Austin Aries was one of the best things about WWE's struggling Cruiserweight division but in a new interview with Chris Jericho, he's shed some light on the circumstances leading to his departure. While Aries says he was praised by Vince McMahon for his work on commentary, he admits to feeling frustrated after a series of losses to Neville which severely devalued his standing as a babyface.
Interestingly, he denies that his decision to leave boiled down to not get royalties from the WrestleMania DVD and Blu-ray (which didn't include his Kickoff match with Neville) and revealed that he didn't actually choose to leave WWE; they let him go. "I was told that they have nothing for me creatively," he says, adding that he was rehabbing injuries at the time and knew they had no ideas for him.
Aries noted that he's making good money on the indies and seems content with no longer being in WWE but it's genuinely shocking that the company would choose to release such a talented wrestler in a division which is clearly still struggling to get over with fans. It's possible he could return one day, of course, but whether or not he'd actually be interested in doing so is another matter altogether.