15 Biggest BURIALS Wrestlers Never Recovered From
3. Austin Theory (By Roman Reigns)
The balance of power shifting as aggressively as it did in 2022 when Vince McMahon resigned in disgrace was everything Triple H had mentally mapped out for years.
There were certain inevitabilities to the whole thing. It had become fairly common gossip that McMahon's number two Kevin Dunn wasn't particularly a favourite of 'The Game', certain wrestlers found themselves in or out of the frame based on how much Paul Levesque rated them and even Jimmy Smith was rather unceremoniously booted from the Raw announce desk as every aspect of the show got a facelift.
This was most apparent in a 2022 main event scene that temporarily included Karrion Kross but was about to oust Austin Theory. Then in possession of the Money In The Bank briefcase, Theory had benefitted from an extended run alongside the last iteration of the Mr McMahon character - a bumbling, barely audible lunatic that was utterly horrible to people under the premise of pushing them to the top. Allegedly, some of it was even a work.
Anyway, Theory didn't really get a rub so much as he did carry one around, and before Hunter and pals could rip that away from it in another mini-burial, the untouchable Roman Reigns decided to treat himself to a dig at the poor little weirdo as he rapidly slid down the greasy pole.
Reducing him with every patronising syllable during a Raw shortly after McMahon's departure, Roman called upon Austin to "look around...analyse the situation" before highlighting that "your Daddy's not here anymore". The crowd, the Usos, Paul Heyman; everybody laughed and gasped as Theory couldn't stop his lip trembling at the active bulldozing of his topline run.