Quotes from Austin Aries

For me, I'm smart enough and have been around the business long enough to know you don't really retire.

Sometimes it can be easy to forget where your roots are or where you came from.

At the end of the day, you can change coaches and managers and players, but if there's something intrinsic, something wrong, then you have to look at what the common denominator is, and, usually, you've got to look at the ownership because everything runs from there.

I've been Austin almost half my life. In almost every public setting, that's why I'm there - to be Austin Aries.

In my opinion nobody owns the patent on the art form of professional wrestling and the way it does its business.

The perception is if you are not 206lbs then you can't be considered main event talent, which is foolish.

Right before I came back to TNA, I had made the decision to just sort of step away from wrestling. Therefore I really walked into TNA holding nothing back and let the chips fall where they fell.

Nobody walks through life as a pure babyface per se or a pure heel, we all have shades of grey, and there's some days we're a little better than others, and some days we're a little more ornery. And I think that I just embody that.

I've always been a big believer in myself and that if you give me an opportunity I am going to make the most of it.

No matter who I am wrestling, as long as Bobby Heenan is my manager, I'll be happy.

I don't have a bucket list.

I have put a lot of energy and focus into capturing the Cruiserweight Championship, but obviously I didn't get the job done.

I don't necessarily get rubs from championships, I'd like to feel the championship gets a rub off of me.

I was a choir boy my whole life.

Chris Jericho is a guy who I grew up really appreciating what he did in the ring.

I love pizza hands down.

I've got plenty of people that would love to be ringside with me.

I was the X-Division champion and competing against guys mostly my size, and I dominated them.

I think I'm a very passionate person who's always strong in my convictions.

I like to think every time I was put in a high pressure position, I've always delivered.

Eveybody likes to speculate that me and Austin Starr are somehow related. I always say that that guy never had a tattoo.

There was a time that I really loved pro wrestling, but I'm not a pro wrestling junkie, per se.

You can have a favorite band, but when they sign with a major label... maybe a new producer says, 'You can't do that, take this down a notch.' And you'll keep listening, but you'll always think their first album was their best album.

Sometimes the best thing to do is to take a step back and get a little bit of a different perspective and re-evaluate things.