MLW star Austin Aries offers blunt take on winning ahead of massive title defense: ‘I’ll do whatever it takes’

August 22, 2026 3 Min Read

Austin Aries returned gold around his waist when he dethroned Blue Panther to capture the Major League Wrestling Openweight Championship at the company’s Lucha Apocalypto event, which was co-hosted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) earlier this year.

Aries told OutKick in a recent interview that he believes he’s still performing at a high level and the title reign has helped him come to a realization that, yes, taking a shortcut can lead to success.

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Austin Aries is the Major League Wrestling openweight champion (MLW)

“Even at this stage in my career, I still think that I’m performing at a level that very few men can reach,” Aries said. “But I think the one thing that works in my advantage is I’ve proven over my career I’ll do whatever it takes to win. And if that means taking a little shortcut or a little misdirection or a thumb in the eye, so be it, because that’s what I’ve realized.

“One of the biggest lies that was sold to me as a kid is that is that bad guys never win. Cheaters never win. What a load of crap that was. If you look around the world, most of the people in positions of wealth and power got there by cheating. Got there by taking advantage of somebody. Got there by being dishonest, right? And so, we tell kids like, ‘Oh, honesty is the best policy and cheaters never win.’ And then you grow up and you realize, ‘Wait a minute, that’s a lie. It’s actually the opposite.’ Right? If you look around the real world, everyone who’s winning is doing it by taking a shortcut.”

With the Openweight Championship, Aries wants to set the bar high.

Austin Aries with his title around his waist

Austin Aries walks out of the back. (MLW)

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He’s done that already with a successful defense against Diego Hill. He’s also continued to showcase his talents in CMLL multiple times.

Saturday night, Aries walks into MLW “Fusion” with another goal – dispatching Místico and Averno in a three-way match with his title on the line. Místico called his shot last week and made a one-on-one match between Aries and Averno into the multi-man extravaganza.

Aries and Místico have some history as does the Lucha grappler with Averno.

“It’s interesting. When you get three men in the mix, right, one-on-one, usually the strategy is pretty straightforward,” he told OutKick. “You can’t have a straightforward strategy when you’re in a three-way. And so, the one thing I do know is that Místico and Averno, there’s no love lost between those two. They’ve got some history with each other.

“So maybe I can leverage that and I can maybe get Averno to work with me a little bit as opposed to against me. But again, I’ve been saying Místico has been ducking me. He wanted to put the challenge out there and, put himself in this match. Let’s do it.”