Update on Austin Aries Appearing At ROH 16th Anniversary Show

It was recently reported that Impact Wrestling World Champion Austin Aries appeared at last Friday night’s ROH 16th Anniversary Show. Austin Aries has been all around the world and has won multiple championships in several different promotions and he was even a former ROH World Champion. After Kenny King successfully defended his ROH World TV Title, Austin Aries came out to the stage with all of his current titles, including the Impact World Championship. Austin Aries was not even advertised for the show, but he came out and challenged Kenny King for his ROH World TV Title, a title Aries has yet to win.
According to PWInsider, Impact Wrestling and ROH are not currently working together in any capacity and Aries is not signed to any contract with Impact Wrestling, thus the reason why he would be able to appear anywhere under his own discretion.
The two companies have a bit of a rough past from when ROH had a PPV cancelled from DirectTV, thanks to a cease and desist from Impact Wrestling. This was due to ROH booking The Hardys when Impact Wrestling was still claiming ownership over their trademarks and not wanting their characters on ROH’s PPV.

PWInsider also reports that Aries did make Impact Wrestling aware of last Friday night’s appearance and the company was said to be supportive of the decision. Impact Wrestling’s new management is looking at more of an open door policy to work with any promotions they can and saw it as a positive appearance. Impact Wrestling also gave Aries the go ahead to show the title on ROH’s PPV.
Source: PWInsider.com