On Friday, the WWE Universe learned of the shocking release of one of the stars of the WWE Cruiserweight division. The company reported that it had released Austin Aries and wished him the best of luck in his future endeavors. The former TNA Impact Wrestling star had played a prominent role within WWE as both a commentator and competitor. The release comes just a few days ahead of the next "Raw" pay-per-view, "Great Balls of Fire."

Here are the latest details regarding Austin Aries' release from the World Wrestling Entertainment company.

WWE announces release

On Friday, WWE released a one-sentence statement on their website informing fans of Austin Aries' release from the company. It was a similar statement to that given when other superstars were released saying that the WWE had come to terms on the release and wished them the best in their future endeavors.

What makes the latest release so shocking is there had been no reported issues between Aries and the company. Aries was not known to be in any hot water backstage, nor had there been any reported Wellness Policy violations or other issues.

Aries even posted a tweet on his Twitter account which simply consisted of a few emojis, leaving fans to wonder exactly what went down.

Did Aries ask for his release?

It's quite possible that Austin Aries requested his own release, which is something other superstars have done in the past. Aries had been a part of the WWE Cruiserweight Championship picture dating back to "WrestleMania 33" where he lost in the title match to Neville. The match was well-received even though it appeared on the "Kickoff Show." The two superstars would compete several more times at pay-per-view events, each time with Aries coming up on the losing end.

Most recently, it was Aries vs. Neville in a Submission match at the "Extreme Rules" PPV.

Aries, real name Daniel Healy Solwold Jr., first started with WWE as part of the NXT brand in 2016. He would defeat Baron Corbin in his debut match at the "NXT TakeOver: Dallas" pay-per-view that year. He suffered a large orbital socket injury during his match with Shinsuke Nakamura in October of last year and was sidelined until earlier this year.

He would work on commentary for "205 Live" and Cruiserweight matches on "Raw," until he was eventually healthy enough to compete in matches for the division.

While Aries had three matches against Neville for the Cruiserweight title, he failed to capture the belt in his attempts. It's always possible that he was unhappy with his booking and asked for his release, or simply has decided to move on from working with WWE professional wrestling. Nonetheless, his talents on the mic and in the ring will be missed by many WWE fans.
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