WWE Superstar Austin Aries Released from Contract

WWE announced Friday it released Austin Aries from his contract after he first joined the company in 2016. 

Aries reacted to the news on Twitter:

"

It's a beautiful day.

— Austin Healy Aries (@AustinAries) July 7, 2017"

"



— Austin Healy Aries (@AustinAries) July 7, 2017"

Aries climbed his way up the cruiserweight division rankings throughout the early stages of 2017, but a title win over Neville—who he was engaged in a long feud with—proved elusive. 

The 39-year-old was also hampered by a broken eye socket that he suffered in 2016 following a kick from  Shinsuke Nakamura during an NXT event. 

"I don’t know where my path would have taken me had that not happened," Aries told Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso. "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."

During an appearance on SiriusXM's Busted Open (h/t WrestleZone.com) last month, Aries disclosed he would likely be taking some time off soon, although he declined to get into specifics.