10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About 2023
5. The Failed Austin Theory Push
WWE is a strange promotion still. Their idea to build a new star is to have old stars kick the hell out of them and call them worse than dirt.
This was the "arc" of Austin Theory in 2023, and it did not go well.
He defeated John Cena at WrestleMania 39 in a lifeless anti-rub of a match. Imagine the exact opposite of Mick Foley's hard, selfless work in putting Triple H, Randy Orton and Edge over, and you are still not close to how apathetic it all was.
Theory continued his endless programme with Bobby Lashley in the spring, which was inessential filler that just existed. Tasked with getting himself over on commentary, he was a bland automaton completely lost without the scripts he can orate well enough. None of his TV matches met the standard of the 2023 back-and-forth, and he offered nothing new, either. He worked his three-star special - mechanically tight, utterly soulless - against Rey Mysterio at Payback. Theory's push in general was anti-show, don't tell. He just didn't captivate people or do anything that got them in the gut.
He was better when paired with Grayson Waller deeper in the year, but doing obnoxious prelim heel work is hardly something that positions him as the next face of the company.