Austin Aries Went Through ‘Very Dark’ Time After Being ‘Classified As A Sexual Harasser’

Austin Aries made a decision in the ring with Impact Wrestling that he might take back if given the chance. He pressed his bathing suit area against Christy Hemme seven years ago while he was posing on the turnbuckle. This was a move that negatively affected his public profile.

Aries recently had an opportunity to speak with The Ryback Show about the situation that took place in 2013. This was something that really got to Aries.

He said the most important thing is the crowd’s reaction whether it’s good or bad. Then that negativity started to take its toll on the Greatest Man That Ever Lived.

“After that incident in 2013 — Again, that on-air interaction between me and the ring announcer [Hemme] — I got classified as a sexual harasser. And that, for me, was really difficult. And I — it turned me very dark, and I really leaned into it. ‘If this is what you think of me and who I am, well then, I’ll give you that.’ Because as we know as wrestlers, the most important thing is to listen to the reaction. I don’t care if it’s good or bad, so I leaned into the bad because it was easy. But that slowly started to erode [me] personally; it takes a toll. You start to blur those lines.”

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Austin Aries’ name also came up during the #SpeakingOut movement. He addressed those allegations as well.

It takes a lot for some fans to forget about things, especially something like this. Aries has continued to work against this negativity since that day, but now it seems that he’s gotten a bit better at dealing with it.

Thanks to 411 Mania for the quote