Austin Theory cashed in and lost his Money In The Bank briefcase on last night's Monday Night Raw, and WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns wasn't even on the show.
No, in an unprecedented and - in the strictest sense of the word - historic event, Theory elected to use his golden ticket on the United States Champion Seth Rollins after the 'Visionary Of Drip' had been laid out by a rampaging Bobby Lashley moments earlier.
The plan was unsuccessful - after a short brawl, a still-furious Lashley battered Theory too, and an opportunistic Rollins caught him with the Curb Stomp to retain the fold.
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It all compounds a fairly terrible second half of the year for Theory in WWE since Vince McMahon resigned in disgrace and Triple H took the wheel. McMahon's former chosen one has lost repeatedly to Rollins, Kevin Owens, Johnny Gargano and others, tried and failed pathetically to cash in at both SummerSlam and Clash At The Castle (where he was put flat on his a*se by Roman Reigns and Tyson Fury respectively), and was recently reduced to teasing an NXT cash-in shortly before Halloween Havoc.
He'd defeated Shelton Benjamin in 2:40 earlier in the night, though this had been mostly forgotten following this show-closing calamity.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years.
As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast.
He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.
