"I stopped doing a lot of the more flashy stuff" - Austin Aries reveals how he came up with his "Greatest Man That Ever Lived" persona (Exclusive)

Austin Aries has revealed how he came up with his "Greatest Man That Ever Lived" persona. During a recent conversation on Sportskeeda Wrestling's UnSKripted, the former WWE star mentioned how it was tough for him to be a heel during the early stages of his professional wrestling career.

Instead, Austin Aries decided to come up with the "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived" persona. He thought to himself that the audience couldn't really cheer for a character known as "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived", as it's the most obnoxious thing one could call themselves.

After adopting this persona, Austin Aries stopped doing the more flashy type of stuff inside the ring, as he realized it was not something a babyface would do.

Hence, Aries decided that if he was going to be a heel, he would rather do something different.

"I was really thinking about changing the character up and going heel and its so hard to be a heel, so I thought well I’m gonna do, I’m gonna really change this character, I’m thinking like nobody can cheer for a guy who calls himself 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived', its the most obnoxious thing you can call yourself.

"So I kind of like just adopt this persona. I stopped doing a lot of the more flashy stuff that they knew I could do when I figured that was not the babyface’s job to do and I played a little more of chicken s**t type of heel and just to try and change the character, because before that I was the ‘wrestling machine’ and the ‘work read guy’. So I thought, if I’m gonna go heel let’s dial it back and do something different."

Austin Aries has worked for several major promotions

Austin Aries is a former WWE Superstar who worked for WWE NXT on the 205 Live brand for the company. The former IMPACT Wrestling World Champion is mostly popular for his run with IMPACT/TNA but has also established his place as a top star on the independent circuit.

After his release from WWE, Austin Aries primarily worked for Major League Wrestling in 2018. He has also worked for international promotions in the past, including World Series Wrestling in Australia.