No one in wrestling is likely happier about 2025 coming to a close than WWE star Austin Theory, for two separate yet equally important reasons. The first is because Theory finds himself with some momentum going into 2026, having recently been revealed as the masked individual helping The Vision win matches, and being pushed strongly in the aftermath of said reveal by defeating CM Punk and Rey Mysterio in a tag team match. The second reason is because, aside from the late year rise, 2025 wasn't that great for Theory. Most will point to the fact that Theory missed a good chunk of the year out of action while recovering from injury, which certainly did dampen his momentum. But that ignores the fact that, prior to the injury, Theory didn't have that much momentum anyway, as his A-Town Down Under tag team with Grayson Waller had been floundering, to the point that their long teased break up occurred not with a bang, but with Waller merely announcing it.
It was a bizarre turn of events for Theory, who not too long ago seemed to be on the fast track to superstardom. Between 2019 and 2023, Theory was among the most successful rising stars in WWE, winning the WWE United States Championship twice, the WWE Tag Team Championships with Waller once, and the 2022 Men's Money in the Bank briefcase. Perhaps more importantly though, he had back to back high profile WrestleMania matches against Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38, and John Cena at WrestleMania 39 (winning the latter), and seemed to earn the favor of then WWE Chairman Vince McMahon prior to McMahon's exile. And it's perhaps the latter point where Theory's rollercoaster WWE tenure becomes the key, as some would argue Theory's descent down the card occurred after McMahon resigned from WWE, and creative duties were handed over to Triple H.
A strong example of this, no pun intended, theory, is how Theory's run with the Money in the Bank briefcase ended just a few months after Triple H took over as booker. After a few unsuccessful attempts to properly "cash in" occurred at SummerSlam in August and Clash at the Castle in September, Theory finally succeeded in cashing in that November, only to be defeated by Seth Rollins. There was just one problem; Rollins was the United States Champion at the time and not the World Champion. While others had failed with their cash-in attempts previously, all those failed attempts occurred during challenges for a World Championship. That Theory's cash-in was for a midcard title, and a loss, quickly led to fans speculating that Triple H wasn't interested in pushing Theory, and that the angle was done to de-emphasize him.
Whether that was true or not depends on the eye of the beholder. Some will argue that Triple H himself was high on Theory, as evident by the fact that Theory defeated Cena at WrestleMania months later, had a long reign as United States Champion during that time, and has received a renewed push under Triple H's watch as we speak. Others, however, will argue that Theory's successful 2023 was more due to McMahon, who briefly returned to power during that time, and that his inconsistent 2024 and 2025 is proof that Triple H has been holding Theory back. It's a debate that cannot be settled now, although how Theory's time with the Vision coming up may ultimately be the deciding factor in whether Triple H can use Theory correctly or not.
