According to breaking news via WWE.com, Austin Aries has officially been released from WWE:
BREAKING: #AustinAries has been released from @WWE. https://t.co/UtlfMojFV2 pic.twitter.com/TGr7lUQjbC
— WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2017
WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstar Austin Aries. WWE wishes Aries the best in all of his future endeavors.
The announcement came seemingly out of nowhere late Friday afternoon. During a radio appearance back in June, Aries discussed potentially taking time away from WWE. Shortly thereafter, the Cruiserweight star and circle cape-enthusiast accused reporters of taking his words out of context and clarified that he would not, in fact, be stepping away anytime soon.
Oops, guess nobody got that one right.
Aries made his surprise NXT debut in January 2016, when he showed up at Full Sail tapings to get murked by Baron Corbin. Aries was sidelined after he suffered a fractured orbital bone during a match against Shinsuke Nakamura — an injury that would end up needing to be surgically repaired.
During his recovery, Aries found a home at the announce table for WWE 205 Live alongside Mauro Ranallo and Corey Graves. This allowed him to eventually reignite his feud with current Cruiserweight Champion Neville on the Tuesday night show.
There’s no word yet on the reasons for Aries’ release. Was the banana budget too high? Did The Muppets refuse to return to WWE until they fired the guy who wouldn’t stop turning them into coats? Maybe it was the unnecessarily tiny capes? Whatever it is, we’ll keep you updated as the story develops.
