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Austin Theory Beat John Cena At WrestleMania! Viral Moments With The Rock, Stone Cold, Brock Lesnar
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Austin Theory (@_Theory1) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Brooklyn, NY to discuss being in the ring with The Rock and Pat McAfee, his amazing sell of the Stone Cold Stunner, winning the Money in the Bank briefcase and failing to cash in, facing John Cena at WrestleMania and that promo the led into the match, being F5'd off an Elimination Chamber pod by Brock Lesnar, getting knocked out by Tyson Fury and more!
Quote I'm thinking about: “You have to work hard in the dark to shine in the light.” – Kobe Bryant
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"Always. I have such an interesting story from the beginning, because at eight years old I saw Deep South Wrestling, which was the developmental territory for WWE at the time. It was in McDonough, Georgia where I grew up. Just seeing that, I was just so captivated by wrestling, like what is this? It's like you're getting to see a Marvel movie live, and these guys, they don't look like the normal guys walking down the street. So for me, I was hooked. As I got older, at 12 I remember walking in the room. I'm sure people have heard this story a lot, but I told my mom I gotta get started on my career. And she's like, what? I'm like, I gotta go to the gym with you. So started working out at 12 and just wanted it so bad and I could see it. And then always high school or middle school people laughing about my dream. Oh, that's impossible, it’s on TV, it's stupid, it's this, it's that, but I always just believed in it. I even remember too when I was about 11 years old, connected to the Gold's Gym my mom worked out there was an MMA place, and all the MMA people ended up moving, but there was one ring still in there. To save a long story, Bill DeMott was in there, and before the MMA people left, he was in a boxing ring showing guys how to bump and I saw it. So from that point on I talked to him, and I would show up every time my mom went to Golds at 11, I would show up to this MMA gym that was no longer existent, but there was one wrestling ring in there. It was Bill DeMott. He was training two guys, and I'd show up and just watch. And I just felt like, I told my mom, I'd be like, hey, Bill's training today I gotta go. And she's like, you're not even doing anything. And I'm like, You don't understand. This is the ticket, I just gotta watch this and learn this. And as the years went on he had to go do his thing, and I got older, but I would always tell him, every time he came back to the gym, I'd be like, Hey, I'm almost 18. I'm almost 18, but just hearing so many people over the years, especially as I got older before I officially went to the school and became a pro wrestler, just telling me, dude that's insane, it's crazy. But I even tell my friends this and my family, it's such an insane feeling to describe when you just know, it was just crazy to me. It's like saying the sky is not blue, I was like it's blue dude, I don't know how you don't see it. I could tell too with the working out and stuff and kind of watching myself progress, and a lot of people don't really like working out this many times a week. A lot of people quit at it. A lot of people play sports, and they rely on their teammates and stuff sometimes. For me, I was just all in and just the grind, I loved it, and still to this date, I love the process."
"I didn't want anything else. Nothing existed to me. Nothing was realistic enough for me to think that when I grow up from being this big, dream-filled kid that I'm gonna go work at nine to five, or I'm gonna do this, that was it. I had no idea I was gonna do it. I had no clue. I thought at 18, the Performance Center ended up popping up as I was younger, and I saw it, and I think it came out in, like, was it 2015? But I remember seeing it, and I was like, All right, I'm gonna get in my 1997 Ford Explorer, and I'm gonna live in Florida and figure out how to make it. And obviously, that's not the way things turned out. I had a better route, but that was the mindset. It didn't matter what was gonna have to happen. It was gonna happen."
"It's so funny thinking about it now. Even when I got to the main roster, I became Theory. But yeah that was a thing I was hearing and they're like hey, we'll offer you this for your name, or we're gonna change it. To me, I was just like, well I came up with my name when I was a kid wrestling in the backyard. But, I don't know why I wouldn't just give it to him, because what am I going to do with it? They can do more than I can do with it. But yeah I'm glad I got to keep the name. But on the main roster, it was funny, like walking in one day and just, here's what you're doing today? And somebody gives it to me, and I read it and it's like, Wait, Theory? I'm just Theory now. And the guy's like, Yeah, I thought they would have told you. Nobody was gonna tell me, so I had to go have a conversation about that, figure out what it was. But we got it back on track. We're back to Austin Theory."
"That was a reason. But also I was told, and that had just happened around the time of the Mania thing, when I did the greatest stunner sell of all time. But I also was told that Theory just sounds like a name that stands alone and can't complain about that. [But] when you Google Theory, I mean, what's going to come up? Not going to be these 20-inch arms."
"So the first one that comes to mind is Bad Neighbors 2. I was like a main frat guy, but I was still in the background and stuff. So the main scene, I'm sure I'm in a lot of things, but you might not be able to see me, but the main scene that I'm in is if you watch Zac Efron when it's the big pep rally outside, everybody's celebrating, he jumps up on the stage, he starts stripping and he's in his shorts and he starts dancing. So before that when he gets on the stage, before he starts dancing, me and this other guy are standing up there, and I have like a yellow beanie and I have a blue t-shirt on, I have my arms crossed, and we're kind of watching this guy, and then he kicks us off the stage. So as you watch it, the continuity doesn’t match."
"That was a crazy day. They were actually in the Jackson prison in Georgia. We went down there. We put on prisoner outfits and everything, and they said, Hey, make sure when we tell you guys to line up and you're walking to not touch the bars, do not encourage the inmates, because the inmates were yelling at us. They were wild, yeah, yeah. So this was real. And then we're in two lines. So one line's walking this way down the hall, and one's going this way. And then you have the scene with Michael Keaton, and you can see me walk right by real quick. And a couple of people have caught it online. Maybe they bring me back in the Marvel Universe."
"So the day starts. I have nothing that day at SmackDown, I'm kind of lingering around wondering, am I doing anything? I haven’t heard anything. Was it a setup? I don't know, but it didn't feel like one, but if it was, then wow, you got me. But I remember maybe we have an hour before the show kicks off. So we were in Colorado, so the time is probably like a couple of hours [ahead]. So we had an hour before the show, I get a call, and I end up going to Triple H's office, and he basically gives me the rundown of hey, Pat McAfee’s coming back. We're thinking, you go out there, you cut a promo, and then kind of get on him, and then we'll have The Rock come out. I'm just like, for real? Alright! So then they're sitting there, and then the head writer, he's like, hey, there's not a lot of time left now. There's like 40 minutes, 30 minutes left. He's like just go figure out what you want to say to Pat and then we'll figure out the rest, we'll tell you what you're doing with Rock when he gets here. So I'm like, well he's not even here, this is crazy. So I go away and I started thinking in my head. I started thinking too about the last time I was in the ring with Pat McAfee, and how the promos were. I remember he said some things that I couldn’t, I could only say what I was able to say. But I feel like there was some more freedom there for him. So in my mind, I'm like, Well, this is where I've got to take it, I've got to get it back. So going out there, we had the same outfit on, so I ripped into him about that, you don't look like me in a tank top. I called him something and then Rock comes out."
"Before Rock comes out, kind of going back to when I met Rock, I remember, I came up with what I wanted to say on Pat I was like, Okay, I got it. And then I just get a text, come outside. I come outside, and it's one of the writers, and he said, Come with me. And then next thing I know, I'm with Triple H and Nick Khan and we're all walking outside. The busses are there, and this black car pulls up, six people get out, it's just insane to me. Rock gets out, and I'm like this is crazy. He's like the size of a blimp. He looks insane. I'm like, What is going on? They walk over, I think they're just trying to get us on a bus so this could be private and nobody sees Rock. I think Nick Khan knocks on Charlotte Flair’s bus, and they're like, Hey, can you get off? She's like, alright. So she just gets off, and then we get on the bus. And then I just remember, I was in the back of the bus with The Rock, and he was kind of telling me when we get out there, it's going to be magic. Just feel it. It's going to be good. And I kid you not being out there with him. He did like these Jedi mind tricks with his eyes, when I just knew when to go, when to say something, and just feeling it with him. He would just, I don't know, just with his eyes. I was like, oh man. But it was such an experience. And I just felt so on top of my game."
"I remember hearing hints of it and stuff like that. But ultimately, I remember showing up, and they were like, Cena is coming back, and you're going to do a backstage with him. So I did a backstage with him. I had a promo, and then he was like, Okay, that's good. But like, what would you say to me? I think at the time, even going back to the promo me and him did in Boston, in the ring, I think I was just kind of having a hard time understanding exactly where he was coming from and what he was trying to get out of me."
"I think for me, because I've watched it back, and I've seen it in some of the things he said and stuff. And I just think it's the character. I think he just wants to see me and it's hard for me to just say exactly what he means. I kind of see where it is and if people can, kind of pick up on what I'm trying to say, but I think he just sees more of who I really am being displayed in a different way."
"I guess I just really to live for everything. So at the time of WrestleMania, getting stunned by Austin. I fell out the ring, I kept one eye open. I'm watching Stone Cold do this horrible stunner to Vince. Finally, Vince takes the stunner, and we get out, and I remember I picked up Vince's shoe, and his arm was around me, we're walking up the stage, and I just remember being like, yo that was so f*cking awesome. I think he just gave me haha or whatever. But at that moment I was just in it, never having alcohol in my life. I came to the back after that match thinking in my head, already living in the future. I'm about to drink a whole beer because Stone Cold is going to walk through the curtain and he's going to hand me one, and if I don't drink it, that's so disrespectful. I was like, so here we go. First beer, I'm going to be so drunk tonight. He comes through the curtain, he's covered in beer on his shirt, and he hugs me, and I just taste all the beer. That's enough of the beer I needed. He didn't give me a beer, but he said was a hell of a stunner kid. That was a great sell. It was awesome."
"I was ready for a legit punch. It could have been, it was so fast and I just remember Triple H making the joke to him like hey, he'll come down with his briefcase, he'll try to cash in and you'll just punch him, but try not to knock his teeth out. Then I'm just looking at Tyson Fury. I'm like, whatever, at least it's by this guy. So I just remember running down as soon as I turned and locked eyes with the ref and put my arms out, it was over. So I don't know if it was a real one or not, because I was just laying on the ground."
"Alright, this is a story. So I remember the night before, we're at rehearsals, and everybody's there, AJ Styles is on Brock Lesnar's shoulders and there's a crash pad down on the floor. Vince steps up behind me and he goes ‘I want you to take that.’ I was just looking and as soon as he says Brock throws AJ to the pad. AJ lands on his side, and anybody who knows AJ, he doesn't cuss. If you catch him cussing, even on TV, that man is angry, but he goes, 'What the frick? That's stupid I'm not taking that.' Then Brock comes climbing down, and Vince goes, Brock, go back up, Theory is gonna take it. I was like, oh man. I'm just walking through the motions. I'm climbing up the cage. I'm just going up, and I'm just panicking. Brock picks me up. I'm just like, now my whole world has went from here to sideways, and now I'm all the way up on this pod. I'm just like, I don't know, because that pad is not going to be there. But I was like, here we go. Then Brock's like, you ready? And I'm like, yep. And he tosses me. And the way I was tossed, I landed on my feet, on the pad. So in my mind, I'm just like, Okay, well if somehow he throws me like this again and I can land on my feet, I'll be fine. So I was kind of like thinking about it, and I remember the whole day, rehearsal, the next day, Michael Hayes, everybody keeps messing with me, like, Hey, you sure you want to take that bump? You don't have to. And then I'm knowing damn well Vince just told me he wants me to take it. I remember him saying, I wouldn't make you do anything I wouldn't do. I was like, I know he would take it, and he'd probably kill himself. So we're in this match, and the idea is that I get thrown in a Power Bomb into Bobby's pod by Seth. When that happens, Bobby gets messed up so we take Bobby out of the match. But in an Elimination Chamber match, even if somebody leaves their pod, the pod still has to go off. So we were playing with the idea of well Bobby is going to get eliminated, but when his pod goes off me, Matt Riddle, AJ Styles and Seth Rollins, we're all going to look at Bobby's pod, but he's not going to come out and Brock's going to come out last. So that spot happens, Bobby doesn't come out. So then we start doing a sequence with each other, and Brock apparently isn't in on that, knowing about the Bobby spot, so he just starts breaking out of his pod, just shoot kicking it and breaking the plastic and stuff. Next thing you know, we're doing this sequence, and I'm getting ready to hit Seth. I just turn because I hear this crazy sound. I'm like, What is going on? I just turned to look and it's just Brock's arm, and I'm getting clotheslined. I take that and I roll out of the ring, I'm against the cage, and I'm just watching him, pick he picks up AJ. And AJ is like, what the frick?! F5 123, Seth Rollins starts laughing, F5 he's out. Riddle just gets thrown, he's out. Then I had this whole thing with Brock at the end, and I'm like, are we doing this still? I don't know what's going on. I'm just terrified. I'm like, Okay. And then sure enough, he starts chasing me. I get that low blow on him. I hit him with the drive kick, hit a little DDT. I'm trying to beat him. And then I see him give me that look, and I'm like, I don't know what to do I'm gonna get out. So I just try to escape the Elimination Chamber like it's a steel cage. And dude, I look down, and he's under me, and he grabs me, he starts slamming me into the plastic glass we have. As I'm hitting it, I can just feel it coming off. Dude, if I go through this, I'm gonna fall all the way down, and I'm not even gonna make it to this F5. But could that be better? I don't know. He picks me up for the F5 throws me, and I landed right on my feet, super hard. But as soon as I landed, I just tucked myself and just kind of rolled with it, and I hit the metal a little, but I was safe, man."
"I don't feel like there's ever a plan. To be honest with you, the only thing that I kind of knew that was going to be if you know a match you're going to have at a pay-per-view, if you're kind of on that road like Cena for example I knew we did the promo, so I know we're going to have the match. But honestly, like a lot of things, like, even when I had the US title the first time [shrugs], Money in the Bank [shrugs], second time US Title [shrugs], you know, it's just kind of seeing what rolls. And then at the same time too, with the briefcase, I was in such a tough spot, because Roman Reigns, the position he was in and where they were going with him. I would have loved to cash in on Roman, even if it was a failed attempt, I think that would have been cool because I would have never cashed in on the United States Championship."
"Family, my mindset and being able to get out of bed."
