WWE News: How Triple H reacted when Vince McMahon told him to fire former NXT star in 2017

Austin Aries has revealed in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that Triple H was shocked when Vince McMahon asked him to fire the former NXT Superstar in July 2017.

At the time, Aries had just finished a lengthy Cruiserweight Championship rivalry with Neville and he was set to take a month off to deal with some injury problems.

One day after he began his rehabilitation at the Performance Center, he received a phone call from Triple H, who passed on the message that McMahon had decided to release him.

“That was Thursday [start of the rehab] and then Friday I get a call from Hunter just to tell me I’m being released. He said he was really shocked. He was as shocked as I was. It was per Vince.”

Why did Vince McMahon fire Austin Aries?

Two years on from his WWE exit, Austin Aries is still unsure why Vince McMahon decided to release him from his contract, as he had no problems with anybody backstage in the company.

“They just didn’t have anything for me and that was it. I asked him [Triple H] some questions if it was because of some contract things that we were negotiating. I literally was surprised because there were no issues. I hadn’t had any issues with anybody.”

Aries added that he would have happily returned to 205 Live after his injury rehabilitation, but he felt he should have done so as a heel because he had already failed to win the Cruiserweight Championship on three occasions as a babyface.