Austin Aries on his WrestleMania experience, eye injury, Brock Lesnar versus Samoa Joe

Austin Aries recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard”. Aries spoke about wrestling topics and also promoted his book, Food Fight: My Plant-Powered Journey From The Bingo Halls To The Big Time. Here are some highlights from the interview:

 


 

His experience at WrestleMania 33:

“WrestleMania is the pinnacle. My music was the very first thing that hit that night, and there was an energy when I walked out there that was unlike anything I’ve ever walked out in front of. The enormity hit me, and it was a very special moment.”

Eye injury he suffered in a match against Shinsuke Nakamura:

“Nakamura didn’t kick me that hard, or at least not as hard as he kicked me other times. It just happened to catch me at the right spot, and I didn’t protect as I would have liked.

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.”

Samoa Joe getting a shot at Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship:

“Joe is a man who doesn’t fear Brock Lesnar. He has been doing this a long time, and he’s been in the ring with legends, main eventers, and Hall of Famers. Joe is a cool cat and a cool customer. I’m sure he’s preparing, but I don’t think he’s sweating it. I think he’s looking forward to it as much as I’m looking forward to watching.”

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