Impact Wrestling producer Petey Williams talked about Austin Aries situation on “The Wrestling Perspective” podcast.
Williams Says that Austin Aries’ match at Bound for Glory against Johnny Impact was actually his last contracted match and he’s now a free agent. “Austin Aries’ contract is done,” revealed Williams, who produced the title match between Aries and Impact. “That match was his last match under contract with IMPACT.”
Below is the full podcast and some of the highlights:
On Aries’ backstage behavior:
He’s always very particular about how things go. He’s a great worker. His demeanor [prior to the match] was fine.
On if Aries seemed unhappy about losing the title:
That day? No.
Aries’ contract situation:
Austin Aries’ contract is done. That match was his last match under contract with IMPACT.
The ending:
It is what it is. It’s hard for me to [get pissed off]. I wasn’t pissed because the match turned out great, which was my goal. We didn’t miss any camera shots. I’m just here to have fun, I don’t want to get wrapped up with the drama.
…I’m not going to lose sleep over professional wrestling. That’s how I treat it. I was screaming at the headset, “Don’t shoot that!” The bottom line is, with my history with Austin Aries, I’ve always liked him as a talent and as a person. Do I like to have him around? I have, yeah. He always has been here. He’s a great worker, but the problem is that he’s no longer under contract. He’s not here now. We’ve got to move forward. We’ve got to write some new stuff. Hopefully this just blows over. I understand it’s a hot topic now but our focus isn’t what happened last night.
On if he talked to Austin after the match:
I am a very professional person. I asked him if he was okay, if he was hurt. I said thank you. I talked to Johnny, ask him if he was okay. Told him good match. I talked to Johnny today about a couple things he could’ve tweaked in the match. I did talk to Aries a little bit. I’m not privvy to his contract so I asked what’s next. He said today was his last day under contract and he wasn’t going to be on TV. I left it at that. I got him a ride back to the hotel and haven’t heard from him since.
On if it was disrespectful:
I’m going to dodge this question since I’m not dodging any others. He’s not with the company anymore. It doesn’t matter. We’re just going to move forward.
LATEST NEWS var numposts = 5;var showpostthumbnails = true;var displaymore = false;var displayseparator = true;var showcommentnum = false;var showpostdate = false;var showpostsummary = true;var numchars = 100;