Kevin Owens cut what could be one of the best promos of the year on this week’s Monday Night Raw, calling out Austin Theory for his bad attitude. Owens tried to fire up Theory and have him prove that he wasn’t like the many promising young stars who have flamed out, saying, “Prove me wrong. Prove all of these people wrong. You know how to do it? You know how to do it? I’ll tell you. You stop thinking about the moments that were handed to you, and you start making your own moments. You know how to do that? You check your ego at the door, you look at yourself in the mirror, you realize you’re not as good as you think you are, but you let your passion drive you to get better.
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“And more importantly you leave everything you have in this ring every time you step foot in front of these people. That, that’s how you prove me wrong. That’s how you become the future. That’s how you become the face of WWE,” he concluded.
It seemed like Owens’ words reached Theory, only for him to flex his bicep and tell Owens that he’ll never look like the youngest United States Champion in company history. He then cut a promo after the show, listing off his accomplishments.
“I’m tired of people trying to downplay my achievements like I haven’t busted my —,” Theory said. “I’m the future, and the future is right in front of you.”
It was latest announced that Owens and Theory will wrestle on next week’s Raw. Owens beat Theory on last week’s Raw in just under 17 minutes.
Theory recently spoke with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri and was asked about his reaction to Vince McMahon’s sudden departure from WWE in July. Prior to that, McMahon had positioned Theory as his next handpicked star.
“So, to me the first thing you think of is, ‘Well, who’s in charge?’ I think as soon as I found out who the team was, Stephanie, Triple H, Nick Khan, Bruce Prichard, just having those people that I have a good relationship with all of them,” Theory said (h/t Wrestling Inc.).
“I think the Mr. McMahon retirement got a lot of us because we’ve seen him forever,” he later added “He laid the foundation. Literally, there’s all these superstars because of Mr. McMahon. I think it was just kind of like, ‘Wow, that’s really happening.’ So, that’s kind of where it got me there, but as far as creative and the future, no worries about that.”
