

Some things just go together: Peanut butter and jelly. Peas and carrots. Austin Aries and bananas. The former WWE Superstar, who was released from the company back in July, sort of made bananas his “thing” during his run in NXT as well as the main roster.

Many people wondered about it. A whole lot of folks on Wreddit assumed they were the ones that made him do it. But now, finally, mercifully, we know just why Austin Aries carried around a banana. It all started at the 2016 WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony, as he explained to Sam Roberts on the Tomorrow Show:

“I’m just going to say this about the banana. The Hall Of Fame is long, okay? And I saw lots of people dressed to impress that night. Lots of nice suits. Lots of nice dresses. Let me tell you something, about three and a half hours in, I guarantee about 40 percent of that audience wished they had a banana in their pocket instead of a pocket square, because I got famished. I was running low on some energy, and that pocket square wouldn’t do me any good. But I got a nice little shot of some natural sugars and potassium, and then I just used my sleeve to wipe my mouth off. And I didn’t need the pocket square. So sometimes the thing comes in handy in a pinch. You never know.”

Aries goes on to explain that there was no secret message behind the banana, and that not everything you see on TV needs an explanation at the end of the hour, the week, or the pay-per-view cycle.

So the answer to why Austin Aries carries around a banana is simply, “exactly.” There really isn’t any bigger reason for it. It wasn’t for an angle, or some wink-wink nudge-nudge rib with the boys backstage, or anything. It solely existed to make you take notice and ask why. So congratulations: By noticing the banana, you played right into Austin Aries’ hands. Or something. Watch the whole interview below, but not before you ask yourself, “Are you the motherf*cker with the banana?”