4 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Raw (Oct 4)

3. In Theory, This Worked

Austin Theory
WWE.com

Let’s set aside Austin Theory’s actual Raw debut last year during the pandemic. It was more of a matter of necessity, with wrestlers being sidelined almost weekly and Theory being inserted into a Raw Tag Team Championship match at WrestleMania 36.

Last week, Theory was formally drafted to Raw, and he made his re-debut. Austin interrupted Jeff Hardy’s promo about being drafted to SmackDown and immediately gushed about how much Hardy inspired him. He asked to take a selfie with him, then promptly laid him out and took another selfie – with Jeff knocked out on the mat.

It was an effective way to put Theory on the map: He established himself as a villain against one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster, and it set up a match where Theory could (theoretically) further establish himself by beating Hardy before he heads to SmackDown.

Let’s just hope they don’t “Karrion Kross” him.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.