Austin Aries Showed Up in NXT (SPOILERS)


Photo credit: WWE.com

The commentators always say "Anyone can show up in NXT", and that statement continues to be ever more true. Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion & Ring of Honor World Champion Austin Aries showed up at Friday's NXT tapings. This has been rumored for months now, but has now come to fruition. Along with his World Championship reigns in both TNA & Ring of Honor, Aries is a six-time X Division Champion, one time TNA World Tag Team Champion with Bobby Roode, and a one time ROH Tag Team Champion with Roderick Strong. This makes Aries the second for TNA World Heavyweight Champion to show up in NXT in the last year, the other being Samoa Joe.

Now I'm going to talk about what happened at his debut, but before I do...


You've been warned

Aries was introduced by General Manager William Regal. He walked out as the titantron read Austin Aries, with the same logo on his t-shirt, so he likely got the Samoa Joe-deal where he gets to keep his name. Aries made his way down the ramp, only to get attacked by Baron Corbin. Corbin beats him down and apparently hit the End of Days on the floor. It ended with Aries being attended to by EMTs and trainers (get the z-packs, Amann). It looks like Aries first feud will be against the indy-hater Corbin.

Personally, I'm so glad to see Aries in NXT. He was easily one of sole reasons to keep watching TNA during these last few years, and he's so talented and totally deserves it. I'm a little surprised just because of his age (37, not exactly a youngster), but he'll be a great addition to NXT. And to TNA, after losing not only Aries, but Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Doc Gallows, and Karl Anderson (hell, even Jesse Sorensen) to WWE, you can look on the bright side. At least you got to keep James Storm and got Mike Bennett!...oh boy.

Comments

Worst in the World: The Last Rites Match-TNA Destination X 2007

(Special thanks to an anonymous user for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.) An often discussed aspect of professional wrestling is the backstage politicking of Hulk Hogan. Throughout his career as a major attraction in wrestling, Hogan's philosophy has always been to protect Hulk Hogan...OK, sometimes he'd help Ed Leslie, but most of the time it was to protect Hulk Hogan. Because of that philosophy and Hogan's influence as a top guy, there have been multiple instances where a company's booking and other wrestlers have suffered as a result. Would having Mr. Perfect win the 1990 Royal Rumble made sense and could have elevated a rising star and potentially created a new main event player? Yes, but that would require Hogan to not win, and that doesn't work for Hogan, so he wins the Rumble even though he doesn't need elevating. Would booking Randy Orton to beat Hogan at SummerSlam 20...

Worst in the World: The Gimmick Battle Royal-WrestleMania X-Seven

(Special thanks to Frost for suggesting this match. If you'd like to see a match covered on the Worst in the World, leave a comment down below.) WrestleMania X-Seven. Heavily considered the not just the best WrestleMania, but the greatest wrestling show of all time, WrestleMania X-Seven took place during the hottest period in the WWF's history, and features just about every one of the hottest acts in wrestling at the time. An undercard featuring the likes of Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, William Regal, Kane, and the Big Show. One of the biggest female stars in the history of wrestling in Chyna. A killer TLC match between the Dudley Boyz, the Hardy Boyz, and Edge & Christian. A wild brawl between The Undertaker and Triple H. A massive main event between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. Hell, even the father vs son Street Fight between Vince & Shane McMahon. It's a star-studded affair. However, there's one match that sticks out like...

Worst in the World: Nia Jax's Worst Matches

Click the link here to vote in the poll and help decide the next edition of the Worst in the World. Nia Jax's first run with the WWE can really only be described as hard to watch. Sure, she had a few stand-out matches, most notably (and surprisingly) her match with Ronda Rousey at Money in the Bank, and an underrated gem with Bayley at NXT TakeOver: London, but those were always outshined by her most infamous matches and moments. She's since returned to WWE and, for the most part, seems to have improved a bit, but the reputation she got from her initial run is gonna be hard to shake off. This week, I'll be looking at some of Jax's worst matches. These include just flat-out bad matches, and matches that have become infamous examples of her reckless in-ring work. Match #1: vs Charlotte Flair-April 10th, 2017 Raw The first match we'll be looking at is from the April 10, 2017 episode of Monday Night Raw, when Nia took on Charlotte Flair. The two had been on the losing e...

Worst in the World: Eric Young & Shark Boy vs Generation Me-TNA Destination X 2011

Click the link here to vote in the poll and help decide the next edition of the Worst in the World. Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s, few tag teams made as much noise on the independent scene as the Young Bucks. Really breaking out at a time when WWE made their tag division a borderline afterthought, Matt & Nick Jackson were almost unmatched in terms of elite matches on the indys, most notably in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla & Ring of Honor before joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Bullet Club, becoming mainstays of the group as it reached its peak throughout the mid-2010s. Sure, their style hasn't endeared them to old-school wrestling fans, but you can't deny their impact on wrestling. And with the arrival of All Elite Wrestling in 2019, North American fans would finally get to see the Young Bucks on national television for the first time... However... In what has become somewhat of a footnote in their careers, the Young Bucks had been on a nationally televised wrestlin...

Worst in the World: Carmella vs Asuka: How to Destroy an Aura

Throughout the entire history of the WWE, we've never seen, and probably will never see again, a woman booked as strong as Asuka was to start her run. Coming into WWE in 2015 with over a decade of experience wrestling in her native Japan as Kana, Asuka was immediately treated like a huge deal. Hell, even from the first time we saw her on a WWE broadcast, she was seated in the crowd of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn next to two Hall of Famers in Ric Flair & Sgt. Slaughter. Officially debuting in October 2015, Asuka would go her entire NXT career, nearly two full years, without being pinned or submitted. She was booked so strong, in fact, that instead of dropping the NXT Women's Championship in what would be her last match in NXT at the time to Ember Moon (even after sustaining an injury), an act that is almost always the case for champions leaving NXT for the main roster, Asuka retained and later vacated the title, keeping her streak intact. For a company that is more than willing t...

The Wrestling Section

Vote For the Next Editions of The Worst in the World & The 5 Star Series!

Search This Blog