After just a few weeks of speculation, the masked man that attacked CM Punk at Survivor Series was revealed to be Austin Theory in the main event segment on Raw. There were some reports that Theory was penciled in to be the guy under the mask, but most were skeptical of that, given his status or lack thereof in the company the past few years.
It should be noted that Theory was a victim of circumstances in some ways, as he was a hand-picked project by Vince McMahon three years ago and eventually beat John Cena at Wrestlemania 39. When McMahon was ousted in disgrace last year after the sexual misconduct lawsuit was filed against him, Triple H took over creative and went in a different direction. That’s not necessarily a knock on Theory, as anytime in the history of the business that there was a change in the booker in an organization, there was often a shuffle of talent based on who the new head of creative wanted to use to implement their vision for the product.
That being said, Theory was left rather rudderless, and even being paired with Grayson Waller to form a tag team did very little to give him any substantial direction. In short, Theory was a secondary lower card talent that was basically interchangeable for most of the roles that he was used for since Vince was shown the door. The team spent the majority of this year in NXT before an injury in July put Theory on the shelf.
Make no mistake about it, this is a fresh start for Austin Theory so it’s a chance for him to reinvent himself as a performer. I think it’s a lofty comparison, but it’s tough to write anyone off completely when there was a time that Cody Rhodes was Stardust, and Drew McIntyre was a comedy act in the three man band. Those two are top-notch pros that among the best workers in the entire business, which isn’t something anyone would’ve guessed a decade ago. That being said, I just don’t see what Theory brings to the table that others don’t already present in a more polished form. That’s not to say that Theory is as clueless as Tom Magee, who looked the part, but tripped over himself in the ring, but rather that Theory, both in persona and in-ring performance is basically the average WWE TV wrestler. Maybe that’s why Vince made him a project, because he was the stereotypical WWE performer?
His promos, at least during his initial push, were over scripted and sounded phony. His matches were almost robotic, as if he had to run the WWE playbook page by page. In short, there was nothing organic about the Austin Theory character for the audience to invest in one way or the other, and indifference is the absolute opposite of how to draw money.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t to proclaim that Austin Theory is doomed, we’ve seen that he can do the moves and he looks like an athlete. The problem is that there’s an entire main roster and many at the Performance Center that can do the moves and look like athletes. The biggest hurdle for Theory right now, besides trying to reinvent himself, is to dissuade the audience from the notion that he’s a lower card talent that doesn’t have any cache among the WWE landscape. In short, why should the WWE audience care about Austin Theory? The last time they saw him on the main roster, he was cannon fodder so changing that perception will be key if this fresh run is going to be successful.
It’s not impossible for Theory to accomplish that, it’s just a difficult task that might require more than four or five months away to create enough space between the performer that had to go back down to NXT to try to be a big fish in a smaller pond and the guy that is aligned with the main heel stable on Raw.
The possibility is there that the association with Paul Heyman, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed might be enough to give Theory a fresh coat of paint so that he could evolve as a performer. Still, for there to be a better chance of Austin Theory being able to reinvent himself, I’d say that a change of scenery, maybe a run in TNA or Japan with the premise that the office would keep tabs on his progress, might’ve given him a better chance than just a few months off the radar. Again, I could be wrong, but I just don’t see anything that stands out about him as anything more than the average WWE TV wrestler.
As far as his alignment with the Heyman faction, on one hand, it gives him some help with top heels beside him and the best talker in the business today to put him over. On the other hand, it’s equally as possible that he could be overshadowed by those same factors. Paul Heyman has sold events to the audience for main eventers like Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, and CM Punk. Heyman currently touts the praises of Bron Breakker, who many pundits regard as the future of the business and is scheduled to compete against CM Punk for the world heavyweight championship in a few weeks. Is the audience going to buy it if Heyman tries to sell them Austin Theory? There’s a legitimate possibility that he will get eclipsed by Bron Breakker, Logan Paul, and Bronson Reed during segments for the heel faction on WWE programming.
The bottom line is, I don’t think this was the spot for Austin Theory and he was simply the wrong choice for the role as the masked attacker at Survivor Series. Furthermore, it was somewhat of a missed opportunity by WWE brass since there wasn’t really a chance for the intrigue or drama to build with a relatively quick reveal, and maybe that’s because they didn’t want the speculated to build to a point where it would be a letdown when Theory unmasked. It was also a chance to use the scenario to introduce someone of more importance into the fold. As I wrote previously, the office could’ve put anyone in the disguise to play the role until the time was right for a bigger reveal. For example, Chris Jericho’s deal with All Elite Wrestling expires at the end of the year and there are rumors that he will return to WWE so management could’ve had anyone under the mask until the start of 2026 when Jericho could’ve revealed himself as the masked man. I also thought Killer Kross, who left the company a few months ago when his contract wasn’t renewed, could’ve been put in the role, theoretically aligning with the heel stable as a way to get revenge on management since he was snubbed in contract negotiations.
Instead we have Austin Theory back in a prominent spot on Raw. I’d say at best his odds are 50/50 that this new push gets off the ground on a long-term basis. The reason being, it’s not as though the audience was clamoring for Theory to be back in the spotlight. Different from someone like the previously mentioned Kross, there wasn’t some organic level of fan demand for Theory to be back on Raw. If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how Theory is booked and if this stoyline allows for a new chapter in his career.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
