WWE News: Austin Aries calls his eye injury a "blessing in disguise"

What’s the story?

In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Austin Aries talked about various wrestling topics. One of the subjects covered was Aries’ injury that left him out of action for a few months.

Aries called the injury a “blessing in disguise” as he didn’t know where the path would have taken him before the injury, but he knows where it took him afterwards. That path included him being a commentator as well as the lengthy feud with Neville.

In case you didn’t know...

While Aries was unable to compete due to the injury, he became a colour commentator on the 205 Live show. He also appeared on Monday Night Raw during Cruiserweight matches.

The heart of the matter

Once he was medically cleared to return to in-ring action, Aries had his first 205 Live feud with Neville in a series of matches for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. That was part of the blessing as he wasn’t sure if he would have had a WrestleMania moment to go with other pay-per-view matches in the feud.

Aries further explained what happened to him during his injury layoff:

We'll just add it to the list of sacrifices that anyone who has done this for a length of time has made, physically, with our bodies. We accept that because we love what we do. In some ways, it may be a blessing in disguise. I don't know where my path would have taken me had that not happened. I do know where it took me after it did – to go into commentary on 205 Live, then transition onto Raw, which led to my opportunity at WrestleMania and a great series of matches with Neville. If that came out of the broken eye hole, it's a fair trade-off."

The commentary of Aries on 205 Live was well-received by the WWE Universe and definitely impressed Vince McMahon as he then put Aries on Monday Night Raw during their Cruiserweight matches. It was a blessing in this sense because now Aries has a great shot at a job in the commentary booth after his wrestling career.

What’s next?

Aries announced on 205 Live that he is dealing with minor knee and neck injuries after his battles with Neville and TJP and is not medically cleared to wrestle. Expect Aries to take a few weeks off (and maybe rejoin Corey Graves and Tom Phillips in the commentary booth) before starting his next feud.

Author’s take

I completely agree with the “blessing in disguise” statement of Aries. He did an amazing job on commentary, and I think he could have a job with the WWE after his wrestling days are over.

I think the great work he put in while injured led to being featured at WrestleMania (though it was on the pre-show). The feud with Neville was very solid, and eventually, he’ll have gold whether it be at 205 Live, Raw, or Smackdown.