Austin Aries recently returned to House of Hardcore this weekend, and delivered an in-ring promo talking about his recent history including his WWE release, who he wanted to be moving forward and much more.
You can read some transcribed highlights (transcription credit: Bill Pritchard / Wrestlezone.com) and watch the complete House of Hardcore 35 event in the player below:
For seventeen years, I’ve worked my ass off to be considered one of the best to step inside this ring. I’ve worked my ass off to be the best with this microphone in my hand, and I’ve earned that reputation, I’ve also earned another reputation, that’s the reputation of being an asshole. That’s the reputation of being hard to work with, outspoken, or as Jim Cornette would say, a professional malcontent. Or as Vince Russo would like to say, ‘somebody I don’t like to work with.’ See, somewhere along the way I started to embrace that. Hell, I thought if the only thing Jim Cornette and Vince Russo could agree on is that they don’t like Austin Aries, that’s a badge of fucking honor!
But you see I’ve earned that reputation, I have to own up to it. That reputation has followed me, and it followed me to WWE. You see, when I walked in the door there, I was told under no certain terms that they knew about my reputation. They were apprehensive about bringing me in there because of the things that they had heard. I really felt from day one that everything was a test. I passed some of those tests, and I’m man enough to admit that I failed some of those tests.
So the truth behind why Austin Aries was fired isn’t because creative couldn’t find anything for me. How do you not find something creative for Austin fuckin’ Aries? The truth is I got let go because I probably deserved to be. That’s right, they didn’t find anything for me because they didn’t want to find anything for me, because I was fucking miserable.
And I wasn’t miserable — (responds to fan jeering) wait, sir, you don’t have any problems in your life, you’re perfect? You’re perfect right? No, you’re not perfect, I’m not perfect. Raise your hand if you’re perfect in here. You’re all perfect? Well I congratulate you. I’m not perfect, I’ve got problems in my life and something happens, sometimes in certain environments it brings out the worst in you. You guys have to understand something… I’ve got things wrong with me. I battle with things like depression in my life, I battle with things like anxiety, I battle with things like attention deficit disorder, and I ignored them all. But I’m man enough to stand here and say that’s my fault, and that place brought out the worst in me.
Listen, if you can tune out this guy (jeering fan again) right here, I was at Wrestlemania 33. I competed at Wrestlemania 33, and leading up to what should have been the biggest moment in my life, I couldn’t find an ounce of joy. Think about that, you hit the pinnacle of your life, and you have no fucking joy. That’s when I realized there was something wrong with me, and within six months, everything was gone. I lost my job, relationships to people I cared about were tarnished, and I had to come to some real… (responds to fans chanting ‘boring’ at him’)… I’ll tell you what; if you want to shut me up, you’re more than welcome to come in here and try. Bless his heart. As the late Jim Lahey would say, that’s the liquor talking, bud.
So, I had a decision to make, who did I want to be? Did I want to be angry Austin Aries the rest of my life? Did I want to point the finger at everyone else for everything that was going wrong? No, I have to take ownership of who I wanted to be, and luckily I’ve been given the opportunity to do that. You know what, I’m not a heel, I’m a fucking babyface, motherfucker! Yea, I’m a compassionate motherfucker who cares about people, even assholes like you (points at same heckler in the front row). I have heart, I have integrity, I have a moral ethic code that I think you should live by. I have a backbone; that doesn’t make me a heel. That makes me the biggest babyface there is.
I’ve been trying to make it my own way in an industry full of heels walking around in babyface costumes, and that brought out the worst in me. That’s my fault, but it doesn’t have to be any more. I’ve accomplished everything in this industry and more, so I don’t have to come out here and put on a facade. I don’t have to walk around here with a chip on my shoulder. I don’t have to call (the heckler) a drunk prick and challenge you to come in the ring so I can kick that stupid face off. I don’t have to do it. I’ve decided that who I want to be moving forward isn’t ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived.’ I just want to be the greatest man that I can be while I’m alive, and in that, you have to find the truth. Find the hard truth about yourself. Not everybody else, about you.
I recently put up a post on my Instagram account and the quote said ‘The Truth shall set you free, but first it will piss you off.’ Well, Austin Aries has been pissed off long enough, and thanks to House of Hardcore, and thanks to most of you people here tonight, I can finally be free. Thank you, I love you all, even you assholes in the front row. I love you guys.
