This came out of nowhere on Friday, but it looks like emerging details are starting to clarify the situation.
According to the Wrestling Observer, Austin Aries had asked for his release from the company, which was granted by WWE on Friday.
The apparent reason for the release appears to be a disagreement from both sides on how Aries should be used within WWE. Aries had been pigeonholed into WWE's cruiserweight division, and he was really directionless after losing a title feud with cruiserweight champion Neville.
Aries, 39, was only in WWE for a little over a year after finally making the jump from rival promotion TNA. He is generally regarded as one of the best in-ring wrestlers in the world.
SlamBuzz's Take
This was going to happen with someone eventually. WWE's "revival" of the cruiserweight division has pretty much been a disaster. The guys in the division aren't really allowed to have the fast-paced, high-flying matches that made the division special in WCW, and WWE has fallen into the same trap that WCW did by pigeonholing guys into that division and not really allowing them to do much else.
It's really amazing that it's happening considering that WWE has seen the success of cruiserweights in the past once they are no longer treated as cruiserweights. Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero all became world champions after generally being misused in WCW.
Considering that WWE has some of the best wrestlers in the world in the cruiserweight division, there is no need for any of this. It wouldn't hurt to keep the division and the title for it, but ditch the purple ropes and generally allow those guys to have more freedom to work with the rest of the roster.
