Dragon Gate USA: Austin Aries Puts It All on the Line for Championship Gold

Austin Aries has faced many difficult challenges during his eleven years as a professional wrestler.

Despite being one of the most popular stars on the independent wrestling scene for the better part of the past five years, success in the mainstream has always eluded “A Double.”

A few weeks back, news broke that Aries auditioned for the upcoming version of WWE Tough Enough but did not make the roster for the rebooted reality project.

This rejection appears to have been the final straw for the self-professed “Greatest Man That Ever Lived.“

The years of hard work that he has put in on the independent scene and the multitude of outstanding matches he has been involved in have not been enough to get him to the promised land.

His only real exposure in the big two was a brief run with Total Nonstop Action wrestling, during the early days of their national television deal with Spike TV, which was riddled with problems.

He is likely most remembered in TNA as Austin Starr, though he did compete there under the Aries name in 2005. After weeks of promos building him up, he debuted as Starr at Bound for Glory in 2006 and won Kevin Nash’s X division gauntlet battle royale. He would go on to join Nash and Alex Shelley’s Paparazzi Productions stable.

By April of 2007, he had encountered his fair share of problems backstage. According to a report from The Wrestling Observer, he was suspended for having a bad attitude after he apparently questioned why he was supposed to tape vignettes on what he thought was his day off.

He asked for and received his release from TNA and returned to the promotion where he built his reputation, Ring of Honor.

Aries is the only competitor in the nine-year history of ROH who has held their World Heavyweight Championship twice.

He ended Samoa Joe’s epic 21-month reign in 2004 and held the title for nearly six months before dropping it to CM Punk, who had recently signed a developmental deal with the WWE. It was one of the most shocking and unexpected title changes in ROH history.

Aries made history in June of 2009 at Manhattan Mayhem III when he defeated Jerry Lynn and Tyler Black in a three-way dance to become the first two-time ROH World Heavyweight Champion.

Throughout his time with ROH, Aries has accomplished all that there is to accomplish with the promotion. Aside from his two reigns as World Heavyweight Champion, he also was a part of what many feel was the greatest tag team title run in the company’s history when he held the titles with Roderick Strong for most of 2006.

Aries had done it all in ROH, which made it somewhat surprising when he was let go by the promotion last October as part of a reported cost-cutting move. Suddenly the man whose name had basically become synonymous with ROH was a free agent.

It was no surprise when Aries was booked to appear in both EVOLVE and Dragon Gate USA, the two upstart promotions run by former ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky.

Both EVOLVE and DGUSA have steadily been climbing the ranks of the independent wrestling scene, becoming two of the most talked about and critically lauded promotions out there over the course of 2010. Bringing in a top-level talent like Aries, who has plenty of history with Sapolsky, seemed like a perfect match.

For the fans, it has been. Aries has gone toe-to-toe with some of the best young talents in the world, including Chuck Taylor, Rich Swann, Masato Yoshino and Akira Tozawa. While Aries has not always come out on the winning side, his performances have proven that the eleven-year veteran has not lost a step.

Though his matches have been very good, Aries seemingly has not been satisfied with his time in the Sapolsky promotions. Perhaps he is being driven by his infamously large ego, or perhaps the years of hard-hitting physical competition has simply taken its toll on him, but Aries appears to have reached his breaking point.

After the reports of his Tough Enough rejection surfaced, Aries took to YouTube and released a couple of videos addressing the rumors that he was retiring and clearing the air about his future in professional wrestling.

Aries simply stated that he does not want to be the mid-card guy who has good matches. He wants to be on top, he wants to be the champion. With that in mind, he issued the biggest challenge of his career.

On April 2 in Atlanta, during the biggest wrestling weekend of the year, Aries will put his career in both DGUSA and EVOLVE on the line when he faces the current man on top in DGUSA, the Open the Freedom Gate Champion, YAMATO.

Aries says that he’s not retiring from wrestling, but he certainly will be putting himself in a tough spot by leaving two of the hottest independent promotions going.

“As far as working that Internet wrestling community style of wrestling, the Dragon Gate USAs and EVOLVEs, well if I’m not leading the way, I’m going to step out of the way,” he boldly stated.

Unfortunately for Aries, YAMATO is no pushover. He won the top prize in DGUSA by ending the 14-month reign of BxB Hulk at the United: NYC Internet pay-per-view in January.

This match against Aries will be YAMATO’s first defense of the title. The aggressive and enigmatic champion will be looking to not only keep his championship but also make a major statement by defeating one of the biggest names in independent wrestling.

YAMATO has an extensive MMA background and previously competed in Pancrase before pursuing professional wrestling. He has held almost every major title with Dragon Gate in Japan and has become one of the most compelling characters in DGUSA.

He also has the backing of Jon Moxley and Shingo, his teammates in the Kamikaze USA stable.

This will not be an easy challenge for Aries. YAMATO is the best wrestler in DGUSA and he has the gold to prove it. Aries knows a thing or two about adversity though, he has been battling it for most of his career. You can bet that win or lose, he will give the champion the fight of his life in Atlanta.

Will “A Double” rise to the top and become a champion once again? If he doesn’t, we may very well have seen the last of “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived.”