Austin Theory kicked off WrestleMania 39 back in April by successfully defending his United States Championship against John Cena. Unfortunately for “A-Town Down,” the match was not only poor received but it capped off a bizarre feud in which Cena tore into the young star in their only promo exchange and then disappeared from TV immediately after the show, leaving Theory with even less momentum than when he first called out the 16-time world champion. He’s managed to turn his US title reign into one of the longest in recent WWE history (and will defend it on this week’s SmackDown), but was shunted into the Slim Jim Battle Royal during this year’s SummerSlam event in Detroit.ย
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Cena would later comment on his feud with Theory in an interview with Sam Roberts, confirming everything he said on TV was how he really felt about the young man.
“Fans can see through the BS if you don’t believe in your character. It’s what I said to Austin Theory. ‘You are young, you are athletic, you will work for this company, you will do interviews,” Cena said. “I don’t believe what you do when you’re out there. I don’t.’ I said it to him personally before I said it to him publicly. I’m serious. In a room, with Austin Theory, I said, ‘The reason I came back to Boston is because you can’t do this yourself yet. You cannot carry a WrestleMania promo yourself yet. If you fail, we waste the equity that I’m willing to give. In that match, if I get hurt, I hold up production, which puts 300 people out of work. Let’s do this right. Let’s get some equity here.’ Then you start thinking about the angles, what’s the most important thing, what’s our story? ‘I don’t believe what you do,’ that’s what I’m going with.”
What did John Cena Tell Austin Theory After Their Match?
But in a new interview with The Babyfaces Podcast this week, Theory noted that his post-match interaction with Cena was much more positive.ย
“Post-match, it was a really cool moment. He just told me to enjoy this day and enjoy this moment,” Theory said (h/t WrestlingNews.co). “Literally, there was no stress that day whatsoever. I wasn’t nervous. Everything that prepared me for that moment. Everything that I had to go out there and perform, I felt like I had it, and that was something really cool but something that John says that you could say a lot of people say. It’s so true that just not being afraid to fail and betting on yourself and just going for it. A lot of times, that’s what holds a lot of us back from things you just worried about this or that, and it might not even be you. You might believe in yourself, and just because one person has an opinion, it bothers you, and it sets you off, and that’s the biggest thing. It’s just don’t be afraid to fail. It’s gonna be a ride. It’s gonna go up, it’s gonna go down but just continuing to press forward.”
What do you think Theory’s future in WWE will look like? Tell us your thoughts down in the comments!ย
WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results
- Logan Paul def. Ricochet
- Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar
- LA Knight wins the SummerSlam Battle Royal
- Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey (MMA Rules)
- Intercontinental Championship:ย Gunther def. Drew McIntyre
- World Heavyweight Championship:ย Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor
- WWE Women’s Championship:ย Bianca Belair def. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
- WWE Women’s Championship:ย Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair
- Undisputed WWE Universal Championship:ย Roman Reigns def. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)
