TNA Impact Wrestling star Austin Aries recently revealed in an interview with V2 Journal that he thought about retiring from professional wrestling back in 2011:

"I had made the decision (to retire). It was just one of those situations where I didn't feel that I was getting back what I was putting in. I didn't want to be a prisoner to the world of wrestling; I didn't want to be a guy who was trying to hustle every weekend and do a convention. I didn't want to be Randy The Ram in 10, 20 years. I felt at that point of my life I was ok with transitioning into something else, and I'd stopped taking bookings and had nothing on my schedule, and before that really sunk in I got a call from TNA offering me the opportunity to come down there for an X Division qualifying match. and I figured, well why not take one more pay day, that certainly can't hurt!"

He also addressed his previous run in TNA when he was known as Austin Starr:

"Everybody likes to speculate that me and Austin Starr are somehow related. I always say that that guy never had a tattoo. I've watched all of his footage, the guy's mildly entertaining, never really had a whole lot to sink his teeth into, but i certainly enjoyed him in the Kevin Nash Invitational Battle Royale, I'll tell you that much."