Alex Shelley, however, hand-picked Aries, along with Roderick Strong and Jack Evans, as members of a new stable (also meant to promote young, upcoming ROH talent) who, instead of earning their spots, would simply take them.

[15] This apparent Generation Next reunion was short lived when, at the following show on February 16, Strong attacked Aries after their tag team title match against Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal.

Billed as an "Internet dream match", the poll offered voters the choice of Aries, Roderick Strong, Jay Lethal and Matt Sydal, none of whom were contracted to TNA or had even appeared with the company on a regular basis in the past.

This occurred because of Aries and Strong's decision to remain in Long Island for an ROH show, despite TNA's last minute request to travel to Florida because of the potential of a snowstorm.

Starr appeared for TNA on October 22 as the first entrant and became the winner of the "Kevin Nash Open Invitational X Division Gauntlet Battle Royal" at Bound for Glory.

Aries' first match back came at Race to the Top Tournament: Night One, when he faced Roderick Strong, Jimmy Rave and Gran Akuma in a Four Way Fray for the FIP World Heavyweight Championship.

[27] At Manhattan Mayhem II, Aries defeated former Generation Next stable mates Roderick Strong and Jack Evans in a triple threat match.

On June 28, Aries pinned ROH World Tag Team Champion Jimmy Jacobs in a "Relaxed Rules" match following a 450° splash despite interference from Necro Butcher, Tyler Black, Allison Wonderland, and MsChif.

[48] Aries made his debut for the promotion on October 29 at the Bushido: Code of the Warrior pay-per-view, where he was defeated by Open the Dream Gate Champion Masato Yoshino in a non–title match.

However, after the match Aries feigned passing the torch to Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann, the trio known collectively as Ronin, before turning on them and joining the promotion's top heel group, Blood Warriors, claiming to have found his purpose under the leadership of CIMA.

[60] On the July 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Aries cost Alex Shelley, who had previously confronted him on his win over Shannon Moore, his shot at the TNA X Division Championship.

[62] On August 7 at Hardcore Justice, Aries and Shelley competed in a three-way match for the TNA X Division Championship, but were both unable to win the belt from the defending champion, Brian Kendrick.

[68] On January 8, 2012, at Genesis, Aries successfully defended the X Division Championship in a four-way elimination match against Jesse Sorensen, Kid Kash and Zema Ion.

[87] Aries and Roode had a non-title rematch on the July 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, which ended in a no contest, when both competitors were attacked by a group of masked assailants, known only as the "Aces & Eights".

[93] On October 11, during the final episode of Impact Wrestling before Bound for Glory, Aries claimed that he worked best when people were against him, before crotching Hardy on the ring ropes and dropping him with a brainbuster, turning heel once again.

[105] Roode and Aries made their first successful title defense on March 10 at Lockdown, defeating Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian) and Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez in a three-way match.

[106] On the March 21 episode of Impact Wrestling, Aries and Roode defeated Guerrero and Hernandez to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship, following interference from Daniels and Kazarian.

[107] On the April 11 episode of Impact Wrestling, Roode and Aries lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship back to Guerrero and Hernandez in a Two-out-of-Three Falls match, ending their reign at 76 days.

[108] Aries and Roode received their rematch on the April 25 episode of Impact Wrestling, but were again defeated by Guerrero and Hernandez after an inadvertent interference from Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.

[110] Aries and Roode received another shot at Guerrero and Hernandez's titles on June 2 at Slammiversary XI, in a fatal four-way elimination match, which was won by Gunner and James Storm.

[115] On the August 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, Aries turned face once again after praising AJ Styles, before being interrupted by his former tag team partner Bobby Rhode.

[117] Three weeks later, on the January 23 special episode of Impact Wrestling:Genesis, Aries once again defeated Sabin to win the TNA X Division Championship for the fourth time.

[134] On the June 22 episode of NXT, Aries came out to seemingly thank No Way José for reminding him that wrestling was about having fun, only to attack him after an impromptu dance party, turning heel in the process.

[138] On October 27, Aries suffered a large orbital socket injury during a live event in Fresno, California, during a match against Nakamura and was expected to be injured until early 2017.

[149] On the April 4 episode of 205 Live, Aries defeated Perkins, Jack Gallagher and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match to earn a rematch against Neville at Payback,[150] which he won by disqualification.

[165] Aries's next championship defense came on Impact's August 9 edition, defeating Eddie Edwards with the help of Killer Kross,[166] whom the champion would announce as his "insurance policy" the following week.

[169] As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personally, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets.

[178] After his release from the WWE and his 90-day non-compete clause expired, Aries made a surprise return to Impact Pro Wrestling providing commentary during their event and promoting his book on November 4, 2017.

[159] On August 17, 2018, Aries appeared on House of Glory's "High Intensity 7" show and successfully defended the Impact World Championship in an open challenge against Ken Broadway.

Austin would beat Hawx on the February 5, 2022, episode of NWA USA to progress to the final of the tournament, which would take place at the National Wrestling Alliance event Crockett Cup on March 20, 2022.