Austin Aries gets candid about the state of pro wrestling today.
With a pro wrestling career spanning 25 years, Austin Aries is a first-hand witness to the industry’s natural evolution. As it pertains to today’s wrestling, Aries feels it is more defined by superheroes and video games. These are modern elements rooted in fiction, rather than realism.
Speaking with WrestleZone, Aries elaborated on his take, labeling the present times as the “cosplay” era of professional wrestling
“It’s a bunch of people dressed up in costumes emulating the moves. But they don’t really feel authentic, like they’re professional wrestlers,” Aries said. “That again, just my opinion. I feel like, as we’ve skewed more towards superheroes and video games, and we’ve tried to say, ‘Well, pro wrestling is just like that.’ And it’s like, well, no. Pro wrestling to me was always rooted in realism. The foundational base of processing is the man across or the woman across the ring from you is trying to hurt you, disable you, and take your money.’
“So if it’s not rooted in that and there’s not some semblance of realism and authenticity to that, at a certain point for me, it leaves what I consider pro wrestling. It morphs into some other entertainment genre,” he continued. “Which is fine because there’s all different flavors of this, but I grew up watching the Crockett era wrestling. That’s what I gravitated towards. Because, whether or not I subconsciously knew it was real or not real, there was an authenticity and there was a suspension of disbelief that had to take place.”
Aries Uses Hall of Famer Arn Anderson As A ‘Litmus Test’
When putting together matches or angles, Aries approaches them by trying to think like WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson, who is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers of all time. He also remains a standout performer from the Jim Crockett era. From Aries’ point of view, there is personally no wrestler that is more “no nonsense” than Anderson.
“If Arn Anderson wouldn’t do it, then you’re going to have a hard time convincing me I should do it. I’m not trying to be the old man yelling at clouds,” he said. “It’s great to push the envelope. It’s great to expand. But when we stop allowing the fans to suspend their disbelief, to me, it shifts into a different entertainment form.
“This isn’t supposed to be like the movies. This isn’t supposed to be like video games. It’s not supposed to be like superheroes. Pro wrestling is supposed to feel real. And I think right now we’ve got a lot of motion without a lot of emotion attached to it. I think if we focus more on the emotion of what the motion is trying to convey, I know it works because it’s what I still do. It’s how my matches still stand out on the shows that I do. Its authenticity. Making it feel like it’s a fight, like it’s real, like this person’s trying to beat me up and take my money.”
Aries Encourages Up-And-Comers To Experience Real Physicality
To emphasize the realism aspect of pro wrestling, Aries revealed that he often recommends that up-and-coming performers dabble into legitimate physical competition, such as amateur wrestling, boxing, and jiu-jitsu. Through this, Aries says they can experience the sensations of real grappling, then apply them to their pro wrestling work.
“I always encourage people, ‘If you’ve never done that, go grapple for real. Go do some catches. Go shoot wrestle.’ Not to hurt your friends or your training mates, but so you feel what it feels like when someone really tries to shoot a double leg on you,” he said. “When someone really tries to crank on your neck, put you in a real arm bar, so that you can now actually be good at something you’ve never actually done.”
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