WWE News: Austin Aries finally explains why he carried a banana around in WWE

What's the story?

Austin Aries has finally shed some light on the case of the mystery banana, and according to him, it has nothing to do with Reddit. In a recent podcast interview, Aries revealed that the banana he carried whilst in WWE was called upon for reasons that were purely nutritional.

In case you didn't know...

After Aries started showing up on WWE programming with a random banana in his possession, wrestling fans on the Squared Circle sub-Reddit had been quick to speculate that the prop was a subtle nod in their direction.

Weeks earlier, a Redditor had suggested that someone on WWE television should eat a banana to prove that they'd seen said Reddit post. So surely when Aries later did just that, it outed him as a closet Redditor, right?

Going in depth

Wrong. Speaking to Sam Roberts in an appearance on the Tomorrow Show, Aries himself claimed that the banana was simply there to give him "a nice little shot of some natural sugars and potassium." His full quote, courtesy of Uproxx, was as follows:

"I’m just going to say this about the banana. The Hall Of Fame is long, okay? And I saw lots of people dressed to impress that night. Lots of nice suits. Lots of nice dresses. Let me tell you something, about three and a half hours in, I guarantee about 40 percent of that audience wished they had a banana in their pocket instead of a pocket square, because I got famished. I was running low on some energy, and that pocket square wouldn’t do me any good. But I got a nice little shot of some natural sugars and potassium, and then I just used my sleeve to wipe my mouth off. And I didn’t need the pocket square. So sometimes the thing comes in handy in a pinch. You never know."

What's next?

Having negotiated his release from WWE back in early July, Aries will be free to presumably eat as many bananas as he wishes on the independent circuit once his non-compete agreement expires on October 5.

He's also currently selling merch on ProWrestlingTees.com to promote his new nutrition book Food Fight, some of which features, you guessed it, a banana.

Author's take

If you thought Aries' interview snippet sounds tongue-in-cheek on paper, then giving the segment an actual listen will likely only reaffirm your suspicions.

Despite what he says, Aries has proved himself a joker in the past, so it's likely that he's just having a bit more fun with the matter given his recent comments on the podcast. Besides, this is a story about a guy using a banana, of all things, as part of his gimmick. It's hardly the weightiest of news stories, even by pro wrestling's zany standards...