Though he spent Edge's 25th Anniversary celebration on SmackDown working a very different angle, scheming over ways to get back the United States Championship he felt was “stolen from him” due to some – albeit questionable – interference from Rey Mysterio, Austin Theory still had plenty to say about the “Rated-R Superstar” when he stopped by After the Bell with Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick, as they did throw down back in February immediately following the Elimination Chamber.
Despite notably being a John Cena guy growing up, a fact WWE played up extensively in 2023, Theory does have a special connection to Edge, especially when viewed through the lens of his relationship with the leader of “CeNation.” Why? Because, at least to Theory, Edge was always the Joker to Cena's Batman.
“For me, Edge's honestly right there next to John Cena for me,” Austin Theory said via SEScoops. “Because anytime you watch a show that you're invested in, I guess especially as a kid, you can have a really good Good Guy, but you got to have a really good Bad Guy, and Edge was always that Joker to that Batman, and he was somebody that I loved to watch. As much as I didn't like him. I was so into what he was going to do next.”
Circling around to his match with Edge, Theory noted just how important the match meant for not only his career but him as a person, as it was a true full-circle moment.
“Getting that opportunity to be in the ring with him and how quick everything kind of happened. The night before. It was the first time the United States Championship was defended in the Elimination Chamber. I did that, and then immediately after that I defended the title against Edge on Monday Night Raw. I remember standing in the ring and just hearing the ‘You Think You Know Me,' and it hit me with chills,” Theory noted.
“Like me and Edge are about to go to war. This is eight-year-old me in there like, ‘I got to fight the bad guy,' But then I was like, ‘Oh, I guess people think I'm the bad guy though.' But it's very cool and learning things from him, again, just trusting in yourself and really just going out there and owning it – and that's exactly how I felt when I faced Edge, and that's exactly why I beat him.”
Have professional wrestling fans seen the last of Edge? Well, fans in Toronto most likely have, as he said straight up after his match with Sheamus that it's incredibly unlikely he'll still be active when the WWE circuit makes it back to Ontario, but for fans as a whole? Well, I guess they'll just have to keep an eye on the professional wrestling world, regardless of the promotion, to see if/when Adam Copeland shows up next.
Austin Theory reflects on his “big journey” with the United States Championship.
Elsewhere in his appearance on After the Bell, Austin Theory was asked about his run with the United States Championship and how it came to an end at the hands of Rey Mysterio in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Though Theory, by his own admission, could have taken the night off when Santos Escobar couldn't go, he decided to give the fans at the Scotiabank Saddledome what they paid for: a US Title match.
“It’s been a journey. It’s been a big journey,” Austin Theory said. “But look at that whole situation. Look at all the wins and all the time that I had as the United States Champion. I could have taken a break Friday and not faced Santos Escobar, but I was ready. I was up there, ready for the challenge, and look what happened. We get Rey Mysterio. What’s up with that?”
“Hey, that’s the man that was supposed to face me, and it’s my problem that his knee hurts? How many times do you think my knees hurt? My elbows hurt, my shoulders hurt? My lower back. But look what I did,” Austin Theory said. “I beat John Cena, I beat Edge, I beat Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins. I’m prepared for these things, but when you do stuff like that, to me, that’s disrespectful, Adam Pearce making random matches.
“Especially against Rey Mysterio, somebody that I’ve already beaten. Most people, they would have stepped aside, and they would have took a break. But I stepped up to the challenge, but I was not prepared for that challenge, but I can own that. But going forward, this is definitely gonna get dealt with.”
Is Theory, like Cody Rhodes before him, about to go through some “hard times,” maybe not quite falling to “Bumb A**” Corbin territory but not too far off either? Only time will tell, but if he loses his rematch with Mysterio, the trajectory will be undeniably pointed down.