegan lifestyle. The media tour was a generous one as Aries sat down media conglomerates like ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

It took Aries 17 years to earn a WWE contract. Before his opportunity with the wrestling conglomerate, Aries was a champion in both IMPACT Wrestling and Ring of Honor. In his interview with Sports Illustrated, Aries commented on how familiar WWE felt due to so much overlap with today's WWE roster and his Independent journey.

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"A lot of us began in Ring of Honor. There is Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, as well as Bobby Roode, Roddy Strong, and Eric Young in NXT. That's the old adage about the cream rising to the top. It took a little different path to rise, but it's nice to look around the locker room and see a bunch of guys who worked hard and deserve to be where they are. This is a group of guys who are going to keep professional wrestling alive and well."

Aries did get his WrestleMania moment, thought. At the latest installment WrestleMani 33, Aries fought the Cruiserweight Champion, Neville in the show's opening bout.

We'll have more information on Aries' release and what caused it as the hours pass. Stay tuned folks.