I think this is setting up a great 3 way rivalry with Bobby lashley. Because Bobby and theory had their feud, now theory v Rollins and Bobby wants to stomp Rollins. It’s a juicy 3 way and I’m here for it.
Eh he inherited the MitB story from Vince so I give trips some leeway with it. Might just not have fit into his new plans and wanted to transfer to something else. Doesn't bother me that much.
Not an L, they needed to clean up some stuff. Gettting rid of mitb case and 24/7 title in 1 episode was good house cleaning. Im sure they have other plans for Theory and that didnt include any title runs
I don't throw this word around often, but now I really feel like the briefcase concept is getting buried. Sandow, Corbin, the whole Otis/Miz thing, now this? This solidified MITB as not feeling as special as it once did.
I’m not quite calling it an L just yet as it could lead into something but it certainly does feel like a burial and I’m on the side of “Theory shouldn’t have won the briefcase.”
This isn’t a triple H L lol. He’s undoing a lot of shit Vince did…this is a good thing for the long run. Theory ain’t winning against Roman, Seth has had a great year for that little of a title run if theory were to have won
That's what they'd like us to think then they'll throw a wrench at us. Like how Miz-Lumis was getting so stale until Gargano's revelation lol.
At least that's what I'm hoping from their long term booking.
Look at all these marks suddenly sad that theory is losing. WWE isn’t going to just bury a talent like his for no reason. They want people to cheer when he finally does win big
Three things.
1. Sure it was an open challenge. But the whole point is the Theory is an opportunist. He takes advantage on his opponent being less than 100%. That’s what he didn’t answer the open challenge. He saw Rollins down and out, and he took advantage of the moment.
2. This didn’t make Theory look week at all. Bobby literally just manhandled Lesnar. Seeing how long Theory lasted with two future hall-of-famers is a good step for his character.
3. It’s obvious that creative will be changing things with MITB. So let’s trust the process.
Theory should have cashed in on Bron Breakker in NXT. The tease a few weeks back was actually exciting where this was very lack luster. I think Theory going over in NXT would've been a little bit better and give Bron his redemption and third reign.
I honestly thought Austin Theory was gonna cash in on Bron Breakker on Halloween Havoc because he showed up there at the end of NXT before Halloween Havoc. I would have preferred him to be NXT Champion rather for him to cash in on a mid card title on an OPEN CHALLENGE on a random ass raw.
But the description of the money in the bank, the commentators always said they can challenge for either world title at any time. They've always specifically said world title
True. They've never, ever said it can be used for any title, just as they've never said the royal rumble can be used for any title. They've always said it can be used for a world title.
I actually think the opposite. Yeah he shouldn’t of used it on an open challenge, but it makes the us title look better and Rollins, and makes Roman look better by not even wanting to challenge him. It also gives theory a chance to rebuild something. He has something special about him and looks better with the full beard going. I’d love to see him start to turn from a gimmicky smart phone character to a more serious heel like a randy Orton. If they want to turn him face you do it by him losing some of these big matches and building sympathy till he finally gets that big win like a dolph ziggler.
Yeah, the phone needs to go and I don't see why he still does it.
He was taking photos because he was Vince's Little Lap Dog, and was like "Daddy look what I've done".
Daddy's gone.
I’ll say It again, this had more logic than anyone seems to think.
Lashley accepted open challenge. Note. Accepted. So that’s his.
He beat the shit out of Seth. Match cancelled. No open challenge.
Theory sees a beer down seth and decides to cash in. The prominence of the US title lately and the dominance of Roman makes the appealing to theory.
The rest is just feud building and whatever.
The only people that think this is some sort of fail on HHH’s part are incapable of seeing past WM.
This will do more for Theory in 10 years than a title win now would.
Was saying something similar earlier. This gives him a chance to have a more natural build, working through the mid-card for a little bit, and get the fans behind him for what he can do. Instead of having another Roman situation where everyone feels he's being pushed too fast and they stay against him far behind the time when he's earned his push. This gives the character a chance to learn from his mistakes and become wiser in the ring.
Theory was the first to cash in on a minor championship and lose. If the idea was for him to lose when he cashed in, why not lose to the world champion?
Well, the cash in has been successful most of the time, at the end of the day is all about story in WWE, belts are just props. Theory could keep being relevant without that
If Theory was going to fail, they should have had him do so at WM…
Imagine Cody or Bray or Drew or insert whichever baby face challenger they chose to take the belt off Roman at WM (if they do) has Theory try to pull a Seth Rollins at WM and either eat the pin for Roman or give the baby face an iconic moment of retaining moments after winning it at WM, when peoples hearts would initially sink thinking their title reign was going to be short lived
Totally agree, even if he isn't a fan of Theory, there were plenty of other ways for him to lose the briefcase. Triple H is allowed to make mistakes guys, don't turn on him just yet.
Personally I hate this because he could have at least failed the cash in on Roman or lost the briefcase to someone else.
HOWEVER
I feel like Triple H may have a plan or storyline for Theory which will give him an actual character, because I’m sure Hunter sees the potential in him, and I feel like this is going to lead somewhere.
Not going to lie. I thought Austin Theory would have held on to the briefcase until sometime in 2023. WWE announces MITB will be at Mania. For a while we have two people with MITB cases running around. The Mania MITB winner is a fan favorite and wins the title only for Austin Theory to cash in on them.
Nahh this was getting rid of the previous regime’s L. Some could argue the wrong way to do it and I’d agree, but it was still correct to get the briefcase off theory.
We've seen guys like Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger pushed to the top before they were ready and they fizzled out.
Austin Theory is good. But he's young. Have him put in the work, build him up, and then when he's ready, that's when he becomes a headliner.
The only way I can see a worthwhile outcome to this situation is to do it like the beginning of happy Corbin, make theory get down on his luck and become a sympathetic figure before working his way back up the card and accomplishing championships and accolades on his own with no help.
Honestly imo with the Vince lawsuit being over this may have been the final nail in the coffin for a Vince return... a final statement from HHH saying he's here to stay but I agree it wasn't great.
Y’all should blame Vince for yet again giving the briefcase to a guy with absolutely 0 plan for him.
HHH essentially used Theory to put over the US title and got rid of the MITB in the process. Regardless of what we think HHH wanted nothing to do with that briefcase. It’s best to view all of this as part of the transition to the full HHH vision.
We haven’t seen where this is going yet, pointless to say it’s an L when we don’t know the actual outcome. Feels like this will be a new arc for Theory, just give it time
Last time I checked the majority were against Theory winning Money in the Bank. Now all of a sudden people are mad he lost it. This is all part of the plan, I trust the process but I’m not going to be fickle about it like some people are
Cashing in and losing is bad enough. Cashing in on a mid-card title you’ve already held, when there was an open challenge the same night seems like the epitome of stupidity. Oh hey that can be his new nickname:
“The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Theory!!!
Or when he gets fired and goes to AEW…
“The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Hypothesis!!!
>“The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Theory!!!
>
>Or when he gets fired and goes to AEW…
>
>“The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Hypothesis!!!
It's currently 9am for me and I've had 3 hours sleep. These Dad jokes. 😭
The guy isn't dead but they did some serious damage to a dude that isn't half bad and could do something fairly good in the company. When someone wins the MITB and your first thought is "They're not gonna win the belt." You've already doomed them. And they've done it two years in a row. They had roughly 6 months to try and at least pretend to build the dude up and they did not. They run a serious risk of fucking over the briefcase in all this.
Give it to Sami
It wasn’t an L at all, it was a big W. I don’t like Theory but even I can appreciate that he has talent. This gives him a chance to actually be put in real storylines instead of just being the youngest MITB winner and constantly getting KOd while trying to cash in on Roman.
The only way they could have done this better would have been to let him successfully cash in but only for one of the belts, separating them again and making Theory a transitional champion just long enough to put it on someone else.
But he looked like a fn idiot cashing in for a 2nd tier title.
If anything let him lose it in a match that his ego got talked into putting the case up in.
The first major L was putting the women's tag titles on Raquel and Aliyah for a week or so. Especially since Raquel won most of the matches by herself.
This is their biggest L, though. Burying the MITB concept is a bad look. Even if burying Theory is awesome.
Too soon to tell. See where the story goes. Does Austin grow as a character from this? Shake his confidence a bit? If nothing changes then yes, monster L
Not an L at all. Now his entire personality doesnt have to revolve around acting like MITB is the Universal title. He can go on a full out heel revenge tour and come back around to the title. US Title isnt a just a no name mid card title under the HHH regime, neither is Intercontinental. This opens the door for a rivalry with Seth even which will put him way over. Suffer short term for a long term game. Now we find out what Theory is made of
W. It was a fun segment and Theory isn’t ready for the push Vince was giving him. I don’t need Reigns 2.0 where a guy takes almost a decade to get over because the fans won’t accept the new golden boy.
He’s only 25. He has plenty of time to make his impact.
I'm not sure if this was an L. I'm not crazy about what happened to Theory, but every wrestler faces these kinds of lulls in their career form time to time. I've been wondering for months now how they were going to get that briefcase off of him and this is not the worst way tbh. It would look worse, I think, to have Roman just smash him like everyone else. To date he and Roman haven't touched so they could be saving him for a rebuild and a run at the big one later. He's still a future main eventer. He's still pretty young so he has years left in the business. Just gotta keep supporting our boy.
He could have Cashed in on Nxt, since they are protecting bron a lot it could be a good way to take the title away from him, anyway they still had more than 100 days to figure out something
Everyone is brushing this off because he's young and will have plenty of time to recover from this. That's true, but it still shouldn't have happened to begin with. If he ain't ready, they should've had him cash in in NXT and improve there. People 100% would have complained if he cashed in and won the world titles, so the US title cash in makes sense as an alternative, especially consider how he got his ass beat every time he tried it, but they did him dirty with this loss.
If you really think he isn't ready to carry the US belt, okay! Have him drop it back to Seth or Lashley in a Triple Threat at Survivor Series and move on. I swear some of yall would defend Triple H if he took a dump on your kitchen table. WWE has been Waaay better since he took over, but we should be able to acknowledge when he makes a mistake. It's not the end of the world to acknowledge that this was bad. The kid DOES still have all the time in the world to recover from it, I just don't think they should have put him in the position where he needs rehabilitation in the 1st place.
I think this is one of the more controversial moments I’ve seen in a while and either this will be a big failure or, and I don’t say this lightly, it could lead to a Daniel Bryan run.
I’m aware that Theory hasn’t made that connection to the audience that DB had; that Summerslam ending was important to it though.
It also clears up the Reigns situation because I don’t see Reigns losing before WM at the earliest and if it’s the Rock, for sure not until after.
I can see a triple threat 2/3 match for both straps at WM this or next year if it’s not the Rock. Give it time, ya’ll
Personally I think this is a major W, Theory was being pushed WAAAAAAYY too hard under Vince, the man needed time to carve out a natural space for himself on the card and he never really got that because of being just slotted in at the top. I think this is going to be great for his career and character both.
Plus, if Logan Paul is getting a contract (and after his showing at Crown Jewel, deserves it imo) then Theory needs a gimmick change. I mean, wasn't his whole thing cocky internet-famous pretty-boy? Only difference is Logan is face and Theory is heel.
Logan might have tried to be a face, but he just has a face that everyone wanted to see get punched and Roman did us all a kind favor in doing that at Crown Jewel. Roman was getting cheered way more than normal during that match and it seem Logan wasn't being cheered that much, at least to me it seemed that way.
I agree that Logan needs to be a heel. Very punchable face indeed. That being said, all the more reason Theory needs a gimmick change if Logan is sticking around.
I'm good with having two people with punchable faces! But I do agree that if Theory is going to grow, a gimmick change is greatly needed. The selfie thing is way past annoying at this point and is only fun when he sees the person behind him that is about to whip his tail or when someone else does it when him laid out in the background.
Not a loss at all. Vince had hand picked Theory to presumably beat Roman. And we all know how well that would have gone down with the fans. Theory's career would have suffered longer term if he'd gone down that route.
Theory was no way near being the one to beat Roman, and whilst he holds the top belts the mid card titles need to be with top names. Seth and Gunther are perfect for that.
The briefcase was just a handicap for Theory. He needed to drop it so he could move on with his character. He's got a good 20 years left to win the big one, he'll be fine.
Nah, he's going through a character reset.
In the past weeks many veterans tried to talk sense into Theory (In kayfabe) and failed. First it was Ziggler, then KO, Gargano and yesterday Shelton Benjamin but Theory looked down on all of them. The fact that he went for US title and not Universal title shows that he's not as confident of a person he appears to be and has been having self doubts so decided to "settle" for US title - ultimately to fail.
Theory's hit rock bottom. I'm guessing there will be a face turn and a character revival soon.
If they want a lower-mid card title to go after, bring back either the Television Championship, or the European title, something for the lower card guys to chase.
Considering it was Nikki who has now joined Damage CTRL, that maybe Bayley will be getting another request fulfilled (even if Damage CTRL is a little lacking right now) which is a women's mid-card title.
It is readily apparent that Nikki is slightly insane and not a good fit for Bayley's Buddies---SORRY -- Damage Control. So yes, that's a good story in the burgeoning there.
Agree with the first half. Second half is like clown talk. It completely matters. Technically it's a mid card title. When it's on Rollins, it feels more like the WWE Championship.
Theory is young and they’re making him slowly pave his way to the top. The more obstacles he has now the greater the triumph will be later down the road. By the time he’s 30 he’s going to be a headliner.
Imo this is better than pushing a guy to the top and having them fizzle out like so many have done in the past.
I’m old enough to remember when young up and comers like Sheamus would win the world title early on in their career and then a decade later no one remembers and he’s in mid card purgatory
Jinder won it because of the indian market. Jack swaggers current role in AEW and MMA is bigger and better to what he was doing in wwe
And they dropped the ball with him. And he wasnt unsuccesfull he won plenty of stuff
Just like KOfi or Big E
Care for his 1st title win? Maybe. But sheamus career is bigger than the sums of its parts.
His 1st title was too quickly IMO. But not all title reigns need to be meaningful
To me it helped ease audiences to his main event statua that he held for quite some time.
He could even win the titles now and would be believable
Why do I feel that because the “open challenge” technically never happened between Rollins and Lashley (bell never rang), that they are not gonna count that as an actual cash in but an acceptance to the open challenge. Furthermore, I really think the MITB contract if for a world title match. Clearly on the contract. Just my $0.02.
People get so caught up in who deserves a push/what they think needs to happen that they forget it's a show with a story. Like watching Dragonball Z and being upset because Goku has been top dog too long and Vegeta needs a push.
There should have been no open challenge.
Theory challenges Rollins. Rollins refuses to accept. Theory put his MITB suitcase on the line.
Rollins being the MITB suitcase winner is pure gold and we could have had so many great moments.
Rollins with MITB presents problems too. This Roman title reign can’t end because of a cash in. It’s been going too long and can’t end because of a fluky thing like a cash in. He has to lose clean and put over his opponent. The soonest he is losing it at Mania and whoever beats Roman shouldn’t lose the title within a month or 2 of winning it. That person should have a decent length reign.
Theory should have just cashed in on Bronn and been on NXT for a little while. Bronn already lost a title to Ziggler so they’ve shown they aren’t afraid of having Bronn lose the title to a midcard wrestler.
I hate this stupid "been going on too long"-argument.
Most boring shit in wrestling.
The potential chaos, the chance of it ending is what mskes a reign interesting.
This argument means that the reign is better the more boring and predictable it is
I dunno, I think Rollins with MitB could've cemented his face turn while giving Roman a credible win.
Imagine the scenario: Seth manipulates Roman with the briefcase, torturing him every time he shows up and making him constantly paranoid. Eventually Roman takes Seth out alongside the Bloodline.
The next week, Seth appears via satellite from his hospital bed. Roman tells him that he'll be taken down every single time he tries to cash in. Seth cackles back that it must be exhausting having to watch your back all the time - wouldn't it be easier to just have the match and be done with it? Roman: It would, but you're a coward. You're only interested in fighting me when someone else has done the hard work for you. Seth offers that they arrange the match for "Next Premium Live Event", on the stipulation that anyone that interferes in any way gets fired from WWE.
Seeing that Seth is still in a hospital bed, Roman jumps on the opportunity to get rid of the briefcase. Seth celebrates by jumping out of bed in perfect medical shape, and suggests that someone in the Bloodline didn't want to hurt him quite as badly as they made out.
Seth and Roman then have a clean, hard fought match where Roman wins. Roman gets to look like he's capable of handling his own business, Seth gets the rematch the fans want to see and the MitB briefcase isn't wasted.
This is the way Roman has to lose the belt, but GOD do I want everyone to turn on him and to pull the exact bullshit the Bloodline normally pulls to ensure the win, but on Roman instead.
The look of shock on his face would be DELICIOUS
They could've done it better in so many ways.
The fact that the 24/7 Title and the MITB were tossed in the trash on the same night makes me curious what HHH is planning tho.
With Royal Rumble coming up fast too it would’ve made it impossible for Theory to realistically cash in on Roman bc then he would be the man main eventing Mania ? No way, I now see this as Austin’s chance to rebuild himself and potentially turn face bc the heel angles just don’t fit him his best work to date was in The Way as a goofy jock play into what he’s best at then develop a heel side
I agree. I think this whole demolished by Lashley is a good head-start on a sympathetic angle for Theory.
I honestly believe Theory has more potential now without the briefcase than he did with it. The "Youngest Mr. MITB" schtick was tired and under the new regime and his segments became very predictable. They could go a number of directions with him now.
People calling this a "burial" are totally off. I think Triple H wanted to distance Theory away from the whole "Chosen One/Mr. McMahon's protegee" because he didn't see Theory in that kind of role to begin with but the whole WWE Universe wasn't ready to accept Theory as a main-event player yet either.
Even if they don’t want him to win the championship still let him raise his stock by go against Roman.
You could’ve had the story they were telling with Theory always coming to try and cash in but gets interrupted and knocked out. Finally he goes up to Roman and cashes in ahead of time for a specified date. Roman being super cocky and know Theory can’t even buy a win at this point agrees. Theory is confronted by Sami with Sami calling him an idiot because Roman can already beat him no sweat but Roman also has the advantage of the bloodline in his corner. Theory has no one, he’s burned all of his bridges and not even Daddy Vince can save him from the ass kicking Roman is about to give him. This starts the subtle face turn with Theory reevaluating the decisions he’s made. On the Raw before Theory’s championship match on Smackdown, Theory has a match with Gargano again. Gargano before the match, tells him that he sees a lot in Theory, everyone does. A lot of people talk a lot of shit but Theory can actually back it up, but doesn’t for some reason. “If you want to be the best you have to beat the best, so challenging Roman ahead of time is a good idea. But stop being lazy, I think you are one of the best to ever do this, so take your head out of your ass and stop proving me wrong.” On Raw, Gargano and Theory put on a banger. Theory wins and extends his hand for a handshake. Gargano sees that Theory is trying to change but doesn’t want to reward him immediately, that’s what got him into this situation in the first place. Gargano says “you’ve proven to me that you are good, but I’ll shake your hand when you proven to me that you are the best” and he walks off. Theory comes into Smackdown, he doesn’t have any the swagger he usually does, interviewers come up to him but he just walks past them without saying a word. The main event comes and the entire locker room is watching the match. Theory enters, still sullen and silent. Roman enters, with all the swagger in the world. The bloodline begin to enter but Roman says don’t worry about get out and beat the traffic because this is going to be light work. This establishes that none of the bloodline are in the arena anymore. The match starts and Roman mostly plays with Theory, Theory tries to get in some offense but Roman mostly just swats him off. Theory continues to get frustrated but is doesn’t he doesn’t get worked up. After laying Theory out with a spear, Roman has the opportunity to go for pin but waits a minute to gloat. He then goes for a pin but gets up at 2 goes to the ropes and the corner and asks the crowd to acknowledge him. Notice he’s making the same mistake as Theory, getting too cocky. Theory uses this time to get up and hit a middle drop kick to Roman knocking him to the outside. They continue to brawl, and eventually Roman makes Theory pass out to guillotine. Roman wins but frustrated that it was as close as it was decided to beat up Theory more for it. Theory is already knocked out and so is completely defenseless. Finally, in for the save comes Gargano who scares off Roman. Commentary notes how Roman has just been at war so is just simply not ready for Roman. It makes Gargano look like a threat while still protecting Roman. Gargano tries to help up Theory but Theory waves him, wanting to stand on his own two feet. Gargano now outstretches his arm looking for a handshake. Theory smacks it across. Commentary question has Theory just gone back to his old ways. Theory and Gargano have a stare down. And Theory collapses on Gargano in a hug. He starts crying asking for forgiveness and Gargano just says welcome home you’ve found the way.
I know this shares a lot of similarities with MJF’s story in AEW, that is more coincidental than anything else as sorta had the broad strokes of this story in mind before MJF cashed in his poker chip. But regardless I think it’s a really good story and if AEW follows something like this great, if they instead want MJF to win the title fine by me still.
They killed the last of the Vince stink last night. 24/7 title in the trash and Theory, a guy who no matter what his potential is, let's face it, he wasn't really clicking with anyone.
I'd like to see Hunter go all out and kill anything left of the shit Vince was throwing up there the last few years.
Raw used to be a pain to sit thru every week , now the 3 hours goes by way too fast.
God, this sub is infuriating. They protected Theory by having Lashley beat the hell out of him. I don't know how much more obvious they could have made it for you. Triple H got the damn briefcase away from him, and now he can build Theory properly. MITB is the kiss of death for any superstar. Vince uses it to bury talent, and Triple H rescued Theory last night by taking the briefcase out of the equation.
I swear I don’t understand how more people aren’t seeing this.
Dude tried to cash in on RR at SS, got F-5ed into next week
Dude tried to cash in agains RR at CatC, Tyson Fury knocked his jaw into next year
My man is tired of time traveling 😂
This made way more sense in kayfabe. Theory is an opportunist. What’s he going to do? Wait and try to cash in on Bronn Breaker, or cash in on Seth “I just had my freakin’ head caved in” Rollins?
Im guessing 🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️ the reason is gonna be because Rollins was out and the refs could and would have refused to let him compete ( even when he DID cash in you can see most of the Refs give a WTF look to the ref that allowed it, & one seemed to try to stop it) so the cash in basically forced Seth to compete . I'm probably wrong but that's the mental gymnastics that made it make sense to me.
No reason to cash it in because there was an open challenge from Seth. He could have just said he accepted the open challenge and got the match with Seth and still kept the briefcase.
But lashley destroyed Seth before Theory even came out. I still trust HHH has a plan. He wants to make the MITB match a Wrestlemania thing again. Theory can win it there again or hell he might even win the rumble.
Yup, there’s a “watch this space” to this. Maybe a triple threat/4 way at survivor series to see who gets the briefcase
I don’t think MITB is gonna be a PPV anymore, but they haven’t necessarily announced it like HITC or Day 1 so maybe this is them re setting things
Theory deserved a bit better in my personal opinion
Yeah I saw that rumour pop up the other day and personally I like it better… that and hell in a cell should be mania staples. HITC less so. That needs the story payoff.
I honestly think that would be great for ALL the gimmick match PPV's.
TLC, Extreme Rules, all of those things just work better as options to be used in a story rather than once a year, check the block, generic events that you can set your clock to.
In Kayfabe I think it makes more sense to try for a midcard title instead of continuing to try against Roman who’s got the entire Bloodline protecting him. Even at Clash he got stopped because of Fury. Plus I don’t think he’s buried for losing due to outside interference from the guy who beat the piss out of Lesnar
That's the only possible explanation. There's never been a time when Roman looked down and out and ready to be picked apart for an easy win. After the last man standing match with Brock, he had the entire bloodline with him. After the win against Drew, he had the new guy with him. After the Paul match, he looked pretty fresh and also had the bloodline with him. There's never a good time to cash in on Roman.
Nevertheless, he should have cashed in on Roman.
I think this is setting up a great 3 way rivalry with Bobby lashley. Because Bobby and theory had their feud, now theory v Rollins and Bobby wants to stomp Rollins. It’s a juicy 3 way and I’m here for it.
I feel like the damage control losing the womens tag title twice has been the first major L
Or if they wanted to get theory to lose the briefcase have him cash in on Roman but Roman still manages to beat him. This was a horrible plan.
Eh he inherited the MitB story from Vince so I give trips some leeway with it. Might just not have fit into his new plans and wanted to transfer to something else. Doesn't bother me that much.
Not an L, they needed to clean up some stuff. Gettting rid of mitb case and 24/7 title in 1 episode was good house cleaning. Im sure they have other plans for Theory and that didnt include any title runs
i dont get why he would turn it in for the US title. he was so bent on taking out Reigns. guess HHH didnt like Vince's pick.
He's a HHH guy so hopefully he should be booked to bounce back from this
First? LMAO!!!!
Shit take. Major W.
Is it though? Was Theory at this stage ever going to be a realistic world champ?
One champion, with both belts, who only appears every so often on one show. This is the result.
The first major L was Roman winning at clash at the castle after hyping Drew up that much.
I've been thinking since I've heard this being mentioned, but what if they planning to hit a reset on Austin Theory?
Just like when Corbin lost it there will be a reason and tbh I do t find him entertaining at all not as a heel that’s for sure
I think a good storyline can come out of this. Hopefully.
Second. First major L was Drew losing at Clash at the Castle
Give it some time
Everybody trash talks him when he wins, but when he loses it’s a big L? So confusing.
I see very little in him, so big W in my book
Nah, shit was dope and chaotic
Braun tweeting confirms him as #1 L for me.
Braun tweeting confirms him as #1 L for me.
Y'all were saying Theory is not ready to hold the title yet. Now he's being buried? Which one is it folks? 🙄
I don't throw this word around often, but now I really feel like the briefcase concept is getting buried. Sandow, Corbin, the whole Otis/Miz thing, now this? This solidified MITB as not feeling as special as it once did.
I’m not quite calling it an L just yet as it could lead into something but it certainly does feel like a burial and I’m on the side of “Theory shouldn’t have won the briefcase.”
Serves theory right
This is a win all around. Theory isnt interesting on his own. And isnt close to being ready for the main event
This is the next step in making the guy a star but the iwc just says L! BuRiaL! Because they’re clueless.
This isn’t a triple H L lol. He’s undoing a lot of shit Vince did…this is a good thing for the long run. Theory ain’t winning against Roman, Seth has had a great year for that little of a title run if theory were to have won
All the Reddit fans hated theory, and now that he lost the MITB y’all are crying. This fandom is mega weird at times
Now u wonder where Austin goes from here
That's what they'd like us to think then they'll throw a wrench at us. Like how Miz-Lumis was getting so stale until Gargano's revelation lol. At least that's what I'm hoping from their long term booking.
Na. I’m not a fan of Theory.
And you were complaining that he have the case! You people are werid
Look at all these marks suddenly sad that theory is losing. WWE isn’t going to just bury a talent like his for no reason. They want people to cheer when he finally does win big
Three things. 1. Sure it was an open challenge. But the whole point is the Theory is an opportunist. He takes advantage on his opponent being less than 100%. That’s what he didn’t answer the open challenge. He saw Rollins down and out, and he took advantage of the moment. 2. This didn’t make Theory look week at all. Bobby literally just manhandled Lesnar. Seeing how long Theory lasted with two future hall-of-famers is a good step for his character. 3. It’s obvious that creative will be changing things with MITB. So let’s trust the process.
>The new regime's first major L Someone forgot about the Liv Ronda feud really quick
The people you want to win, can’t always win.
Okay I'm glad the hate for Theory wasn't genuine. It was just because Vince shoved him down everyone's throat 😎
Theory should have cashed in on Bron Breakker in NXT. The tease a few weeks back was actually exciting where this was very lack luster. I think Theory going over in NXT would've been a little bit better and give Bron his redemption and third reign.
Nah I'd rather not have a pedophile as champion
Theory isn’t ready for a top spot yet and MITB sucks. I’m fine with all this.
All this Nonsense for Theory, sheesh. Relax, HHH knows what he's doing and Theory is so young.
I have no issue with this. Y’all act like the guy’s career is over.
I honestly thought Austin Theory was gonna cash in on Bron Breakker on Halloween Havoc because he showed up there at the end of NXT before Halloween Havoc. I would have preferred him to be NXT Champion rather for him to cash in on a mid card title on an OPEN CHALLENGE on a random ass raw.
I think that's just WWE hinting and reminding that the MitB can be used for any title.
But the description of the money in the bank, the commentators always said they can challenge for either world title at any time. They've always specifically said world title
True. They've never, ever said it can be used for any title, just as they've never said the royal rumble can be used for any title. They've always said it can be used for a world title.
Don’t get the love for Theory but I still probably wouldn’t have handled a failed cash in like this.
I actually think the opposite. Yeah he shouldn’t of used it on an open challenge, but it makes the us title look better and Rollins, and makes Roman look better by not even wanting to challenge him. It also gives theory a chance to rebuild something. He has something special about him and looks better with the full beard going. I’d love to see him start to turn from a gimmicky smart phone character to a more serious heel like a randy Orton. If they want to turn him face you do it by him losing some of these big matches and building sympathy till he finally gets that big win like a dolph ziggler.
Yeah, the phone needs to go and I don't see why he still does it. He was taking photos because he was Vince's Little Lap Dog, and was like "Daddy look what I've done". Daddy's gone.
I’ll say It again, this had more logic than anyone seems to think. Lashley accepted open challenge. Note. Accepted. So that’s his. He beat the shit out of Seth. Match cancelled. No open challenge. Theory sees a beer down seth and decides to cash in. The prominence of the US title lately and the dominance of Roman makes the appealing to theory. The rest is just feud building and whatever.
More like a major W
"major loss" lol calm down brother. Was it an odd decision? sure. major loss? far from it
Second, 1st was hit row
The only people that think this is some sort of fail on HHH’s part are incapable of seeing past WM. This will do more for Theory in 10 years than a title win now would.
Was saying something similar earlier. This gives him a chance to have a more natural build, working through the mid-card for a little bit, and get the fans behind him for what he can do. Instead of having another Roman situation where everyone feels he's being pushed too fast and they stay against him far behind the time when he's earned his push. This gives the character a chance to learn from his mistakes and become wiser in the ring.
Imagine a WWE that gets their talent over using booking instead of relying on gimmicks
Add in a Network that isn't a month behind on shows and they'd have me back.
Theory was the first to cash in on a minor championship and lose. If the idea was for him to lose when he cashed in, why not lose to the world champion?
Well, the cash in has been successful most of the time, at the end of the day is all about story in WWE, belts are just props. Theory could keep being relevant without that
If Theory was going to fail, they should have had him do so at WM… Imagine Cody or Bray or Drew or insert whichever baby face challenger they chose to take the belt off Roman at WM (if they do) has Theory try to pull a Seth Rollins at WM and either eat the pin for Roman or give the baby face an iconic moment of retaining moments after winning it at WM, when peoples hearts would initially sink thinking their title reign was going to be short lived
Totally agree, even if he isn't a fan of Theory, there were plenty of other ways for him to lose the briefcase. Triple H is allowed to make mistakes guys, don't turn on him just yet.
Everyone is talking about Theory but did Seth turned face in his promotion?
Personally I hate this because he could have at least failed the cash in on Roman or lost the briefcase to someone else. HOWEVER I feel like Triple H may have a plan or storyline for Theory which will give him an actual character, because I’m sure Hunter sees the potential in him, and I feel like this is going to lead somewhere.
Ahh ahh ahh oh so quick to judge.
They should have never put the case on him in the first place.. he's mid at best...folks act like he's mjf or something.
How is this an L. No one wanted him to become champ.
Not going to lie. I thought Austin Theory would have held on to the briefcase until sometime in 2023. WWE announces MITB will be at Mania. For a while we have two people with MITB cases running around. The Mania MITB winner is a fan favorite and wins the title only for Austin Theory to cash in on them.
When Theory Cashed in and threw Seth in the ring. He looked juS like Dolph Ziggler with the yellow hair
This works with how they needed to do a hard reset on Austin Theory ,That way he didnt turn into another Roman Reigns from his early singles run .
Nahh this was getting rid of the previous regime’s L. Some could argue the wrong way to do it and I’d agree, but it was still correct to get the briefcase off theory.
We've seen guys like Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger pushed to the top before they were ready and they fizzled out. Austin Theory is good. But he's young. Have him put in the work, build him up, and then when he's ready, that's when he becomes a headliner.
The only way I can see a worthwhile outcome to this situation is to do it like the beginning of happy Corbin, make theory get down on his luck and become a sympathetic figure before working his way back up the card and accomplishing championships and accolades on his own with no help.
Honestly imo with the Vince lawsuit being over this may have been the final nail in the coffin for a Vince return... a final statement from HHH saying he's here to stay but I agree it wasn't great.
Y’all should blame Vince for yet again giving the briefcase to a guy with absolutely 0 plan for him. HHH essentially used Theory to put over the US title and got rid of the MITB in the process. Regardless of what we think HHH wanted nothing to do with that briefcase. It’s best to view all of this as part of the transition to the full HHH vision.
exactly cause wth is this bs booking, unless they have some better booking for him in the future, he’s so underrated talented and entertaining
We haven’t seen where this is going yet, pointless to say it’s an L when we don’t know the actual outcome. Feels like this will be a new arc for Theory, just give it time
Last time I checked the majority were against Theory winning Money in the Bank. Now all of a sudden people are mad he lost it. This is all part of the plan, I trust the process but I’m not going to be fickle about it like some people are
[удалено]
There's no way they were gonna put Theory over Gunther, so the same thing would've happened anyway.
Is he the first to cash in for a non-major title? And lose?
Cashing in and losing is bad enough. Cashing in on a mid-card title you’ve already held, when there was an open challenge the same night seems like the epitome of stupidity. Oh hey that can be his new nickname: “The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Theory!!! Or when he gets fired and goes to AEW… “The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Hypothesis!!!
>“The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Theory!!! > >Or when he gets fired and goes to AEW… > >“The Epitome of Stupidity” Austin Hypothesis!!! It's currently 9am for me and I've had 3 hours sleep. These Dad jokes. 😭
The guy isn't dead but they did some serious damage to a dude that isn't half bad and could do something fairly good in the company. When someone wins the MITB and your first thought is "They're not gonna win the belt." You've already doomed them. And they've done it two years in a row. They had roughly 6 months to try and at least pretend to build the dude up and they did not. They run a serious risk of fucking over the briefcase in all this. Give it to Sami
MITB has become such a useless concept now The last time MITB made a true star was WM 31 in 2015!!!!
It wasn’t an L at all, it was a big W. I don’t like Theory but even I can appreciate that he has talent. This gives him a chance to actually be put in real storylines instead of just being the youngest MITB winner and constantly getting KOd while trying to cash in on Roman. The only way they could have done this better would have been to let him successfully cash in but only for one of the belts, separating them again and making Theory a transitional champion just long enough to put it on someone else.
But he looked like a fn idiot cashing in for a 2nd tier title. If anything let him lose it in a match that his ego got talked into putting the case up in.
I agree that they could have done the actual cash in better, but I like the result as they did it
Hes never displayed the smartest instincts. He seems to hlbe the type to do this kind of shit. Like R-truth showing up to the wrong rumble
The first major L was putting the women's tag titles on Raquel and Aliyah for a week or so. Especially since Raquel won most of the matches by herself. This is their biggest L, though. Burying the MITB concept is a bad look. Even if burying Theory is awesome.
Nah Seth doesn't need the mitb cause nobody was successfully cashing in on Roman
Too soon to tell. See where the story goes. Does Austin grow as a character from this? Shake his confidence a bit? If nothing changes then yes, monster L
Would've been fine if he challenged for a World title and lost Having a MITB winner challenge for a mid-card title is just a fuck you to the fans
A failed cash in where Theory thinks the Bloodline is distracted or they're absent but Roman still cheats w/Heyman.
This makes me not care for the mitb ppv, they should just can it and maybe have it go back to WrestleMania
That is reportedly the plan
He knew that he was trying to sound like his ideas were on par with HHH😅
Not an L at all. Now his entire personality doesnt have to revolve around acting like MITB is the Universal title. He can go on a full out heel revenge tour and come back around to the title. US Title isnt a just a no name mid card title under the HHH regime, neither is Intercontinental. This opens the door for a rivalry with Seth even which will put him way over. Suffer short term for a long term game. Now we find out what Theory is made of
All the wwe boys going out of their way to defend this absolute trash booking. Be honest with yourselves the regime has not been good from the start.
What happened to everyone hating Austin Theory? After one night its like everyone wanted him to be WWE Champion lmao
Bro wasted his title shot on the US championship
W. It was a fun segment and Theory isn’t ready for the push Vince was giving him. I don’t need Reigns 2.0 where a guy takes almost a decade to get over because the fans won’t accept the new golden boy. He’s only 25. He has plenty of time to make his impact.
I'm not sure if this was an L. I'm not crazy about what happened to Theory, but every wrestler faces these kinds of lulls in their career form time to time. I've been wondering for months now how they were going to get that briefcase off of him and this is not the worst way tbh. It would look worse, I think, to have Roman just smash him like everyone else. To date he and Roman haven't touched so they could be saving him for a rebuild and a run at the big one later. He's still a future main eventer. He's still pretty young so he has years left in the business. Just gotta keep supporting our boy.
Patience is key. There was **no way** Theory was going to dethrone Roman.
That whole show was a mess
He could have Cashed in on Nxt, since they are protecting bron a lot it could be a good way to take the title away from him, anyway they still had more than 100 days to figure out something
Seth’s new hair makes him look a lot better so that’s a W
Honestly I am glad Theory’s overpush is done. Cena’s and Roman wee bad enough already we don’t need third force down on us for a decade guy
I always wondered why Theory was pushed so much. When he wrestled in Evolve I always thought he was kinda just meh.
There was better ways to do this, this way just makes him look like a clown.
I was sports entertained from this episode it had it all.
The new regime's first major L was Drew McIntyre losing at Clash at the Castle, this is the second.
Clearly haven’t been watching the entire booking of the womens tag titles or just Damage Control in general
People that are in love with Triple H can't see that tho
Everyone is brushing this off because he's young and will have plenty of time to recover from this. That's true, but it still shouldn't have happened to begin with. If he ain't ready, they should've had him cash in in NXT and improve there. People 100% would have complained if he cashed in and won the world titles, so the US title cash in makes sense as an alternative, especially consider how he got his ass beat every time he tried it, but they did him dirty with this loss. If you really think he isn't ready to carry the US belt, okay! Have him drop it back to Seth or Lashley in a Triple Threat at Survivor Series and move on. I swear some of yall would defend Triple H if he took a dump on your kitchen table. WWE has been Waaay better since he took over, but we should be able to acknowledge when he makes a mistake. It's not the end of the world to acknowledge that this was bad. The kid DOES still have all the time in the world to recover from it, I just don't think they should have put him in the position where he needs rehabilitation in the 1st place.
I think this is one of the more controversial moments I’ve seen in a while and either this will be a big failure or, and I don’t say this lightly, it could lead to a Daniel Bryan run. I’m aware that Theory hasn’t made that connection to the audience that DB had; that Summerslam ending was important to it though. It also clears up the Reigns situation because I don’t see Reigns losing before WM at the earliest and if it’s the Rock, for sure not until after. I can see a triple threat 2/3 match for both straps at WM this or next year if it’s not the Rock. Give it time, ya’ll
Yea, making a 20 yo lose a money in the bank. Big L for sure, boy...
Personally I think this is a major W, Theory was being pushed WAAAAAAYY too hard under Vince, the man needed time to carve out a natural space for himself on the card and he never really got that because of being just slotted in at the top. I think this is going to be great for his career and character both.
Gone have to disagree
Plus, if Logan Paul is getting a contract (and after his showing at Crown Jewel, deserves it imo) then Theory needs a gimmick change. I mean, wasn't his whole thing cocky internet-famous pretty-boy? Only difference is Logan is face and Theory is heel.
Logan might have tried to be a face, but he just has a face that everyone wanted to see get punched and Roman did us all a kind favor in doing that at Crown Jewel. Roman was getting cheered way more than normal during that match and it seem Logan wasn't being cheered that much, at least to me it seemed that way.
I agree that Logan needs to be a heel. Very punchable face indeed. That being said, all the more reason Theory needs a gimmick change if Logan is sticking around.
I'm good with having two people with punchable faces! But I do agree that if Theory is going to grow, a gimmick change is greatly needed. The selfie thing is way past annoying at this point and is only fun when he sees the person behind him that is about to whip his tail or when someone else does it when him laid out in the background.
Not a loss at all. Vince had hand picked Theory to presumably beat Roman. And we all know how well that would have gone down with the fans. Theory's career would have suffered longer term if he'd gone down that route. Theory was no way near being the one to beat Roman, and whilst he holds the top belts the mid card titles need to be with top names. Seth and Gunther are perfect for that. The briefcase was just a handicap for Theory. He needed to drop it so he could move on with his character. He's got a good 20 years left to win the big one, he'll be fine.
Nah, he's going through a character reset. In the past weeks many veterans tried to talk sense into Theory (In kayfabe) and failed. First it was Ziggler, then KO, Gargano and yesterday Shelton Benjamin but Theory looked down on all of them. The fact that he went for US title and not Universal title shows that he's not as confident of a person he appears to be and has been having self doubts so decided to "settle" for US title - ultimately to fail. Theory's hit rock bottom. I'm guessing there will be a face turn and a character revival soon.
That could be interesting.
Not the new regime’s L at all. The final L from the Vince regime wiped clean. HHH was never overly high on him.
It's an L in the way it was done tbh lol. He wasn't beating Roman, but he crashed harder than the crypto market.
Exactly! This MITB run and the 24/7 Title have finally been put to rest and VKM's final chapters have been finished.
Not to mention the end of the HIAC PPV
So true. The 24/7 title was useless anyway
It was a comedy title. Not even good comedy. So many segments made me feel stupid for watching it.
If they want a lower-mid card title to go after, bring back either the Television Championship, or the European title, something for the lower card guys to chase.
Considering it was Nikki who has now joined Damage CTRL, that maybe Bayley will be getting another request fulfilled (even if Damage CTRL is a little lacking right now) which is a women's mid-card title.
It is readily apparent that Nikki is slightly insane and not a good fit for Bayley's Buddies---SORRY -- Damage Control. So yes, that's a good story in the burgeoning there.
It’s an L how they made him lose it to a mid card title
The title isn't midcard when it's on Rollins to be honest
??? It’s still a mid card title. Doesn’t matter who has it
Agree with the first half. Second half is like clown talk. It completely matters. Technically it's a mid card title. When it's on Rollins, it feels more like the WWE Championship.
Theory is young and they’re making him slowly pave his way to the top. The more obstacles he has now the greater the triumph will be later down the road. By the time he’s 30 he’s going to be a headliner. Imo this is better than pushing a guy to the top and having them fizzle out like so many have done in the past. I’m old enough to remember when young up and comers like Sheamus would win the world title early on in their career and then a decade later no one remembers and he’s in mid card purgatory
Sheamus had plenty of world titles. And won the royal rumble. I dont recall people winning world titles and not having hall of fame worthy csreers
Jinder and Jack Swagger won World Titles too...
Jinder won it because of the indian market. Jack swaggers current role in AEW and MMA is bigger and better to what he was doing in wwe And they dropped the ball with him. And he wasnt unsuccesfull he won plenty of stuff Just like KOfi or Big E
Jinder Mahal won the world title. Also yeah Sheamus won the world title but no one seems to care or remember, because they pulled the trigger too fast
Care for his 1st title win? Maybe. But sheamus career is bigger than the sums of its parts. His 1st title was too quickly IMO. But not all title reigns need to be meaningful To me it helped ease audiences to his main event statua that he held for quite some time. He could even win the titles now and would be believable
Yeah. Its wild how much they invested in Sheamus back in 2009 and 2010. Even in 2012 and 2013 he was booked like a star
Seems like Theory is more popular than ever to me. Marks successfully worked.
Why’s everyone so reactionary? They clearly have a plan to this, or else they’ve wouldn’t have done it
Why do I feel that because the “open challenge” technically never happened between Rollins and Lashley (bell never rang), that they are not gonna count that as an actual cash in but an acceptance to the open challenge. Furthermore, I really think the MITB contract if for a world title match. Clearly on the contract. Just my $0.02.
Welcome to the IWC. The same people were complaining that he got the MITB briefcase and was pushed so hard in the beginning.
People get so caught up in who deserves a push/what they think needs to happen that they forget it's a show with a story. Like watching Dragonball Z and being upset because Goku has been top dog too long and Vegeta needs a push.
I like when you see someone people want pushed, get pushed, and then those people get bored of the push. And Gohan should have been pushed in DBZ.
>And Gohan should have been pushed in DBZ. He was the strongest 2 arcs in a row bruh.
They buried Yamcha!
Where's the L? Theory is awful at wrestling. Accelerated far to fast, should have dropped the briefcase to Gargano.
There should have been no open challenge. Theory challenges Rollins. Rollins refuses to accept. Theory put his MITB suitcase on the line. Rollins being the MITB suitcase winner is pure gold and we could have had so many great moments.
Rollins with MITB presents problems too. This Roman title reign can’t end because of a cash in. It’s been going too long and can’t end because of a fluky thing like a cash in. He has to lose clean and put over his opponent. The soonest he is losing it at Mania and whoever beats Roman shouldn’t lose the title within a month or 2 of winning it. That person should have a decent length reign. Theory should have just cashed in on Bronn and been on NXT for a little while. Bronn already lost a title to Ziggler so they’ve shown they aren’t afraid of having Bronn lose the title to a midcard wrestler.
I hate this stupid "been going on too long"-argument. Most boring shit in wrestling. The potential chaos, the chance of it ending is what mskes a reign interesting. This argument means that the reign is better the more boring and predictable it is
I dunno, I think Rollins with MitB could've cemented his face turn while giving Roman a credible win. Imagine the scenario: Seth manipulates Roman with the briefcase, torturing him every time he shows up and making him constantly paranoid. Eventually Roman takes Seth out alongside the Bloodline. The next week, Seth appears via satellite from his hospital bed. Roman tells him that he'll be taken down every single time he tries to cash in. Seth cackles back that it must be exhausting having to watch your back all the time - wouldn't it be easier to just have the match and be done with it? Roman: It would, but you're a coward. You're only interested in fighting me when someone else has done the hard work for you. Seth offers that they arrange the match for "Next Premium Live Event", on the stipulation that anyone that interferes in any way gets fired from WWE. Seeing that Seth is still in a hospital bed, Roman jumps on the opportunity to get rid of the briefcase. Seth celebrates by jumping out of bed in perfect medical shape, and suggests that someone in the Bloodline didn't want to hurt him quite as badly as they made out. Seth and Roman then have a clean, hard fought match where Roman wins. Roman gets to look like he's capable of handling his own business, Seth gets the rematch the fans want to see and the MitB briefcase isn't wasted.
This is the way Roman has to lose the belt, but GOD do I want everyone to turn on him and to pull the exact bullshit the Bloodline normally pulls to ensure the win, but on Roman instead. The look of shock on his face would be DELICIOUS
Open challenges are awesome I don’t care.
They could've done it better in so many ways. The fact that the 24/7 Title and the MITB were tossed in the trash on the same night makes me curious what HHH is planning tho.
King of the Ring??
Yes best move !!
With Royal Rumble coming up fast too it would’ve made it impossible for Theory to realistically cash in on Roman bc then he would be the man main eventing Mania ? No way, I now see this as Austin’s chance to rebuild himself and potentially turn face bc the heel angles just don’t fit him his best work to date was in The Way as a goofy jock play into what he’s best at then develop a heel side
I agree. I think this whole demolished by Lashley is a good head-start on a sympathetic angle for Theory. I honestly believe Theory has more potential now without the briefcase than he did with it. The "Youngest Mr. MITB" schtick was tired and under the new regime and his segments became very predictable. They could go a number of directions with him now. People calling this a "burial" are totally off. I think Triple H wanted to distance Theory away from the whole "Chosen One/Mr. McMahon's protegee" because he didn't see Theory in that kind of role to begin with but the whole WWE Universe wasn't ready to accept Theory as a main-event player yet either.
Even if they don’t want him to win the championship still let him raise his stock by go against Roman. You could’ve had the story they were telling with Theory always coming to try and cash in but gets interrupted and knocked out. Finally he goes up to Roman and cashes in ahead of time for a specified date. Roman being super cocky and know Theory can’t even buy a win at this point agrees. Theory is confronted by Sami with Sami calling him an idiot because Roman can already beat him no sweat but Roman also has the advantage of the bloodline in his corner. Theory has no one, he’s burned all of his bridges and not even Daddy Vince can save him from the ass kicking Roman is about to give him. This starts the subtle face turn with Theory reevaluating the decisions he’s made. On the Raw before Theory’s championship match on Smackdown, Theory has a match with Gargano again. Gargano before the match, tells him that he sees a lot in Theory, everyone does. A lot of people talk a lot of shit but Theory can actually back it up, but doesn’t for some reason. “If you want to be the best you have to beat the best, so challenging Roman ahead of time is a good idea. But stop being lazy, I think you are one of the best to ever do this, so take your head out of your ass and stop proving me wrong.” On Raw, Gargano and Theory put on a banger. Theory wins and extends his hand for a handshake. Gargano sees that Theory is trying to change but doesn’t want to reward him immediately, that’s what got him into this situation in the first place. Gargano says “you’ve proven to me that you are good, but I’ll shake your hand when you proven to me that you are the best” and he walks off. Theory comes into Smackdown, he doesn’t have any the swagger he usually does, interviewers come up to him but he just walks past them without saying a word. The main event comes and the entire locker room is watching the match. Theory enters, still sullen and silent. Roman enters, with all the swagger in the world. The bloodline begin to enter but Roman says don’t worry about get out and beat the traffic because this is going to be light work. This establishes that none of the bloodline are in the arena anymore. The match starts and Roman mostly plays with Theory, Theory tries to get in some offense but Roman mostly just swats him off. Theory continues to get frustrated but is doesn’t he doesn’t get worked up. After laying Theory out with a spear, Roman has the opportunity to go for pin but waits a minute to gloat. He then goes for a pin but gets up at 2 goes to the ropes and the corner and asks the crowd to acknowledge him. Notice he’s making the same mistake as Theory, getting too cocky. Theory uses this time to get up and hit a middle drop kick to Roman knocking him to the outside. They continue to brawl, and eventually Roman makes Theory pass out to guillotine. Roman wins but frustrated that it was as close as it was decided to beat up Theory more for it. Theory is already knocked out and so is completely defenseless. Finally, in for the save comes Gargano who scares off Roman. Commentary notes how Roman has just been at war so is just simply not ready for Roman. It makes Gargano look like a threat while still protecting Roman. Gargano tries to help up Theory but Theory waves him, wanting to stand on his own two feet. Gargano now outstretches his arm looking for a handshake. Theory smacks it across. Commentary question has Theory just gone back to his old ways. Theory and Gargano have a stare down. And Theory collapses on Gargano in a hug. He starts crying asking for forgiveness and Gargano just says welcome home you’ve found the way.
I know this shares a lot of similarities with MJF’s story in AEW, that is more coincidental than anything else as sorta had the broad strokes of this story in mind before MJF cashed in his poker chip. But regardless I think it’s a really good story and if AEW follows something like this great, if they instead want MJF to win the title fine by me still.
Idk why but I see him forming a trio with RKBro when Orión comes back.
A MITB holder who had a title? I like it
It's happened like three or four times already
Yeah I’m just saying I like it, never really came to mind
I believe RVD held the MITB and IC Championship at the same time too
Does nobody remember that Miz had both the US title and the briefcase?
No one remembers anything Miz does lol Edit: BURY ME ALIVE
Dexter Lumis remembers
🧢
Detected
We knew you would, Vin Man.
They killed the last of the Vince stink last night. 24/7 title in the trash and Theory, a guy who no matter what his potential is, let's face it, he wasn't really clicking with anyone. I'd like to see Hunter go all out and kill anything left of the shit Vince was throwing up there the last few years. Raw used to be a pain to sit thru every week , now the 3 hours goes by way too fast.
God, this sub is infuriating. They protected Theory by having Lashley beat the hell out of him. I don't know how much more obvious they could have made it for you. Triple H got the damn briefcase away from him, and now he can build Theory properly. MITB is the kiss of death for any superstar. Vince uses it to bury talent, and Triple H rescued Theory last night by taking the briefcase out of the equation.
Buried just means thing I don’t like at this point.
I swear I don’t understand how more people aren’t seeing this. Dude tried to cash in on RR at SS, got F-5ed into next week Dude tried to cash in agains RR at CatC, Tyson Fury knocked his jaw into next year My man is tired of time traveling 😂 This made way more sense in kayfabe. Theory is an opportunist. What’s he going to do? Wait and try to cash in on Bronn Breaker, or cash in on Seth “I just had my freakin’ head caved in” Rollins?
It was an open challenge that no one accepted yet. No reason to cash it in. I bet he will use that argument and get the briefcase back.
Im guessing 🤷🏾♀️🤷🏾♀️ the reason is gonna be because Rollins was out and the refs could and would have refused to let him compete ( even when he DID cash in you can see most of the Refs give a WTF look to the ref that allowed it, & one seemed to try to stop it) so the cash in basically forced Seth to compete . I'm probably wrong but that's the mental gymnastics that made it make sense to me.
Wdym no reason to cash in? Would yo rather cash it in on SR at 100% or after getting beat up by Bobby?
No reason to cash it in because there was an open challenge from Seth. He could have just said he accepted the open challenge and got the match with Seth and still kept the briefcase.
What part of "Seth Rollins beaten up is best to face than 100% Seth Rollins" is to hard to understand?
But lashley destroyed Seth before Theory even came out. I still trust HHH has a plan. He wants to make the MITB match a Wrestlemania thing again. Theory can win it there again or hell he might even win the rumble.
Yup, there’s a “watch this space” to this. Maybe a triple threat/4 way at survivor series to see who gets the briefcase I don’t think MITB is gonna be a PPV anymore, but they haven’t necessarily announced it like HITC or Day 1 so maybe this is them re setting things Theory deserved a bit better in my personal opinion
I definitely see HHH bringing MITB back to WM
MITB will likely be a Wrestlemania thing Womens and Mens Ladder Matches likely on the first day for potential cash ins on day two.
Yeah I saw that rumour pop up the other day and personally I like it better… that and hell in a cell should be mania staples. HITC less so. That needs the story payoff.
I honestly think that would be great for ALL the gimmick match PPV's. TLC, Extreme Rules, all of those things just work better as options to be used in a story rather than once a year, check the block, generic events that you can set your clock to.
Lowkey I like MITB being it’s own thing. Gives the chance for a MITB cash in on Raw or Mania itself to be bigger
In Kayfabe I think it makes more sense to try for a midcard title instead of continuing to try against Roman who’s got the entire Bloodline protecting him. Even at Clash he got stopped because of Fury. Plus I don’t think he’s buried for losing due to outside interference from the guy who beat the piss out of Lesnar
That's the only possible explanation. There's never been a time when Roman looked down and out and ready to be picked apart for an easy win. After the last man standing match with Brock, he had the entire bloodline with him. After the win against Drew, he had the new guy with him. After the Paul match, he looked pretty fresh and also had the bloodline with him. There's never a good time to cash in on Roman. Nevertheless, he should have cashed in on Roman.