As the WWE Universe marches closer and closer to the biggest weekend of “The Fed's” calendar year, WrestleMania, wrestlers from all over the card are looking for a chance to put themselves over and capture the momentum heading into “The Showcase of the Immortals.” Appearing on After the Bell with Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick, Austin Theory was asked about his recent in-ring run-in with “The Champ,” John Cena, and A-Town's finest took it upon himself to question whether or not there's even a place for the former champion in WWE anymore.
“I could have stood out there and broke down, but I didn't,” Theory said via Fighful. “I stood in the ring with John Cena, looked him right in his face, he said what he had to say. It seems like he's really upset. Me, not so much. I looked that man in his eyes, and I saw the fear. This is John Cena, the man who is not afraid of anything. I could see it. He can say, ‘the Ruthless Aggression era, that's where you're at.' What are you talking about? I'm shining. I'm doing it. It's definitely not the Ruthless Aggression era. He said I'm one pair of trunks away from being a jabroni. That's what you showed up to my show to say to me? I'm standing out there because I was pretty speechless. This is a guy who I grew up watching, who motivated me and inspired me, and he's out here in front of his home crowd and trying to be cool?
“Back in the day, because that's where he is, the spinner United States Championship. John Cena really built a legacy for the United States Championship. Could that be one of the things that really bothers him? He really didn't have anything to say about the United States Championship. Maybe that's something that gets under his skin, feeling like he built that mountain, and then, ‘Uh oh, here comes Austin Theory.' Boom, right on top of that.”
Is Theory correct? Is Cena's “time is up, Theory's time is now,” to paraphrase his theme song? Or will the 45-year-old pull a rabbit out of his hat and land one more WrestleMania moment at the 39th running of the event? Either way, Theory doesn't appear too worried about his forthcoming match, for better or worse.
.@_Theory1 isn’t sweating what @JohnCena said to him on #WWERaw. He’ll do his talking at #WrestleMania! Listen to the full interview on #AfterTheBell with @WWEGraves & @kev_egan, available now wherever you get your podcasts!
🎧: https://t.co/lFrKPlW7kO pic.twitter.com/719LrAZxl9
— WWE After The Bell (@AfterTheBellWWE) March 17, 2023
Austin Theory wants to crush some dreams at WrestleMania 39.
Later in his interview with Graves and Patrick, Theory commented on how much fans want to see that one final championship run with Cena before he hangs up his boots “for the last time,” and how he's excited to drop that dream dead in the middle of the ring.
“The people saying online, ‘John Cena is going to beat him, we all know. I hope he has an open challenge again and a new cool challenger.' I love the future everybody sees because I'm going to stomp all over it,” Theory said. “I don't need to get into his head, I am in his head. I saw it when I looked into his eyes on Raw. ‘Heck yeah, I'm getting that Rock, Roman Reigns roast. Give it to me.' Reality is going to be reality. What's supposed to happen is going to happen. Your time is not now, your time is over. Your time is ten years ago.
“It's going to look like the biggest party in the world. The biggest celebration. It's already in the works because it's going to happen.
“I don't care how many WrestleManias John has had, how unprepared he thinks I am for the crowd after, they're going to eat me alive, bring it. Just make sure that you really bring it. Part of me doesn't care, but the other part of me thinks it's cool that, after everything that he wanted to show up and say at my house on Raw, it's going to feel really good to go to his part of town that he's been working so hard in and take a big crap in it.”
You know, for growing up a self-proclaimed massive John Cena mark, Theory sure hasn't had any issues denigrating his idol's legacy on national television, on social media, and even on podcasts hosted by his peers. Still, considering how unflappable WWE's commitment to the 25-year-old has been despite undergoing the most significant creative regime change of his lifetime in mid-2022, Theory is right to be confident, as his push is as bulletproof as they come in the WWE.
“WrestleMania 39 is going to be great and is going to show you what I am the inevitable Austin Theory,” he concluded. “John Cena, he's going to go back after losing, probably throw on those heels and skirt and get back to work.”
Follow Us
Subscribe