Commentaries  

Austin Says:
February 21, 2006

***HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! Ok, I'm aware it's the middle of February but this is, sadly, my first update of the year so Happy New Year. On to the update...***

***To clear up the reports on my knee injury. I DIDN'T "blow my knee out" during my match against The Naturals at TNA's PPV. I DID, however, suffer a bad ACL sprain to my left knee. It's painful yes, but as long as I don't do anymore damage to it I should be able to work through it. I'm scheduled to wrestle this Thursday in Green Bay, WI, Friday in Hayward, WI, and Saturday for ROH in New Jersey. This will be a good test to see exactly how good/bad my knee holds up.***

***I'm excited to announce my return to England on March 4th and 5th for 1PW. I had a great time my first trip over there and expect the same this time around. I will also be returning at the end of May along with my tag partner, Roderick Strong, to compete in 1PW's tag tournament.***

***With regards to my new TNA look. This was not TNA's idea and it wasn't really my idea either. Let me explain. A couple of months back I received a call from a close friend of mine Dan "Casual" Sexon, who is one half of the semi-retired Dixon-Sexon Connexion. As we caught up on what we've been up to, he noted he had seen me on TNA Impact! He expressed concerns that, despite my talent inside the ring, he was afraid I could get lost in the shuffle amidst all the talented X-divisioners. He then suggested I take a page from his book and repackage myself in a whole new way as to ensure that people would notice me. Now, I've always been about good ole' pure wrestling, but the "Casual One" made some very valid points, and if there was one thing he knew how to do it was turn heads and command attention. So after some thought I decided to take his advice, along with some of his fashion tips, and taking a little here and there from some of the more flamboyant performers of the past, the new "look" was born. Now some people like it and some don't, but people ARE talking about it. Now you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but if that cover is outrageously glitzy, full of glamour and pizzazz, I'd think you would be at least more likely to want to open that book and see what it's really all about. Simply Fantasmic.***

***Finally to address the reports and speculation surrounding TNA and myself.
      On the afternoon before the A.A.O. PPV I was contacted by TNA management and told that because of concerns over the imminent winter storm they wanted all their talent in the NE to come down to Florida that night. I was asked to catch a flight from N.Y. to Orlando at 7:30pm. This put me in a very difficult position because I was on my way to the ROH show in Long Island I was booked to wrestle on that evening. Faced with having to make the choice between canceling last minute on ROH, or going against TNA's wishes, I quickly realized I was between a rock and a hard place. Given all the information presented to me at the time and taking my own personal and financial situations within both companies into account, I made an extremely difficult, and somewhat risky, decision that I was going to honor my commitment to ROH that night, and hopefully fly out in the morning from Philadelphia to Orlando and honor my commitment to TNA as well. Luckily I was able to make it down to Orlando on the one flight that wasn't cancelled. By the time I reached Universal Studios, however, I was 4 hours late. Thankfully, I was in time to still competed on the PPV that night and live up to my commitments to both companies and their fans.
      On Tuesday shortly before my Impact! match against Christopher Daniels, I was informed by TNA management that they would be suspending me for 2 months for my tardiness and not following their request which would have prevented me from being late. Now there's a lot of debate over TNA's decision and if it's fair or not. I personally understand TNA's position on this matter and completely respect the fact that they're entitled to protect their interests as they see fit. And while I was also entitled and within my contractual rights to make the tough decision I did, I fully accept the consequences of my decision.***

Hopefully this will clear up any misinformation, and/ or speculation about this story. My hope is that once my suspension is served this whole situation will be put behind us with no ill will. I look forward to my return to TNA as it gears up for it's huge primetime debut April 13 on Spike TV. In the meantime I will continue to stay busy with my numerous other bookings and prepare myself for my TNA return. Thank you to all my friends and fans who have supported me and the decisions I have made. It has meant a lot knowing that the people I so passionately perform for respect and appreciate the sacrifices I make to do what I love to do. So until next time...***

Safe Travels,
  -Aries