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Professional wrestling star Austin Aries is going for gold.
Aries will face Blue Panther for the Major League Wrestling (MLW) National Openweight Championship on “MLW Fusion” on Saturday night in one of his biggest matches since returning to the ring.
He told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview that he planned to leave the ring with the title around his waist and that he respected Blue Panther for being able to compete for so long.
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Austin Aries walks to the ring at Major League Wrestling. (MLW)
“I mean, that’s the plan. I mean, listen, talk about longevity, right? I’m 48 years old and I think I’m doing pretty well. I’m still there competing at a high level and then you see Blue Panther. And he’s like (65), and he’s jumping out of the ring,” Aries said. “The respect I have for him, not only what he meant to Lucha Libre throughout his career, but simply as a man to see another man at (65) years old still take risks, continue competing because he loves it.
“So, it’s going to be a little bittersweet to have to take the old guy back and take away his championship. But that’s the nature of the game, right? When you’re the champion, you have a target on your back, everyone wants what you have. And for me, to win the openweight championship and I’m not going to call it the national openweight championship. I’m going to start referring to it as the world openweight championship because I’m world class and I want to take this championship to the whole world once I beat Blue Panther, so “For me, it just solidifies me as one of the pillars of MLW and as long as I have a championship title on my belt, they have to keep hiring me.”
Aries returned to the ring against Paul London at Slaughterhouse last year and was recently in the ring against Trevor Lee to kick off the new season of “MLW Fusion.”
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Major League Wrestling’s Austin Aries meets in the ring. (MLW)
He said returning to the ring was initially a test to see if his body could hold up.
“It’s been great. I went in there to be a color commentator and I felt a little itchy,” he recalled. “They asked me if I was interested in doing the Opera Cup last year. And then, yeah, I stepped in to do the Opera Cup and there were some really big talents, guys like Kushida, Paul London and Místico.
“It was a real test for me to see where I was at physically at this stage of my career. I felt good. I felt like I had a lot left in the tank. I can still perform at the high level that I expect of myself. So I’ve been able to take advantage of that over the last year and have returned as a full-time wrestler with MLW and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Aries has been beaten up in his career and being out of the ring for almost three years may show signs of rust or open the opportunity for a major injury.
But Aries said his competitive mentality was one of the reasons he wanted to try again.
“I’m a competitor. I’m an athlete. And we all realize that, after that, we all have a day where that window closes and can’t be reopened,” he said. “So, I feel very blessed even after 26 years. I don’t have any really bothersome injuries. I’ve been very fortunate in that regard. I’ve certainly had my share of injuries over the years, but I’ve stayed relatively healthy considering the certain style that I wrestle and you don’t take for granted that you’ll always be able to do this, so when the opportunity presents itself, hey, let’s first see if my body responds and if I can continue to perform at a high level.
“And once I knew those things could be achieved, I thought: let’s go full steam ahead, let’s go 100%. I say as long as I enjoy it and as long as someone is willing to pay me, let’s keep doing it.”
Austin Aries enters a Major League Wrestling ring. (MLW)
Why fans should watch MLW
Major League Wrestling is one of many promotions competing for the attention of professional wrestling fans. With top athletes and interesting matches, MLW has been able to capture an audience that is looking for something they might not get from the best companies.
Aries said the fact that MLW is free to viewers is a big factor.
“I think the good thing about MLW is the accessibility,” he told Pak Gazette Digital. “Now we have a few different platforms where you can watch it and it’s free. Nowadays, it’s hard to get good, free content. More and more, it’s a little bit pay to play, so to speak. You can go to the MLW YouTube channel to watch Saturday night, at 6:05 ET, a new episode of ‘Fusion’. We’re on the Veeps streaming service. We’re also still on beIN Sports and now we just announced that we’re on New Japan World.
“And then live events. Fifteen dollar tickets to start. It’s becoming more and more expensive to attend live events in any type of entertainment. So it’s very important to us that our product is accessible to the average family of four.”
Aries also highlighted a star-studded roster that includes wrestlers from Mexico and Japan and the MLW roster that includes Killer Kross, Matt Riddle, Paul Walter Hauser and others, as well as the ability to keep fans interested.
“What I think MLW is doing really well right now is actually presenting pro wrestling in a way that, for me, I can appreciate the art of pro wrestling, but it’s also a good mix. We have relationships with CMLL with the Luchadores, with Stardom and a lot of Japanese talent. We have a great tag team division. We have some familiar faces that you might remember from WWE or other companies,” he said. “We have a lot of new, up-and-coming guys who are trying to make a name for themselves. We have legends like Blue Panther. We have crossovers with guys like Paul Walter Hauser. So, we have something for everyone.
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“If you want a big bell-to-bell pro wrestling match, that’s what Austin Aries does. If you want big guys slapping meat, you’ve got guys like Hammerstone. We’ve got guys mixed in with MMA with Matt Riddle. We’ve got a guy like Killer Kross right now, who’s the world champion. We really have something for everyone and I’d like to think we’re not insulting the intelligence of the viewer. We try to maintain the suspension of disbelief that I think makes professional wrestling great.”
