Austin Aries' Flaw

[Playboy Stevie V]

Honestly, the best mic worker right now in TNA isn't A Double, it is Robert Roode. Hands down. The best of any promotion right now is CM Punk. The best ever, Rowdy Roddy Piper.

I know when I watch an A Double segment, it isn't to hear him speak most of the time. It is to watch the man work in the ring. His Greatest Man That Ever Lived gimmick is a pretty good gimmick though, and would fit a light mic work load.

You got that right. He's one of the best in ring generals I've ever seen.

[lewism173]

one man out of the whole company making the crowd shhhhh isint bad it's actually quite a good idea yes crowds are ment to chant but stopping them for 5 mins isint a terrible idea it lets them re charge aswell

[Brendan]

I wasn't sure if I was alone in noticing that and being annoyed by it. There is no doubt that Austin Aries is a babyface because he went from running away from people and sitting in the middle of the ring with Bobby Roode and Bully Ray until they get what they want to not backing down and showing heart. He has has been facing heels a whole lot...

And yes AA is an antihero type babyface, but telling the crowd to be quiet is taking it too far.

[LuckIsForLosers]

This. It turned the crowd into part of the storyline.

Austin Aries, for what it is worth, is still a heel. He just happens to get cheered. He still cheats, he is a trunk grabber. He hits people over the head with Title Belts pretty regularly. Even if the crowd goes nuts for him, he is still, by definition a heel save for the crowd reaction being positive.

My short term memory isn't fantastic so apologies if I'm wrong...but does he? I don't recall him cheating to win once since the crowd cheered him or grabbing trunks. The title belts have usually been in promos, no? I.E. not to win a match. He may have cheated in one Zema Ion match but that was during , in my eyes, the face/heel transition and also in response to Zema always cheating, in an Eddie G kind of way. The fact that he now "fights" and doesn't backdown and the fact that Tenay keeps reminding us this, obviously on instruction, would indicate that the bookers, not only the crowd, want him to be face. Abrasive, arrogant, cocky face , yes, but face nonetheless.

As the guy above said - having the "it was a great day for a great man" vibe is excellent And distinguishes Aries from say Cenas or Sorrensens or Hardys. But shhhing the crowd seems a bit amateur. I could let the "ok, I know my name" slide as it is arrogant and wit and very Aries, but shhhing them in a patronising tone isn't the way to play your part and when he carried on speaking over them it was as if he had a memorised script that he was just reading out. Improvising to engage and involve the audience, dramatic pauses etc is the way to do this. Rock, Piper, Cena and Punk to name a few all do/did. It is that reaction that makes a promo more real.

Dont get me wrong, I'm not "offended"...I merely find it both odd and ill-practice as both an observer and fan. It is something that I pick on because other than that he's flawless

[Lowki]

First of all it is very pleasing to see AA win the world title. He is a top wrestler and very entertaining. However one minor thing that has been bugging me :

Two weeks ago he stopped the fans chanting his name by saying "thank you, I know my name". Last week he did something similar and last night he did the whole "shhhh" thing that heels usually do. Now I don't know if this is to save time. Some may argue it is in line with his arrogant character, though there is a difference between cocky confidence and silencing fans. Some call it good crowd control - but fans are meant to be engaged and most of all be a part of the product. Not prevented from cheering their man. He pretty much violated face rule 101 - when they interrupt your promo with a chant of your name or saying "thank you" etc, you stop, soak it in and appear visibly touched. Not only is shutting them up in bad taste and not good for the face character but it is doing precisely the opposite of what Aries should be doing as a main eventer - preventing fans from being a part of his promo.

This isn't a rant, more annoyance tha a wrestler so close to being the perfect product, so close to being a Punk or Bryan or Jericho, is shooting himself in the foot. Thoughts?

I was under the impression that Austin Aries is supposed to be a heel, or a tweener at the very most. He's always been the type of guy to put himself over everything! By silencing the fans he's effectively saying, "This is my moment, not yours. I am speaking so you sit and listen!" Sushing the fans actually includes the audience, and has the opposite effect to what you think it does. What happens when someone tells you to be quiet? 99% of people will do the complete opposite. I think it was a pretty good move for his character and by actually responding to the audience, he is therefore including them. It shows very good awareness and improvisation by reacting to the crowd though. The Miz, The Rock, John Cena, Punk, JBL, Austin, Jericho are all very good at reacting to something on the spot. If you are supposed to be a heel, but the crowd is heavily behind you, i bet it would be extremely easy to get overwhelmed and lose character.

[Cabers]

The reality of it is that Aries has done this everywhere even when he was a face he had heel tendencies you are just starting to see it now.

[imswm]

I actually LIKE that he's doing these gestures--as it's far better than the whole fraudulent "Who me? I'm so humbled" Hoganesque response of the typical patronizing babyface. It also makes sense considering his gimmick and the relatively short time-frame since he was perceived as a full-blown heel. Plus, it's not like he's coming out and saying "Would you morons shut up?" or anything overtly heelish.

IMO, to be "insulted" by his demeanor is to be too thin-skinned.

One other thing to bear in mind: His future booking may involve defending against a strong babyface, in which case they most certainly wouldn't want him to be an absolute fan favorite going into the feud.

[Dennis]

First of all it is very pleasing to see AA win the world title. He is a top wrestler and very entertaining. However one minor thing that has been bugging me :

Two weeks ago he stopped the fans chanting his name by saying "thank you, I know my name". Last week he did something similar and last night he did the whole "shhhh" thing that heels usually do. Now I don't know if this is to save time. Some may argue it is in line with his arrogant character, though there is a difference between cocky confidence and silencing fans. Some call it good crowd control - but fans are meant to be engaged and most of all be a part of the product. Not prevented from cheering their man. He pretty much violated face rule 101 - when they interrupt your promo with a chant of your name or saying "thank you" etc, you stop, soak it in and appear visibly touched. Not only is shutting them up in bad taste and not good for the face character but it is doing precisely the opposite of what Aries should be doing as a main eventer - preventing fans from being a part of his promo.

This isn't a rant, more annoyance tha a wrestler so close to being the perfect product, so close to being a Punk or Bryan or Jericho, is shooting himself in the foot. Thoughts?

When punk was a tweener (as aries is now) I remember watching a semi memorable shoot promo where he told the fans to shut up... and I watched aries' promo and was kind of glad that he shut them up.. first off it showed that he isn't a true face.. second off the fans were super loud and he wanted to move the show along.

[BadAndy]

Basically he could be an Eddie Guerrero. Lie, cheat, and steal to win but still get the adoration of the audience. I personally love the fact that he makes the audience cater to him rather than the other way around. I like a little attitude in my champions. He is damn good and he likes to show it off.

As far as best on the mic, Roode is fantastic, as is AA and Bully Ray. I feel TNA has some great mic workers but some terrible scripts. These guys make it work with what they have.

[The Brown One]

To answer the OP: You're comparing Aries to others. Aries doesn't have to be like the others to be successful. Hes got his own character, and that's one the reasons people love him. So what if he tells the fans to settle down? Half of them were annoying rednecks who don't shutup when they need to anyway. It's not a negative thing, it's just part of his gimmick, and I enjoy it.