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

Major League Wrestling star Austin Aries talks to OutKick about his upcoming openweight title defense and doing what it takes to keep his championship.

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