WWE News: Former Superstar Says He’s Leaving Twitter To Focus On His Mental Health
Multi-titled veteran wrestler Austin Aries, who briefly competed for WWE as part of its cruiserweight division, announced this week that he will be deactivating his Twitter account due to what he described as mental health concerns.
As quoted by Sportskeeda, Aries took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, where, in a series of posts, he explained to his followers why he will be leaving the social media platform. He started by discussing his motivations for becoming a professional wrestler, saying that he entered the business because of his love of wrestling, as opposed to wanting to build his brand or earning fame and fortune as a celebrity. He then stressed that at this point, he doesn’t want to risk his mental health by exposing himself further to the “negativity” of Twitter.
“As someone who’s struggled with mental health my whole life, I have to be aware when things aren’t serving me, or worse, contributing to my depression. Unfortunately, @Twitter has become that, the negativity too much. So I’ll be stepping away for now. Thanks for following.”
No further details were mentioned, as Aries didn’t mention whether there were any specific events that led to his decision to quit the microblogging platform.
Having started his wrestling career at the start of the century, the 41-year-old Aries was already in his late 30s when he signed with WWE in 2016, following successful stints with companies such as TNA (now Impact Wrestling) and Ring of Honor. While he enjoyed some success in WWE, particularly in the promotion’s cruiserweight division, Aries didn’t last too long under Vince McMahon’s employ, leaving the company in July 2017. This came mere months after he unsuccessfully challenged Neville (now known as PAC in All Elite Wrestling) for the Cruiserweight Championship at WrestleMania 33.
After briefly returning to Impact, Aries signed with Major League Wrestling in 2018 and remains a key part of the independent promotion’s roster. He did, however, describe himself late last year as a “free agent,” also putting AEW mainstay Cody Rhodes over as one man he’d like to face in the ring.
Prior to Aries’ decision to leave the platform, the grappler had gotten into his share of Twitter feuds, including one in November 2019 where he and veteran manager and wrestling personality Jim Cornette got into a heated war of words, as recapped by PWMania. During this exchange, Aries accused Cornette of being the reason behind ROH’s perceived decline in the independent scene, with Cornette firing back by reminding Aries of his perceived reputation as a difficult personality behind the scenes.
