Austin Aries posted the following on the message board of his official website, in regard to the news that TNA have suspended him.
“On the afternoon before the A.A.O. PPV I was contacted by TNA management and told that because of concerns over the imminent winter storm they wanted all their talent in the NE to come down to Florida that night. I was asked to catch a flight from N.Y. to Orlando at 7:30pm. This put me in a very difficult position because I was on my way to the ROH show in Long Island I was booked to wrestle on that evening. Faced with having to make the choice between canceling last minute on ROH, or going against TNA’s wishes, I quickly realized I was between a rock and a hard place. Given all the information presented to me at the time and taking my own personal and financial situations within both companies into account, I made an extremely difficult, and somewhat risky, decision that I was going to honor my commitment to ROH that night, and hopefully fly out in the morning from Philadelphia to Orlando and honor my commitment to TNA as well. Luckily I was able to make it down to Orlando on the one flight that wasn’t cancelled. By the time I reached Universal Studios, however, I was 4 hours late. Thankfully, I was in time to still competed on the PPV that night and live up to my commitments to both companies and their fans.
On Tuesday shortly before my Impact! match against Christopher Daniels, I was informed by TNA management that they would be suspending me for 2 months for my tardiness and not following their request which would have prevented me from being late. Now there’s a lot of debate over TNA’s decision and if it’s fair or not. I personally understand TNA’s position on this matter and completely respect the fact that they’re entitled to protect their interests as they see fit. And while I was also entitled and within my contractual rights to make the tough decision I did, I fully accept the consequences of my decision.
Hopefully this will clear up any misinformation, and/ or speculation about this story. My hope is that once my suspension is served this whole situation will be put behind us with no ill will. I look forward to my return to TNA as it gears up for it’s huge primetime debut April 13 on Spike TV. In the meantime I will continue to stay busy with my numerous other bookings and prepare myself for my TNA return. Thank you to all my friends and fans who have supported me and the decisions I have made. It has meant a lot knowing that the people I so passionately perform for respect and appreciate the sacrifices I make to do what I love to do.”