Former WSU Athlete Dan Solwold Living A Dream On Pro Wrestling Circuit

By: Matt Geiger / Winona Daily News
July 5, 2006


Dan Solwold is a lucky man.

Not everyone gets to live out their dream. And every day is a reminder to Solwold that no dream is worth giving up on.

After failed attempts in baseball and music and spending time on odd jobs like bartending, Solwold finally found his niche.

A former Winona State University student and a native of Waukesha, Wis., Solwold is known around the world to professional wrestling fans as Austin Aries.

“I don’t wake up every day hating my job. For a lot of people, it’s a struggle just to make it,” Solwold said. “For me, wrestling is a chance to do something I love and that allows me to provide for myself with a comfortable living.”

Solwold has been a fan of professional wrestling as long as he can remember. Still, a career in the business never seemed attainable.

He took the path he thought he should following high school, deciding to attend WSU.

Solwold competed for several years in baseball and football and for one year in wrestling. He made the Winona State University baseball team as a freshman in 1997.

“I was a (5-foot-8) left-handed pitcher who threw in the mid-80s at best,” Solwold said. “I was just excited to be playing ball.”

Things changed, however. Solwold quit the team before the season started, never throwing a pitch for the Warriors.

“It was a lot of stuff really,” Solwold said. “It was my first time away from home and I got caught up in the party scene.

“Plus, when you get to that level, it takes a lot more commitment and time. Being a realist and knowing that this wasn’t going to parlay into anything more than it really was, I just moved on.”

Solwold stayed at WSU three more years, switching majors twice until finally deciding that, like baseball, college just wasn’t for him.

“Winona can be a good place to learn, if that’s what you want to do,” Solwold said. “I went there because it seemed like the next logical step. Unfortunately, I got caught up in the bars and the downtown scene.”

Time spent in the bars wasn’t all wasted. Solwold turned his experience with beverages into a year-long bartending job at the American Legion.

“It was a fun job,” he said. “It was a different dynamic — me with all my piercings and my shaved head and all these old people. But by the end they all liked me and I ended up meeting some pretty nice people.”

It was meeting the right people that ended up helping push Solwold’s wrestling career forward.

He knew plenty about the sport, spending as much time as possible studying wrestling.

“When I was 4 years old, the (American Wrestling Association) came on and it grabbed my attention,” Solwold said. “From that point on I was a fan. I knew all the names, all the moves, all the promotions and I read all the magazines.”

Wrestling, though, never seemed like a realistic option. He had no idea where to start.

That changed in July 2000, when a friend called and told him about a wrestling school in Minneapolis.

“It never dawned on me that I could get into the business,” Solwold said. “When the opportunity opened up, I jumped on it.”

Moving to Minneapolis with $500 to his name, Solwold worked out a deal with head trainers Eddie Sharkey and Terry Fox that would allow him to pay off the $3,000 training fee over time.

“I was fresh out of college and didn’t have a lot of money,” Solwold said. “They were generous enough to let me pay a small down payment and then pay $25 here, $50 there.”

Solwold also was lucky enough to have a support system of family and friends who even now help him stick with his career through hard times.

“My mom knew how much of a wrestling fan I was growing up, and she has been supportive,” Solwold said. “She just wants me to be happy. If this life was going to keep me on the straight and narrow, she was all for it. Now she’s my No. 1 fan.

“I know other guys in the business whose parents aren’t supportive at all. The last thing you need is someone telling you this isn’t a real job.”

An injury while training allowed Solwold to return to Winona, where he fronted a hard-rock cover band — Zeno’s Revenge — which frequently performed at bars such as Chuckers and Rascals.

Even after the injury healed, Solwold stuck with the band until it broke up around 2003.

“I love music and I love performing,” Solwold said. “But my window of opportunity for wrestling was limited physically and music is something that I could always go back to later.”

Things moved fast after the injury. He made his debut for Midwest Pro Wrestling in November 2000.

Solwold hasn’t looked back.

He has competed in dozens of wrestling promotions throughout North America, including nationally televised TNA Wrestling.

He’s found the most success in Ring of Honor, where he is a former heavyweight champion and currently holds one half of the tag team championship with partner Roderick Strong.

“If you’re into in-ring wrestling, Ring of Honor is the place to see it,” Solwold said. “If you like larger than life stars, a lot of pyro and half-naked women, then ROH is probably not for you. ROH is definitely an alternative.”

Life as a wrestler has also given him the opportunity to travel abroad. He has wrestled in Austria, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom. He heads to Japan for the first time later this month.

“It’s definitely a huge perk,” Solwold said. “I’ve been to a handful of countries and that’s a big plus. It really helps to break the monotony.”

The travel is nice, but there are definite drawbacks to life on the road.

Solwold wrestles on the weekends and trains during the week, so there really is no day off.

Then there are injuries. Wrestlers like Solwold work through bruises, cuts, fractures, concussions and illness on a regular basis.

Time out of the ring that could be used for healing is otherwise taken up with training and travel.

“I have given up a lot of things, and down the road I know that hip or knee replacement surgery are definite possibilities,” Solwold said. “I know I’m always one injury away from my in-ring career being over.”