One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam

4. 2022 | Does It Count As A Dream Match If Only One Person Dreamed Of It?

Austin Theory
WWE.com

He’s a handsome guy with a terrific physique overflowing with the composure and slickness beloved by WWE management, but he’s also very bland and seems cursed to never truly connect with the public. He’s actually decent at playing a dumbass. He displayed some semblance of personality when paired with Johnny Gargano in NXT. But the next Randy Orton? Nope. The first Randy Orton took two decades to finally become a guy that fans were truly desperate to see headline WrestleMania. Perhaps Theory will get there by WrestleMania 60. 

Theory was meant to be a focal point of SummerSlam 2022, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He was scheduled to wrestle John Cena. Few people believed Dave’s reporting at the time, because that was a waste of a Cena match with his part-time schedule, no? 

As it happens, the match did end up taking place, but it was pushed back to WrestleMania 39. 

This is less “mind-blowing secret” and more “funny albeit in a very tragic way”. This was Vince McMahon’s grand plan to get Theory over. McMahon was certain that Theory was his next Roman Reigns. It’s amusing that WWE sat on this thing for nearly a year, desperate to roll it out at the perfect time, only for Cena to coast through the ultimate nothing match when it finally happened. 

Austin Theory, as simply ‘Theory’, did wind up on the SummerSlam 2022 card. He was very handily defeated by Bobby Lashley on a show mostly remembered for being Paul Levesque’s first main roster PLE.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!