Austin Aries is no stranger to the limelight. As a professional wrestler, he's been entertaining (or angering) fans across the globe for two decades. With stints in Impact Wrestling and WWE, and as one of his monikers — “The Belt Collector” — would intimate, Aries is no stranger to success, either. But increasingly, Aries is becoming as well known for his vegan lifestyle as his in-ring prowess. His Instagram feed is filled with pictures of tasty vegan cuisine along with the obligatory workout pictures.

But Aries didn't just show up to the party because veganism is having its mainstream moment. Aries has been beating the drum for veganism for a decade, and for vegetarianism before that. Two of his nicknames include “The Spectacular Vascular Vegetarian” and “The Most Valuable Vascular Vegetarian.” I recently sat down with Aries for a long, entertaining talk about his wrestling, stem cell therapy, and, most importantly, his vegan journey.

Aries was born Daniel Solwold, Jr., in 1978. He grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a small town outside Milwaukee. Since Wisconsin is commonly known as the dairy capital of the United States, saying Aries grew up in a not-so-vegan–friendly environment would be an understatement!

Aries recalls how deeply ingrained animal products are into the Midwest culture. Green Bay Packers fans wear yellow foam cheese hats on their heads. The Milwaukee Brewers baseball games feature sausage races in which individuals dressed as sausage mascots race around the field to entertain fans between innings. The Milwaukee NBA franchise, the Bucks, is named for the male deer Wisconsinites seasonally slaughter and then transport the lifeless ruminants’ corpses their station wagon roofs.

Aries remembered watching his first live wrestling match when he was 4 years old, before the monolith that is now the WWE. Aries said he gravitated more toward the National Wrestling Alliance, the largest and most influential wrestling organization, until the WWE's national expansion in the mid-80s. Aries also recounted how he would rush home to ensure he wouldn’t miss the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling’s weekly show on ESPN at 3:00 p.m. As these regional wrestling promotions were bought out, most of his favorite stars (and mine) would eventually find themselves in the WWE or Ted Turner's WCW by the early 90s. 

Aries played many sports growing up, but he considered baseball his favorite. After a successful high school career as a left-handed pitcher, Aries hoped to continue his baseball career at Winona State University. However, he quickly realized that a professional baseball career was most likely not in his future, so he left the team. Without baseball, Aries didn't see college leading in any direction he wanted to go, so he left and searched for a new course. He packed his stuff up at Winona State University and took a meandering trip out into the world to find a life direction.

While on his road trip of self-discovery, fortuitously, Aries' longtime best friend called to say he'd begun training with Eddie Sharkey to become a professional wrestler. Sharkey taught some of the industry's most popular wrestlers over the last 40 years — Bob Backlund, Nikita Koloff, the Road Warriors, Rick Rude, Rick Steiner, Jesse Ventura, and Sean Waltman, just to name a few. Aries enthusiastically made the three-hour drive to visit his friend. Upon arrival, he saw the ring set up in a garage and a couple of guys wrestling. Aries describes this moment as life-changing. 

"Everyone jokes about the clouds parting, the light shining down, and the choir singing, and this was that moment. It was my epiphany." He thought, "Wow, I can do this!" But he couldn't actually do it because, with $500 to his name, he was $2500 short of the required $3000 for training. Seeing how badly Aries wanted it, Sharkey worked out a payment plan with him so he could finally get in the ring. With that, Aries took up residence on his friend's couch and started training and working matches. It would take four years of wrestling before he was able to quit all his side hustles and make enough money to call himself a professional wrestler. It would take another four years before he would make a comfortable living wrestling — what he described as his “money years.”

Throughout his journey, Aries increasingly met individuals outside his midwestern roots. More than once he was told about the deleterious effects of eating meat. For the first time, he saw slaughterhouses. He realized how far removed these houses of horrors were from the idyllic settings he'd been raised to believe them to be. The seeds that would eventually sprout into veganism had been planted.

All this new information and new life experience, along with his lifelong discomfort with many outdoor “sports,” resulted in Aries’ committing to vegetarianism in 2000, the same year he began his wrestling training — which, it turned out, pertained to his transition to vegetarianism. Aries said, "Eating animals never really set right with me. I wasn't into fishing or hunting." He continued, “Combine that with what I'd been learning about the health effects of meat, and it was easy. There was no big transition; I just went to the store and bought MorningStar Farms." 

A decade later, Aries watched Forks Over Knives, and he realized it was foolish to hold on to the few nonvegan staples (whey protein, cheese) in his diet. He said dairy products were by far the most difficult items to finally eliminate: "My Wisconsin roots were the last thing to fall. Dairy is tough to give up when you're raised in the dairy capital of the world. Those dairy cows don't get slaughtered right away, but their life might be worse. I finally pulled my head out of the sand on that one." Today Aries eats a more whole foods plant-based diet.

Despite their common stereotypes, Aries said he’s had little if any resistance from his fellow wrestlers. He believes this is because he is strong in his beliefs and genuinely willing to listen to people who have a different point of view. In fact, most people who engage him are more curious than combative about veganism. He said, "I've definitely had more curiosity than negativity about the whole thing. And I think that's because the only argument that stands up is ‘I don't care.’ If you know the health, environmental, and animal advantages of veganism and you just don't care, then there is no arguing. I'm not going to try to convince you that you are a terrible person. Still, I'm also not going to let you make a  bunch of antiquated, bullshit arguments. That I won't do. It's not in my nature."

I asked Aries if the success of the documentary The Game Changers had given him any extra ammunition to back up his plant-based points. He said it merely lent credence to all those things he'd been saying for almost 20 years. "People I said this stuff to five years ago were coming back to me and saying, 'Did you see The Game Changers? That’s good stuff!’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, Dude! I told you that like five years ago, but Chris Paul told you about it, so now it's the truth....That’s cool."

Aries told me the question he’s most often asked is, “What was the most difficult part of becoming vegan?” He offered an answer I had yet to hear previously — ego. "I hope you put this in the magazine. People always ask me what the hardest part about going vegan is. I think about all the different components, and what I have settled on is your ego accepting that you've been a fucking fool! You were lied to, and you believed it. Your ego has to take that hit. That barbeque, that luau, that turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving was a lie. For every little tub of yogurt you bought with a pink ribbon on it to [help] find out what causes breast cancer, it's that very tub of yogurt causing breast cancer. Most people don't want to accept that, so they go, ‘No, that's not it.' It's just too hard for their ego."

Aries believes we each have control over our health, happiness, and our destination in life. As individuals, we have real power to influence food companies, because we vote with our dollar every time we buy a product. With every purchase, we cast a vote for the type of food system we want in America. Aries casts his vote for a cruelty-free, environmentally conscious, and healthy food system.

“I think people who don’t have selective compassion are just better human beings.” A few years ago, Aries was approached with an idea for a new project — writing a book about his vegan journey. His profile was on the rise after a successful run in TNA wrestling, and the story of a vegan professional wrestler seemed like an exciting topic. Released in 2017 and coauthored by Mike Tully (cohost of the popular Jason Ellis Show), Food Fight: My Plant-Powered Journey from the Bingo Halls to the Big Time was written to answer the most common questions Aries is asked. To hear Aries describe it, "It's not a wrestling book, and it's not a how-to go vegan book. Instead, it's the story of how I went from this kid from Wisconsin growing up around cheese curds, hot dog races, hunting, and fishing to a plant-based athlete amid a successful run."

Aries’ book inspired a 15-year-old 300-pound Chilean fan named Matthew to go vegan. Food Fight opened Matthew's eyes, and now he has lost 150 pounds. Aries said, "His life was going to go one direction, and now it's going another direction. He's awake, taking care of himself, and feels good about himself. He's on this journey now.” Matthew’s story was a big inspiration for Aries. “That will always be more rewarding than any match I've had. I've been fortunate enough to have that happen often enough that it keeps me putting myself out there, doing interviews, and posting on Instagram despite the dumb comments."

Pick up  Food Fight: My Plant-Powered Journey from the Bingo Halls Time to the Big at https://www.prowrestlingtees.com/austinaries.

As a professional wrestler who’s suffered his fair share of injuries, Aries has always maintained an open mind about the best way to keep his body as healthy as possible. Advancing technology in stem cell therapy has benefited fellow wrestlers like Kevin Nash, John Morrison, and Rey Mysterio; Aries wondered if he would also benefit from it. He got the opportunity to find out when BioXcellerator invited him along with several other athletes to their facility to give stem cell therapy a try at a reduced cost. So Aries — along with UFC Champion Frank Mir; Super Bowl Champion quarterback Jim McMahon; and former baseball great Jose Conseco — traveled to Colombia to experience BioXcellerator for himself.

Aries was so impressed by BioXcellerator's outcomes that he has joined BioXcellerator as Director of Athletic Performance Division. Aries works to get BioXcellerator in front of athletes and influencers to grow BioXcellerator's footprint. "I think of myself as someone who helps people — my book was all about helping people. So, I'm involved with BioXcellerator because they can help people. To offer something that can take away people's chronic pain, something that can ramp up your immune system, or can help people be healthy is something I'm really proud of."

Aries believes there is a lot of symmetry between a plant-based diet and stem cell therapy. Aries also saw an opportunity to promote the anti-inflammatory advantages of a plant-based diet as part of the pre- and post-therapy protocols to patients. He is now working with others to develop a protocol to roll out to patients that gives the stem cells the best internal environment to do their work. "After breaking down my body and other's bodies for so long, I'm really excited to be part of something that can help people rebuild and repair. It's really cool."

There is no doubt Austin Aries will continue to promote the overall benefits of a vegan diet as he hopes to inspire and educate fans and fellow athletes. Make sure to follow him on Instagram for Instagram live videos Q&As, interviews, and more.